WEBVTT 00:00:00.320 --> 00:00:08.359 Welcome everyone. If you don't know me, my name is Chris and I'm one of the pastors here. 00:00:08.900 --> 00:00:15.800 And it's just exciting to see that this kind of season of Easter is coming up and we've got so many things going on. 00:00:16.640 --> 00:00:24.620 And check out in your bulletin, we'll talk about, there's some really exciting stuff happening even this Friday and next Sunday. 00:00:24.620 --> 00:00:27.879 We're going to be celebrating baptism together at the beach. 00:00:27.879 --> 00:00:34.879 One of the great ironies of my life is actually my name is Chris Thornton. 00:00:36.140 --> 00:00:37.899 And my surname begins with a T. 00:00:38.399 --> 00:00:44.560 And so I often get emails and text messages from people saying, dear Christ. 00:00:46.439 --> 00:00:48.579 And now I don't know what they're expecting. 00:00:49.920 --> 00:00:51.879 But it's a simple typo. 00:00:51.880 --> 00:00:59.880 It's a typo, but I think it kind of represents something which I think happens in many of our lives. 00:01:00.420 --> 00:01:06.060 Because for me, it's like when I get elevated, Christ gets demoted and minimized. 00:01:06.540 --> 00:01:09.099 We've kind of brought him down to my level. 00:01:09.099 --> 00:01:23.319 And we're looking at a series in sinners who meet Jesus, sinners that Jesus met, looking at people who, like us in a host of ways, had kind of not seen the greatness of Christ. 00:01:23.319 --> 00:01:29.239 And what he does when Christ meets them, he changes their life. 00:01:29.439 --> 00:01:37.439 Because when you fix your eyes on anything other than Christ, you get wrapped up with things like shame we saw last week from the Samaritan woman. 00:01:37.659 --> 00:01:41.319 With distraction like we saw with Martha. 00:01:41.859 --> 00:01:46.019 And with religion like we saw right back at the beginning of the series. 00:01:46.019 --> 00:01:50.599 And some of us, we're here for so many different reasons this morning. 00:01:51.359 --> 00:01:57.939 Some of us are here just because, well, just in case there's a God. 00:01:58.939 --> 00:02:02.659 Just in case he's like, Jesus is like a life insurance policy for me. 00:02:03.120 --> 00:02:11.060 Some of us are here because as long as I kind of, I meet the policy requirements, then hopefully I'll get a heavenly payout. 00:02:11.599 --> 00:02:15.039 Some of us are here because we want to chase after Christ. 00:02:15.039 --> 00:02:18.379 Some of us are here in many different areas of our lives. 00:02:18.959 --> 00:02:21.759 And the thing is, today Jesus wants to speak to us. 00:02:22.379 --> 00:02:23.739 Wherever you're at. 00:02:24.019 --> 00:02:25.459 Wherever you're at. 00:02:26.519 --> 00:02:31.019 And if Jesus isn't elevated in your life this morning, something else is going to be. 00:02:32.659 --> 00:02:41.539 And the question is, in the grand scheme of things, if we as a church elevate anything other than Christ, if we as individuals elevate anything other than him, 00:02:41.539 --> 00:02:47.979 then in the grand scheme of things, we're going to be elevating something which is, which is Graham mentioned. 00:02:48.099 --> 00:02:50.259 When we die is really not going to look that important. 00:02:50.259 --> 00:02:57.239 So, I mentioned a couple of weeks ago about our phones. 00:02:57.899 --> 00:03:06.399 So, here is, if you know that you are distracted by your phone, here is the opportunity for you to turn it off now. 00:03:06.400 --> 00:03:14.460 Now, if you want to, if you want to really say, I want to have an elevated view of Christ, and I know my phone distracts me. 00:03:14.500 --> 00:03:17.719 Now, some of you came to me and said, hey, but I use my phone for notes. 00:03:18.319 --> 00:03:18.960 That's okay. 00:03:19.080 --> 00:03:20.099 You know, it's not legalism. 00:03:20.200 --> 00:03:20.420 Okay? 00:03:20.460 --> 00:03:21.400 You don't have to feel guilty. 00:03:21.400 --> 00:03:28.580 But, if you know that actually that notification is going to come through and it's going to distract you, turn off your phone, pick up your bulletin. 00:03:28.719 --> 00:03:30.580 There's a space for you to write notes in there. 00:03:31.240 --> 00:03:31.780 Use it. 00:03:32.379 --> 00:03:39.120 Because, I don't know if, like me, I have been through so many different sermons, and then by lunchtime I've forgotten them. 00:03:39.480 --> 00:03:39.700 Right? 00:03:39.840 --> 00:03:40.599 Anyone else like me? 00:03:41.620 --> 00:03:44.159 And one thing of taking notes is, just think about it. 00:03:44.219 --> 00:03:48.180 Week after week, we hear the preaching of God's word, and it goes in one ear and out the other. 00:03:48.520 --> 00:03:54.280 So, God wants to speak to you, so I encourage you, if you don't have a pen, there's some pens at the side, but take this opportunity. 00:03:54.780 --> 00:04:02.159 Take notes, and then at the end of the day, look back and say, God, what are you trying to say to me about Jesus in my life? 00:04:03.340 --> 00:04:04.300 So, there's an encouragement. 00:04:04.379 --> 00:04:06.060 Let me just pray for us before we start. 00:04:11.140 --> 00:04:17.740 Father, I'm just so aware that, even as Graham mentioned in communion, 00:04:17.740 --> 00:04:24.379 we can just so easily demote you to just a kind of casual view of you. 00:04:25.699 --> 00:04:30.060 I pray that we come humbly to tremble at your word this morning. 00:04:31.019 --> 00:04:33.319 I pray that your word would have power. 00:04:34.079 --> 00:04:35.900 Lord, remove anything that's just from me. 00:04:36.000 --> 00:04:37.660 I pray that you would speak to us. 00:04:38.980 --> 00:04:40.300 Open our ears to hear you. 00:04:40.300 --> 00:04:43.360 Help us to have a hunger for you. 00:04:44.079 --> 00:04:46.879 Because if we get you, we get everything. 00:04:47.500 --> 00:04:49.480 In Jesus' name, amen. 00:04:49.480 --> 00:04:56.600 So, today, we're looking at the topic of disappointment. 00:04:57.560 --> 00:04:57.780 Okay? 00:04:58.180 --> 00:05:00.480 We're talking about the topic of the disappointed. 00:05:01.560 --> 00:05:06.860 And I think it's a topic that affects all of us in some ways. 00:05:07.300 --> 00:05:10.720 My mom has had eight hip operations. 00:05:10.720 --> 00:05:14.200 The first two hip, actually, the first three. 00:05:14.400 --> 00:05:20.480 She had two hip operations, which basically had to repair what happened in the first operation 00:05:20.480 --> 00:05:25.020 because the surgeon completely messed it up and left her in agony afterwards. 00:05:25.600 --> 00:05:28.560 And at that point, you think, well, why God? 00:05:28.600 --> 00:05:31.120 I'm trying to follow you, but why me? 00:05:32.800 --> 00:05:36.440 She's also had her oldest son, my brother, died. 00:05:36.439 --> 00:05:36.719 Why? 00:05:37.079 --> 00:05:37.519 Why? 00:05:38.560 --> 00:05:43.939 When there were so many hopes and expectations, why me? 00:05:44.759 --> 00:05:49.079 You know, I've experienced illness where I've looked at all my friends who were getting on 00:05:49.079 --> 00:05:53.519 and moving on, getting great jobs and getting married and seemed to be getting on in their careers 00:05:53.519 --> 00:05:55.360 and I felt like I was left behind. 00:05:56.860 --> 00:05:59.899 And no matter how much I prayed, it felt like I was getting nowhere. 00:06:00.159 --> 00:06:02.240 And you sometimes think, what are you doing, God? 00:06:02.720 --> 00:06:03.420 What are you doing? 00:06:03.500 --> 00:06:04.220 Anyone been there? 00:06:05.000 --> 00:06:05.819 What are you doing? 00:06:06.439 --> 00:06:09.480 And so we're looking at disappointment today. 00:06:09.779 --> 00:06:11.620 And disappointment is a form of suffering. 00:06:12.459 --> 00:06:19.620 And it's there when we struggle to believe because we think God didn't show up when he should have shown up. 00:06:20.160 --> 00:06:26.560 When life doesn't work the way we thought it ought to work and we find disappointment. 00:06:27.000 --> 00:06:29.180 And so we're going to look at the reality of disappointment. 00:06:29.540 --> 00:06:31.480 We're going to look at a response to disappointment. 00:06:31.480 --> 00:06:33.560 And we're going to look at the root through disappointment. 00:06:33.879 --> 00:06:34.019 Okay? 00:06:34.019 --> 00:06:36.859 Reality, response, root, through. 00:06:37.299 --> 00:06:37.500 Okay? 00:06:37.639 --> 00:06:38.779 So follow along. 00:06:39.199 --> 00:06:41.339 We'll have the passage in front of you in the bulletin. 00:06:42.359 --> 00:06:44.439 So the reality of disappointment. 00:06:44.500 --> 00:06:46.399 We come back to the home of Mary and Martha. 00:06:46.539 --> 00:06:47.359 We've been there, all right? 00:06:47.379 --> 00:06:48.180 A couple of weeks ago. 00:06:48.240 --> 00:06:49.699 We've kind of got an idea of what she's like. 00:06:49.740 --> 00:06:50.959 Remember distracted Martha? 00:06:51.599 --> 00:06:51.899 Okay? 00:06:51.899 --> 00:06:55.419 Mary sitting at Jesus' feet hanging on his word. 00:06:55.539 --> 00:06:58.120 But life's kind of carried on like life does. 00:06:58.819 --> 00:07:04.539 And something's happened that will happen to each one of us if we live long enough. 00:07:04.540 --> 00:07:10.460 Disappointment and even tragedy comes into their world. 00:07:10.460 --> 00:07:23.140 Suddenly, their world is completely turned upside down because their dear brother Lazarus has now been struck down with an illness which has left him gasping for breath. 00:07:23.139 --> 00:07:26.919 And he's wheezing his way from health toward death. 00:07:27.419 --> 00:07:28.599 There's no ICU. 00:07:29.099 --> 00:07:30.959 There's no emergency services. 00:07:31.539 --> 00:07:38.639 And Mary and Martha send a message to Jesus who at this point is probably about 150 miles away. 00:07:38.759 --> 00:07:40.319 Somewhere like up in Guangzhou somewhere. 00:07:40.319 --> 00:07:45.680 And the message says, he whom you love is ill. 00:07:47.519 --> 00:07:50.319 And Jesus replies. 00:07:50.439 --> 00:07:51.500 He gets this message. 00:07:51.639 --> 00:07:54.480 He would have got it on his phone if he'd been there at this time. 00:07:54.939 --> 00:07:58.439 And Jesus replies, this illness isn't going to end in death. 00:07:58.560 --> 00:07:59.659 It's for God's glory. 00:08:00.439 --> 00:08:01.699 Which is strange. 00:08:03.240 --> 00:08:09.000 And I can imagine, though, if you're looking back with Mary and Martha and their nursing Lazarus. 00:08:09.000 --> 00:08:14.040 And I don't know if you've ever seen anyone who dies over a very short space of time. 00:08:14.699 --> 00:08:18.579 But maybe he starts vomiting and being shivering. 00:08:18.800 --> 00:08:23.680 And you begin to see the life being sucked out of this dear brother in front of them. 00:08:23.879 --> 00:08:26.399 And then they see the messenger come back. 00:08:26.500 --> 00:08:27.860 And they rush to the door. 00:08:29.339 --> 00:08:30.879 And there's still no Jesus. 00:08:31.959 --> 00:08:32.980 Still no Jesus. 00:08:33.700 --> 00:08:35.519 And Lazarus is coughing up blood. 00:08:35.600 --> 00:08:36.759 And they're looking out of the window. 00:08:37.259 --> 00:08:38.480 When's Jesus coming? 00:08:39.779 --> 00:08:40.879 And still no Jesus. 00:08:42.000 --> 00:08:43.419 And Lazarus dies. 00:08:43.980 --> 00:08:44.639 One day. 00:08:45.200 --> 00:08:45.879 Two days. 00:08:46.240 --> 00:08:47.039 Three days. 00:08:47.379 --> 00:08:48.200 Four days. 00:08:48.600 --> 00:08:55.799 And in the first century, people thought that maybe for three days the spirit of the person would hang around for a little bit of time. 00:08:55.879 --> 00:08:58.159 Maybe there was a chance of being brought back to life. 00:08:58.200 --> 00:09:00.360 But after four days, it's gone. 00:09:00.940 --> 00:09:02.559 And Jesus is still a no-show. 00:09:02.559 --> 00:09:09.519 And eventually, kind of looking back, Jesus, after two days of getting the message, he gets going. 00:09:09.599 --> 00:09:11.039 It takes two days to walk there. 00:09:11.659 --> 00:09:12.659 Lazarus is dead. 00:09:13.279 --> 00:09:15.119 Martha comes out to greet him. 00:09:15.120 --> 00:09:17.080 And she's in such grief. 00:09:17.080 --> 00:09:22.340 The only thing she can say is, Lord, if you had been here, my brother wouldn't have died. 00:09:23.480 --> 00:09:25.120 I was counting on you, Jesus. 00:09:27.100 --> 00:09:28.200 You let me down. 00:09:28.299 --> 00:09:28.980 Where were you? 00:09:28.980 --> 00:09:35.399 And you can see that sense of disappointment in Jesus at this time. 00:09:35.399 --> 00:09:43.679 Actually, I've just remembered, I meant to tell the young youth, the younger youth, you're meant to go to your classes. 00:09:44.179 --> 00:09:52.100 So if you are in younger youth, head out to your classes because I think Alfie is probably waiting for you. 00:09:52.639 --> 00:09:54.340 You can delete that from the recording. 00:09:54.699 --> 00:09:54.840 Okay. 00:09:57.240 --> 00:10:02.799 But let's come back because here's the sense of disappointment that Martha feels. 00:10:02.799 --> 00:10:08.919 You know, C.S. Lewis, the writer of the Chronicles of Nadia, he said on the death of his wife after cancer, he said, 00:10:09.419 --> 00:10:13.000 I can't understand why God is there when things are going well. 00:10:13.479 --> 00:10:17.059 But go to him when your need is desperate, when all other help is vain. 00:10:17.120 --> 00:10:17.939 And what do you find? 00:10:18.279 --> 00:10:22.559 A door slammed in your face, a sound of bolting and double bolting on the inside. 00:10:22.759 --> 00:10:24.079 And after that, silence. 00:10:24.939 --> 00:10:26.299 You may as well turn away. 00:10:26.799 --> 00:10:29.799 The longer you wait, the more emphatic the silence will become. 00:10:29.799 --> 00:10:33.059 There are no lights in the windows. 00:10:33.459 --> 00:10:34.959 It might be an empty house. 00:10:35.079 --> 00:10:35.799 Was it ever inhabited? 00:10:36.679 --> 00:10:38.199 It seemed so once. 00:10:38.299 --> 00:10:39.219 What can this mean? 00:10:39.679 --> 00:10:47.099 Why is God so present a commander in our time of prosperity and so very absent in time of trouble? 00:10:47.100 --> 00:10:53.460 Now, Lewis came through that time to a place of faith. 00:10:53.560 --> 00:10:55.540 But I don't know if you've ever experienced that. 00:10:56.180 --> 00:10:58.580 You know that sense in your past. 00:10:58.639 --> 00:11:00.019 I don't know where you've been. 00:11:01.519 --> 00:11:05.620 Some of us, it may be neglect, abuse, the unfaithfulness of a spouse. 00:11:05.779 --> 00:11:08.420 Your kid's not coming to faith as you wanted. 00:11:08.540 --> 00:11:10.960 You're still single and you wanted to be married. 00:11:10.960 --> 00:11:13.700 And everyone around you is getting married. 00:11:15.300 --> 00:11:17.639 Things you've prayed for and God hasn't answered. 00:11:18.720 --> 00:11:22.580 Friends have left and things are not the same as they used to be. 00:11:23.060 --> 00:11:27.200 Whatever it is, disappointment affects us all in different ways. 00:11:27.200 --> 00:11:33.900 And it's not actually something that is a rare species. 00:11:35.020 --> 00:11:39.720 Whatever your belief, whether you're Buddhist, whether you're atheist, whether you're agnostic, whether you're Christian, 00:11:40.040 --> 00:11:43.900 everyone at some point in life faces disappointment. 00:11:44.700 --> 00:11:44.980 Right? 00:11:44.980 --> 00:11:50.240 And the thing is, we all need to know how do we handle it. 00:11:50.860 --> 00:11:54.420 If it's going to come to all of us in some ways, we need to know how to handle it. 00:11:54.879 --> 00:11:58.940 Because it always raises some very legitimate questions. 00:11:59.759 --> 00:12:00.539 Is God good? 00:12:00.720 --> 00:12:01.759 Is he powerful? 00:12:02.180 --> 00:12:03.920 Can he do anything about it? 00:12:03.920 --> 00:12:08.399 Many people who have turned away from faith have done so because of this question. 00:12:09.320 --> 00:12:14.600 And yet, many of the objections against Christianity assume something. 00:12:14.980 --> 00:12:17.560 They assume we deserve good things. 00:12:18.340 --> 00:12:18.500 Right? 00:12:19.159 --> 00:12:22.399 Mary and Martha, especially, they were Jesus' friends. 00:12:22.659 --> 00:12:23.659 He loved them. 00:12:24.779 --> 00:12:26.920 They deserve him to help them, don't they? 00:12:28.700 --> 00:12:34.460 But the Bible, as we think about this, wrestles just very honestly with this question. 00:12:34.460 --> 00:12:40.120 It says that disappointment and suffering is the result of living in a broken world. 00:12:41.159 --> 00:12:43.100 God has made a good world. 00:12:43.100 --> 00:12:46.980 But humans, we've chosen to rebel against God's authority. 00:12:47.580 --> 00:12:52.440 And our coup against God as the king has put the whole world out of sync. 00:12:52.720 --> 00:12:53.279 You know this. 00:12:53.360 --> 00:12:59.920 If an arrogant or an incompetent employee seeks to overthrow the good CEO of a company, 00:13:00.240 --> 00:13:02.860 tries to make himself boss, sets himself up, 00:13:02.980 --> 00:13:07.100 he can destroy the whole company and everybody else's lives in it. 00:13:07.100 --> 00:13:17.159 And that's what happens when we reject God as the CEO of the world and try and set ourselves up as alternative rivals to him. 00:13:19.120 --> 00:13:20.940 It breaks things down. 00:13:21.759 --> 00:13:23.580 Things don't work as they should. 00:13:23.680 --> 00:13:26.639 And our world is more interconnected than we think it is. 00:13:27.460 --> 00:13:32.040 Sin has more profound consequences on our lives than we can imagine. 00:13:32.039 --> 00:13:40.500 And yet God, for some reason, seems to allow it to happen to give us space to repent and turn to him. 00:13:41.899 --> 00:13:49.019 And just by way of proviso, I'm not saying every disappointment that comes into your life is a direct result of individual sin. 00:13:49.919 --> 00:13:51.779 Some is, but many isn't. 00:13:52.319 --> 00:13:55.719 You know, you can't say he got cancer because he was a bad father. 00:13:55.720 --> 00:13:57.300 That's not the way it works. 00:13:57.420 --> 00:14:02.420 Sin is more, it's generally, we breathe the air of a broken world. 00:14:02.600 --> 00:14:04.399 And that's why it affects all of us. 00:14:05.019 --> 00:14:10.000 Everyone knows that on some level, behind the beauty and the amazing things in this world, 00:14:10.080 --> 00:14:13.440 there is something that is deeply wrong with this world. 00:14:13.759 --> 00:14:14.160 Don't we? 00:14:16.139 --> 00:14:17.420 But here's the thing. 00:14:17.580 --> 00:14:21.800 This passage says there's a reality to disappointment, 00:14:21.920 --> 00:14:24.580 but there's also another reality that's going on here. 00:14:25.720 --> 00:14:32.580 You see, ultimately, God is also working this in this passage for his glory and for our good because he loves us. 00:14:32.639 --> 00:14:33.100 Did you notice? 00:14:33.440 --> 00:14:34.460 This is really strange. 00:14:34.920 --> 00:14:35.600 Verse 3. 00:14:36.759 --> 00:14:40.320 Jesus says, okay, this is for the glory of God. 00:14:41.220 --> 00:14:45.700 And then it says, and Jesus loved Martha and Mary and Lazarus. 00:14:46.060 --> 00:14:48.360 So he went straight away to go and help them out. 00:14:49.340 --> 00:14:50.240 It doesn't say that. 00:14:50.240 --> 00:14:54.220 It says, so he loved them, so he stayed two days longer. 00:14:55.720 --> 00:14:57.320 I mean, isn't that weird? 00:14:57.480 --> 00:14:59.200 He loved them, so he waited. 00:15:00.420 --> 00:15:02.019 That is just strange. 00:15:02.300 --> 00:15:05.120 That doesn't fit into my category of love. 00:15:06.600 --> 00:15:07.120 Right? 00:15:07.500 --> 00:15:13.740 You see, I think God loves me when he gives me what I want and when I want it. 00:15:13.800 --> 00:15:15.420 But Jesus doesn't do that. 00:15:15.420 --> 00:15:18.720 He waits for two reasons. 00:15:18.720 --> 00:15:21.680 For his glory and for their good because he loves them. 00:15:23.519 --> 00:15:29.360 Because he wants to show us his glory, himself, in his goodness. 00:15:29.899 --> 00:15:37.740 And there are some ways that he can give himself only to us through disappointment and suffering. 00:15:37.740 --> 00:15:46.799 You know, for many people, actually, disappointment and suffering leads them deeper into seeing God's goodness. 00:15:46.940 --> 00:15:53.480 You know, when you lose a job and suddenly you realize, hey, I was relying on my job to provide everything. 00:15:53.600 --> 00:15:56.080 And then you see that Christ is the one who provides. 00:15:56.440 --> 00:15:58.860 And your faith grows deeper in him. 00:15:58.860 --> 00:16:05.759 And many of us will see aspects of God's wisdom and goodness through the disappointment. 00:16:06.480 --> 00:16:07.639 It's for his glory. 00:16:08.259 --> 00:16:09.820 But it's also for our good. 00:16:10.720 --> 00:16:12.019 You see, now this is difficult. 00:16:12.279 --> 00:16:18.480 Because I don't think Mary or Martha, as they were going things, would have thought that Jesus' absence was for their good. 00:16:18.560 --> 00:16:20.100 I don't think they would have got it at all. 00:16:20.639 --> 00:16:22.300 You know, and we can have these same things. 00:16:22.299 --> 00:16:28.719 It's like, how can the Holocaust, how can what's happening in Syria, how can terrorist attacks be for our good? 00:16:29.459 --> 00:16:32.219 And whatever is happening, it's very difficult. 00:16:32.459 --> 00:16:34.199 It sounds harsh, but hold on. 00:16:35.120 --> 00:16:36.539 We've got to remember this. 00:16:37.399 --> 00:16:40.979 We assume that we deserve only good things, right? 00:16:41.959 --> 00:16:44.179 I assume that I deserve good things. 00:16:44.379 --> 00:16:48.039 We say, why, God, do you allow evil to happen in the first place? 00:16:48.039 --> 00:16:56.759 But the bigger question the Bible asks is, why, if we are really rebellious, would he continue to let us live with so many good things? 00:16:57.159 --> 00:16:58.439 Why not just wipe us out? 00:16:59.579 --> 00:17:06.940 And just as disappointment and ultimately death indiscriminately come to all people, 00:17:07.480 --> 00:17:13.539 so God also indiscriminately brings the sun to shine on the righteous and the unrighteous. 00:17:13.539 --> 00:17:20.619 Can you agree the most vile murderer can enjoy a good steak, right? 00:17:21.079 --> 00:17:28.139 Someone who is the most vile person can still take Wagyu beef and really enjoy it, right? 00:17:28.480 --> 00:17:34.579 God doesn't suddenly say, because you're evil, I'm going to blast your taste buds so you go and enjoy it, right? 00:17:34.659 --> 00:17:35.440 He doesn't do that. 00:17:35.440 --> 00:17:44.460 Can you, the worst boss that you have who is vindictive and hateful, he can still enjoy a holiday in the Maldives, right? 00:17:45.700 --> 00:17:56.740 You see, people like you and me who are unselfish and unkind can still have great food, flats, friends, kids, spouses, jobs, whatever you name it. 00:17:56.740 --> 00:17:58.000 So many good things. 00:17:58.000 --> 00:18:05.720 And God, for some reason, allows us to live in a broken world of our own making, but continues to show us common grace. 00:18:06.500 --> 00:18:08.880 He continues to show us common grace. 00:18:09.460 --> 00:18:18.259 And if we want to say it's not fair, then instead of asking why me, sometimes we maybe should ask why not me? 00:18:19.279 --> 00:18:20.240 Why not me? 00:18:20.880 --> 00:18:22.420 This is really, I find this really challenging. 00:18:22.420 --> 00:18:30.539 When I, Dr. Hannah, who came here like two or three years ago, is a seminary professor, he said something which really challenged me. 00:18:30.600 --> 00:18:40.240 He said, when my 19-year-old daughter was seriously ill and looking likely to die, he sat down with her and said to her with tears in his eyes, 00:18:40.560 --> 00:18:51.539 I cannot say God is unfair if he takes you away from me, but instead say what grace that he has allowed me 19 years to enjoy you, my beautiful daughter. 00:18:51.539 --> 00:18:54.960 And I didn't deserve those 19 years. 00:18:56.720 --> 00:18:57.879 That's challenging. 00:18:58.899 --> 00:19:07.159 But God, in a broken world, is continually wanting to show us his grace and his goodness. 00:19:07.960 --> 00:19:16.279 And for the Christian, in this story for Mary and Martha, we know that God is ultimately working out a redemptive purpose. 00:19:17.160 --> 00:19:25.240 Every disappointment that you have gone through or even going through now will have redemption stamped all over it. 00:19:25.319 --> 00:19:27.059 You know, Romans 8, 28. 00:19:27.240 --> 00:19:29.700 We know this passage if you've been in church a while. 00:19:29.920 --> 00:19:34.240 It says, God works all things for the good of those who love him. 00:19:35.160 --> 00:19:37.000 And the next verse tells you the reason. 00:19:37.099 --> 00:19:40.160 To conform you into the image of his son. 00:19:40.160 --> 00:19:46.620 You know, like the pain of a workout in the gym changes your body into the person you want to be sometimes. 00:19:48.300 --> 00:19:49.720 Hasn't done it for me yet, but. 00:19:50.940 --> 00:20:03.500 So God, though, in some way uses every disappointment if we trust in him to change us into the people that in our good moments we really want to be. 00:20:03.500 --> 00:20:08.299 That's the reality of disappointment in a broken world. 00:20:08.759 --> 00:20:16.880 But God works through it with his common grace for his glory and for our good to change us to be more like him. 00:20:18.660 --> 00:20:19.680 So it's reality. 00:20:19.880 --> 00:20:20.880 What about our response? 00:20:22.079 --> 00:20:24.380 There are three responses to disappointment. 00:20:25.279 --> 00:20:25.420 Okay. 00:20:25.420 --> 00:20:35.580 When you face disappointment, you can turn away from your faith. 00:20:35.700 --> 00:20:36.539 Turn away from God. 00:20:36.640 --> 00:20:40.300 You can isolate your faith from really going deep in your life. 00:20:40.420 --> 00:20:42.320 Or you can deepen your faith. 00:20:42.620 --> 00:20:42.800 Okay. 00:20:43.080 --> 00:20:45.680 Three responses that you can have. 00:20:46.700 --> 00:20:53.200 If Mary and Martha had turned away from Jesus, do you know what happened? 00:20:53.200 --> 00:20:57.480 And they would have just been left there in the same position. 00:20:57.819 --> 00:21:03.680 Very few resources for dealing with the disappointment and the suffering because that's simply the way the world is. 00:21:04.680 --> 00:21:10.420 You know, if there is no God, if God's really not there, then we're alone in the world. 00:21:11.640 --> 00:21:13.660 And there's no hope beyond this world. 00:21:14.259 --> 00:21:16.200 And you've got to make your own meaning for yourself. 00:21:16.519 --> 00:21:19.220 You've got to basically try and lean on yourself. 00:21:19.220 --> 00:21:27.200 And maybe if you lean on others, well, they may actually give way at some point as well and disappoint you. 00:21:28.579 --> 00:21:37.100 So if disappointment is a natural part of life and you don't have God in there, you're always going to have to try and protect yourself from future disappointments. 00:21:37.559 --> 00:21:39.980 Try and avoid suffering at any cost. 00:21:39.980 --> 00:21:43.120 So you can turn away from faith. 00:21:43.279 --> 00:21:48.640 But many of us, I think, if we are Christians, that's not necessarily the response we make. 00:21:49.339 --> 00:21:54.400 We actually isolate our faith from penetrating deep into our lives. 00:21:55.140 --> 00:21:57.240 Let me kind of look through this a little bit. 00:21:57.819 --> 00:21:59.440 I want you to look at Martha's response. 00:22:00.339 --> 00:22:00.759 Poor Martha. 00:22:00.880 --> 00:22:03.500 You know, we've given Martha a bit of a rough time, you know. 00:22:03.920 --> 00:22:05.299 Criticized her a couple of weeks ago. 00:22:05.299 --> 00:22:08.579 And now I'm going to kind of say something not great about her. 00:22:08.619 --> 00:22:09.759 But I think she was great. 00:22:10.859 --> 00:22:11.960 Jesus loved her. 00:22:13.259 --> 00:22:14.700 And she's so well-meaning. 00:22:14.819 --> 00:22:17.079 And she's got such a heart for Jesus. 00:22:17.839 --> 00:22:19.639 But Jesus is wanting to show us something. 00:22:19.740 --> 00:22:23.059 Because you see what happens is, Martha runs out to meet Jesus. 00:22:23.379 --> 00:22:23.619 Okay. 00:22:24.319 --> 00:22:28.379 Tells him, if you had been here, my brother would not have died. 00:22:28.899 --> 00:22:30.319 That sounds like faith, doesn't it? 00:22:30.339 --> 00:22:32.299 That sounds like, okay, she's got faith. 00:22:32.619 --> 00:22:35.720 Jesus said to him, says to her, your brother's going to rise again. 00:22:36.319 --> 00:22:37.779 And she says, yeah, I know that. 00:22:38.000 --> 00:22:40.139 The resurrection, I believe in the resurrection. 00:22:40.559 --> 00:22:41.839 It's going to happen at the end time. 00:22:42.099 --> 00:22:44.379 And Jesus says, yeah, I'm the resurrection. 00:22:44.720 --> 00:22:47.619 And then she says, oh, yeah, you're the son of God. 00:22:47.680 --> 00:22:48.639 You're the Christ and everything. 00:22:48.740 --> 00:22:50.059 She knew all the right answers. 00:22:50.379 --> 00:22:51.859 You know, she'd done her Bible study. 00:22:52.119 --> 00:22:53.339 She'd been to BSF. 00:22:53.519 --> 00:22:55.779 She'd done all the things that she should have done. 00:22:56.299 --> 00:22:57.799 You know, she had the right doctrine. 00:22:59.180 --> 00:23:00.079 But you know what? 00:23:00.079 --> 00:23:10.139 When the rubber hit the road, her faith hadn't actually, in that moment, penetrated from here in her head down to here in her heart. 00:23:10.599 --> 00:23:15.720 There was this gap where she'd isolated her faith from the reality of her life. 00:23:15.839 --> 00:23:20.659 Because she didn't truly know who Jesus was in this situation. 00:23:21.079 --> 00:23:21.839 How do I know this? 00:23:21.939 --> 00:23:22.779 Turn to verse 39. 00:23:23.720 --> 00:23:24.980 This is fascinating. 00:23:24.980 --> 00:23:26.480 Verse 39. 00:23:27.039 --> 00:23:30.680 Jesus comes up to the tomb and says, take away the stone. 00:23:31.779 --> 00:23:35.279 And Martha says, but he's been there four days. 00:23:35.420 --> 00:23:36.680 And there's a bad odor. 00:23:37.460 --> 00:23:39.940 Now, the King James version of the Bible, I love this. 00:23:40.220 --> 00:23:43.140 It says, and by this time he stinketh. 00:23:44.839 --> 00:23:47.160 Which is what my wife tells me in the summer. 00:23:47.160 --> 00:23:55.580 You see, Jesus says, sorry, Martha says, I believe in the resurrection. 00:23:56.759 --> 00:23:58.800 But she's actually thinking, stinky. 00:24:00.779 --> 00:24:03.200 Jesus says, I am the resurrection. 00:24:03.840 --> 00:24:06.580 And he's going, let's go and get some resurrection going here. 00:24:07.620 --> 00:24:14.240 You see, with Martha, she's placed her faith in this little box which says, I believe the right things. 00:24:14.240 --> 00:24:16.440 I believe in this thing called resurrection. 00:24:16.779 --> 00:24:18.440 I believe that you're kind of powerful. 00:24:19.420 --> 00:24:23.460 But she hasn't seen who Jesus truly is in her circumstances now. 00:24:23.700 --> 00:24:30.299 And she's leaning her weight, not on his power, but on just her own thoughts about it. 00:24:30.359 --> 00:24:37.900 Because she hasn't seen that the Son of God truly is capable of resurrecting even the greatest loss in your life. 00:24:38.039 --> 00:24:40.000 The greatest disappointment in your heart. 00:24:40.259 --> 00:24:42.500 The greatest pain or regret that you have. 00:24:42.500 --> 00:24:44.779 I mean, she says she believes in Jesus. 00:24:47.940 --> 00:24:54.980 But she's really isolated what she says she believed from what is really lived out in her life. 00:24:55.700 --> 00:24:58.859 And to be fair, Martha couldn't see the end of the story. 00:25:00.400 --> 00:25:02.079 Martha couldn't see what was going to happen. 00:25:03.200 --> 00:25:06.039 But she hadn't seen who Jesus truly was. 00:25:06.119 --> 00:25:08.500 And I'd be cynical a little bit if I was her. 00:25:09.180 --> 00:25:10.980 Jesus, you didn't turn up last time. 00:25:11.039 --> 00:25:12.059 How can I trust you? 00:25:12.500 --> 00:25:12.980 Right? 00:25:14.259 --> 00:25:18.339 But she hadn't seen that actually when Jesus done miracle after miracle after miracle. 00:25:18.480 --> 00:25:23.980 And she had seen it before, but she didn't think for her it was going to be true in her life. 00:25:23.980 --> 00:25:28.039 You know, you may have heard about the story of Blondin. 00:25:28.779 --> 00:25:34.220 He was that 19th century tightrope walker who tightrope walked over the Niagara Falls. 00:25:34.640 --> 00:25:35.380 Have you heard about him? 00:25:36.059 --> 00:25:37.240 You may have heard the story. 00:25:37.460 --> 00:25:43.380 You see, what he does, he sets out a rope across the Niagara Falls, like a few hundred feet above it. 00:25:43.380 --> 00:25:46.140 And he walks across forward and back. 00:25:46.140 --> 00:25:48.280 And a whole crowd comes to see him. 00:25:48.440 --> 00:25:50.220 And they're amazed at what he does. 00:25:51.020 --> 00:25:53.940 And then he says, okay, I'm going to up the stakes. 00:25:54.060 --> 00:25:57.620 So he blindfolds himself, walks across again, and walks back. 00:25:57.619 --> 00:25:59.699 And everyone's amazed, goes on stilts. 00:26:00.339 --> 00:26:00.979 This is true. 00:26:01.299 --> 00:26:06.139 He goes on stilts on a tightrope across the Niagara Falls, comes back. 00:26:06.539 --> 00:26:10.639 He then goes and cooks an egg on the tightrope in the middle of it. 00:26:10.859 --> 00:26:11.919 Everyone's amazed. 00:26:12.179 --> 00:26:12.979 They're wowed. 00:26:13.099 --> 00:26:13.919 It's incredible. 00:26:14.920 --> 00:26:18.000 And then he takes a wheelbarrow, and he starts wheeling a wheelbarrow. 00:26:18.140 --> 00:26:22.360 And he fills the wheelbarrow with a whole load of sacks, takes it back, takes it back again. 00:26:22.360 --> 00:26:24.920 And everyone's clapping and saying, wow, it's amazing. 00:26:25.140 --> 00:26:26.860 And the royal family had turned up. 00:26:27.140 --> 00:26:30.360 And so Blondin goes up, and he sees the Duke of Newcastle there. 00:26:30.400 --> 00:26:36.440 And he says to him, do you believe that I can take a man in this wheelbarrow across this tightrope? 00:26:36.560 --> 00:26:40.120 And the Duke of Newcastle says, yes, you can. 00:26:40.380 --> 00:26:42.019 And then Blondin says, okay, get in. 00:26:43.920 --> 00:26:45.140 And do you know what he said? 00:26:46.360 --> 00:26:46.880 No. 00:26:47.800 --> 00:26:51.560 And Blondin turns to the rest of the crowd, and he says, okay, who's willing to get in? 00:26:53.860 --> 00:26:54.380 Nobody. 00:26:55.480 --> 00:26:55.860 Nobody. 00:26:57.080 --> 00:27:04.759 And then one little old lady stepped out from the crowd, came up to Blondin, got into the wheelbarrow. 00:27:05.640 --> 00:27:11.080 And Blondin walked her across the Niagara Falls, walked her back. 00:27:11.079 --> 00:27:13.919 Everyone was stunned. 00:27:15.119 --> 00:27:16.199 Do you know who the woman was? 00:27:17.439 --> 00:27:18.399 It was his mother. 00:27:19.740 --> 00:27:26.439 Because his mother knew that she could put her trust in Blondin, her son. 00:27:26.859 --> 00:27:28.000 Because she knew him. 00:27:28.839 --> 00:27:30.319 She knew what he was like. 00:27:30.319 --> 00:27:39.960 And I think many of us, and including myself in this, I resonate with Martha. 00:27:41.559 --> 00:27:43.939 Because I can say the right things. 00:27:44.059 --> 00:27:45.639 I can believe the right things. 00:27:45.639 --> 00:27:52.720 But when the rubber hits the road with the real disappointments in my life, you know, I say, Jesus is the son of God. 00:27:52.839 --> 00:27:53.099 Tick. 00:27:53.679 --> 00:27:55.039 Jesus, I believe you love me. 00:27:55.139 --> 00:27:55.460 Tick. 00:27:55.740 --> 00:27:56.859 Jesus, you're powerful. 00:27:57.059 --> 00:27:57.399 Tick. 00:27:57.400 --> 00:27:59.240 Jesus, you answer prayer. 00:27:59.420 --> 00:27:59.780 Tick. 00:28:00.440 --> 00:28:11.759 But if an alien was to come down and was to look at my prayer life or your prayer life, would there be evidence that you truly believed in a God who answers prayer? 00:28:11.759 --> 00:28:18.779 Like, do you actually pray for the things which actually annoy you and get to you? 00:28:20.259 --> 00:28:27.900 When people in church annoy you or things are not going the way that you'd like them to be, where's your worst resort? 00:28:28.019 --> 00:28:30.539 Is it on your knees or is it complaining to everyone else? 00:28:30.740 --> 00:28:39.140 Because I say I believe in you, but actually my life says, I'm going to rely and lean on myself. 00:28:39.140 --> 00:28:45.940 I don't want to trust in Jesus in this moment because I'm not sure if he's going to come through. 00:28:47.560 --> 00:28:55.200 Is there evidence that you believe that God has your romantic relationships in his hands and he loves you? 00:28:55.200 --> 00:28:58.059 Because you know what? 00:28:58.059 --> 00:29:17.799 Sometimes God will take away the things in our lives which we think ought to be and he brings us into disappointments to shake us out of a theoretical faith so that we actually learn to really put our full weight on him and realize that he is reliable and we can trust him. 00:29:17.799 --> 00:29:31.500 Many of us have had disappointments in the past and we deep down, if we're honest, wonder, can I really trust God? 00:29:32.220 --> 00:29:34.779 I wonder if he really is good. 00:29:35.000 --> 00:29:38.099 If he really has power to change anything. 00:29:38.539 --> 00:29:41.299 If praying is really worth it. 00:29:41.299 --> 00:29:54.779 But the thing is, you can stay bound by the past which will trap you in the present because if you don't turn away from faith and just trust in yourself, 00:29:55.700 --> 00:29:59.700 then you're going to be in a place where you're actually kind of trying to sit in the middle. 00:30:00.639 --> 00:30:03.799 And you know, you can neither enjoy sinning or enjoy God. 00:30:03.799 --> 00:30:08.720 And that's not a great place to feel because you're going to fall through the cracks. 00:30:10.799 --> 00:30:19.700 Other of us are so looking into the future to fix the disappointments of the past and we're missing the present. 00:30:20.500 --> 00:30:23.099 You know, we're always on the verge of getting what we want. 00:30:23.639 --> 00:30:24.059 Have you seen this? 00:30:24.139 --> 00:30:29.680 You know, when I just get that new job, when I just get this little problem with my kids sorted out, 00:30:29.680 --> 00:30:35.100 when I just get that salary increase, when I just get that next thing, then things will be okay. 00:30:35.259 --> 00:30:38.880 But it's always in the future and then there's always another thing and another thing and another thing. 00:30:38.940 --> 00:30:40.100 And it's always living out there. 00:30:40.200 --> 00:30:41.480 We're never living here today. 00:30:44.500 --> 00:30:48.320 You know, it's like climbing a mountain and you think you got to the top and then suddenly you see there's another ridge. 00:30:48.380 --> 00:30:50.100 And then you get to the top and there's another ridge. 00:30:50.600 --> 00:30:50.920 Right? 00:30:50.920 --> 00:30:51.120 Right? 00:30:52.680 --> 00:30:59.620 I wonder whether Christ is isolated from really penetrating the things you really care about in your life. 00:30:59.680 --> 00:31:03.019 Do you have theoretical faith? 00:31:04.720 --> 00:31:13.259 Sometimes Jesus will bring disappointment into your life like he brought it to Martha so that she could begin to see what she thought you believed 00:31:13.259 --> 00:31:16.539 and begin to actually realize when she leans on Christ. 00:31:17.320 --> 00:31:19.299 He is so much better for. 00:31:19.799 --> 00:31:23.799 So much better than what she even imagined he could be. 00:31:23.799 --> 00:31:30.180 So you can lose your faith, but disappointment is impersonal and you're left to lean on yourself. 00:31:30.720 --> 00:31:37.460 You can isolate your faith, but you're worse off because you're just going to go through the cracks and be dishonest basically with yourself. 00:31:37.759 --> 00:31:39.339 Or you can deepen your faith. 00:31:40.639 --> 00:31:42.980 The preacher Spurgeon used to say, 00:31:42.980 --> 00:31:47.799 Doubt is a foot poised to go forward or backward. 00:31:48.940 --> 00:31:51.279 You see, it's a decision moment. 00:31:51.420 --> 00:31:56.559 I can either go deeper or I can go backwards, but I can't stand still. 00:31:56.900 --> 00:32:02.400 And the journey that Jesus takes Mary and Martha on is a journey where he's going to take them forwards. 00:32:02.400 --> 00:32:04.380 And that's what I want to look at in the last point. 00:32:05.060 --> 00:32:06.840 Our route through disappointment. 00:32:09.320 --> 00:32:14.660 Jesus responds to Martha's faith, isolated faith, with the statement, 00:32:15.180 --> 00:32:18.620 I am the resurrection and the life. 00:32:19.900 --> 00:32:22.400 Jesus' response to Martha isn't a kind of explanation. 00:32:23.200 --> 00:32:24.780 He didn't say, hey, yeah, I'm sorry, Martha. 00:32:24.820 --> 00:32:26.380 I was a bit tied up with some teaching. 00:32:26.880 --> 00:32:27.620 He doesn't say that. 00:32:27.619 --> 00:32:33.839 He doesn't say, yes, Martha, there was a higher purpose in all of this, even though there was. 00:32:34.419 --> 00:32:37.439 And by the way, if you're talking to someone who's going through disappointment, 00:32:37.699 --> 00:32:41.939 don't make the first thing you say to them, oh, I'm sure there's a deeper reason to this. 00:32:42.379 --> 00:32:42.639 Okay? 00:32:42.839 --> 00:32:45.879 You can get there, but don't make the first thing you say to them. 00:32:46.319 --> 00:32:46.659 Okay? 00:32:47.079 --> 00:32:50.279 Because in the present, it's not a logical answer she needs. 00:32:50.339 --> 00:32:51.559 It's a person who cares. 00:32:52.819 --> 00:32:54.339 It's not a logical answer. 00:32:54.339 --> 00:32:57.159 It's a person she cares in that present moment. 00:32:57.619 --> 00:32:58.979 The logic comes. 00:32:59.879 --> 00:33:04.039 And the first thing Jesus does is point Martha to himself and says, 00:33:04.319 --> 00:33:07.179 I am your resurrection. 00:33:07.639 --> 00:33:09.679 I am the life. 00:33:09.799 --> 00:33:11.000 I am your life. 00:33:11.419 --> 00:33:12.559 Will you trust me? 00:33:13.079 --> 00:33:18.799 I'm the one, if you rely on me, who brings life to your greatest disappointments. 00:33:19.179 --> 00:33:20.939 You see, Jesus is personal. 00:33:20.940 --> 00:33:27.360 And so as you think about Jesus being personal, the question is, what kind of person is he? 00:33:27.660 --> 00:33:33.259 And you see in verses 32 to 44, that Jesus is not just personally involved. 00:33:33.380 --> 00:33:35.720 He's emotionally involved because he's a friend. 00:33:35.840 --> 00:33:36.600 He's not distant. 00:33:37.539 --> 00:33:38.840 Have a look at this with me. 00:33:38.839 --> 00:33:44.599 Mary comes out to Jesus in her grief, exactly the same response as Martha. 00:33:44.799 --> 00:33:48.379 If you'd been here, my brother would not have died. 00:33:49.099 --> 00:33:51.139 And all her friends are there mourning with her. 00:33:51.199 --> 00:33:52.000 Everyone's crying. 00:33:52.119 --> 00:33:55.559 I mean, it's like this huge, like, you can imagine the scene. 00:33:55.659 --> 00:33:57.139 It's just lots of wailing. 00:33:57.140 --> 00:34:01.759 And then it says this, verse 33, Jesus saw her weeping. 00:34:01.860 --> 00:34:08.260 When Jesus saw her weeping and the others weeping, he was deeply moved in his spirit and greatly troubled. 00:34:09.200 --> 00:34:11.039 See, Jesus sees this scene. 00:34:11.140 --> 00:34:12.440 He sees their pain. 00:34:12.760 --> 00:34:13.660 And do you know what happens? 00:34:13.920 --> 00:34:15.599 It says he's deeply moved. 00:34:16.160 --> 00:34:19.720 Now, that word deeply moved is actually a poor translation. 00:34:20.160 --> 00:34:25.599 The real word in Greek means he snorted with anger. 00:34:25.599 --> 00:34:27.279 That's what it means. 00:34:27.519 --> 00:34:34.819 It's the word of a war horse when it's about to go into a battle and it's angry and furious and it's about to go in. 00:34:35.139 --> 00:34:43.059 Jesus is looking at the devastating consequences of a broken, sin-stained, death-filled world and he's furious. 00:34:44.799 --> 00:34:45.779 I don't know if you realize that. 00:34:46.579 --> 00:34:49.799 This is not the world he created. 00:34:51.659 --> 00:34:53.739 This is not the way it's meant to be. 00:34:53.739 --> 00:35:01.779 If there's no God and disappointment is just the way it's meant to be, then anger, when stuff doesn't go your way, is pointless and irrational. 00:35:02.479 --> 00:35:07.359 You know, you can shake your fist at the rain when it spoils your barbecue, but it's pointless, right? 00:35:08.439 --> 00:35:10.019 Because that's the way things have. 00:35:10.019 --> 00:35:19.019 But we have a God who is not only powerful enough to do things about stuff, but he also is emotionally involved. 00:35:19.679 --> 00:35:26.519 And we know, though we don't know all the reasons why he allows things, we know the reasons, what the reasons are not. 00:35:26.699 --> 00:35:28.900 We know it's not because he doesn't care. 00:35:29.500 --> 00:35:34.159 Because here Jesus is going into combat with death itself. 00:35:34.159 --> 00:35:38.139 And you can hear the Rocky theme tune going on in the background, right? 00:35:38.199 --> 00:35:39.420 It's Jesus in the red corner. 00:35:39.539 --> 00:35:40.859 It's death in the blue corner. 00:35:41.039 --> 00:35:42.719 And let me spoil the result. 00:35:43.659 --> 00:35:44.539 Jesus wins. 00:35:44.539 --> 00:35:55.440 Because he sees your disappointment and he's not distant and he's not impassive to it. 00:35:56.639 --> 00:36:00.900 He's angry when he sees pain and hopelessness. 00:36:00.900 --> 00:36:08.619 But we know that a week later on the cross, he goes into combat for you and me. 00:36:09.160 --> 00:36:11.139 He goes 10 rounds with death. 00:36:11.780 --> 00:36:13.820 The greatest loss that we can imagine. 00:36:13.940 --> 00:36:15.079 And he rises victorious. 00:36:16.840 --> 00:36:18.519 See, Jesus is angry. 00:36:19.480 --> 00:36:20.760 But it's not just angry. 00:36:21.180 --> 00:36:23.380 He's also, he weeps. 00:36:24.240 --> 00:36:25.680 The shortest verse in the Bible. 00:36:26.119 --> 00:36:29.220 If you want to memorize any verse in the Bible, this one's a good one. 00:36:29.680 --> 00:36:29.920 Okay? 00:36:30.400 --> 00:36:31.900 Jesus wept. 00:36:34.019 --> 00:36:35.780 Now, this is really interesting. 00:36:35.880 --> 00:36:41.980 Because that word for weep is not the same word as the weeping that Mary and all the other Jews were doing. 00:36:42.500 --> 00:36:43.440 It's not the same word. 00:36:43.740 --> 00:36:45.380 They were weeping in despair. 00:36:45.960 --> 00:36:47.920 Jesus wept with compassion. 00:36:48.420 --> 00:36:51.280 Jesus teared up is basically what it means. 00:36:51.659 --> 00:36:56.539 Now, if you're a logical left brain kind of person, this actually doesn't make any sense. 00:36:56.539 --> 00:37:01.360 Because Jesus knows in 10 minutes time, he's going to raise Lazarus from the dead. 00:37:02.239 --> 00:37:05.880 So why would you, he knows the results, right? 00:37:06.059 --> 00:37:07.519 Why would you start crying? 00:37:08.579 --> 00:37:12.539 Because, you know, it's like watching the highlights of a football game when you already know the result. 00:37:12.980 --> 00:37:16.579 Though you might get into the game, it doesn't have the same emotional impact, right? 00:37:16.579 --> 00:37:17.579 Because you know the result. 00:37:18.239 --> 00:37:20.619 But Jesus, why does Jesus cry? 00:37:20.759 --> 00:37:22.840 He cries because he feels their pain. 00:37:23.799 --> 00:37:25.059 He feels their pain. 00:37:25.159 --> 00:37:26.400 He weeps with them. 00:37:26.699 --> 00:37:28.840 He weeps with us. 00:37:28.840 --> 00:37:31.079 But he weeps not in despair. 00:37:31.220 --> 00:37:32.180 He weeps in hope. 00:37:33.720 --> 00:37:44.360 One of the things about being in an international church is that the people we often grow very close to sometimes leave and move away, right? 00:37:44.500 --> 00:37:46.220 There's some people who are going to move this summer. 00:37:46.219 --> 00:37:52.539 And, you know, one of the things I've just experienced, again, you have a great community group. 00:37:53.179 --> 00:37:56.299 Then afterwards, when people leave, it's just not quite the same. 00:37:57.119 --> 00:38:00.480 Because you don't find exactly the same kind of people as you did before. 00:38:00.899 --> 00:38:03.239 And maybe they didn't click as they did before. 00:38:04.579 --> 00:38:12.459 And, you know, Jesus' first response in that sense of disappointment, it's not just to kind of say, oh, come on, there's a greater purpose in it. 00:38:12.480 --> 00:38:13.459 Well, maybe there is. 00:38:13.799 --> 00:38:15.000 In fact, there is. 00:38:15.000 --> 00:38:18.440 But his first response is to weep with you in that. 00:38:19.980 --> 00:38:21.179 To grieve those losses. 00:38:21.179 --> 00:38:28.900 If you're single and you want to be married, if you're married and wish you were single, Jesus' first response is to weep with you. 00:38:31.559 --> 00:38:33.519 We can talk about some of those afterwards. 00:38:37.360 --> 00:38:39.159 But he feels the pain. 00:38:39.420 --> 00:38:40.179 That's the point. 00:38:40.940 --> 00:38:42.039 He feels the pain. 00:38:42.039 --> 00:38:43.900 It is not impersonal. 00:38:43.900 --> 00:38:45.099 He is personal. 00:38:47.579 --> 00:38:53.180 So don't run away from the pain and those things that you experience. 00:38:53.179 --> 00:38:57.139 Because if you run away, you may avoid what God is trying to do in your life. 00:38:57.319 --> 00:39:00.539 Don't kind of isolate it and just kind of put it out of your mind as if it's nothing. 00:39:00.779 --> 00:39:04.599 Because God actually wants to work with you through the disappointments and the pain. 00:39:05.159 --> 00:39:10.039 Because leaning on Jesus on the full weight, not kind of just like on the edge. 00:39:10.500 --> 00:39:10.899 Maybe. 00:39:10.900 --> 00:39:11.019 Maybe. 00:39:11.460 --> 00:39:14.780 Leaning full weight onto him with whatever you're going through right now. 00:39:15.780 --> 00:39:20.760 God wants to do something redemptive through it, which is for his glory and your good. 00:39:21.019 --> 00:39:22.360 And he calls you to lean on him. 00:39:23.720 --> 00:39:24.820 Think about this. 00:39:25.220 --> 00:39:30.900 Jesus says, did I not tell you if you believe you will see the glory of God? 00:39:30.900 --> 00:39:30.980 Come out. 00:39:31.780 --> 00:39:36.680 Just imagine when Jesus shouts to Lazarus in the tomb, come out. 00:39:37.559 --> 00:39:39.420 And the stinky one comes out. 00:39:40.920 --> 00:39:47.360 Doesn't that put all the pain of the past, the past four or five days, the past weeks, in new perspective? 00:39:48.920 --> 00:39:51.760 I can imagine Martha's life was never the same. 00:39:53.160 --> 00:39:57.400 You lay in a hospital bed and you hear two people next to you moaning in pain. 00:39:57.400 --> 00:40:01.579 One ends in death, the other ends with the cry of a newborn baby. 00:40:02.380 --> 00:40:08.840 There is pain in both, but the hope of a new life transforms your perspective of what has gone before. 00:40:10.619 --> 00:40:14.720 Though we may not fully understand it, you know, ultimately, Lazarus died. 00:40:15.420 --> 00:40:15.880 Again. 00:40:16.360 --> 00:40:16.680 Okay? 00:40:16.960 --> 00:40:17.820 He's not here today. 00:40:18.240 --> 00:40:22.320 Lazarus died again because death in this life is ultimate. 00:40:22.320 --> 00:40:28.700 But a week or so after his first resurrection, it was Friday. 00:40:29.840 --> 00:40:32.519 And the disciples faced their greatest disappointment. 00:40:33.580 --> 00:40:38.559 The one they thought was going to save them, Jesus Christ, was left hanging alone on a cross. 00:40:38.900 --> 00:40:40.019 And he wasn't coming down. 00:40:41.080 --> 00:40:43.160 And they looked up and said, where's God? 00:40:44.140 --> 00:40:47.700 We thought that you would do something. 00:40:48.640 --> 00:40:50.240 Their dreams were shattered. 00:40:50.239 --> 00:40:52.559 Jesus had left them alone. 00:40:52.699 --> 00:40:53.339 He was gone. 00:40:53.419 --> 00:40:54.079 It was Friday. 00:40:55.539 --> 00:40:58.399 But they didn't realize that Easter Sunday was coming. 00:41:00.019 --> 00:41:05.659 Jesus himself cried out in agony, my God, my God, why have you forsaken me? 00:41:06.259 --> 00:41:07.259 It was Friday. 00:41:08.179 --> 00:41:09.859 But Sunday was coming. 00:41:11.519 --> 00:41:15.159 We live in a world, and this world, it's Friday. 00:41:15.919 --> 00:41:16.399 Often. 00:41:16.400 --> 00:41:20.539 Sometimes we wish it was Friday, but that's not the same sense. 00:41:23.480 --> 00:41:28.019 You know, there are disappointments and sufferings, but the gospel message is Sunday's coming. 00:41:29.340 --> 00:41:30.059 Sunday's coming. 00:41:30.639 --> 00:41:32.220 We're going to celebrate it next week. 00:41:32.880 --> 00:41:33.599 Sunday's coming. 00:41:34.780 --> 00:41:43.380 You see, Jesus may roll away the disappointments and sufferings in your lifetime with what you're going through right now. 00:41:43.380 --> 00:41:50.920 You know, you may look back when you've gone through whatever you've been through and are going through, and you say, I see why I went through that. 00:41:51.160 --> 00:41:53.519 I see how that has equipped me. 00:41:53.579 --> 00:41:57.280 That loneliness, that hardship, that difficulty, that disappointment. 00:41:57.280 --> 00:42:03.960 I mean, because disappointment uniquely equips you to walk alongside others who also experience this broken world. 00:42:04.040 --> 00:42:04.560 Do you know that? 00:42:05.200 --> 00:42:12.660 My mom, who's gone through all of those different things, I cannot tell you the countless people she's been able to help and serve because of what she's gone through. 00:42:12.659 --> 00:42:17.879 Because you know that when someone's experienced something, their testimony is so much more powerful. 00:42:20.279 --> 00:42:23.599 Because you see, whatever you're going through, God is trying to equip you. 00:42:25.239 --> 00:42:31.960 So you see his glory, and you see his love for you, and he's good, and you lean on him. 00:42:31.960 --> 00:42:40.280 Some of us may have to wait until the final Easter Sunday when he resurrects everyone in the new creation. 00:42:40.500 --> 00:42:47.380 But when waking up there will be like waking up from a bad dream, and you see everything that was true has become untrue. 00:42:47.840 --> 00:42:52.500 Everything then is like, wow, it's so much more precious. 00:42:52.500 --> 00:42:57.059 So here's the question. 00:42:58.619 --> 00:43:02.179 Right now in my life, what am I leaning on? 00:43:03.059 --> 00:43:12.639 Am I leaning on the one who has the power of resurrection life with anything that's going on in your life? 00:43:14.539 --> 00:43:16.199 Resurrection life, so you will see him. 00:43:16.260 --> 00:43:21.300 Are you going to lean on him, or are you always going to be chasing, running to the next thing, to the next thing, to the next thing, 00:43:21.300 --> 00:43:24.360 to try and escape from the realities of the world? 00:43:24.680 --> 00:43:26.740 The Christian message is don't run. 00:43:27.360 --> 00:43:35.000 Allow God to work in you, because he loves you, he's working it for good, and he will get glory in your life. 00:43:35.900 --> 00:43:37.140 So let me just pray. 00:43:47.860 --> 00:43:48.260 Father, 00:43:48.260 --> 00:43:51.940 You said, 00:43:53.300 --> 00:43:55.060 Jesus said, 00:43:55.540 --> 00:43:58.880 I am the resurrection and the life. 00:44:01.000 --> 00:44:04.960 I confess that there are so many areas where I know that in my head, 00:44:05.640 --> 00:44:08.660 but in my life when the things that come, 00:44:09.660 --> 00:44:11.940 the disappointments that we face, 00:44:11.940 --> 00:44:15.800 Oh, I lose sight of that so easily. 00:44:15.800 --> 00:44:25.220 I pray for those here who really have things from their past where they've just been hurt. 00:44:25.700 --> 00:44:27.179 There are things which have been so difficult. 00:44:27.179 --> 00:44:34.919 And they've stopped really leaning on you because they're not sure whether they can trust you or not. 00:44:34.920 --> 00:44:45.280 I pray you would show them that you are the one who brings resurrection out of their disappointment and their pain. 00:44:45.280 --> 00:44:50.680 I pray for those of us who right now feel like, hey, life's going well. 00:44:50.679 --> 00:45:02.179 But we know that actually there are so many things that we're chasing after that we've actually stopped to see your power and your love in the present. 00:45:02.359 --> 00:45:04.099 And we're leaning on so many other things. 00:45:04.099 --> 00:45:10.480 I pray don't let us be those who just isolate you from our lives. 00:45:11.900 --> 00:45:16.819 Let us come in repentance, Lord, where we just know that in the current situations, 00:45:17.559 --> 00:45:21.000 Lord, if we're facing stuff which is difficult, is challenging for us, 00:45:21.039 --> 00:45:28.920 Lord, I pray that we would see your light and your glory and your love and your goodness. 00:45:28.920 --> 00:45:31.240 And we trust you. 00:45:32.320 --> 00:45:33.680 And we trust you. 00:45:34.680 --> 00:45:35.420 In Jesus' name. 00:45:36.139 --> 00:45:36.440 Amen.