Lent Series #27 -- John 14:1-13 -- You will have trouble, but...

You will have trouble! Jesus made it clear that this is normal. You will have trouble  in the world. All kinds of trouble. You're going to go through circumstances that will cause doubt and fear. You will lose friends. The world will hate you and people will persecute you. The enemy of your souls, the prince of this world is coming and there may be opportunities for you to lay down your life for your friends. There's going to be trouble, but listen... We often find trouble just before we get to a breakthrough. Right? It's always darkest before the dawn. Difficult times are a catalyst for spiritual growth. 

You will have trouble, but...breakthrough is coming! 

Transcript

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Hey, welcome to another episode of More Than Bread. This is number 27 in our series for Lent, and it's number 533 in the life of the podcast. And the reason I say that, particularly this time, you know what, every once in a while, someone comes along and downloads everything from 1 to 500 plus, from A to Z, 1 to the end. And when that happens, man, it pumps up my download week. I love it. All of a sudden, my daily download explodes. So whoever you are, Thank you. More Than Bread is a podcast that is deeply and defiantly, no, More Than Bread is a podcast that is deeply and definitely devoted to the value of every word that comes from the mouth of God. Scripture, the Bible, the Word of God. And what I like to remind us is that when we come to the Word, there are three things we need to do to draw in that value. We need to listen. We need to learn and we need to lean in. We need to listen to the voice of the Spirit in the moment. He speaks through the Word to us. It's not just an old textbook, a history book, a story book. The Spirit of God speaks to us through the Word of God. And we need to learn. We need to learn the ways of Jesus. We need to learn about the kingdom of God. Learn scriptural principles and the forever truths that come to us from Scripture. But all the value of listening and learning are lost if we never lean in. We need to lean into the Word. We need to respond to it. We need to do something with what we've heard and what we've learned. We put it into practice. We surrender. We obey. We do. And I just want to encourage you. Every time you listen to one of these podcasts, figure out something that God is calling you to do. So our serious theme for Lent has been the great gamble, which flows out of the story of Jesus asking a rich young leader to sell everything he had and give it all the way to the poor. But the guy walked away sad. He had too much stuff. He didn't trust God. Jesus. And then later, Jesus says that the pathway to greatness is servanthood, that we will never ever out give him. So the great gamble simply asks the question, can I trust Jesus? Do I believe what he says? If I believe that I can never ever out give him, am I ever tempted to try? Do I believe what he says? In the last couple of episodes, we've been hanging out in this section of John's gospel, John 13 through 17. And John 13 kind of describes Thursday night before he goes to the cross on Friday. But John 14 through 17 is Jesus teaching on that night, on the Thursday before Good Friday. And so we're going to hang out there still for a little bit. And I'll skip around to a A few different places in this episode, or at least this episode, the next episode. But I want to start by reading John 14, 1 through 14. Here's what Jesus says. Don't let your hearts be troubled. You believe in God, believe also in me. My Father's house has many rooms, if that were not so. Would I have told you that I'm going there to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am. Now, before I go any further, just realize that today we kind of think of that as Jesus going to heaven to prepare a place for us. In those days, that's not what they were thinking. They were not thinking that the Father's house that has many rooms, the place where Jesus is going to prepare a place for them, that it had to do with Jesus dying. So he says, you know the way to the place where I'm going. And Thomas said to him, Lord, we don't even know where you're going. How can we know the way? Jesus answered, I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. If you really know me, you will know my Father as well. From now on, you do know him and you have seen him. Why? Because they'd seen Jesus. Philip said, Lord, show us the Father. That'll be enough for us. Jesus answered, don't you know me, Philip, even after I've been among you such a long time? Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, show us the Father? Don't you believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me? The words I say to you, I don't speak on my own authority. Rather, it is the Father living in me who is doing his work. Believe me, when I say that I am in the Father, the Father is in me. Or at least believe on the evidence of the works themselves. Very truly, I tell you, whoever Now, if you think about it, this is a great passage of Scripture to read in preparation for Good Friday and Resurrection Sunday. I mean, think about it. In that first verse, Jesus says, trouble's coming. And then in the last few verses, he says, one of these days you'll do even greater things than I have done. Trouble leads to greater things. Good Friday leads to Resurrection Sunday. I've been encouraging you to read these chapters in John 13 through 17 multiple times between now and Resurrection Sunday. In fact, I'll narrow it down. 14 through 17. That's kind of the teaching part. 13 is that last supper, wash the disciples' feet part. But 14 through 17 is kind of Jesus' words. So here's what I want you to do for just a few moments. I just want you to imagine you're with Jesus, sitting by a fire in a cabin, even though it's April here in Pennsylvania right now, a fire in a cabin. That sounds pretty good. Or you're taking a walk in the afternoon with the leaves just beginning to turn green, cup of coffee in hand. Imagine walking through a vineyard. It's evening, and And you don't know it, but Jesus is sharing his last words before he dies on a cross. Most scholars call these four chapters, 14, 15, 16, and 17, Jesus' farewell discourse. I think it's anything but his farewell discourse. These are not his last words. They're beginning words. They're summation words maybe, transition words definitely, but not his last words. This is more like Jesus' locker room talk before you go out and play the most important game of your life, your boss's promotion challenge. This is your favorite teacher at commencement looking you in the eye and saying, you got this. It's your OBGYN doctor saying, push, it's time to push. Jesus is walking with his friends and he's talking about breakthrough. And in the space of a three-chapter conversation and a one-chapter prayer, he will hit on multiple things. But over and over again, he will say this, you will have trouble. There's going to be trouble. This is where Jesus starts in John 14.1. Do not let your hearts be troubled. And then again in John 14.27, don't let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid. And then again in John 16.33, in this world you will have trouble, but take heart, I have overcome the world. Trouble's coming, Jesus, and there's going to be trouble. In this world you will have trouble. Now sometimes we see the trouble coming and sometimes it just slips up on us, but trouble is coming, like Chip. I love this story. You maybe have heard me share it before. One minute life was good. He had a song in his heart. The next thing he knew, he was in the middle of trouble, surrounded by darkness and the dirt of life. You could say it was nobody's fault. It just happened. Circumstances beyond his control. Trouble in the present moment that was calling into question his future moments because in the space of a day, Chip would go through circumstances that would cause many of us to lose hope. His name was actually Chippy. He was a parakeet. His problems began when his owner decided to clean his cage with a vacuum cleaner. She removed that attachment from the end of the hose and began to clean. But at that fateful moment, the phone rang. She turned to pick it up and had barely uttered hello when she heard and Chippy had been sucked into the dirt of life. She frantically opened the vacuum canister to rescue Chippy. She found him alive but dazed and dirty, covered from head to toe, beak to claw with the dirt of life. She did what any good pet mother would do. She ran to the bathroom, turned on the faucet, held him under the water. Chippy was sucked in and washed up. After that ordeal, Chippy was understandably shaken and shivering, but the worst was yet to come. His warm-hearted pet mother plugged in the hair dryer and blasted Chippy with hot air. Sucked in, washed up, and blown over. A few days later, the reporter who had written the initial news story called back to see how Chippy was doing. Well, the owner replied, Chippy doesn't sing much anymore. He just sits and stares. Take it out of the pet vacuum world and we can relate, right? I mean, once upon a time, it seemed like the sky was the limit, a song in your heart, but now you've been sucked into the chaos of politics and tariffs and a friend who is days away from meeting Jesus face to face. Maybe your work life is uncertain. The stock market downturn has pushed your retirement back to your 80 and add to that the trouble you were in before any of that came. The rejection of a friend, the health tragedy, loneliness, marriage on the rocks, depression, you name it. You find yourself in the middle of trouble and you've lost your song. Listen, Jesus made it clear that this is normal. You will have trouble in the world. He said all kinds of trouble. You're going to go through circumstances that will cause doubt and fear. You're going to lose friends. The world will hate you and people will persecute you. The enemy of your souls, the prince of this world is coming and there may be opportunities for you to lay down your life for your friends. In fact, some people will think they're doing God a service by killing you. There's going to be trouble. But listen, I see this over and over again, especially in Scripture. We often find trouble just before we get a breakthrough, right? Those things that we say, we say it because it's true. It's always darkest before the dawn. Difficult times are a catalyst for spiritual growth. All of creation groans to see the coming redemption of humanity. Listen, John 14 through 17 is not a farewell discourse. It's not Jesus' last words. It's his get ready for opportunity challenge. It's his halftime speech. It's a call to push through, to travail for something new. It's an expectant, hopeful call to breakthrough. You're going to grieve, he says, but joy is coming. There's going to be trouble, but don't worry. Don't be afraid. I've overcome the world. You'll be persecuted, but I've got your back. Don't give up. Persevere. In fact, Jesus' exact words go like this in John 16, 20. Truly, I tell you, you will weep and mourn while the world rejoices. You will grieve, but your grief will turn to joy. And now, today, we understand where Jesus had fixed his eyes. Now we understand that Thursday evening was the beginning of a three-day story of amazing breakthrough. But listen to me. These words, Jesus' message in John 14 through 17, was not just for the days that came between the cross and the empty tomb. Those three days would set the stage for all the days to come. Even our days. We live in those days. Listen to me, your days are not shaped by whatever hard stuff is your hard stuff. They're shaped by the resurrection. Our past may be filled with trouble, but our future is filled with resurrection hope. Our hearts may be touched by hope, but man, touched by hurt, but man, they are filled with hope. Breakthrough isn't coming, it's come. We live in those days. So how do we live into, how do we lean into those days? Well, Jesus gives us some resources for breakthrough. Now listen, I'm thinking about this a bit differently than I have in the past, so listen closely because it may not sound all that different, but I think it is. These resources that Jesus gives us do not bring the breakthrough. Breakthrough is already here. The burst of God is already here. These resources help us dive into it, help us dive into the breakthrough that's already here. We don't achieve breakthrough. We receive it. The resurrection of Jesus released it. I mean, we've still got trouble in this world. Listen, life in Christ, in this world, is not filled with health and prosperity. We've still groaned for redemption, and we will until we see Jesus face to face. But even as we groan, resurrection power has been let loose in the world. In John 14 through 17, Jesus shares the resources he's already given us that will help us dive into the breakthrough that's already here. Resources like prayer. Man, don't forget prayer in times of trouble because when trouble comes and we struggle with doubt and fear settles into the guest bedroom of our hearts, we need to pray. If we want to dive into breakthrough, we pray. That's why I love Jesus' teaching in John 14 through 16 on what I call whatever prayers. And what are whatever prayers? Well, that word whatever has become a code word for a particular response to life, right? It's the sigh of resignation, a denial of agreement, or a passive-aggressive form of I don't care. When a person says whatever, they're basically saying that the topic doesn't matter, your response doesn't matter, maybe you don't matter. When the ladies in my family say whatever, it's usually accompanied by a roll of the eyes. That's like total dismissal. And when you ask somebody what they want to eat, whatever doesn't mean anything. It means I want you to choose, but choose well. I'm not talking about that kind of whatever. Some of you have been here long enough to know some of the markers on my spiritual journey. One of those markers took place almost 25 years ago. I was at Calvary praying with about a dozen others. We called our prayer exercise that evening, praying onsite with inside. It was kind of like a form of prayer walking way at the beginning before we even knew what prayer walking was. It's kind of like go somewhere in the building or somewhere outside the building and pray about whatever God puts on your heart. Well, that evening I ended up on the steps of the stage. It had been a difficult few weeks. I'd had a friend. I'd introduced him to Jesus, counseled him. He started working with our youth, really doing a great job. And then it all imploded. And I was just calling out to God for a promise to hold on to. And while I was praying, this verse reference lit up in my mind like a billboard, John 14, 12 through 14. That's all. I didn't know the verse. It was just the reference. And I hadn't been reading in the Gospel of John. It wasn't a verse that I had memorized, so I was a little bit skeptical. But I thought, okay, God, I'll look it up. Here's what it said. Very truly I tell you, whoever believes in me will do the works that I have been doing and they will do even greater things than these because I am going to the Father and I will do whatever you ask in my name so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. You may ask me for anything in my name and I'll do it. Whatever. Whatever you ask. You say, well, now, wait a minute, Dan. You've got to be kind of careful how people take a verse like this. It's like we want to protect God's fragile reputation. We don't want people to have unreasonably high hopes in God. And so we let our disappointments or our experiences translate this verse to simply mean you might do pretty good stuff maybe someday if you kind of believe in Jesus. Or we try to minimize Jesus' words. But what if whatever... Means whatever. I don't know. It probably doesn't. Maybe there's conditions. But listen to me. I think at a minimum, it means something more than what we pray for. I think... I think if Jesus looked at you and said, I'm telling you something that's true, whoever believes in me will do even greater works than I have done, so ask me for whatever. I think it would have encouraged us, lifted up our hearts, lifted up our hopes, and caused us to pray again for whatever. I don't know, lately I've been praying for a lot of whatevers. For people at Calvary. Last week I was stopped by more people than typical. They asked me to pray for them. Hard things going on in their lives, in their marriage, in their families. And my friend down in Pittsburgh who just has days before, probably, before he goes home to meet with Jesus. There's been a lot of whatever prayers stirring up in my heart lately. And I just want to encourage you. Maybe there's a whatever prayer that you've left that God kind of put it on your heart and you prayed and you prayed and nothing happened. And I just want to say maybe it's time to go back to your whatever prayers. God, I don't know. We'll dig into this more in the next episode, these whatever prayers. And I don't. I don't want to be silly and pray for things that are not on your heart, obviously. I'm not going to pray for the whatever of winning the lottery. But God, there are things that are on people's hearts. There are things that are on my heart. There are things that I prayed for for years that sometimes I stop because I just think, you know what, it's not going to happen. But God, I pray that you would renew in our hearts, in my heart, in the heart of every person listening, this sense of expectancy and hope that that you have in store for us to do even greater works than you did, and that it would cause us to ask you for whatever. Whatever. In Jesus' name I pray. Amen. So take a moment or two and just quiet your heart before Jesus. Ask him to help you do greater things. Ask him to stir up your heart to pray for whatever. If you go until the end of the music, you have about four minutes, and then throughout the day, let your prayer simply be, God, I want to do greater things. I want to do more for you.