Don’t Worry—It’ll Only Get Worse!!

Luke 21:5-19

 

Anybody—and by anybody I mean any modern American Christian—

  who has ever read the Bible honestly—and by honestly I mean that

  you read the bad and upsetting and frustrating parts with the same

  intensity as the good and happy parts—well, if you’ve done that you

  can’t help but to come out on the other end and be slightly confused

 

Can you explain to me why someone like Joseph would be sold into

  slavery by his own brothers and why he’d go to prison for refusing

  the sexual advances of his boss’ wife?

 

Or explain why a righteous man like Job suffers in Satan’s hands

  while God apparently sits His hands and does absolutely nothing?

 

Why would a godly prophet like Elijah get so depressed he’d pray for

  God to kill him?

 

Or can you explain to me why other prophets like Jeremiah and

Hosea would suffer through unimaginable personal pain simply

because they are doing what God Himself has told them to do?

 

Why does Paul, the greatest missionary, church planter, pastoral

  mentor of all time, get himself thrown into prison time and time

again, flogged five times, stoned three times, beaten with rods

three times, shipwrecked three times...all while doing God’s will?

 

Or what about 20th and 21st century missionaries?

  -can you explain why Nate Saint, Jim Elliot, and 3 others are

      savagely murdered for merely wanting to tell others of God’s love

      and mercy?

  -do you have any good reason why Martha Myers, William Koehn,

      and Kathleen Gariety are murdered while doing something as

      horrendous as providing free medical care in a clinic in Yemen?

 

Basically, you’re going to believe one of two explanations

  -which explanation you choose says everything about how you

     interpret the Bible, what you believe about God, and what you

     understand about the reality of the future

The first explanation is immensely popular today, especially in the

  States, Canada, Europe, and Australia

    -oversimplified, it sounds something like this:  these horrible things

       happened because these people did not have enough faith...God

       wanted to intervene, to save them, to bless them, but He couldn’t

       because their faith was weak

         --to accept this explanation, you must assume their faith was

             weak, of course, because they suffered

    -suffering, sickness, financial difficulties, depression, bad habits,

       low self-esteem, marital struggles, professional failures, spiritual

       stagnancy...all can ultimately be blamed on your lack of faith

    -this first explanation has a different “bible” from the one you and I

       carried with us to worship today, but it’s a “bible” nonetheless

         --listen to some direct quotes

 

God wants to increase you financially, by giving you promotions, fresh ideas, and creativity. God wants this to be the best time of your life. But if you are going to receive this favor, you must enlarge your vision. You can’t go around thinking negative, defeated, limiting thoughts. Well, I’ve gone as far as my education will allow. Or, I’ve had this sickness for years. I guess it’s my lot in life.

 

To experience this immeasurable favor, you must rid yourself of that small-minded thinking and start expecting God’s blessings, start anticipating promotion and supernatural increase. You must conceive it in your heart and mind before you can receive it. In other words, you must make room for increase in your own thinking, then God will bring those things to pass. Until you learn how to enlarge your vision,

seeing the future through your eyes of faith, your own wrong thinking will prevent good things from happening in your life.

 

Early in our marriage, Victoria and I were out walking through our neighborhood one day when we came upon a beautiful new home in the final stages of construction. The doors were open, so we stepped inside and looked around. It was a fabulous home, much prettier than any of the other homes in that community. Most of the other homes around us were one-story, ranch-style homes that were forty to fifty years old, but this house was a large two-story home, with high ceilings and oversized windows providing an appealing view of the backyard. It was a lovely, inspiring place.

When we came out of the house, Victoria was excited. She turned around, looked back at the home, and said, “...one day we’re going to live in a beautiful home just like that!” At the time, we were living in an extremely old house that had experienced some foundation problems, preventing all of our doors on the inside from closing properly. We had stretched our faith and spent everything we had just to buy that home and get into that neighborhood. Thinking of our bank account, and my income at the time, it seemed impossible to me that we’d ever work our way up to a home like the one we had toured.

 

...I said, “Victoria, that home is so far beyond our reach, I don’t see how we could ever afford something like that.”  But Victoria had much more faith than I did, and she would not give up. We stood out in front of that house for thirty minutes and debated. She told me all the reasons why it could happen. I told her all the reasons why I doubted.

She said, “...I feel it deep inside. It is going to happen.”

 

She was so filled with joy, I didn’t want to burst her bubble, so I let the matter drop. But Victoria didn’t! Over the next several months, she kept speaking words of faith and victory, and she finally talked me into it. She convinced me that we could live in an elegant home like the one we saw. I got rid of my limited thinking and I started agreeing with her. I started believing that somehow, some way, God could bring it to pass. We kept on believing it, seeing it, and speaking it.

 

Several years later, we sold our property, and through another real estate deal, we were able to build a house just like the one we had viewed. We saw it come to pass. But I don’t believe it ever would have happened had we not first conceived it on the inside. I don’t believe it would have happened if Victoria had not talked me into enlarging my vision.

 

God has so much more in store for you, too. Start making room for it in your thinking. Conceive it on the inside. Start seeing yourself rising to a new level, doing something of significance, living in that home of your dreams.

 

 

 

I told you this explanation is popular only in certain parts of the world

  -yeah...for some reason, it doesn’t play well in China or the Middle

     East...it doesn’t sell many books in the parts of the world where

     there is extreme poverty, where Christians are persecuted, even

     killed for their faith in Jesus Christ

       --gee, I wonder why?

           ---if it’s genuine truth, then it should be true for all people at all

                times in all places...right?

       --but for some crazy reason, telling an imprisoned Chinese

            pastor that he needs to stop seeing himself as a prisoner and

            instead begin envisioning himself doing something of

            significance (I don’t know, like writing best-selling books,

            preaching in an arena, or living in a Houston mansion)...God

            surely doesn’t want him in a small, dirty, smelly prison cell,

            God wants him living in the home of his dreams

 

This “theology” produces an incredibly weak God

  -a God who can bless some, but not all believers

  -a God who is not strong enough to overcome my “insufficient

     vision” of who I could become

  -a God who is my servant, catering to my desires and my dreams

  -a God who will raise up celebrities rather than prophets

  -a God who must depend upon the success of the Republican party

     if He’s ever going to accomplish anything

 

Somewhere along the road, we’ve become like the early first-century

  Jews who were waiting for a Messiah to deliver them from Roman

  occupation and bring Israel into world-wide prominence again

    -you realize that’s what Palm Sunday is all about, right?

    -Jesus enters the capital city...the crowds gather...Luke 19:38 à 

      [they] began joyfully to praise God in loud voices

        --all those in power were suddenly quite afraid of what this Jesus

            might be capable of accomplishing

              ---what if He is the one...the King who will rally the armies,

                    overthrow Rome, and lead Israel to world dominance?

        --we know that’s exactly what the disciples were thinking

            ---so it’s easy to imagine them scratching their heads in utter

                  confusion when this incredible public relations triumph on

                  Sunday dissipates into a depressing, doom-and-gloom

                  message just two days later

Read Luke 21:5-17

 

The first explanation disintegrates when it attempts to make any

  sense of Luke 21...I mean, Jesus must have been having a bad day

  or perhaps He didn’t read His email from His Father that morning

 

How could that Tuesday follow this Sunday?

 

For one, it’s because Jesus, who is the Messiah, the Savior of the

  world, is not a political or military leader

    -it’s why Jesus told Pilate on Friday morning à  My kingdom is

       not of this world.  If it were, my servants would fight to prevent

       My arrest...

 

That Tuesday follows Sunday because there’s another explanation

  for the suffering and persecution Christians around the world have

  endured, are enduring, and will certainly face in the future

    -it’s not nearly as simple as the first explanation...in fact, it has

       several intertwined components

         --there is sin and evil in the world...we are not basically good

             and nice—the Bible says we are all sinners

               ---sin has polluted the world...there is evil and pain and

                    sickness and suffering because of sin

         --God’s purpose for your life is not to make you happy, healthy,

              and prosperous—the Bible says God desires to make you

              like Jesus Christ

                ---God also knows that suffering is usually the surest way to

                      achieve that highest of goals

                ---C.S. Lewis à  God whispers to us in our pleasures,

                     speaks to us in our conscience, but shouts in our pain; it

                     is His megaphone to rouse a deaf world.

         --plain and simple, God tells us this life is going to be difficult...

             there will be struggle, sorrow, disappointment

               ---this is not heaven!!!  we’re not home yet!!!

         --poverty, failure, sickness, suffering don’t mean that you are

             out of God’s will, neither does prosperity and success prove

             that you are in it

               ---for some reason, we typically look for smooth sailing,

                     success, or material blessing to verify that we’re doing

                     the right thing

                       ---they accept our first offer on the house...so that must

                             mean that God wants us to buy it

                       ---we get offered the job...so we should take it

                       ---our business expands...so that must mean that our

                              questionable accounting procedures most be okay

               ---the problem is that often the Bible tells us that doing

                     what’s good and right and holy leads to some not-so-

                     pleasant consequences

                       ---look at Job, for example...or

                       ---there’s Joseph, who did the right thing by running

                             away from the sexual advances of his boss’ wife...

                             but he was thrown in prison for doing that—does

                             that mean he should have slept with her?

                      ---Shadach, Meshach, and Abednego did the right thing

                             by refusing to bow down and worship an idol...and

                             they were thrown into a blazing furnace—does that

                             mean they should have gone along with the crowd?

                      ---John the Baptist did the right thing by preaching the

                              truth about the immorality of the king...and he was

                              beheaded...does that mean he should have kept

                              his big mouth shut?

 

Yes, there are countless passages of Scripture that speak clearly

  about God providing for our needs...and there are passages that

  make it plain that God will bless us spiritually with peace, strength,

  and hope

    -but only those who read the Bible “dis-honestly” fail to

       acknowledge the truth of passages such as these...as well as

         --Read Matthew 5:10-12

         --Jesus warns is disciples in Matthew 10:22 à  All men will

             hate you because of Me...

         --Paul issues a similar warning in 2 Timothy 3:12 à...everyone

           who wants to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted

    -then again, perhaps Jesus and Paul are just confused

 

Earlier in Luke, chapter 9, Jesus issues this invitation à  If anyone

  would come after me, He must deny himself, take up his cross daily

  and follow Me.  For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but

  whoever loses his life for Me will save it.  What good is it for a man

  to gain the whole world, and yet lose or forfeit his very self?”

Take up your cross!

  -the cross isn’t a decoration, a symbol, or a piece of jewelry

     --the cross is an execution device

  -essentially the call to follow Jesus is this:  “Come with me and die.”

     --clearly Jesus’ idea of the abundant life is vastly different from

         what’s so frequently heard on TV and read in best-selling books

  -the first explanation is popular, fills arenas, and puts smiles on

     everybody’s faces

  -this second explanation, however, is biblical, difficult to hear, and

     puts truth in the hearts and minds of those willing to listen

 

The China Soul for Christ Foundation tells about an evangelist known as Epaphras who was a young man during the early years of Chairman Mao's reign. He refused to sing the Communist Party songs, salute the Chairman's picture, or show his allegiance to any leader other than Christ.

 

Epaphras was arrested and sentenced to life in prison. A guard once asked him why he was so happy all the time. Flashing his characteristic grin, Epaphras said, "Didn't the Lord tell me from the beginning to give up everything and carry the cross to follow him? This is the Lord's way. I am following him on the same path. Why should I be upset? Why should I complain? This is my biggest blessing."

 

Eleven years after Chairman Mao died, Epaphras, then 62, was surprised when prison officials agreed to set him free. He soon discovered the reason for his sudden release: "The court cheated me," he said, "by changing my record to show I had recanted my belief in Jesus."

 

In response, Epaphras rented a cell-like room just outside the prison gates and kept himself under house arrest. "If I stay in jail," he insisted, "they will know I haven't recanted...If I die [while] living under house arrest, then I die as a criminal just like my Lord Jesus Christ!"

Epaphras died at the age of 78, having made an emphatic, brave statement that true freedom is found in Christ alone. Believers all across China celebrated his life and mourned his death.

 

Which of the two explanations do you think Epaphras believed?

Even in the midst of such frank talk about the future, Jesus still

  speaks hope

 

Read Luke 21:18 – 19

 

At first reading, it would appear Jesus contradicts Himself

  -v. 16 à  they will put some of you to death

     --but when you pause for a moment, you realize Jesus is

         promising eternal life in these last two verses

     --earlier in Luke 12, Jesus says à  I tell you, my friends, do not be

         afraid of those who kill the body and after that can do no more.

 

The second explanation—the one I’m convinced the Bible teaches

  from cover to cover—never promises that things will get better in

  this life, in this world

    -Paul once told the leaders of the church in Ephesus à  And now,

       compelled by the Spirit, I am going to Jerusalem, not knowing

       what will happen to me there.  I only know that in every city the

       Holy Spirit warns me that prison and hardships are facing me. 

       However, I consider my life worth nothing to me, if only I may

       finish the race and complete the task the Lord Jesus has given

       me—the task of testifying to the gospel of God’s grace.

    -it’s why Peter wrote in 1 Peter 4:12 à  Dear friends, do not be

       surprised at the painful trial you are suffering...

 

Tough times—nearly impossible times—are coming, but our faith is in

  the God remains in control...we have confidence in the One who

  holds us in His hands

    -John 16:33 à  I have told you these things, so that in Me you

       may have peace.  In this world you will have trouble.  But take

       heart!  I have overcome the world.

 

 

Brennan Manning à  a benediction

May all your expectations be frustrated

May all your plans be thwarted

May all your desires be withered into nothingness

That you may experience the powerlessness and poverty of a child

And can sing and dance in the love of God,

Who is Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.