Are You the One? (Faith in Crisis)
Notes
Transcript
Sermon Tone Analysis
A
D
F
J
S
Emotion
A
C
T
Language
O
C
E
A
E
Social
Introduction
Introduction
Partial credit is a beautiful thing. It’s a gracious act given to a student by the teacher. I was thankful for those teachers who would grant partial credit to answers on a test. I may not have gotten the entire answer correct, but I got some of it correct. So it may be that there is a question about Abraham Lincoln and the War Between the States. As part of my answer I wrote that the Emancipation Proclamation was given in 1862 rather than 1863. Everything else was correct, but the date was wrong. Some teachers would say that the entire answer was wrong because that date was wrong. Those pharisaical legalists! But the gracious, more Christ-like teachers would say that the date was wrong, but he conclusion was correct and so give me partial credit. So it is with our faith.
There are thoughts and feelings and expectations that we have when it comes to Christianity that may be wrong, all the while we still believe in Jesus as the Son of God. The conclusion is correct: Jesus is God in the flesh and has lived, died, and resurrected to reconcile me before the Father and glorify the Father in me. And yet, still have little parts of the faith that we’ve misunderstood or were taught wrongly and so believe.
That seems to be the case in the passage here this morning. And as we study this passage, my hopes are that we can cast doubt on our doubts and look toward Jesus with fresher faith. And to do so, I see four steps that need to be taken. And understand that I’m not a steps kind of preacher typically. Three steps to greater health, five steps to a stronger family. That’s not me. But I do think that we see these four steps happening within this text.
The first step that we need to take is the step is to be honest with yourself and others about your doubts. The second step is to seek trustworthy answers. The third step is to be open to the truth. Finally, to stay true to the end. Notice that all of these steps in some way bring truth into focus.
Be Honest
Seek Trustworthy Answers
Be Open to the Truth
Stay True to the End
The disciples of John reported all these things to him. And John,
calling two of his disciples to him, sent them to the Lord, saying, “Are you the one who is to come, or shall we look for another?”
And when the men had come to him, they said, “John the Baptist has sent us to you, saying, ‘Are you the one who is to come, or shall we look for another?’ ”
In that hour he healed many people of diseases and plagues and evil spirits, and on many who were blind he bestowed sight.
And he answered them, “Go and tell John what you have seen and heard: the blind receive their sight, the lame walk, lepers are cleansed, and the deaf hear, the dead are raised up, the poor have good news preached to them.
And blessed is the one who is not offended by me.”
Be Honest
Seek Trustworthy Answers
Be Open to the Truth
Stay True to the End
Be Honest
Be Honest
If we are wanting to cast doubt upon our doubts and look toward Jesus with greater faith, the first step we need to take is to be honest with ourselves and others.
The disciples of John reported all these things to him. And John,
calling two of his disciples to him, sent them to the Lord, saying, “Are you the one who is to come, or shall we look for another?”
John’s life started with promise. He was born to Zechariah and Elizabeth from the promise of an angel. He was told that he would turn the hearts of the fathers to the children and the children to the fathers. He would be the forerunner of the Messiah and ended up baptizing him in front of a crowd. He proclaimed that Jesus was the Lamb of God who would take away the sin of the world.
People were coming out to see John. He was calling the nation to repent. Like Elijah, he was covered in animal skin and wearing a leather belt, speaking on behalf of God—calling out sin and proclaiming that the Kingdom of God was at hand. The religious elite despised him, but the regular people loved him. Everything seemed to be going according to plan.
But much like Elijah, things suddenly fell apart. At the height of John’s ministry, he was arrested. John had dared speak against Herod’s second marriage to his brother’s wife Herodias and so he was placed in prison. No more preaching. No more baptizing. And while in prison, John’s disciples come for a visit and tell him all these things Jesus is doing.
It seems that whatever he heard either caused some doubt in John’s mind or perpetuated the doubt that was already there. We know that because of the question that he asked. Is Jesus the one they were to expect or is it going to be someone else? What once felt so right, now seemed in question. And he shares that question with two of his disciples.
This is crucial for Christians. We need some trusted friends with whom we can speak openly and honestly. We need two or three people that are spiritually mature enough to talk to about our feelings of doubt (or anger or sadness or joylessness or whatever emotion). It doesn’t necessarily have to be the closest of friends, but it does need to be someone (or some people) who won’t bristle at doubts and questions that we may have. Solomon wrote,
Two are better than one, because they have a good reward for their toil.
For if they fall, one will lift up his fellow. But woe to him who is alone when he falls and has not another to lift him up!
Again, if two lie together, they keep warm, but how can one keep warm alone?
And though a man might prevail against one who is alone, two will withstand him—a threefold cord is not quickly broken.
Here is John the Baptist, a spiritual giant among the Jewish people, and he calls in two of his trusted disciples to talk with them. The original Greek text says “a certain two disciples.” These weren’t just any two disciples. These were specific disciples—disciples he could trust to take his questions to Jesus. Disciples he could trust with his doubts and concerns. And John was honest with them. He didn’t harbor the question deep down inside himself. He didn’t act as if the question or the doubt didn’t exist.
Let me ask you, do you have one or two people with whom you can be honest? Many Christians will sadly answer that they don’t. We’ve become so individualized in our faith—so privatized in our Christianity—that we have no one with whom we can be honest.
And herein lies the danger: Doubt grows in silence. It grows in secrecy. If we are determined not to speak of our doubts (or any feeling for that matter) and if we are determined to pretend that they do not exist, they will continue to grow because as long as they are hidden we cannot openly seek the truth.
Seek Trustworthy Answers
Seek Trustworthy Answers
Which takes us to the next step. The first is that we need to be honest with ourselves and others. But the second is to seek trustworthy answers. That’s what John did. He couldn’t go himself, seeing that he was in prison, but he sent those two certain disciples he trusted to find answers. He sent them straight to the source.
Often when we hear of someone’s struggles, if we aren’t taken aback and appalled, which I hope we aren’t (but I know I’ve reacted in this way before), we don’t know what to say or do, and so we say we’ll pray for that person. Prayer is good. Whether that person knows it or not, he/she needs our prayers. Whether he/she wants it or not, we need to make sure we pray for him/her.
But there is more that we can do. Don’t overlook the fact that the disciples of John went to Jesus for answers. That’s a very practical step that they took to help their doubting friend/rabbi find answers. They did for him what he couldn’t do for himself.
That is needed in the Christian community. How many answers could be found if only we had a chance to look. But the enemy wants us to be too busy to look. We have jobs to do, our children’s dance classes and music lessons and sports practices to race to, dinners to cook, spouses to spend time with, and the list goes on. And we wonder how we got so busy! And there is no time to think deeply or research or ask the questions that could help us in our struggles.
There again, we need trusted friends who can give us trustworthy answers. John was able to send friends to Jesus, but Jesus is no longer on this earth to hear from audibly. But we do have his Word. And that’s where we can find so many of our answers.
And hear what I am saying and what I am not saying. I am saying that God’s word is sufficient.
All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness,
that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.
But what I am not saying is that the answer is simply to read your Bible more.
I think Catherine Haddow is onto something when she wrote, “A person needs not only prayer and support in practical ways - for example, meals, lifts and childcare - but also help connecting their life struggles directly to Scripture so as to reorient their hearts towards God in a meaningful way.”
This is what John was looking for. This was why he sent his disciples to Jesus in the first place. Just grabbing a scroll and playing Bible roulette—opening up and wherever my finger lands is what I will read—is no way to work through those moments of doubt or sadness or pain. Getting together with fellow believers with whom we can be honest and ask for trustworthy answers is what we all need!
Too many Christians are all about the pray more, read more mentality. And that’s the advice they give. They are like the people that James, Jesus’s brother, wrote about in his second chapter or John the apostle wrote about in his first letter, third chapter. We see our brother or sister in need and we coldly say “go in peace and be filled,” rather than sitting with them in their struggle, hearing their hearts’ cry, and then gently working with them to find the trustworthy answers they need from God’s Word. It’s not “go and do,” but “come, and let’s do this together.”
It’s not an easy task. It takes time. And usually not minutes or even hours. It may take days, weeks, months, even years. But it is worth the time and effort.
My brothers, if anyone among you wanders from the truth and someone brings him back,
let him know that whoever brings back a sinner from his wandering will save his soul from death and will cover a multitude of sins.
Be Open to the Truth
Be Open to the Truth
But there is another step that must be taken. The first step is to be honest with yourself and others you can trust. The second is to seek trustworthy answers. Now the third is to be open to the truth. Sometimes this is the hardest step especially if we have been in the habit of hiding these doubts. The doubts have grown so much that being open to the truth is a lofty endeavor.
And when the men had come to him, they said, “John the Baptist has sent us to you, saying, ‘Are you the one who is to come, or shall we look for another?’ ”
In that hour he healed many people of diseases and plagues and evil spirits, and on many who were blind he bestowed sight.
And he answered them, “Go and tell John what you have seen and heard: the blind receive their sight, the lame walk, lepers are cleansed, and the deaf hear, the dead are raised up, the poor have good news preached to them.
Here’s what I found interesting about this passage: John already had heard what was going on. Remember
Luke 7:18 (ESV)
The disciples of John reported all these things to him.
Jesus had healed the Centurion’s son. He raised the widow’s son back to life. The text reads, “all these things,” so all these miracles that Jesus has been performing have already been reported to John while he was in prison. And how does Jesus respond to John’s question? By re-reporting to John what he already knew. Sure, there were new recipients of the miracles that were happening that very day that the disciples came, but the miracles were not much different than had already been reported. And Jesus was certainly bringing together prophesies from throughout Isaiah that pointed to the Messiah, but again, these miracles and signs had already been reported to John. “All these things” were reported already.
Perhaps the difference was that these were not just reports that were spreading through the whole of Judea and the surrounding country, like Luke 7:17 says, but now experienced—seen by his own disciples.
Beloved, let me ask you, are you willing to share with your hurting friend that which you have witnessed Jesus do for you and around you? Are your eyes open to the wonders that Jesus has done? The little things as well as the big?
Elijah was looking for God in the fire, wind, and earthquake, but God was moving in a still small voice. Naaman wanted to see Elisha come out and make a spectacle of his healing power, but was sent to the Jordan River instead. Sometimes its not the splendor of God’s power being seen; it’s the subtleties. Do we testify to these with each other on a regular basis or do we pretend that they are unnecessary or useless in our Christian walk?
Jesus’s message to John was no different than the message he already heard, but now he must be willing to listen. John must be open to the truth and to reorient his mind to the truth.
Whatever John was expecting wasn’t happening. His mind had wrapped itself around some misunderstanding. Now it was time to close that section, and open up to the truth. Once again, Catherine Haddow wrote, “Emotions are poor leaders, but good mirrors of the heart.” And as Christians we tend to go to two extremes: we plant the emotion or we pursue the emotion. And both are improper. Instead we ought to probe the emotion. I say we plant the emotion. Often we will say, we bury it, but that emotion isn’t dead. It’s being planted deep down and will eventually bear fruit. We don’t want to plant that emotion so that it later bears fruit. We don’t want to pursue it as if it is going to lead us rightly. Instead, we want to probe them. Why am I feeling this way? What is going on in this? And then as we probe, we need to be open to to the truth—open to our friends bringing the truth of God’s Word to us, open to the testimony from those we trust.
Stay the Course
Stay the Course
Step one: Be Honest. Step two: Seek Trustworthy Answer. Step three: Be Open to the Truth. We now get to the fourth step: Stay the course.
And blessed is the one who is not offended by me.”
This was Jesus’s call to John to stay the course. It’s somewhat difficult to translate because the word Jesus used was the word in which we get “scandalized” from. It’s often translated as “stumble.”
Therefore, if food makes my brother stumble, I will never eat meat, lest I make my brother stumble.
or “falling away.”
“I have said all these things to you to keep you from falling away.
It can even mean “to sin.”
It would be better for him if a millstone were hung around his neck and he were cast into the sea than that he should cause one of these little ones to sin.
If we take these together and seek out the meaning intended, we should hopefully settle on the fact that Jesus is calling on John and all of us (“the one who”—that’s you and me and all believers everywhere) to not fall away because of our faulty notions as to who he is. Or to put it another way: if the truth of who Jesus is does not meet our expectations of who Jesus is, we fall away from the expectations and stay the course with the truth.
Jesus says that the person who doesn’t fall away because of the reality of who he is, is the person who is blessed. It’s that inner happiness, that inner joy and excitement. The person who is not turned off by the true person of Jesus is the person who will experience that inner joy and excitement. And so Jesus is calling us to stay the course and not be turned off by him.
Conclusion
Conclusion
As we’ve finish Luke 7:18-23, it is my hope that we can see the need for these four steps in order to cast doubt on our doubts and renew our faith in Jesus. St. Augustine wrote, “I believe in order to understand,” and I think that’s some great advice. We aren’t called to blind faith, but we are called to faith when we don’t fully understand. But staying the course, as the saying goes: we’ll understand it all by and by.
But we need help in this journey. God never meant for us to be alone in it. He has given us fellow believers along the way to help us. But those other believers cannot make us open up about our fears and our doubts, our angers and misgivings. We need to find those with whom we can be honest. We need to enlist them to help us seek trustworthy answers, and if we are called upon, we need to help find those answers for our friends. We need to be open to the truth, even if we’ve heard it all before. It could be that we misunderstood it before, that we viewed it through the wrong lens, or that it is a fresh testimony that accompanies it. Of course, it could be completely new to us but only a correct understanding explained. But we must be determined to stay the course because that is the only way we can find that deep inner joy and excitement. It is only found in Christ—the true Christ.
If you don’t know this Christ. If you don’t know Jesus, let’s talk after service. I would love to introduce you to him.