Countercultural Comfort | UNCOMFORTABLE

Introduction

Welcome Church Online

Recap:

Embrace the Discomfort

The Uncomfortable Cross

Uncomfortable People

Today: I want to talk to you about a Countercultural Comfort

Theme Verse:

1 Peter 2:4–5 NLT

You are coming to Christ, who is the living cornerstone of God’s temple. He was rejected by people, but he was chosen by God for great honor. And you are living stones that God is building into his spiritual temple. What’s more, you are his holy priests. Through the mediation of Jesus Christ, you offer spiritual sacrifices that please God.

I hope during this series that you are starting to understand that we are part of a bigger story.

Following Christ is not about your best life now, though I believe it is the best life you can live.

Following Christ is not about finding comfort, though you’ll experience a peace that surpasses all understanding.

There’s a reason behind the uncomfortable aspects of the Christian faith, and by embracing those challenges we’re able to get a fuller picture of who God is and the redemptive work he’s doing in our world.

All we have to do is remember … the apocalypse.

I. God Has Told Us How the Story Ends (vv. 6–7)

rev 19

Revelation 19:6–9 NLT

Then I heard again what sounded like the shout of a vast crowd or the roar of mighty ocean waves or the crash of loud thunder: “Praise the Lord! For the Lord our God, the Almighty, reigns. Let us be glad and rejoice, and let us give honor to him. For the time has come for the wedding feast of the Lamb, and his bride has prepared herself. She has been given the finest of pure white linen to wear.” For the fine linen represents the good deeds of God’s holy people. And the angel said to me, “Write this: Blessed are those who are invited to the wedding feast of the Lamb.” And he added, “These are true words that come from God.”

In the Ancient Greek, the word apocalypse means something a little different than what we generally think of today.

When we hear apocalypse, we imagine doomsday prophecies and cataclysmic events.

A better way to understand apocalypse in the context of this passage, however, is as an unveiling of things not previously known.

In these verses, God is unveiling to his people what is to come. He’s telling us how this cosmic story ends: with a joyful, long-awaited wedding feast, and we, the church, are the bride.

Life—especially life within the church—may be uncomfortable now, but we know that God has promised us eternal joy.

Application: In the midst of discomfort, frustration, or challenges in life or within the church, we can find comfort in the fact that God has already told us what happens in the end, and that as his church we will be his bride.

II. God Calls Us to More than Comfortable Christianity (vv. 7–8)

Revelation 19:7–8 NLT

Let us be glad and rejoice, and let us give honor to him. For the time has come for the wedding feast of the Lamb, and his bride has prepared herself. She has been given the finest of pure white linen to wear.” For the fine linen represents the good deeds of God’s holy people.

A bride doesn’t show up to a wedding wearing sweatpants and a T-shirt. No, a bride spends hours—sometimes even days, weeks, or months—preparing the perfect outfit, hairstyle, and jewelry so she can look as beautiful as possible for her groom.

The church is no different, for at the wedding of the Lamb we see that “his bride has made herself ready” (v. 7).

The church, however, doesn’t prepare herself solely by doing good works and striving to be better.

We’ll always fall short if we’re responsible for making ourselves ready.

Rather, the “fine linen, pure and white, was given to her to wear” (v. 8).

It’s a gift from God that we must accept. He spares no expense and makes every sacrifice necessary to prepare this beautiful dress, a dress that showcases his love for us, his bride.

This call to be made ready is uncomfortable, and requires the life-changing sacrifices and the embrace of things we may want to avoid that we’ve been talking about throughout this series. But it’s absolutely necessary.

This call to be made ready is uncomfortable, and requires the life-changing sacrifices and the embrace of things we may want to avoid that we’ve been talking about throughout this series. But it’s absolutely necessary.

The glory of the gospel is that when the church is absolutely different from the world, she invariably attracts it. -Martyn Lloyd-Jones

The more the church sounds and feels like the culture, the less people will feel the need to go. -John Piper

Is it possible that the church has lost her focus?

In our attempts to be cool, relevant, inviting—comfortable—we’ve lost, or at least buried, what makes us unique. The called out ones.

We’re the bride who forgets why she fell in love in the first place.

We’re a bride who often takes off her wedding ring in public.

We’ve lost eyes to see the loveliness of the covenant we are in because we’re too preoccupied with how skeptical onlookers see us.

We’ve forgotten the uncomfortable truth that a Christianity with no teeth, no offensiveness, no cost, and no discomfort is not really Christianity at all.

It is often the uncomfortable parts of church and Christianity that grows and stretches and builds the body of Christ to be effective in the world.

It attracts the masses, promising to be

It may be seeker-unfriendly, but it will be friendlier to seekers in the long run because it will actually transform them.

Uncomfortable Living

Rich man - Go sell everything & give the money to the poor. Then come follow me.

James & John - You will indeed drinking from the cup of my suffering.

Jesus celebrated the woman who gave her last two coins — all she had to live on.

Abraham was called to live his family and his hometown and travel to an unknown land.

Early converts to Christianity were under constant attack, jailed, and killed for their faith — including all of the apostles sans John.

When sending out the His 12 disciples, Jesus told them that He is sending them out as sheep among wolves and that they would be handed over to the courts, flogged with ships in the synagogues, and stand trial before governors and kings.

Jesus told His followers that if they loved their father or mother, son or daughter, more than Him, they were not worthy of being His.

As a forgiven people, we are commanded to forgive those who wrong 70x7

We’re told that the way to save our life is to give it up. To be first, we must become last.

Joseph was called to be an orphan in Egypt Jonah was called to be a foreigner in Nineveh Hannah sent her firstborn son away to serve in the temple Daniel was sent from Jerusalem to Babylon Nehemiah was sent from Susa to Jerusalem Abraham was sent to sacrifice his own so. Paul has to say goodbye to his heritage.

Joseph was called to be an orphan in Egypt

Joseph was called to be an orphan in Egypt Jonah was called to be a foreigner in Nineveh Hannah sent her firstborn son away to serve in the temple Daniel was sent from Jerusalem to Babylon Nehemiah was sent from Susa to Jerusalem Abraham was sent to sacrifice his own so. Paul has to say goodbye to his heritage.

Jonah was called to be a foreigner in Nineveh

Hannah sent her firstborn son away to serve in the temple

Daniel was sent from Jerusalem to Babylon

Nehemiah was sent from Susa to Jerusalem

Abraham was sent to sacrifice his own son

Paul has to say goodbye to his heritage.

What kind of god would put people through such agony?

What kind of god would put people through such agony.? What kind of god would give you families and then ask you to leave them or give you friends and then ask you to say goodbye? A God who knows that the deepest love is built not on passion or romance but on common mission and sacrifice That goodbye is. Really see ya tomorrow because he knows we are only pilgrims and that eternity is so close

What kind of god would give you families and then ask you to leave them or give you friends and then ask you to say goodbye?

A God who knows that the deepest love is built not on passion or romance but on common mission and sacrifice. That goodbye is really, “See ya tomorrow,” because He knows we are only pilgrims and that eternity is so close.

>>> This is countercultural living, but it’s the kind of living that ought to characterize the life the of a believer—and it’s the kind of living that draws people to Christ.

Jesus expounds on these countercultural ideas in a famous section of Scripture —> The Beatitudes:

Matthew 5:3–12 NLT

“God blesses those who are poor and realize their need for him, for the Kingdom of Heaven is theirs. God blesses those who mourn, for they will be comforted. God blesses those who are humble, for they will inherit the whole earth. God blesses those who hunger and thirst for justice, for they will be satisfied. God blesses those who are merciful, for they will be shown mercy. God blesses those whose hearts are pure, for they will see God. God blesses those who work for peace, for they will be called the children of God. God blesses those who are persecuted for doing right, for the Kingdom of Heaven is theirs. “God blesses you when people mock you and persecute you and lie about you and say all sorts of evil things against you because you are my followers. Be happy about it! Be very glad! For a great reward awaits you in heaven. And remember, the ancient prophets were persecuted in the same way.

mt5.3

If the church is to thrive in the twenty-first century, she must recover the jarring and profound paradoxes of what Christ calls her to embody: a kingdom where first is last, giving is receiving, dying is living, losing is finding, least is greatest, poor is rich, weakness is strength, serving is ruling.

It’s a kingdom where worldly comforts are nothing compared to the power of the Comforter in us; where all manner of uncomfortable things are endured for righteousness’ sake.

>>> Yet, in all of this, it’s important that we don’t lose sight of the reality that the bride is not you or I as individual Christians, but the Church as a cohesive whole.

It’s an all-for-one and one-for-all affair. We’re in this together.

This should fill us with love for the body of Christ and encourage us to commit to—and even grow fond of—the strange people, practices, and beliefs of our church community.

It is the work done in this community that is readying us for the wedding feast.

“The best witness Christians can offer to post-Christian America is simply to be the church, as fiercely and creatively a minority as we can manage. … Too many of our churches function as secular entertainment centers with religions morals slapped on top, when they should be functioning as the living, breathing body of Christ. We will need to commit ourselves more deeply to our faith, and we will need to do that in ways that seem odd to contemporary eyes” -Rod Dreher

Application: We should resist the tempting draw of empty, comfortable Christianity, remembering that it is the church, with all of its uncomfortableness and struggle and frustration, that will be the bride of the Lamb.

III. We Can Rest in the Hope and Anticipation of the Comfort That Is to Come (v. 9)

Revelation 19:9 NLT

And the angel said to me, “Write this: Blessed are those who are invited to the wedding feast of the Lamb.” And he added, “These are true words that come from God.”

As Christians, we have reason for hope that goes far beyond anything the world could imagine.

As Christians, we have reason for hope that goes far beyond anything the world could imagine.

We embrace an uncomfortable faith and an uncomfortable church because we know that one day we will be invited to the wedding supper of the Lamb, the event that all of creation, from the beginning of time, has been longing for.

This should also move us to share our faith with others: we want everyone to be blessed and invited to this feast.

The angel revealing these things to John seems to understand our tendency to lose hope, to doubt whether all that is said will be true.

“These are the true words of God,” he tells John to write.

We need this assurance. We need to be reminded, every day, that this consummation is not a fairytale, but a real event that will take place.

That is a promise that brings the greatest comfort of all.

“We are, mysteriously, part of a cosmic plan God has eternally known. And we have an eternal inheritance. The discomfort and disdain we endure in this life as a peculiar people will be a blip in the timeline of our infinite history. We will at last be the perfect church we presently long for; the unblemished bride at an unimaginable wedding feast. The dream will be real.” -Brett McCracken

Regardless of its routine, the reality of the church is revolutionary. However unpopular we are, our purpose is profound. As salt and light, we offer hope that our world so desperately needs—Christ in us, the hope of glory.

Application: The wedding supper of the Lamb is coming. It’s the reason we wake up early on Sunday mornings instead of sleep in, and it’s why place ourselves in uncomfortable situations instead of remaining in our comfort zones. We have a hope that everyone needs, and we should embrace it, rest in it, and share it.

Conclusion

Throughout this series, we’ve talked about the uncomfortable aspects of Christianity, the importance of church community, and the reason for it all. This uncomfortableness can either push us away from God or draw us closer to him than we’ve ever imagined.

This uncomfortableness can either push us away from God or draw us closer to him than we’ve ever imagined. When you feel uncomfortable at church, in your small group, in your faith, will you press into it or run from it? In the end, being uncomfortable can be an opportunity to experience the grace, mercy, and love of God in a tangible, life-altering way.

When you feel uncomfortable at church, in your small group, in your faith, will you press into it or run from it? In the end, being uncomfortable can be an opportunity to experience the grace, mercy, and love of God in a tangible, life-altering way.

Listen church: It’s going to be worth it.

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Communion

***Invite church to come forward to gather their elements***

Song: “Worth It All”

Bread

Luke 22:19 NLT

He took some bread and gave thanks to God for it. Then he broke it in pieces and gave it to the disciples, saying, “This is my body, which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me.”

1 Corinthians 11:23–24 NLT

For I pass on to you what I received from the Lord himself. On the night when he was betrayed, the Lord Jesus took some bread and gave thanks to God for it. Then he broke it in pieces and said, “This is my body, which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me.”

Wine

1cor11.

1 Corinthians 11:25–26 NLT

In the same way, he took the cup of wine after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant between God and his people—an agreement confirmed with my blood. Do this in remembrance of me as often as you drink it.” For every time you eat this bread and drink this cup, you are announcing the Lord’s death until he comes again.

1cor11.25-26

Luke 22:20 NLT

After supper he took another cup of wine and said, “This cup is the new covenant between God and his people—an agreement confirmed with my blood, which is poured out as a sacrifice for you.

Closing Song: “No One Higher”