Trusting in the Midst of Trauma
Notes
Transcript
Introduction
Introduction
We are nearing the end of Eastertide and are approaching Pentecost, or the Feast of Weeks.
Jo Lisa powerfully reminded us that reunion with Jesus heals us.
Rick explained that Jesus restores our story.
And Hule proclaimed that the Good Shepherd restores our shattered faith.
This morning, we come to the Father through the Son and find restoration our troubled hearts.
Let us pray...
CONFLICT upsetting the equilibrium
Jesus declares, "Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God and trust in me.”
Wait a minute... Jesus, you are
the Messiah,
the son of man,
the son of God,
one with the father,
the creator of all,
you heal people with a word, and sometimes spit,
you even raise the dead.
What do you mean my heart might be troubled?
Why should I face any adversity?
Have you ever asked God that question?
Perhaps it was very recently?
The whole world is experiencing upheaval at various levels due to Coronatide as some of my friends call it.
loved ones and strangers alike are dying
loneliness is intensified for those already alone
many of us have lost our jobs
we have no idea how the repercussions of this pandemic will impact our lives even years from now
roommates, couples, and families are struggling to get along with one another
our complicated lives are all the more complicated
and the list goes on
Isn’t there something contingent, last minute, and almost uncertain about salvation that is frustrating at times?
God do you really see?
Do you really know what’s going on?
If so, how do we explain our struggle and your lack of action?
Can any of you relate to this?
I wonder this morning, In whom or what is your troubled heart trusting?
Jesus knows that his disciples are soon to have a good reason to have troubled hearts.
He also knows that when we are fearful, we entrust ourselves to someone or something that will make us feel safe and secure, to get us through our time of trial, even if it means barely surviving.
We are masters at creating things to trust, from the apparently good and justifiable to the reprehensible and explicitly evil.
Here’s the tricky thing, it is easy for us to condemn the latter, but if the focus of our trust is not God, it is all misplaced trust that leads our hearts away from God; it is all idolatry.
The Netflix we binge, the coffee or food we turn to, or the political leaders we are certain will deliver us; it is all idolatry if this is where our hearts find comfort and the strength to carry on.
But if we’re really honest with ourselves,
a padded bank account,
government stimulus,
extreme isolation,
politics of power and blame,
and the like
are compelling places to put our trust right now, am I right?
In whom or what is your troubled heart trusting?
Of course, we are not in the same circumstances as the disciples in John 14, but Jesus’s command, "Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God and trust in me,” can speak to and challenge us now in a way that we could not hear in quite the same way if it weren’t for Coronatide.
In this difficult season, what does trusting in God look like?
How do we live in Coronatide with deep peace in our hearts and toward one another?
Obviously, the disciples and we are not living through identical experiences, but we are both invited to trust God in the midst of great chaos.
SHIFT disclosing the clue to resolution
In our John 14 text this morning, Jesus is preparing his disciples for trauma.
Let that sink in a moment. He was preparing them for trauma.
Our text falls within John 13:31-17:26, which is known as the “farewell discourse,” or a testament.
In a testament, a person about to die passes on
final teachings and a blessing, and also
attempts to alleviate the grief of friends by promising a surrogate,
warning about the impending death, and
exhorting the audience to stay the course.
And we find just this in Jesus’s message to his disciples.
Jesus promises the holy spirit,
tells them he will die, and
calls them to stay faithful to God, even promising that they will go on to do greater works than Jesus.
What he says here is intended to orient them around the core truth that will carry them through the coming storm.
It is an anchor when the storm hits. It is the story that they are to tell themselves when they’re at the bottom of their loss and want to give up.
But why is it an anchor?
It is an anchor because Jesus orients them around what is true and real in spite of the temporary disorientation they are about to encounter.
To put it another way, Jesus is not defined by the ensuing trauma, it isn’t the full story or even the end of it, but rather the ensuing trauma is subsumed within and defined by God’s steadfast, covenant love.
Jesus is free to willingly endure the cross and the grave because he trusts the Father.
Jesus desires that his followers adopt the same trust.
Friends, I need to fully hear this truth this morning, and Jesus desires you to hear it too.
You and I are not defined by this current pandemic or any other past trauma we have experienced.
"Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God and trust in Jesus.”
The good news, friends, is that God calms our troubled hearts through any fear when we trust in him.
UNFOLDING experiencing the Gospel
In the time remaining, I’d like to highlight three encouraging points in the text.
First, the good news penetrates the context of this “farewell discourse,” which is beset with tragedy and the absence of trust.
Jesus has just washed everyone’s feet and
Judas has just left to betray Jesus.
Peter wants to know why he can’t follow Jesus.
He has no idea he’s headed to the cross even though Jesus has made that clear.
Jesus predicts that he too will betray Jesus three times.
The other disciples are equally confused about what Jesus is saying.
They don’t get it because they don’t understand God’s plans.
Despite the number of times and ways that Jesus tells them this, his death still blindsides them.
I’m convinced from my own experience that we just plain hear what we want to and we expect God to act on our terms.
But here’s the good news, friends: Jesus knows this and still commends them, "Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God and trust in me” (John 14:1).
Jesus calls us to faith and the pretext for faith is being in a place where trust must be shown because trials reveal where our trust is placed.
Jesus loves his disciples profoundly in the midst of misunderstanding and the absence of trust, and calls them to trust.
He does the same for you this morning. No matter your situation or degree of disorientation this morning, you are literally a breath away from the presence of God.
Will you trust him?
Second, and don’t miss this, Jesus demonstrates what trusting the Father looks like.
Not only does he willingly endure suffering and death that we might have a way to the Father, but he must trust the Father with his followers.
Jesus must let go of them and how they will each respond as they all head toward the darkest hour together in different ways.
These last words from Jesus are, “trust the Father as I do!” When Philip tells Jesus to “Show us the Father and it will be enough,” Jesus agrees by helping them see the Father’s presence in himself.
In fact, when Jesus says in John 14:10, “The words that I say to you I do not speak on my own authority, but the father who dwells in me does his works,” he calls to mind Deut 18:18, the prophet like Moses.
Repeatedly throughout this farewell discourse, Jesus says, “I’m telling you these things so that when they happen you will believe.”
Dark times are coming but rather than being a reason for doubt, this is the very place where faith must be demonstrated.
Because he knows the fullness of the Father’s profound love for us, he reassures his friends if he can trust the father, we can too. He’s got this.
Friends, Jesus invites you this morning to let go of the burden you are carrying for yourself and your loved ones, and to trust the Father’s love for you and them.
Lastly, Jesus knows that trusting in God assumes that we will be in a place where trust is not something we claim, but something we do.
Trouble presents us the opportunity to know by experience that God can be trusted and that he knows that we trust him.
In addition, the trials we encounter are a small part of the bigger picture.
Even as our Psalm recounts praise to God for his past actions of deliverance, it does not gloss over the painful struggle the people endured.
For example, God “brought them into the snare” and they “went through fire and water.” Yet, the Psalmist confidently declares, “Bless our God . . . who holds our soul in life, and who does not allow our feet to slip” (Ps 66:8), precisely because they were in a position to slip and die.
Ps 66:9 goes on to say, “For you, O God, have proved us; you have tried us, as silver is tried.”
We are familiar enough with the idea that metals must be purified, but the emphasis here is not on the result of being pure silver, but on the process of getting to pure silver!
In antiquity, the refinement of silver was a lengthy process repeated over and over using porous cups that allowed the molten silver to run through while the dross was caught by the cup (see ZIBBC, Ps 12; and King and Stager, Life in Biblical Israel, 172-74).
Friends, the Lord is constantly refining us.
If we are to trust in God as Jesus did to the point that we will do greater works than he, God must refine us.
This is one reason that I love the prayer book’s frequent reminder that we ask God to grant our petitions not as we might ask in our ignorance but as he knows and loves us through Jesus as we are on our way to becoming more like Jesus.
The good news, friends, is that the God calms our troubled hearts through any fear when we trust in him.
UNFOLDING anticipating the consequences
When our world flips upside down, we respond in predicable ways.
We scramble to protect or sedate ourselves.
We build walls and call out enemies.
We boast confidence in ourselves like Peter that we don’t have.
And like Peter, we can only make it through the struggle when we trust God.
Not only that, but our trust rightly placed in God becomes a place of trust for others to do the same.
We are facing unprecedented upheaval right now, but Jesus loves us profoundly.
He shows us the glory of God in this fallen world and invites us to live through our struggle with the power of the Spirit’s presence that his disciples had to wait for.
And he reveals to us that God is so for us that we can do greater works than Jesus, and we can ask for anything in his name.
Ask for wisdom and the ability to trust him. Make God your place of trust this Coronotide day!
A couple of weeks ago, Rick asked us “How we will come back after this?”
Friends, whom and what we we put our trust in this day will largely determine that.