The Evidence of God's Presence

The Evidence of God's Presence

March 13, 2005

Pastor Earl Dunbar

John 11:45-53

Romans 5:1-5

There are a couple of business practices I was thinking about this week. It's happened to me I don't know if it has happened to you. But you hear this advertisement of a product and it sounds really good. You get ready to buy and there’s something in you that says I want to investigate this a little bit. So you investigate it a little bit more. Then all of a sudden there are these paragraphs of fine print that suddenly change the amount of what you were buying. The amount of the product you are buying. It changes it from a little bit to this enormous amount. The other is going to someplace because you have heard these appliances or something is on sale. It's on sale and it is a clearance. It seems like a wonderful deal. You get there and you ask about it and the salesperson says, "I'm sorry, but we're out of that. Here's this other thing that I know you will like." It's 10 times the price of what you were thinking of paying when you came in the door. But, here it is. The fine print being the first, and the bait and switch being the second. Have you ever thought that God has pulled a bait and switch on you? Have you ever thought that God has added a bunch of fine print to your life? After all, most of us would say that being a Christian is having everything go well. Being a Christian means that you're happy. Being a Christian means that you're successful and that all of your kids behave. Being a Christian means that all of your desires are fulfilled. Unfortunately to the outside world being a Christian means you are American citizen. Outside the borders of America, “No thank you, I don't want that”. You have a nationalistic religion. In some quarters being a Christian means that you're successful white folk. In other quarters being a Christian is a BMW with a fish symbol going about 70. Be honest, you know people who think that. The problem is, we also kind of sort of support that. Isn't it true inside that we think that because we become a Christian that therefore, that everything ought to be fair? That everything ought to be good? That ought we to be happy? We just get interested in Christ.. and we just start investigating it. Then wait a minute, suffering? What is this? What is up with this? Cancer? Christians don't get cancer. Christians don't have limbs removed. They don't die in war. They don't have their spouses leave them. No, I don't want that. I want the big teeth version. Where everybody is smiling with beautiful teeth. Where everybody has four cars and beautiful spouses that always attend to their needs. (Some are laughing harder than others). We live in a fallen world. As we said over the course of the last three weeks, we both live in a fallen world, and we contribute to it. Both are true. And because of that, stuff happens. Some of it is our own making. Some of it is not. No matter whether the suffering comes from our own hand as a consequence or the suffering comes because of living in a fallen world. No matter what it is, when we hit that suffering we want to hit the door. And when we hit that time that’s unfair and suffering and pain and all of that, we think we're alone. We think that somehow God hates us. We dare not even suggest that we are going through any problems. Because that other person is going to say, "what sin did you commit? Tell me." When in sometimes that might be true. Though we are all forgiven. Sometimes that's not true, and we have just been hit from the blind side. See I have some good news for us, because if we are going to follow Christ, there will be bad times. This isn't happy talk, there are going to be bad times, but that is the best news of our faith. The good news is this, when you bear the marks you bear Jesus's power and presence. When you bear the marks, you bear Jesus's power and presence. You see far from being alone the very marks that we bear from following Christ, the very marks that we bear to agree to go through the consequences because of our sin because we know that we're forgiven and we know God doesn’t hate us, but the consequences are for our own good. When we do those things we bear Jesus’s power and presence. And today I want to share with you the two scriptures that Nancy just read. What we reap as we bear his marks. We are in the third part of this series, and we saw the first week that to be a disciple means to be a believer; there isn't a separation. To be a disciple means that we bear the marks. Last week, we talk about that bearing the marks are a transformation process. We start with a small thing. In the everyday living, we do every day follow a little bit more and a little bit more and a little bit more. Today we are taking a look at the fact that as we face hard times, we will bear Jesus's power and presence. So first we see that the marks of Christ are the marks of power, not powerlessness.

John 11:45 - 53. John wrote in his gospels that even when I am weak then he is strong. This is a wonderful, wonderful passage to illustrate this. Because Jesus understands all suffering. The context is very important here. Jesus is told that his good friend Lazarus is sick. But Jesus doesn't leave right away. The whole other matter. A whole other sermon. But Jesus, why don't you come now? But he does not. He waits two and three days. By the time he does respond and goes back to see Lazarus, Lazarus is dead. And now he must confront and comfort Mary and Martha who both come to him but very separately. They process life very differently. But Jesus has the same message in basic for both of them. I am the victor over death. Just hold on a minute, because I'm going do something. I am going to show you. What he does, he raises Lazarus from the dead in front of an audience. And John sees this as the anchor point for the rest of the gospel as we move toward the cross. Do you know that about half of John's Gospel deals with about the last two weeks? And it starts here. It accelerates through to the cross and the empty tomb. He sees this as the linchpin moment with which all the other things began, pardon the pun for today, "snowball." And now we get into the text. We see right away that some people have responded to this. They have responded. They have come to faith. Exactly what Jesus had intended. Jesus had intended this to help Lazarus, yes, but to have other people go WOW! this is the Messiah. This is what Jesus wanted. Remember that Jesus didn’t come just so that people would say, no. He wanted everyone to say, yes. Especially his own people. And He comes and he raises Lazarus. Some people are joyful and happy and excited. This extraordinary event has had its day in these people's lives. Many of the Jews, who had seen this would been with Mary, believed in him. But some of them did not. Not only did some of them not, they go to the Pharisees to tattle. Pharisees, did you see what he did? Pharisees, he raised this person from the dead. He can't do that. You can't do that. Only God can do that. Now they began to foster division behind Jesus's back. Have you ever had somebody go behind your back after you did them a kind deed? Jesus understands. These are his people. These are the one whom he is chosen, and now they are conspiring behind his back. Jesus knows. The Sanhedrin is called. It is the larger body. The high priest is in charge of the whole proceedings. Now they begin to murmur among themselves. I want you to just picture a big room where people are standing perhaps sitting and they are jostling back and forth with their word, and it's getting deeper and the words are getting louder. And people are shouting over each other. Again it is getting louder every minute of the conversation. And it's like that, if we continue with this, Jesus is going to get out of control. Jesus needs to get in control. We need to rein the guy in because if we don't Rome is going to take notice, the word " our place." They are going to knock us off our pedestal. We are no longer going to have power. And now Rome is going to come in and clean house because these people will not follow somebody else. Rome is not going to like that and now there will be a slaughter. Have you ever done something for somebody and they totally misunderstood your intentions? They think you may have meant for ill and you meant it for good? Jesus understands. Here is Jesus coming and raising from the dead in which there should have been hats thrown in the air. Excitement! Now they're plotting behind his back thinking this a political ploy. Jesus understands. Jesus knows all of the evil we go through. It's typical of human beings that this Jesus is going to limit our freedoms so He must be stopped. That there is a danger if this Jesus is left unchecked. So he must be reined in. You see that is human nature. So there will be times in which motives are going to be misunderstood. Where plotting is going to happen. Where maybe we are going to be infringed from time to time. And Jesus understands. It is precisely at those moments that we need to remember that Jesus understands all suffering. And so any mark of suffering is a reminder of his power, because God is at work. Now this din of noise, (I want you to keep he picturing it) This din of noise rises to a crescendo until finally a man named Caiphas stands up. He is the head of the Sadducees. It was written in ancient literature that the Sadducees were not known for tact. So he gets up and shouts, you are all stupid, shut up! I've had enough. Don't you remember our law? It says is it more expedient for one to die for the many. See in their law, one was writing, and I found it fascinating. It was thought that if you are in a group of Jewish people, and somebody came in general and said I want one life out of this group. I want one. That the group would band together and die if necessary, for that person. They would not give that person up. But it was also said that if that same group came and said I want Joe, the group would give Joe up. Because it was more expedient for the one to go then for the entire group to go. The difference was if the person was named specifically. That was the difference. There's no evidence at how much that had In Caiphas' s mind when he is saying that, whether it's just purely the Romans if we kill the guy he's going to be out of the way. The people will settle down. There will be no riots and Rome will be satisfied again and we'll have our place. I don't know. John sees the pregnant pause in this. Because what Caiaphas meant politically, God meant spiritually. This statement is a statement of a reminder that God is at work in ways that we could never understand or see. Caiphas is shouting at the top of his lungs about one man dying for everybody. John is kind of in the corner taking notes, saying, You don't really know what you just said. Because, Jesus died for the many, by the way, and not only for your people, but there's other people that you've been forgetting called Gentiles. They are lost, and they are scattered and they are coming back. Jesus is going to gather all of the people together for his love for his mercy from his grace. You see in the very point of weakness, God is working his power. At the very point of failure, God is operating and getting ready for the biggest victory that humankind has ever seen. That's why I want to highlight this passage. Because we overlook it on our way to cross. But it is the first step to the cross. And Jesus is undergoing the pain right now, before anybody has laid a hand on him. Before anybody has touched him with a crown of thorns. He is already undergoing the pain of rejection. The pain of backstabbing. The pain of gossip, the pain of misunderstood intentions. And on and on it goes. And it summarizes in verse 53 when it says, they now start to plot His life. Now it is the point of no return. And now they are going to look for ways to kill him. And yet it is at this very moment that we have the first step to victory. God is at work. I want you to listen to this. It is an unnamed author who wrote this. But the words are powerful. "The marks on Jesus's hands, feet and side were real. Evidence of a way of life they did not seek suffering. But did not reject it either. They were the result of the decision to walk in ways that became costly and dangerous. Ways that he calls us to walk in as well. And then he asks me two questions that I pose to you. We want to be healed, but will we also choose to be stricken? We want to be gladdened, but will we also choose to take a path for the good of others, that may bring us personal sadness?" See those are very difficult questions. But you see just at right time Paul writes Jesus died for the ungodly. The last time I checked, that was me. He died. He rose. God's power was with him. God’s power is in him, as he is God, and Jesus suffered it all and yet was the victor. Do you feel powerless? Do you run away from those decisions because you know, you just gonna lack control? Or does it just feel like you are powerless? Jesus understands. He knows. The very marks that you may bear are the marks of his power. And so you can take that action to move forward with him. The marks of power, not powerlessness.

And finally, the marks of presence not loneliness. The marks of presence, not loneliness. And for that a few verses that we read in Romans five. Paul has just been talking about how Abram believed and it was credited to him as righteousness. He was made just, he was made whole. He was made one with God because of the fact that he believed. The things that Abraham did were out of that belief and trust and faith. And then Paul shifts this in Chapter 5. All of us who believe, all of us who are Christians are justified, made right in God's sight. All of us are made right in God's sight. Now the next four verses We have a new peace. We have a new confidence. We have a peace. There is no more war. Everything is being laid down. There is no more need to black out the lights. There is no more need to hide in the cellar. There's no more need to be looking for the bombs to fall. We are at peace with God. Paul is saying, don't you dare look at your circumstances, and then come to a conclusion about whether you're at war with God. You may be at war with God in various areas of your life. But it has nothing to do with your circumstances only tangentially. Sometimes you are in deep situations, precisely because God is doing something in you, which we’ll get to in a minute. You are at peace with Him. And in that peace you have been granted access. The word access means introduction. You have now been introduced into a new life. The door has swung open. I want you to think about these as a treasure chest. You're looking at different parts of the cave and there are treasures down every aisle. There is peace. Over here is access. Over here, in verse three, is hope. It comes from hope. The best way I can describe hope, it is the hope that a child has on December 23 when there's two days before Christmas. They know that Christmas is coming. And they know that because they can see the presents, they know they are loved in the present. God wants us to see all of these blessings; peace and access and hope that we will see God in all of his glory. Whether that is now, tomorrow or later that he is in the business of setting us free. So when pressure comes, when things come from the outside, we can remember that there is not only a present, but there's the future. There is not only a future, but there's a present. Now we go to verse three. We not only have a new peace but a new process. He is saying rejoice in all of this. You can buy it, right? Yes I can buy the fact there is access. I can buy the fact that there is peace. Okay. I feel good about that. And then he says, you can rejoice in your sufferings. Surely, Paul means that you just put on a happy face and just get through it. No. He says, and not only that, but we also boast in our sufferings. He must be saying that we look for trouble right? No. It must be that when we get hit on the head that we get to say praise the Lord, I am so glad I got hurt. He’s not saying that, either. Here’s what he is saying. It is to have comfort and have joy. Because in the midst of your suffering, sometimes that's the place where God's presence means the most. When the whole world falls apart sometimes that's when God is left standing. That's when we see Him fully. That's when we see Him. It is not in the times that are good that we see God and have God in our lives in the most meaningful way. It is often in the midst of this suffering, because God makes resurrection from death. And whether that is the ultimate death or the little deaths along the way of suffering. Jesus is in the business of making resurrection. So now I want you to picture building blocks as he ends this passage. One after another he says this is what happens when, if you would agree with me to go through that suffering, make those decisions that you know you need to make in faith, even if it means suffering. And when you get hit and get blindsided, here is what's going to happen. Suffering produces endurance. Endurance means bearing. It means going a long run. When I think of endurance, I think of a marathon runner. I think of those that go through the wall, you know, when you get to that a certain stage in the run or are in a triathlon when you hit the wall and you gotta get through it. They do. And I could even see the picture with endurance. You picture that runner who is coming toward the finish line. And the smile on their face even though they are tired and they are drenched with sweat. And sometimes they have fallen and skinned their knee. But they are still running. But, not only that, endurance produces character. Interestingly, the word for character comes from the word that comes as a cousin of the word and that is where fine metal comes out after a refining process. This is not an empty boast. This isn’t empty words. It is real. And then character produces hope. There is that word hope again. Produces hope. Hope is the last step in a building block process that starts with suffering. How can that be? Jesus. Look the cross. Look at the empty tomb. That’s why suffering can start as suffering and end as hope. Because Jesus has already defeated it. And Jesus is present throughout the entire process. It is not just the one followed by the one followed by the one; sometimes they are all happening at once. We can take comfort in knowing that we do not have to fear suffering. We do not have to fear what may happen to us. We do not have to build our entire lives based on making us comfortable. Why? Because God is at work. There is a process, by which God can refine us and see us. In many ways as if we have never been seen before.

We have been telling a story about Paul Carlson. We left him in Congo, with rising tensions. He ministered to the people there for over a year. And the people knew that he cared about them. He had great surgeon skill. But then, Belgium, who had left Congo in 1960 and left a vacuum of power. That vacuum over three years began to fill in. It was a rebel tribe called the Simba's. And they began to take control of Congo. They began to take control of areas. Where they came into a town they would shoot everything in sight and everyone in sight. Paul Carlson thought surely they would need doctors. And so he felt that he was relatively safe, but he wanted to get his family out. So he moved his family across the river. It was only about 10 mile transportation deal where they go over to Central African Republic. He leaves his family there and goes back and says, "I will be back." During that process of three or four weeks, rebel leaders came to the nearby towns. In fact, knowing that he was the doctor, the rebels sent for him. And he went and patched up the wounds of the rebels. He went and patched up the wounds of the Catholic priests that the rebels had shot. And all the while understanding, feeling that if he were to have left that soldiers would come and open fire on the patients, because they were defenseless. And so he stayed. He made a decision to follow and to stay and continued to be the People's Doctor. One day a separate group of rebels who did not know that this was the doctor that cared for their other fellow rebels as they got split. They came in and took them captive. They took him, and a bunch of other American captives in other cities, and marched them down to the capital city. They called it Stanleyville. What then followed, was about two to three months of physical and mental torture. What followed also was an international game in which Paul Carlson became the standard bearer of America. That we are going to kill this American if we do not get certain concessions from the government. The government at first gave in to those concessions, understanding that it would not only release Paul Carlson, but they would release all of the other Americans that they were holding hostage at the time as well. President Lyndon Johnson became involved in the situation. During this time, Paul Carlson began a ministry to people in the town in which they were being held. They would smuggle notes out and they would allow him to do that. Take notes out and there would be supplies coming in. And he would treat the guards. He would treat the prisoners. He would lead them in Bible studies. So much so that as the tensions were rising and as people were coming to this crescendo and Belgium and America were getting tired of these rebels making demands. He carried a New Testament in his pocket. The day before, Belgium and United States sent in troops to try to liberate the hostages. He writes in his book. "Peace". One word. There's no evidence of that. Not when people were being shot. Not when there were days in which he was led out to a courtyard there would be a gun pointed to his head. Then they would pull the trigger, and it would be blank. They would send him back in. There was no peace. But he know in the midst of that struggle that God was with him. And with God with him, he could have peace. Next week we will conclude the story. God makes death out of life. He wants you to turn that over to him and understand that His presence is with you. His power is with you. Is there a decision today, that you know you need to make? A decision you need to say no to? A decision you need to say yes to? Where you know that there's going to be some risk? Are you willing to do that? When you bear the marks, you bear the very presence and power of Christ. Because He loved you that much. Amen.