A Revelation in Progress

Introduction

So we have been having a decent amount of snow lately…..

Story of body surfing in the waves in the ocean

You get ahead of the wave and it slams you on the sand, and then completely spins you in all directions…..completely disorienting you.

You don’t know where up, down, or sideways is and it can be really scary for a moment, because you don’t know which way to try and swim.

Since the waters are shallow, you figure it out pretty quick

But that moment of disorientation can be scary

I open up with that story, because as I’ve been in ministry for several years now, I’ve seen a similar kind of spiritual disorientation that can happen in our lives.

Charles Templeton

Several months ago I read a sobering article by the Gospel Coalition about a man named Charles Templeton.

Most if not all of you have probably never heard of the guy.

He was a minister and evangelist in the 1930’s and 40’s who actually became friends with Billy Graham.

But in 1948, Templeton’s worldview began to go a different direction than Billy Grahams.

He was starting to have doubts about his Christian faith, and within a decade, he publicly declared that he had become an agnostic.

An agnostic believes that nothing is known or can be known concerning the existence and nature of God.

It claims neither faith nor disbelief in God.

Fast forward many years, Templeton is in his 80’s and he is doing an interview with Lee Strobel (Case for Christ)

In this interview Templeton expressed that one of the turning points for him was when he saw a photograph of an African woman holding her dead child, a child who died of severe drought.

It was the infamous problem of evil and suffering in light of an all powerful and good God.

But in this interview, what was most heartbreaking was when Lee Strobel asked Templeton, “How do you assess Jesus?”

Not everyone agrees that Jesus is God, but even atheists and agnostics alike agree that Jesus was a historical figure and that he did exist.

I want to read to you some direct quotes from that interview:

“He was, the greatest human being who has ever lived. He was a moral genius. His ethical sense was unique. He was the intrinsically wisest person that I’ve ever encountered in my life or in my readings. His commitment was total and led to his own death, much to the detriment of the world. What could one say about him except that this was a form of greatness?”

Strobel commented: “You sound like you really care about him.”

Templeton responded: “Well, yes, he is the most important thing in my life,” “I know it may sound strange, but I have to say . . . I adore him!”

Everything good I know, everything decent I know, everything pure I know, I learned from Jesus. Yes . . . yes. And tough! Just look at Jesus. He castigated people. He was angry. People don’t think of him that way, but they don’t read the Bible. He had a righteous anger. He cared for the oppressed and exploited. There’s no question that he had the highest moral standard, the least duplicity, the greatest compassion, of any human being in history. There have been many other wonderful people, but Jesus is Jesus….In my view, he is the most important human being who has ever existed.”

And then Templeton uttered these unexpected words: And if I may put it this way…..I miss him.

Then tears flooded his eyes and he started sobbing.

You see…..there is God as revealed in Christ through Scripture.

But for Templeton, there were questions, postulations, and doubts that were disorienting to him.

He had this understanding of what the world should look like given an all powerful, loving, good God…..but that is not what he saw.

And in his theological crisis, it led him down the path of agnosticism

And it is so sad, because you can tell that there is something that he deeply loves and admires about Jesus, and he misses the relationship with Him.

But he is disconnected from the reality of Jesus as God who came to earth to die and resurrect for our sins, so that we could have a personal relationship with Him….and that we actually can know Him.

And many people go down this route to agnosticism, atheism, or some form of spirituality or godliness without the power thereof, as 2 Timothy 3:5 puts it.

Misconceptions that we have about God.

Because of life events, life experiences, hurts, traumas, that challenge our faith, or that challenge how we see God.

Theological crises that we run into that we don’t always know how to respond to.

It will look different for different people.

But here is what I’m convinced of

I believe that our disorientation in moments like this can lead us into deeper revelations of Christ.

What is confusion today, can be revelation tomorrow.

I’m going to parallel this story of Templeton with a story about the Apostle Peter in the book of Luke.

A story where Peter experienced this kind of disorientation because of a misconception he had about Jesus.

But I want to show how it led to a deeper revelation of God.

Peter

We are going to be reading from Luke 22:54-62.

This is the story of when Peter denied Jesus three times.

Before reading that I want to briefly summarize some of the interactions and experiences that Peter had that led up to this moment, that I believe are important to understand what is happening here.

So bookmark Luke 22:54-62, and we’ll come back to that in a moment.

Story of Peter

Peter wasn’t anyone special….before Jesus called him to be his disciple, he had an ordinary trade as a fisherman.

But when Jesus called him to be his disciple, his life changed dramatically.

Over a period of three years, Peter witnessed and heard things that had the undeniable touch of God on them.

Summary of some of his Experiences

He watched Jesus heal the sick

Blind men see, deaf here, lame walk again, dead are raised to life

We watched Jesus deliver people from all sorts of demonic oppression

One man in particular in Mark 5 who went by the name legion, because he had so many evil spirits that were tormenting him, was completely delivered and put into his right mind after his encounter with Jesus.

He heard Jesus as he spoke in the synagogue (their place of worship), and as he debated and argued with the religious class.

Jesus spoke with a wisdom that was uncommon for an uneducated man.

As Matthew 7 said, he spoke as one who had authority.

There was a weight to the words that He spoke.

Peter was there with Jesus in the boat in Mark 4

When he saw Jesus exercise authority over the elements of nature when He stilled a raging storm, simply through the word of His mouth.

Peter was there when Jesus was Transfigured.

When all the glory and holiness ofJesus burst outside of his human body in the form of a bright light.

And and audible voice from heaven said “This is my son in whom I am well pleased. Listen to him.”

So Peter had seen, heard, and experienced so much in his time learning at the feet of Jesus.

And Peter was very clear….he was fully devoted to Jesus.

Matthew 26:35 “35 Peter said to him, “Even if I must die with you, I will not deny you!”

This is what Peter stated leading up to the moment when he would in fact deny Jesus three times….and Jesus predicted that it would happen.

And then right before this text that we are about to read, Peter had seen Jesus arrested on false accusation and taken to a set-up trial.

Luke 22:54–62“54 Then they seized him and led him away, bringing him into the high priest’s house, and Peter was following at a distance. 55 And when they had kindled a fire in the middle of the courtyard and sat down together, Peter sat down among them. 56 Then a servant girl, seeing him as he sat in the light and looking closely at him, said, “This man also was with him.” 57 But he denied it, saying, “Woman, I do not know him.” 58 And a little later someone else saw him and said, “You also are one of them.” But Peter said, “Man, I am not.” 59 And after an interval of about an hour still another insisted, saying, “Certainly this man also was with him, for he too is a Galilean.” 60 But Peter said, “Man, I do not know what you are talking about.” And immediately, while he was still speaking, the rooster crowed. 61 And the Lord turned and looked at Peter. And Peter remembered the saying of the Lord, how he had said to him, “Before the rooster crows today, you will deny me three times.” 62 And he went out and wept bitterly.”

Often when this story is read, it is assumed that Peter denied him out of fear…..after all, he just saw Jesus get arrested, and so “what was going to happen to him if he had part in what got Jesus arrested in the first place?”

Although it may have been a factor, I don’t think fear was primarily motivating Peter’s denial of Christ.

Peter was the bold and rash disciple.

Shortly before this moment of denial, as Jesus was getting arrested by a band of soldiers and officers in the Garden of Gethsemene, John 18:10 says Peter took up his sword to fight.

He swung his sword and cut off the ear of the high priests servant.

He may have been experiencing fear and adrenaline in that moment, but he was willing to fight to defend Jesus.

He had tried to fight, but Jesus told him to put away his sword.

So in this moment when he is denying Christ, I think there is more than fear going on here….I think Peter was disoriented.

His idea of why Jesus the Messiah had come to earth, and what He was going to do, was not matching up with what he was seeing as Jesus was being arrested, mocked, and beaten.

Disciples Misconception of Jesus

Although Peter and the other disciples had spent three years with Jesus, none of them fully understood Him.

Their understanding of the Messiah was that He was going to bring about a political deliverance and revolution for the Jewish people.

After all, Jesus came at a time where the Jews were living in subservience to the Roman Empire.

It all made sense why Jesus, the Messiah, would have come at that time.

And Peter and the other disciples were ready and willing to fight with the Messiah for their freedom from the Roman occupation.

The Gospel of Mark records 3 times when Jesus predicts his death and resurrection, and on two of those occasions, it highlights the disciples lack of comprehension in what Jesus is telling them.

In Mark 8, Peter rebukes Jesus for the prediction.

In Mark 9 , it says that the disciples didn’t understand what He was saying in regards to his death and resurrection and were too afraid to ask him.

Peter and the rest of the disciples were stuck on a political savior, not a suffering savior.

Ironically when Peter told that servant girl “I don’t know the man.”

There was an element of truth to what he was saying.

Yes, he was lying and denying Jesus, but it echoed a truth as well.

He’s watching the man he thought was going to start a revolution, get arrested and and beaten.

That’s not the Jesus he thought he knew.

That was not the purpose he thought he had come to accomplish.

And so Peter goes on to deny Christ 3 times

And then that familiar face of Christ, turned and looked at Peter, and Peter wept bitterly.

Correlations between Templeton and Peter

You see going back to Charles Templeton, after he said he missed Jesus, as he reflected on what he loved and admired about Jesus, it was like the metaphorical face of Christ turning and looking at Templeton.

He also wept bitterly.

The article ends with this paragraph:

Templeton fought to compose himself. I could tell it wasn’t like him to lose control in front of a stranger. He sighed deeply and wiped away a tear. After a few more awkward moments, he waved his hand dismissively. Finally, quietly but adamantly, he insisted: “Enough of that.”

But I thank God that Peter’s story ended differently.

Luke 22:31–32“31 “Simon, Simon, behold, Satan demanded to have you, that he might sift you like wheat, 32 but I have prayed for you that your faith may not fail. And when you have turned again, strengthen your brothers.””

Peter did indeed turn again….and he became one of the founding apostles of the early church.

But let me tell you what I love about the conclusion Peter came to…..because this is where his disorientation became an incredible revelation.

Revelation

Peter in his disorientation, confusion, and denial of Jesus, was in that very moment, receiving a revelation of God in Christ, which later on in his life inspired him to write these words in 1 Peter 2:23-24

23 When he was reviled, he did not revile in return; when he suffered, he did not threaten, but continued entrusting himself to him who judges justly.24 He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. By his wounds you have been healed.

The image of a suffering Savior which was an offensive image to Peter in that moment when he cried out “I don’t know the man,” later became a beautiful revelation when he wrote, “By His wounds, you have been healed.”

PETER GOT IT

Application

Let me encourage you with this

Those moments in our lives that create doubts, confusion, disorientation just may be revelations in progress.

Just may be an invitation into a deeper revelation and understanding of Christ.

“The deep fear behind every loss is that we have been abandoned by the God who should have saved us. The transforming moment in Christian conversion comes when we realize that even God has left us. We then discover that is was not God, but our image of God that abandoned us. This frees us to discover more of the mystery of God than we knew.” Craig Barne

Your theological crises need not end in a rejection of Christ as God.

The temptation in our crisis of theologies can be to just reject it all.

“I don’t know what to believe anymore.”

God can’t be like this.

A good God wouldn’t allow this to happen.

I don’t know if this is the kind of God I want to surrender to.

Imagine if Peter in his theological crisis threw up his hands in exhaustion, and rejected Christ as a whole.

No, there was a revelation in progress.

When life’s events, circumstances, situations…..when our own hurts and wounds….when our questions, doubts, and confusions lead us to these kinds of moments.

There is only one response.

Cling to what you do know about Christ, more than you cling to the doubt, misconception, or confusion.

And Here is what we do know, as Peter wrote:

23 When he was reviled, he did not revile in return; when he suffered, he did not threaten, but continued entrusting himself to him who judges justly.24 He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. By his wounds you have been healed.

The Death and Resurrection of Jesus Christ for you and me.

Examples

When a life experience cause me to question the love and goodness of God:

The Death and Resurrection of Jesus Christ for me.

When my misconception of God is confronted with reality and creates doubts and confusion.

The Death and Resurrection of Jesus Christ for me.

When my situation and struggle isn’t fair, and the pain and wounds of life want to embitter me into a rejection of Christ, or into complacent Christian living.

The Death and Resurrection of Jesus Christ for me.

We need to get very good keeping the beautiful Christ before our eyes.

Conclusion

I’ll close with this:

There is this pair of glasses that have been invented that give color blind people the ability to see color.

There are these viral videos of families who will buy their loved one a pair of these glasses.

8 year old girl or 50 year old man has the same response.

They break down crying when seeing the beauty of color for the first time.

When watching one of those videos, and seeing the emotional response to seeing color…I came to the conclusion that I’m the one that is blind.

I may not be color blinded, but because I’ve gotten so used to it, I’ve been blinded to the beauty of color at times.

That’s what it can be like in our Christian faith.

There is and never will be anything more beautiful than the the resurrected Savior for you and me.

But sometimes we lose the wonder and beauty of that.

Keep the beautiful Christ ever before your eyes

The Death and Resurrection of Jesus Christ for you and me.

Those darkest and most disorienting moments in our lives, are revelations in progress.

We are going to end with this song: In Christ Alone

One of my favorite worship songs

Verse 3 - There in the ground His body lay Light of the world by darkness slain

That is what spiritual disorientation can feel like at times….don’t lose faith in those moments, because it doesn’t end there….what comes next says:

Then bursting forth in glorious Day Up from the grave He rose again

And as He stands in victory Sin's curse has lost its grip on me For I am His and He is mine Bought with the precious blood of Christ

Pray

Sources

When Everything Is On Fire by Brian Zahnd

Charles Templeton: Missing Jesus - https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/blogs/justin-taylor/charles-templeton-missing-jesus/