Under the Fig Tree
Notes
Transcript
Intro
Intro
Is there anyone here who has ever prayed, or called out to God and wondered if you were the exception? Wondered if you were the one who had been living just outside His gaze. You just happened to be that person who was outside His scope and vision? It’s an understandable feeling when we are not receiving answers. Some times its likely we are not receiving the answers we are looking for. But sometimes, we just are not receiving a response, period.
One story that has bonded my mother-in-law and myself as one of our favorites comes from, Jim Cymbala, Pastor of the Brooklyn Tabernacle church.
In his book, “Fresh Wind, Fresh Fire”…Pastor Cymbala talks about when his oldest daughter Chrissy began to stray from his family, stray from the church, and stray from God. He shares it was right around the age of 16. He writes, as a pastor of a large congregation and affiliate branches, he admitted, he was one of the last to realize his daughter was in trouble. When he realized she was in trouble. He began to lecture, and threaten, withdraw financial support. He began to pray. His wife began praying but they weren’t getting the response from God they expected. They weren’t getting much of a response at all. During this time, their daughter would run away for days at a time, and had a boyfriend of rebellious tendencies, who was not the young man, they had prayed for their daughter for. One day Jim got a call from a pastor friend who had agreed to talk to their daughter, and who their daughter had very reluctantly agreed to talk to. Jim got a response he was not looking for, a response he didn’t want to accept. His pastor friend explained the reality to him, that Chrissy was now 18, like it or Chrissy was going to be making her own decisions, and that Jim was going to have to come to grips with this. Jim hung up the phone more frustrated than before. What he couldn’t accept was his daughter living without Jesus in her heart. He’d received all sorts of advice, what to do, what to pray for. But nothing was working. He resigned that he would take a break from trying to control the situation and he would let Chrissy be. She wasn’t living with her parents anymore. He stopped pushing and began praying. He decided he wouldn’t even talk to anyone about her anymore except Jesus. He preached 3 services per Sunday and would cry on the way there and cry on the way home.
One Tuesday prayer meeting, a prayer warrior in his church passed him a note requesting they stop with the outlined bible study and planned prayers but asked if they could all soley pray for his daughter. Feeling a little guilty only to pray for his own personal nightmare, he relented and the entire assembled body began to pray. He writes of this encounter that it was so spirit filled, when he got home and sipping his hot beverage with his wife, he communicated to her, that “it was done.” God would give them an answer soon.
32 hours later Jim’s wife Carole, ran into their bedroom. She’s here she’s here! Chrissy is Home!
Chrissy’s first words? “Who was praying for me dad, who was praying for me?” That Tuesday night God had awakened her from her stupor and had sent her home. She came to a point of repentance.
Before we dive in, and before we pray once more. I want you also to know the type of praying were going to be talking about today is not of the easy and immediate variety. Its the sore knees variety. It’s the kind where we are even tempted to wonder if someone listening, or if we are being seen at all.
With that said, let’s pray together.
If you are here and an Adventist, you have something in common with the disciples. I’m sure most of you know but for anyone unclear, the word Advent simply means “awaiting the arrival of someone of importance.” Listen, if you are waiting for the saviour Messiah to come! You are an Adventist. We of course are awaiting the 2nd coming of the Messiah. The Jews were waiting on a first Advent. Most were not looking for the Messiah in the way that he came, or for the right purpose of his coming, but they were waiting expectantly.
John the Baptist had gained quite a following and had been preparing many to receive the Messiah. His closest disciples were looking, and when they encountered Jesus they followed. The disciples, Andrew and Philip, when they encountered Christ Jesus, they immediately went to recruit more. Andrew went to his brother Simon Peter and Philip went to his friend Nathanael.
Take a moment and turn in your Bibles to John 1, verse 45. change slide
Philip found Nathanael and said to him, “We have found him of whom Moses in the Law and also the prophets wrote, Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.”
Listen in some ways we have to infer or create a hypothesis for what the mindset of Nathanael was when Philip approaches him. We have a few clues.
The fact that Philip approaches Nathanael after being called himself by Jesus indicates Philip knows Nathanael as a fellow Advent seeker, perhaps even another John the baptist disciple. He is clearly seeking someone, as was Philip. However, it does appear Nathanael is fatigued with Messiah watch. Maybe hes had his water balloon of enthusiasm punctured one to many times. change slide
46 Nathanael said to him, “Can anything good come out of Nazareth?”
Kind of sounds like Nathanael has some experience with people from Nazareth, and it looks like he’s the one ready to poke holes, in Philip’s latest theory.
Maybe I am inferring to much here, but could it be that Nathanael has had his heart broken before and is guarding his heart.
Is there anyone here who has been heartbroken before, pray with a guarded heart? Maybe you are afraid to pray to big because you don’t have the confidence you will receive a response at all. I’ve been like that before. I’ve been afraid to pray big.
In fact 17 years ago I learned a big lesson about praying and believing.
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Nosoca Rain story
older camper, younger kids looked up to me, Kent prayed for rain to stop, finally i lowered my head also. Rain stopped. (4 minutes roughly 400 words)
---You know I had heard and read about and believed in many miracles taking place, but when I had the chance to pray and be a part of one, my mind was skeptical.
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Are their any long time Seventh Day Adventist Christians here this morning? Its a silly question because I know there are many of you here. When I say long time or maybe even lifetime, I’m meaning you have been an Adventist for over 30-40 even 50 years or longer.
If you have been in the church that long I would imagine you have attended a few prophecy seminars in your day. I want to preface by letting you know, I believe 100% that Jesus is coming again and soon. I think the signs of the times are real and are pointing to his return. The problem for many lifetime adventists is some of us have at different times become complacent because the reality is you have been hearing Jesus’s 2nd coming would be happening soon since you were as young as the kids who were baptized this morning. Now you are not as young as you once were, and “soon” has felt like a really long time. Are we growing skeptical that Jesus will indeed come back? Are we starting to poke holes in the signs of the times.
Here’s my advice. Be mindful who you are listening to. We can allow our emotions, our politics, our culture, our traditions, or whatever is popular, at times influence what we are looking for.
Sometimes we hero worship certain preachers, and authors also. Well if he said it, it must be true. Listen some of you follow mega church pastors, and I am not saying we can’t glean some great material from some of these guys. I have been blessed by much of what Andy Stanley writes and says. He’s got some good incites, but hes not infallible.
Since I was 6 years old, ive enjoyed speaking and writing of Pastor Dwight Nelson, Doug Bachelor, Mark Finley. Those men have clearly been blessed by God and have been ordained and commissioned to present the gospel to the world. But they would likely be the first ones to tell you that they as individuals are not infallible. There are some I wouldn’t name though who are drawing crowds and a following who are speaking as if they are infallible. Some are out there setting dates for prophetic events including Christ’s coming.
Jesus addressed this fairly clearly: change slide
“But concerning that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but the Father only.
If there is anyone following date setters, i plead with you to keep studying for yourself and not be seduced into a false message.
That being said, Folks Jesus is coming and the signs of his coming are becoming louder and louder, clearer and clearer. Wars, and rumors of war, political and civil unrest. Famines, pollution, earthquakes, tornados, and hurricanes....but also let us not forget, the gospel going around the world.
Be skeptical of date setters, and mean spirited evangelists. If a preacher doesn’t have the love of God in his heart and doesn’t preach about the good news---more concerned with identifying those who would burn than God’s love and grace—you are listening to the wrong person.
I say all this to say....my friends, BELIEVE AND LIVE AS IF YOU BELIEVE THAT JESUS IS COMING AGAIN.
So was that it, was Nathanael growing complacent in his looking for the Messiah? Is that why he poked holes in Philip’s story? Can anything good come out of Nazareth?
However I do love Philip’s response. “come and see.”
There are people out there who quickly dismiss seventh day adventists as a cult. That is the furthest thing from the truth. Our denomination is a Bible believing protestant Christian denomination…but many, for whatever reason, won’t believe that.
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In the small town of Banner Elk, NC, the first Christian churches to come to the area was the Banner Elk Seventh Day adventist church. I pastored there for 4 years before moving here. Ms. Wanda Hindman, now in her 90’s has lived in that town and gone to that church her entire life. She can remember when the town of Banner Elk got electricity and when she saw her first car. Most all the town locals know Wanda. She told me once she overheard one of her non-sda friends whisper to another lady. “That Wanda is such a nice lady, if only she didn’t belong to that cult.”
Wanda told me she was hurt but instead wanted to invite this woman to church and see for herself what we adventists were about. She wanted this woman to come and see for herself.
I’ve been asked at the dentist office, what do we believe in. Well its hard to answer that question with all those utensils in your mouth. Sometimes I want to just say, “Hey come and see!”
This past week our next door neighbors tragically lost one of their sons. He was 21 years old, and he was found one day not alive. There is so much I want to share with them, and maybe the Lord will lend more opportunities to share. But in that moment, they didn’t need a sermon, they needed their lawn mowed, they needed a frozen lasagna, a card, and a hug.
I came across a quote from Desire of Ages pg. 142 which read
“Our influence upon others depends not so much upon what we say but upon what we are.”
The same way Philip called his friend to come and see who this Jesus was. Show your friends and neighbors who and what you are. I’ve not seen many argued into the church. But I know a few of you who came as a result of an invitation and came and saw for yourself.
Jesus saw Nathanael coming toward him and said of him, “Behold, an Israelite indeed, in whom there is no deceit!” Nathanael said to him, “How do you know me?” Jesus answered him, “Before Philip called you, when you were under the fig tree, I saw you.”
Nathanael had been seen. Philip had been used as an instrument to call on Nathanael, but make no mistake. God knew Nathanael. He knew the circumstance of Nathanael under the fig tree.
Perhaps the fig tree had been spot of study and prayer. Perhaps this had been a place of crisis, where he had cried out ot the Lord. Perhaps under the fig tree Nathanael had wondered if God was real or not, or if there was anyone looking back at him.
I have been working with kids and teens since I was 17 years old my first year working in summer camp ministries. If there is one conclusion I have come to about young people, is that even the most quiet reserved shy child wants to be seen, heard, and understood. And many are growing up believing that no one does understand their inner turmoil. I observe that kids do have their unique traits and have distinguishing characteristics that make them special and unique. However I also don’t believe their temptations are totally unique, atleast not so unique that not another person has gone through it. Sometimes I so badly want them to understand that we serve a God who can sympathize with our struggle and who has been tested and tempted. He knows the agony we go through. He knows the tears we have all cried.
When I was seminary, graduate school, I had a part time job working as a student dean for the men’s dormitory. In August we were taking the Resident Assistants on a retreat in preparation for the school year. I was asked to be one of the drivers of the vans. This was my first time ever feeling like a chaperone. This was my first time feeling “old.” I was 24 driving a van full of 19 year olds, but they weren’t looking at me or talking to me as one of their peers. They were talking to me like their school bus driver, or worse as a staff. When we pulled up to our stop, one of them said, “Thanks SIR”…and the rest hopped out with a sense of entitlement and expectation. I might’ve been a nameless uber driver to them. I felt I had just transitioned to college student to full fledge adult. It did not feel as good as I thought it would.
In his book, Everybody Always, author Bob Goff recounts a story where he had been flown down to speak at a conference at Disney World in Orlando. His reps had sent him a stretch limousine at the airport. The driver was waiting at the baggage claim holding a sign that read “Bob Goff.”
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When Bob greeted the driver and found the man to pleasant and friendly. When they got on the road, Bob began to chat with his driver. He told him, I bet you meet a lot of interesting people driving a limo. The driver smiled and said, “yes sir I sure have.” He said “I am going to miss driving for people” and preceded to share after 25 years driving, he was going to be retiring next month. Bob got an idea in his head. He asked, “Friend have you ever ridden in the back of the limo before.” He said, of course not…I’d get fired. Bob said, well you are retiring next month, want to risk it. Pull over. Bob writes, “and you know what? He did. We both hopped out of the limo, and swapped places and I even got to wear the hat.” Imagine the surprise when we rode up to Disney world and I was in the driver’s seat and the 25 year veteran limo driver road in the seat of prominence. Bob had seen an opportunity to see a hard working man, in an often thankless occupation. He saw him and decided to give him a story he would like never forget.
What happens when we see people the way Jesus does. What if we looked through the masks at church and when we asked how each other are on Sabbath mornings, we truly wanted a genuine answer because we genuinely cared.
When Nathanael spoke to Philip he had prejudice in his heart even though he was, in fact seeking the Messiah. When Jesus looked at him and spoke to him. He didn’t say, “Look its Nathanael, the one who doesn’t trust people from Nazareth.” He didn’t identify him by his sin, he identified him as an Israelite with whom there was no deceit.
Remember Nathanael had been challenged by Philip to come and see for himself. Jesus didn’t appear as a typical rabbi or priest. He wasn’t being talked at as one beneath. He was truly being seen. Because he had been seen, he also now could see.
Desire of Ages surmises in this encounter. change slide
At the time when Philip called him, Nathanael had withdrawn to a quiet grove to meditate upon the announcement of John and the prophecies concerning the Messiah. He prayed that if the one announced by John was the deliverer, it might be made known to him, and the Holy Spirit rested upon him with assurance that God had visited His people and raised up a horn of salvation for them. Philip knew that his friend was searching the prophecies, and while Nathanael was praying under a fig tree, Philip discovered his retreat. They had often prayed together in this secluded spot hidden by the foliage.
White, E. G. (1898). The Desire of Ages (Vol. 3, p. 140). Pacific Press Publishing Association.
and after he encountered Jesus....
It was enough. The divine Spirit that had borne witness to Nathanael in his solitary prayer under the fig tree now spoke to him in the words of Jesus.
Though in doubt and somewhat in prejudice, Nathanael came to Christ with an honest desire for truth, and his desire was met.
Desire of Ages continues and and explains: change slide
Desire of Ages Chapter 14—“We Have Found the Messias”
If Nathanael had trusted to the rabbis for guidance, he would never have found Jesus. It was by seeing and judging for himself that he became a disciple. So in the case of many today whom prejudice withholds from good. How different would be the result if they would “come and see”!
Psalms 34:8 springs to mind: change slide
“Oh, taste and see that the Lord is good.”
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Nathanael answered him, “Rabbi, you are the Son of God! You are the King of Israel!” Jesus answered him, “Because I said to you, ‘I saw you under the fig tree,’ do you believe? You will see greater things than these.” And he said to him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, you will see heaven opened, and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man.”
And thus began a most incredible journey for Nathanael along side Jesus with the other disciples.
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You know when I was analyzing this story, I was tempted to believe Jesus was scolding Nathanael for believing when Jesus revealed he had somewhat miraculously seen him, like somehow his faith had been to small. Somewhat similar to when Jesus had risen and Thomas wouldn’t believe until he saw Jesus’s scars from being nailed to a cross. On further review, this is not scolding but affirming Nathanael for getting up from under the fig tree and coming to see with his own eyes the answer to his prayers had been made a reality.
This brings me back to why it is important not hero worship even our greatest preachers and evangelist. I would never want you to hear a sermon from myself, or Pastor Don or any other minister and just simply take our word for it, on the message we are sharing. Look for the confirmation in the scriptures yourselves come and see what is in this great book.
Like Nathanael, we need to study God’s word for ourselves, and pray for the enlightenment of the Holy Spirit. The same God who saw Nathanael under the fig tree will see us in the secret place of prayer. Angels are near to those who in humility seek for divine guidance.
Those of you who are praying, and being met with silence. I want you to know, even if it may not always seem like it. Your prayers are being heard and the gaze of the Father is truly upon you. I will try not bring up our daughter Elizabeth change slide every time I talk about God hearing our prayers, but right now my wife and I can’t stop singing our praises heavenward after spending the last 4 and half years praying and either being met with no’s (which were really not yet) or silence. Lack of response does not mean you are not being heard. I believe God had a plan for us before our knees were on the ground. I remember when we first heard the cost, that may have put me on my knees a little longer. Guess what, God provided for us in that area to.
My friends, today this morning…it is my prayer that each of you know today. God sees you wherever you find yourself. Whether you are planted beside your favorite tree, closet, bedroom, or crying on your drive into work, church, or home. He sees you. He looks fondly at you and like Nathanael, He is ready to show you greater things than you are even praying for.