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Northside Church
Questions Jesus Asked #2
Jamey Mills
12/4/22
PRAYER… Advent… other things…
For CLIDE…
Safety and Strength for Val, Waffle to recover from C19
The harvest was poor this year, villagers need emergency food and endurance this winter
Protection for the land and people working with CLIDE as there have been burglaries and threats with violence
That you’d bring your peace to this area that's been so torn apart… that they’d experience your love, comfort and peace in new ways even today as we pray.
Pray for other churches in our area as we prepare to celebrate the birth of Jesus… that you’d help us remember what it's about… the real reason we celebrate. that somehow… as we prepare… you’d help us do that in a way that most glorifies you in each church… but also… as the larger CHURCH in our area. We pray that each and every Church that acknowledges the truth of who you are… encounters you in a new and powerful way.
God we want to continue to pray for those in our community that are struggling… with finances, relationships, with hope… God would you help us know what it means to be your hands and feet… what it means to be your ambassadors in this world… of hope and peace… and truth.
My name is Jamey Mills, I am the lead pastor here at Northside… We are in our second week of our series… “Questions Jesus Asked”...
I’d never really thought about it until now, but did you know
The Gospels records about 340 questions Jesus asked.
And I think it reveals something powerful about Jesus…
It’s not that He didn’t know the answers…
But that He knows the value of the struggle… of our wrestling with the question… He knows that we hear things and hold things differently when we have to think about it like that…
Jesus isn’t opposed to the struggle… Because He knows what the struggle produces in us… it produces better fruit, greater endurance (James 1:3), new understanding, strength, and greater dependance on Him…. a greater sense of relating to Him.
We realize the wisdom and even patience that Jesus has.
Jesus isn’t about simply passing along head knowledge… facts… but truth that’s intended to be contemplated… applied… and that changes the way we live our lives.
He’s not asking blind obedience or for you to leave your brain at the door… but a thoughtful and engaged relationship…
And the fact that the Bible records these questions and responses… allows us in our day to see the way humanity, real people… dealt with them in their day.
Peace… almost feels like a foreign concept in the world … just the overall direction of the world we live in is crazy… not to mention work, school, bills, inflation, phones, kids, chaos, sickness, disease…
If I were to ask you what peace looks like, what would you say?
For me… this is it… (PIC of lake)
Quite… still… warm sun, perfectly clear water… either alone or with my wife who is also there to be close and still and take in God’s creation…
Maybe a couple times in the day, hop in a raft and row it around with the line in the water… sounds incredible to me.
I was thinking about that picture… how quickly peace turns to chaos… it could be as simple as the sound of air coming out of your… raft.
All the sudden peace turns into this frantic shouting and rowing… this chaos…
And that feels true of life… peace is quickly interrupted.
It reminds me of an experience… that Jesus’ disciples had…
As evening came, Jesus said to his disciples, “Let’s cross to the other side of the lake.” So they took Jesus in the boat and started out, leaving the crowds behind (although other boats followed).
(NLT)
35 As evening came, Jesus said to his disciples, “Let’s cross to the other side of the lake.” 36 So they took Jesus in the boat and started out, leaving the crowds behind.
It wasn't long after Jesus preached the sermon on the mount… the best sermon that has and will ever be preached…
He’d been teaching and they had been around a lot of people for a long time… and it feels like they're ready for a break… and so they hop in the boat and head across the lake…
It’s called the sea of Galilee (Pic) but it’s a ginormous lake. 13 miles long and about 8 miles wide… It is the second lowest lake in the world (700 ft below sea level).
The high hills and valleys around it create what one author called… wind tunnels that absolutely rip through that area… and cause all kinds of chaos on the water.
But soon a fierce storm came up. High waves were breaking into the boat, and it began to fill with water.
Jesus was sleeping at the back of the boat with his head on a cushion. The disciples woke him up, shouting, “Teacher, don’t you care that we’re going to drown?”
When Jesus woke up, he rebuked the wind and said to the waves, “Silence! Be still!” Suddenly the wind stopped, and there was a great calm.
37 But soon a fierce storm came up. High waves were breaking into the boat, and it began to fill with water. 38 Jesus was sleeping at the back of the boat with his head on a cushion. The disciples woke him up, shouting, “Teacher, don’t you care that we’re going to drown?”
It says that suddenly… in a moment… without warning… This storm came. This word for storm means “shaking”, furious movement… like water in a jar… it's where we get our word for seismic…
Keep in mind that many of these guys were fishermen. They weren’t sea bearing pansies… They knew the power of the sea… of that sea. They knew the danger of it. When we see that they were afraid for their lives, it tells us something about what's going on.
They knew what to do… and you can bet they tried everything that their training and experience had taught them to do.
As the waves came over the side and their boat began sitting lower and lower in the water… they knew they were in trouble. They knew it was serious.
It is a picture of frantic chaos… the antonym of peace for everyone but Jesus.
And that alone should teach us something.
Jesus wasn’t undone by their chaos.
It was out of their control… and as they were flailing, they looked at Jesus and said… Don’t you even care that we are struggling here… that we could die. Are you even aware of what we are going through here?
In
When Jesus woke up, he rebuked the wind and said to the waves, “Silence! Be still!” Suddenly the wind stopped, and there was a great calm. Then he asked them, “Why are you afraid? Do you still have no faith?”
it says that
39 When Jesus woke up, he rebuked the wind and said to the waves, “Silence! Be still!” Suddenly the wind stopped, and there was a great calm. 40 Then he asked them, “Why are you afraid? Do you still have no faith?”
3 words… and creation obeyed the creator.
The chaos stopped… the wind… the waves stood still…
Can you put yourself in that moment… Can you imagine the tension as Jesus asked these two what almost feels like rhetorical questions…
Questions that cause us to look inside ourselves and that are intended to change the way we face our days.
Why are you afraid?
Are you still without faith?
He knew the answer… These questions weren’t for Him.
What is His point? What is Jesus trying to get them to interact and wrestle with?
Personally… I think it’s the source of their chaos. What is robbing their peace?
They would have identified it as the wind and the waves…
Jesus indicates it's something else.
Jesus connects their lack of peace to their perception of and trust in who He is.
… what He’s like, and what He can do…
The aim of Jesus' question for them and for us.
To get us to think deeply about the reality of who He is and what it means… even in times of fear, stress, sickness, hurt, and when life feels completely out of control.
One author said it this way…
As long as Jesus is on your ship it can never sink.
Can I tell you the truth? If we take that literally, I think it’s really irresponsible theology.
Jesus never promises life will be easy, that it will never be messy, that he’d remove every struggle, stress, heartache, trial, hurt, or storm in your life…
Peace is not the absence of those things…
He is saying that
As we grow in knowing the reality of who He is and grow in our ability to trust Him in and with all things
it brings a peace that is untouchable by circumstance or humanity.
Trusting His power, his presence and His plan in this life and whatever lies beyond it.
It is the ultimate trust that He has you… that even if you drown… even if you sink… even if it doesn't go your way, even if you get sick, even if you face persecution for your faith, even if the end of this life comes here and now…
HE HAS YOU in the most important and powerful way. That even then, God has the power to use it for your good, for the ultimate good and for His glory.
That sort of faith brings peace for the here and now, but you cannot have true peace without seeing and trusting Him in the bigger picture.
We have to know this… that this life, the here and now, is not what it’s all about. It’s not the main thing.
This is how
For our present troubles are small and won’t last very long. Yet they produce for us a glory that vastly outweighs them and will last forever! So we don’t look at the troubles we can see now; rather, we fix our gaze on things that cannot be seen. For the things we see now will soon be gone, but the things we cannot see will last forever.
(NLT) says it.
17 For our present troubles are small and won’t last very long. Yet they produce for us a glory that vastly outweighs them and will last forever! 18 So we don’t look at the troubles we can see now; rather, we fix our gaze on things that cannot be seen. For the things we see now will soon be gone, but the things we cannot see will last forever.
And the product of a growing faith… is growing peace for hear and now… but also there and then.
The disciples were absolutely terrified. “Who is this man?” they asked each other. “Even the wind and waves obey him!”
41 The disciples were absolutely terrified. “Who is this man?” they asked each other. “Even the wind and waves obey him!”
Their response tells us they got it.
Jesus wasn’t handing off facts… but wanted them and us to wrestle with and experience this in ways that changed our lives…
Who is THIS man, even the wind and waves obey Him… and what do I do with that?
How does that impact the way I live my life? You can see them struggle with this.
The wording in this passage is so interesting… it almost makes you believe that they preferred the chaos of the storm… over dealing with what they just saw.
The struggle of faithlessness… was almost easier than faith.
One author said it this way…
The more we dive into the universe, the more we are dumbfounded at the wonder of creation and the precision and care of the one behind it.
We have telescopes that can see 25 sextillion miles and we have yet to come to the edge of the universe.
We’ve discovered gravitational principles that keep stars and planets in orbit, but we cannot duplicate them or tell you why they are there.
The earth spins at 1000 MPH at the equator, travels in a 580 Million mile orbit around the sun, traveling at about a 1000 miles per minute with the rest of the solar system in unison.
And at the very same time…
A teaspoon of water contains a million-billion-trillion atoms which are themselves composed of smaller particles and sub-particles that are all simultaneously energized from something.
If He has the power to create and sustain all that this is… the macro and the micro…
At one point do we begin to trust Him and what He says with all that we are and have?… in ways that bring real peace.
To that end, here is another question that Jesus asked.
Then, turning to his disciples, Jesus said, “That is why I tell you not to worry about everyday life—whether you have enough food to eat or enough clothes to wear. For life is more than food, and your body more than clothing. Look at the ravens. They don’t plant or harvest or store food in barns, for God feeds them. And you are far more valuable to him than any birds! Can all your worries add a single moment to your life? And if worry can’t accomplish a little thing like that, what’s the use of worrying over bigger things?
(NLT)
22 Then, turning to his disciples, Jesus said, “That is why I tell you not to worry about everyday life—whether you have enough food to eat or enough clothes to wear. 23 For life is more than food, and your body more than clothing. 24 Look at the ravens. They don’t plant or harvest or store food in barns, for God feeds them. And you are far more valuable to him than any birds! 25 Can all your worries add a single moment to your life? 26 And if worry can’t accomplish a little thing like that, what’s the use of worrying over bigger things?
Coming to this place where we realize that so much of life is out of our control…
We live out faith everyday. The question is in what?
Here is an example…
We can and should work hard… its clearly something God calls us to do…
We can plant, we can water, and we can pray… but at the end of the day there isn't anything you or I can do to make food grow.
And we can trust in our own effort… but there are several key pieces of what happens in that process that we cannot control.
Craig G. says it this way…
You can have control or you can have growth… but you can’t have both…
There is a peace that is greater than our fear… and that reaches even into those areas that are beyond our control that only comes when we understand that the one who hung the stars… gave boundaries to the ocean… that silenced the wind and the waves… is in control. And that He has you.
Allowing that truth to form a trust in Him that transcends whatever life throws your way.
What are you currently wrestling with that is greater than the knowledge and ability of Jesus?
What has invaded your space, overtaken your heart, shattered your peace, caused a crisis to your faith, what lie have you believed, or what is it that you're currently facing that is beyond the knowledge and reach of God?
Can Jesus be trusted? Can He be trusted with the storm and chaos of life?
This peace is a big part of the full life that God calls us to…
And it's not running from hard things… but recognizing His presence and power within them.
Another thing we learn about Jesus’ asking questions…
Is that he knows it's a process.
They’d heard what Jesus had been teaching… and they’d seen some incredible things He’d done…
But with every lesson on faith that we get… comes an opportunity for faith applied… to live that faith out in deeper ways.
Faith is… in some ways… knowledge believed and applied…
Jesus never promised to remove trails, hurt, heartache and storms…
I’ve seen some questions and even walk away because of their trails…
I’ve seen others come to a greater sense of trust through them.
I think… it's easier to rest in faith… when you walk by faith.
Death… has no victory… sin has no advantage…
I know the one I have believed in… that He is able… to carry me through.