Don't Lose Faith

Christmas is getting close!

I am sure that you are all feeling it. Christmas break is about to start. Almost everyone has decorations up!

In the midst of this season, we have been doing a special series.

Today, we are on the third week of our series on Advent. If you weren’t here for the last two weeks, you might be surprised at what we’ve been discussing.

First Week: BE READY

In our first week together, we defined Advent as “the coming or the second coming of Christ.” It is this second definition that we have been lingering on and digging into.

That first week that we gathered to start this series, I challenged you to use this Advent season to expand your focus. I challenged you to not only think about the coming of Jesus as a baby in a manger, but to begin to open your heart and mind in anticipation of the second coming of Christ that we are still awaiting.

That week (1st week), we read from Matthew 24:36–44 and looked at Jesus’ own words regarding His second coming.

Jesus challenged His disciples to be ready for when He would come, because no one knows when it will happen.

Second Week: REPENT

Last week (2nd week), we continued in this series by looking at Matthew 3:1–12 and the story of John the Baptist. We discussed that the way to best be ready for Christ’s return was to heed John’s call to repent, and to turn from our sins and follow God wholeheartedly.

John showed that it wasn’t enough just to know about God or to have a family that goes to church—but that

Our hearts need to be in the right place with God, and our lives need to reflect the state of our hearts.

Today, we’ll be looking again to John the Baptist in Matthew 11.

Matthew 11:1–6 ESV

1 When Jesus had finished instructing his twelve disciples, he went on from there to teach and preach in their cities. 2 Now when John heard in prison about the deeds of the Christ, he sent word by his disciples 3 and said to him, “Are you the one who is to come, or shall we look for another?” 4 And Jesus answered them, “Go and tell John what you hear and see: 5 the blind receive their sight and the lame walk, lepers are cleansed and the deaf hear, and the dead are raised up, and the poor have good news preached to them. 6 And blessed is the one who is not offended by me.”

Last week when we looked at John the Baptist, we saw him prior to Jesus’ ministry beginning. Up to this point, Jesus hadn’t begun His work on Earth. Immediately following the verses we looked at last time, Jesus was baptized by John and then tempted by Satan before going into His time of ministry.

After that came

the Sermon on the Mount,

many examples of Jesus’ miraculous healings,

Jesus traveling and teaching in the synagogues,

and Jesus calling His disciples to heal and teach in His name.

This catches us up to the passage we read today. When John the Baptist was in prison, these were the things that he was hearing about Jesus.

Now, we must remember who John was. Just last week, we read of the way that John boldly proclaimed the coming of the Messiah, Jesus.

John was all-in on the message of Jesus and believed that Jesus was the Messiah who would bring Heaven to Earth.

So, what has happened to bring someone of such strong faith to ask the question that John asks here, “Are you the one who is to come, or should we expect someone else?”

You see, Jesus hadn’t come in the way that anyone had expected. Everyone at the time expected a Messiah who would come in conquest. One who would deliver the Israelites from their oppressors and turn the Roman empire on its head.

Everyone was looking for a great king. No one was looking for a humble Savior.

So although John had once been deep in his convictions about Jesus and who He was, he now faced a temporary lapse of faith.

I’m sure that he had been hoping for a Messiah who would rescue him from the prison he was in, and yet, he remained in chains.

Also consider just how much he himself was out of his own understanding and consider his suffering.

The Bible Exposition Commentary (Chapter Nine: The King’s Conflicts (Matthew 11–12))

He was a man of the desert, yet he was confined indoors. He was an active man, with a divine mandate to preach; yet he was silenced. He had announced judgment, and yet that judgment was slow in coming (Matt. 3:7–12). He received only partial reports of Jesus’ ministry and could not see the total picture.

The Bible Exposition Commentary (Chapter Nine: The King’s Conflicts (Matthew 11–12))

Our Lord’s reply to John revealed both tact and tenderness. He reminded John of the Old Testament prophecies about the works of Messiah (Isa. 29:18–19; 35:4–6). John’s disciples had already told him what Jesus was doing (Luke 7:18), but Jesus asked them to “show John again.” John had come in the spirit and power of Elijah (Luke 1:17), and even Elijah had his days of discouragement! Jesus assured John that He was fulfilling the Father’s will.

Has God ever (in your mind) let you down?

Have you ever expected something, prayed for something, trusted with all of your soul that He would act or intervene, only to have nothing happen?

Or maybe He gave an answer that was different than what you prayed for?

[Author Note: Share your own story about feeling let down by God.]

I feel as though for me… the biggest pieces of my life where I may have felt let down by God is in the form of having a father.

That area for me is a very sore place to go.

My real dad had multiple affairs with my mother growing up. My mom when I was 6 finally said that was enough. My dad then ended up marrying the women whom he had been having an affair with at the time who is still my step mother.

My mom really didn’t go very long until she married this man named Wayne Fish.... He was my step dad on and off through MS & HS and then recently in the last 5 years him & my mother divorced. (From Emotional abuse through years.)

My hope is that less and less people have to go through the pain of not having a conistant father in your life.

----> I can’t even tell you that this was the only time that pain and hurt caused me to question the goodness or faithfulness of our God.

We live in a broken and sinful world. In a world with such broken and sinful people, pain and hurts abound.

If you haven’t experienced something that has shaken your faith yet, I can almost guarantee you that something will. In the passage we’re looking at today, John asks this question of Jesus because his faith has been shaken.

Despite John’s doubt, Jesus does not condemn him. Instead, Jesus speaks into his doubt and offers all that He has done and is doing.

The things that Jesus mentioned were prophesied long ago and should serve as evidence that He’s the Messiah.

He makes it clear here that maybe the expectations for the Messiah are being taken out of context, and that Jesus was fulfilling what was at the heart of what the Messiah was actually prophesied to do.

Jesus had come to heal, to bring life to the dead, and to proclaim the good news to those who needed it.

Jesus’ last line to John is worth noting. He says, “Blessed is the one who is not offended by me.”

Jesus knew that His coming and His ways were not as expected.

Jesus chose the most unlikely people as His disciples,

He chose to spend time with the sinners,

He came from a poor family in a small and unnoteworthy town.

Jesus did not come with sword, but with heart open to those in need.

He did not rush into battle, but He took His time with people.

He built real relationships with real people and did real miracles on a person-by-person basis.

Jesus said that despite the fact that He did not look like what they had expected, anyone who could still have faith and believe in Him would be blessed for it.

Sometimes I think we need this reminder. ------>>>>

Often, we presume that we know what God will do or what He should do in a situation.....

But Jesus was not predictable, and God has never really been predictable either.

When our ideas about God fail to line up with reality, we are often faced with a decision regarding our faith in Him.

You may have experienced tragedy in your life.

Maybe you were deeply let down by someone who was a Christian.

It might even be that you simply cannot reconcile all of the pain in this world with such a good God.

Even the best of us will face doubts.

One of the greatest tragedies in the last century was the Holocaust. If anyone should have the right to doubt in God’s existence or goodness, it should be the millions who suffered in concentration camps—many until their deaths.

One writer said this about visiting a concentration camp.....

When I was in college, I visited Dachau, one of the concentration camps in Germany, outside of Munich. To see and experience the amount of pain held in that place was nearly unbearable. How could God allow such an atrocity to happen there? Yet as I walked the grounds, as I entered and dwelled in the gas chambers, I felt the overwhelming presence of God. I felt that God was there and that He was sharing in the pain that it held. I sensed that as each person suffered and died there, that God was alongside suffering.

As we know, Jesus already came and suffered on our behalf. He bore the pain and burden that surpassed all that we will experience. And although those of who suffered in the Holocaust should be those who have the right to turn their backs on God, you will find story after story of those who instead kept the faith. Person after person who, despite their doubts, refused to give up on God.

During this series, we have been focusing on the second coming of Christ.

We have discussed that we must be ready for His return by being alert, because we never know when He will come.

We have also talked about the importance of repentance in being ready. That our hearts and our lives must seek to be free from sin and obedient to God.

And this week, if you have already seen the trend, we have been talking about not losing faith.

Another part of being ready for the second coming of Jesus is to not lose our faith in Him or in His coming again.

You have probably heard your whole life that someday, Jesus will return.

You may hear about it a lot, or you may barely ever think about it.

No matter how frequently or infrequently you think about it, it is likely that you have doubted it at some point. It makes sense.

When no one has any idea when Jesus will return, how do we even really buy into the fact that He will? It is impossible to prove, and as we’ve already discussed, it is equally impossible to predict.

So what do we do? How do we not lose faith?

This Advent season is the perfect time to reflect and recommit. As we spend this season anticipating Christ’s return and readying ourselves as He commanded, let us check our hearts.

Are there doubts about who God says He is?

Do we question if He truly will come again and if all of this preparation is even worth our time?

Are we satisfied that He came once 2,000 years ago, while not caring about what is to come and the fulfillment of the kingdom here on Earth?

If you do find yourself in a place of doubt, I don’t want to shame you. I never want any doubt to make you feel less than worthy in the sight of God. Remember that John the Baptist was the greatest prophet before Jesus, and even he wavered in his faith.

If you have found that you have doubt in your heart, use that as a springboard to search. Bring your doubt before the Lord. Speak with your youth pastor, your Christian friends, those who can support you in the faith. Allow this to be a moment of greater discovery and renewal of your faith, instead of a place where you come to find that you have become stagnant and stuck.

[Author Note: Lead in a prayer about doubt. Consider offering a time to discuss any doubts, or help pair students with someone who might be able to help them work through some of the doubts they carry.]