The Faithful Struggle
Scripture John 7:1-24
Faith is not only a commitment to the promises of Christ; faith is also a commitment to the demands of Christ.
... William Barclay, The Letters of James and Peter
7 After this, Jesus went around in Galilee, purposely staying away from Judea because the Jews there were waiting to take his life. 2 But when the Jewish Feast of Tabernacles was near, 3 Jesus’ brothers said to him, “You ought to leave here and go to Judea, so that your disciples may see the miracles you do. 4 No one who wants to become a public figure acts in secret. Since you are doing these things, show yourself to the world.” 5 For even his own brothers did not believe in him. 6 Therefore Jesus told them, “The right time for me has not yet come; for you any time is right. 7 The world cannot hate you, but it hates me because I testify that what it does is evil. 8 You go to the Feast. I am not yet a going up to this Feast, because for me the right time has not yet come.” 9 Having said this, he stayed in Galilee. 10 However, after his brothers had left for the Feast, he went also, not publicly, but in secret. 11 Now at the Feast the Jews were watching for him and asking, “Where is that man?” 12 Among the crowds there was widespread whispering about him. Some said, “He is a good man.” Others replied, “No, he deceives the people.” 13 But no one would say anything publicly about him for fear of the Jews. Jesus Teaches at the Feast 14 Not until halfway through the Feast did Jesus go up to the temple courts and begin to teach. 15 The Jews were amazed and asked, “How did this man get such learning without having studied?” 16 Jesus answered, “My teaching is not my own. It comes from him who sent me. 17 If anyone chooses to do God’s will, he will find out whether my teaching comes from God or whether I speak on my own. 18 He who speaks on his own does so to gain honor for himself, but he who works for the honor of the one who sent him is a man of truth; there is nothing false about him. 19 Has not Moses given you the law? Yet not one of you keeps the law. Why are you trying to kill me?” 20 “You are demon-possessed,” the crowd answered. “Who is trying to kill you?” 21 Jesus said to them, “I did one miracle, and you are all astonished. 22 Yet, because Moses gave you circumcision (though actually it did not come from Moses, but from the patriarchs), you circumcise a child on the Sabbath. 23 Now if a child can be circumcised on the Sabbath so that the law of Moses may not be broken, why are you angry with me for healing the whole man on the Sabbath? 24 Stop judging by mere appearances, and make a right judgment.” [1]
There is little that is “natural” about serving God. The scripture refers to the “natural man”.
14 nBut the natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; nor can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.[2]
There are no “natural” Christians. There may be certain things that come easy or natural to us but living for God is not one of them. We are “warred against” by our connections with the world in which we live. God calls us to live against what comes natural, to live self-controlled, godly lives.
There is tremendous blessing to living in this way. But like most other things, inactivity lends itself to atrophy. What we do not use will be of diminished capacity.
Engaging in the struggle creates a “sharpness” in us that is invigorating. There is no feeling in the world like being in charge of your life.
Jacob wrestled with God
It is often those who are closest to God who become blind to His plans. Jesus faced the skepticism of his own family members.
1. We struggle to understand His Tactics
After this, Jesus went around in Galilee, purposely staying away from Judea because the Jews there were waiting to take his life. 2 But when the Jewish Feast of Tabernacles was near, 3 Jesus’ brothers said to him, “You ought to leave here and go to Judea, so that your disciples may see the miracles you do. 4 No one who wants to become a public figure acts in secret. Since you are doing these things, show yourself to the world.” 5 For even his own brothers did not believe in him.
[ They saw that He was supernaturally gifted and yet they did not believe in Him. The miracles alone were not sufficient to convince his own family of his identity. We enjoy it when God does the unexplainable among us. That is truly incredible. Would people believe more if we could see more of the miraculous. Those who already believe would be strengthened and encouraged. Would more people come to Christ if we saw these things more regularly? I don’t think so. It didn’t work for Jesus when it came to people who would follow Him through thin. There are loads of “thick” followers. They will follow Him through thick, but not thin.
[ They felt that people should see what He was doing and probably were somewhat dismayed at the loss of followers that he had just incurred. The Feast of Tabernacles was perhaps the most “festive” of the feasts and would be attended at least, by every male in the country. It was an opportunity for him to regain lost ground by going public.
[ They assumed that He wanted to become a public figure and should become a self-promoter. He needed to market himself. It made no sense to them that he was not doing this.
If it were up to us, as godly as we may be, we would do things much differently than God does. What is there about God that would ever make sense to us. We do not understand His attributes. There are “natural “ laws that govern our existence that He has created and stands outside of. The Bible speaks of the “mystery of godliness”
16 Beyond all question, the mystery of godliness is great:
He c appeared in a body, d
was vindicated by the Spirit,
was seen by angels,
was preached among the nations,
was believed on in the world,
was taken up in glory. [3]
Who would have chosen to redeem the world as God has chosen? We would have people spend lifetimes repaying their debts to us and feel justified in that. We would forgive but never forget. And there would be limits to our forgiveness. Once, twice, maybe three times? Peter thought it noble that a person might forgive another 7 times as thought this was way beyond the call of duty. We terminate marriages that we have asked God to bless because we develop irritation lists that become unbearable in our eyes. And the we walk away as though we have done all to avoid the fracture.
How many times has God forgiven us of sins that we have previously committed. And though we don’t deserve it and though we might even presume upon His forgiveness for our premeditated sin, He still abundantly forgives. We would never do it and we want to qualify the practice of God’s forgiveness so that we can make it attainable. We want to be able to walk away justified in our lack of forgiveness at some point.
God will never walk away from you. He will love you to the end. As long as there is breath in your body a brainwaves on a monitor, he will labor with you and love you, hoping that you will come to Him.
We don’t understand why He would tolerate His enemies. Why should God put up with the ranting of the creatures who question the existence of their Creator? Why should he not execute judgment here and now?
2. We struggle to understand His Timing
“6 Therefore Jesus told them, “The right time for me has not yet come; for you any time is right.”
Mary and Martha struggled with this “timing” thing. They wanted Jesus to come because their brother Lazarus was deathly ill. The scripture records Jesus response to their desperate request.
5 Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus. 6 Yet when he heard that Lazarus was sick, he stayed where he was two more days. [4]
When he finally came they confronted him about his timing.
21 “Lord,” Martha said to Jesus, “if you had been here, my brother would not have died.[5]
We don’t understand His timing today either and we like it less than we understand it. We have financial needs pressing upon us and fear disaster. It’s far from the crisis point but we doubt Him because he doesn’t solve our future problems in the present, the now. The worries of the future rob us of God’s presence today. Many people spend their lifetimes wishing for a better day.
Present Tense
It was spring
But it was summer I wanted,
The warm days,
And the great outdoors.
It was summer,
But it was fall I wanted,
The colorful leaves and the cool dry air.
It was fall,
But it was the winter I wanted,
The beautiful snow,
And the joy of the holiday season.
It was winter,
But it was spring I wanted,
The warmth
And the blossoming of nature.
I was a child,
But it was adulthood I wanted.
The freedom,
And the respect.
I was 20
But it was 30 I wanted,
To be mature,
And sophisticated.
I was middle-aged,
But it was 20 I wanted,
The youth,
And the free spirit.
I was retired,
But it was middle-aged I wanted,
The presence of mind,
Without limitations,
My life was over.
But I never got what I wanted.
It is so sad when we are robbed of the rich experience of God’s peace for fear of many things which never happen, many things which find natural resolution, many things that find supernatural resolution in a natural manner, many things which we imagine to be problems that never exist, . . .
Don’t overlook the obvious here, friends. With God, one day is as good as a thousand years, a thousand years as a day. God isn’t late with his promise as some measure lateness. He is restraining himself on account of you, holding back the End because he doesn’t want anyone lost. He’s giving everyone space and time to change.[6]
I’ve never been a dancer. I admire grace and I am not it. I remember attending my first and last dance as a Jr. High student. I was self-conscious enough in obscurity without asking a girl to dance with me when I was sure that she would turn me down anyway. That was rejection enough. Then to get out on the floor and make a fool of myself. I am traumatized just thinking of it.
And then I had a Scottish principal. Stuart Lance Arthur McAdam. We called him by his initials – “SLAM”. He wanted me to join an elite group of Jr. High kids who would learn a highland dance. That was bad enough. Then he wanted me to wear a kilt. Now if you are of Scottish heritage, this could make you proud. If you are raised on Grand Manan it makes you a target.
I didn’t know how to say “No” back then. I must have been out of the classroom the day that my teacher taught people how to say “No”. I still struggle to enunciate this tiny word. I have discovered that it is hard to say and hard to hear. “Yes” seems to make people happy and “no” seems to make them angry.
There I was on the stage in front of the student body. I have repressed memories of what happened next. I don’t remember the other 7 people who were there on stage with me. I’m missing about a year of my life as a result of that experience.
Then, in my adult years there were “action” choruses. I learned how to play the guitar so I wouldn’t have to do them.
In the Living Christmas Tree in Moncton they have “choreography”. That’s when you do “steps” as you sing and lip synch a song. I tried a practice one night, thinking that perhaps my sense of timing had matured and perhaps I could do what they were doing as gracefully as some of them were doing it. My attitude was terrible, my performance was worse and I was asked to do my favorite step – step aside. I delightfully accommodated their wish and was never asked again.
Clapping is about the extent of my “comfortable” involvement in action choruses. Ruby Jean wanted me to join the “Singing Men” this past summer. That wasn’t a bad idea until she told me that the singing men were also the “Singing, Walking and Clapping Men”. That’s multi-tasking and beyond me. I CAN’T do it!!! It’s a nightmarish thing.
God’s timing is much simpler than any of that. Basically it is God leading or initiating and my responding. Sounds easy on one hand but most of us struggle with it as well. We forget who is leading and the dance becomes a struggle or a wrestling match. We pirouette off on some strange tangent in the name of follower-ship and find ourselves partner-less. Do we ever create problems when we insist on leading God rather than following Him. What should be a beautiful well-timed sequence takes on the appearance of some pushing and shoving match. There’s no music, no beauty, no flow, no sequence. It just appears awkward, uncoordinated, disjointed.
We know what it is when things work as they should and we know what it is when things don’t work as God intends. Sure as anything you’ll find someone out of step, wrestling with God, pushing and shoving.
Are you dancing with God or wrestling with Him?
The other part of the equation is equally difficult. God leads, takes initiative and then . . . we respond. That’s not easy either. It sort of leads us to our next point. We struggle to understand His teaching.
3. We struggle to understand His Teaching
14 Not until halfway through the Feast did Jesus go up to the temple courts and begin to teach. 15 The Jews were amazed and asked, “How did this man get such learning without having studied?” 16 Jesus answered, “My teaching is not my own. It comes from him who sent me.
If you think that they are hard to understand, you ought to try to preach them. One of the things that I understand is that we will not understand what we will not take the time to think over.
If we are to gain an understanding of God’s Word it will come as we take time with it. You can’t hurry it. It needs to soak into your soul.
þ It’s not a theology issue
DENOMINATIONAL LIGHT BULB JOKES
How many Baptists does it take to change a light bulb? CHANGE???????
How many Pentecostals does it take to change a light bulb? Ten. One to change the bulb and nine to pray against the spirit of darkness.
How many TV evangelists does it take to change a light bulb? One. But for the message of light to continue, send in your donation today.
How many liberals does it take to change a light bulb? At least ten, as they need to hold a debate on whether or not the light bulb exists. Even if they can agree upon the existence of the light bulb, they still may not change it to keep from alienating those who might use other forms of light.
How many Wesleyans does it take to change a light bulb? Just one will do. It helps if you can find one who is willing to put in a bulb that has not been used before. Just because it worked ten years ago does not mean that it will work today.
How many Nazarenes does it take to change a light bulb? Two. One to change the bulb. Another to replace the new with the old after shaking it and finding it can be revived with a second blessing.
How many United Church of Christ members does it take to change a light bulb? Eleven. One to change the light bulb. And ten more to organize a covered dish supper that will follow the changing of the bulb service.
þ It’s not a denominational issue
There are as many brands of Christians in this world as a person can imagine. And they are founded upon the same scriptures but incredibly diverse or so they think. And every denomination thinks that we have it right. Wesleyans will admit that there may be some discrepancies that we will discover when we get to heaven – minor things. But we don’t have a clue what those things might be. We’re pretty much sure that we are right and others are mistaken. And you know what, every other denomination thinks the same about their particular perspectives. And all these belief systems are shored up by the teachings of highly educated spiritual persons. None of us are all wrong but we are all wrong at some point somehow.
þ It’s an obedience issue.
We struggle at the most basic level relative to Christ’s teachings. When I discover that my life is at variance with what I understand the scriptures to be saying, what do I do? What is my response to God’s initiative? When he turns the lights on for me what do I do? Do I deny the light, dim the light on my righteous rheostat or do I simply turn it off?
Jesus indicates that God’s will, His direction, the discerning of truth and error is clarified by obedience.
17 If anyone chooses to do God’s will, he will find out whether my teaching comes from God or whether I speak on my own.
The person who chooses to obey God will find truth and easily recognize error. And obedience is a lifestyle not a solitary event.
And once again, are you dancing or wrestling? Does your life have a flow of the spirit and a degree of elegance about it or is it just a shoving match between you and someone that you cannot possibly persevere against?
----
a Some early manuscripts do not have yet.
[1]The Holy Bible : New International Version. 1996, c1984 (electronic ed.) (Jn 7:1). Grand Rapids: Zondervan.
n Matt. 16:23
[2]The New King James Version. 1996, c1982 (1 Co 2:14). Nashville: Thomas Nelson.
c Some manuscripts God
d Or in the flesh
[3]The Holy Bible : New International Version. 1996, c1984 (electronic ed.) (1 Ti 3:16). Grand Rapids: Zondervan.
[4]The Holy Bible : New International Version. 1996, c1984 (electronic ed.) (Jn 11:5). Grand Rapids: Zondervan.
[5]The Holy Bible : New International Version. 1996, c1984 (electronic ed.) (Jn 11:21). Grand Rapids: Zondervan.
[6]Peterson, E. H. (2003). The Message : The Bible in contemporary language (2 Pe 3:8-9). Colorado Springs, Colo.: NavPress.