Sermon Tone Analysis

That you may Believe and Have Life #43

John 16:16-33

 

Daddy are we there yet?

That question usually was offered before we even got out of town.

And often we answer, “in a little while”.

“In a little while”

 

We could say “in an hour” but a 3 year old doesn’t really understand “in an hour” any more than they understand a hundred dollars versus a dollar.

In 1996 we loaded up our minivan and we took the biggest family trip we’ve ever taken.

We went from Houston, along the south, up the east coast, through D.C., Philly, New York City, up to Upstate New York, back across Pennsylvania, Ohio, Kentucky, Tennessee, working our way back to Texas.

Well, on a trip like that “in a little while” was hard.

So we got a small television and a vcr and we would say thing like, “One Movie and Two Cartoons, and we’ll stop for lunch.”

It is hard to contemplate time when you are a little kid.

But you know I think back to a few years before that, when we were expecting AJ and then Bryan.

The Doctor told us “you’re one month pregnant and are due June 2.

That seemed like a long time in October of 1987.

8 months isn’t long, it’s just “a little while”.

Unless you are expecting a baby then it seems like forever.

But hey having a baby, it’s such a beautiful thing.

It’s full of lollipops and candy right?

It’s all about bluebirds following you around singing.

Right?

It’s just 9 months of bliss, then a vacation to the Hospital, a deep breath, a push and then ahhh … the beautiful baby that comes out quietly cooing, smiling, laughing, sleeping, ahh … bringing a for a baby.

Wait a minute, morning sickness, weight gain, mood swings, sleeplessness, sleeping all the time, cravings, back aches, wait a minute, what was that, that hurt, hey, Ouch, stop it, ahhhh, give me pain meds, no I want it natural, how about a c-section, what are you going to do with that scalpel?

When is this 9 months going end?

“In a little while”

But saying “my wife is pregnant” is like saying “my wife has brown hair” … it’s just part of life

I don’t guess it will ever end

Never mind if the 9 month game goes into overtime, when will this ENNND!?

In a little while …

 

Go back to that first Doctor’s visit.

What do you mean I can’t have my coffee and sodas

A whole list of things that I can and can’t do

 

But what about the person that does whatever they want while they are pregnant?

What about the ones that seem to be having fun while abusing their bodies during that pregnancy?

Well the one that is happy and does whatever they want and abuses their body, will not be happy with what it does when the birth comes around

 

But the one who is faithful, puts up with some inconveniences and difficulty, the pain, the trials, …

 

When that healthy baby is born, when that cry comes out … I don’t know a mother or father that doesn’t say “oh it was worth it … it was just a little while”

 

That’s what Jesus was trying to get his disciples to see.

Let’s continue

READ John 16:16-33

 

The disciples asked a question we often ask, what does he mean by /“in a little while”/

 

If you read through the writings of Paul, Peter, John, there seemed to be a clear expectation that Jesus could come any time.

And I believe we SHOULD have a mindset that Jesus could come any time

But “in a little while” is a short, yet not always short time

In Haggai 2:6 a God’s people in exile, with their Temple decimated heard God said through the prophet, don’t be discouraged because “in a little while, I will shake the heavens and earth, the sea and dry land … nations … and I will fill this house with glory …

“in a little while” – but in a little while doesn’t mean 5 seconds from now.

Nor does it mean without cost, work, frustration, pain, tears, blood, or sweat

 

Jesus used “in a little while” for two different time frames here as he says \\ “In a little while, you won’t see me”

“In a little while, you will see me again”

And then he defines which “leaving” he is talking about in verse 17 he says “I’m going to the Father” …

 

So he says “in a little while you won’t see me” … well that measure of time would be from that Thursdsay night … until 40 days later when he ascended to Heaven.

You might wonder if perhaps he is just talking about “a little while” between then and when he was crucified and buried … less than a day  and then “a little while … see again” meaning just Sunday.

A few days.

The problem is we’ve been reading this passage and Jesus has been talking about leaving, going to the Father, leaving the Holy Spirit …

So this first “in a little while” is the 40 days until the ascension …

 

So, we have it down, right, “in a little while” is 40 days …

But then he says “in a little while you’ll see me again” … well that’s been 2000 years … still we haven’t seen him …

 

How could Christ use 40 years and 2000 years and define both times of as a little while?

It is all relative

The word translated /“a little while”/  is a word that means little … but it isn’t limited to a number or a time … it can be of stature, age, time, magnitude.

You can use the term to differentiate between older and younger siblings.

I have a “little brother” … “I’m a BIG brother” … Well there is very little difference in our stature, and my little brother is 40 … but he’s younger than me and I’m older than he …

 

When Jesus Christ, who always was, always is, always will be GOD … says 40 years … in a little while … or 2000 years … in a little while … it is all relative compared to him.

So, in the few minutes I have left, I want us to get an understanding of this principle of transformation

 

I want to encourage you to lift your head

I want to help you change the way you think about the challenges and struggles of life

 

So, what does Jesus say to his people, his people about the time between when he left and when he is returning?

1.

For a Little While You Will Have …

 

He says

    1.

You are going to weep and mourn

There is loss in following Christ

I am crucified with Christ … there is weeping that goes with loss …

Jesus said that those that follow him will be despised and rejected, will be persecuted and mistreated that some will leave behind family and friends … there is loss and with it weeping and mourning

/For a Little While, a little while/

/ /

    2.

You are going to have pain and grief –

1 peter 1:6 – /“all grief and all kinds of trials”/

1 peter 5:10 /suffer for a little while/

2 Corinthians 6:4-10 (NIV) \\ /4 //Rather, as servants of God we commend ourselves in every way: in great endurance; in troubles, hardships and distresses;// //5 //in beatings, imprisonments and riots; in hard work, sleepless nights and hunger;// //6 //in purity, understanding, patience and kindness; in the Holy Spirit and in sincere love;// //7 //in truthful speech and in the power of God; with weapons of righteousness in the right hand and in the left;// //8 //through glory and dishonor, bad report and good report; genuine, yet regarded as impostors;// //9 //known, yet regarded as unknown; dying, and yet we live on; beaten, and yet not killed;// //10 //sorrowful, yet always rejoicing; poor, yet making many rich; having nothing, and yet possessing everything./

/For a Little While, a little while/

/ /

 

    3.

In this world you WILL have Trouble

Rom.

8:17 says our current suffering won’t be anything compared to the glory to come … Just as sure as the coming glory is the present suffering

1 Corinthians 4:12-13 (NIV) \\ /12 //We work hard with our own hands.

When we are cursed, we bless; when we are persecuted, we endure it;// //13 //when we are slandered, we answer kindly.

Up to this moment we have become the scum of the earth, the refuse of the world./

/For a Little While, a little while/

 

    4.

You will be Sad

/ /

/For a Little While, a little while/

 

It’s like the birthing process we are in now

Romans 8:22 (NIV) \\ /22 //We know that the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time./

Oh but it may seem like it but expecting parents aren’t expecting FOREVER … just

/For a Little While, a little while/

 

And let us not miss that Jesus has already told us in Chapter 15 not to be surprised when the World Hates us … because it hated him FIRST …

So much of our tears, sorrows, grief, troubles, will not just be the course of life but the results of the direct attack of the wicked

David understood the attack of the wicked and many of his psalms are cries in the midst of the attack of the wicked

 

But Jesus makes it seem a little worse as he contrasts our state for a little while … with the state of the wicked …

 

2.

For a Little While the Wicked May Have …

 

    1.

success

Ps 37:35/ I have seen a wicked and ruthless man flourishing like a green tree in it’s native soil/

Ps 14:6 /evildooers frustrate the plans of the poor … /