Skip to main content

Deep Questions from Dark Places


This past Sabbath I preached a message from Matthew 11:1-15 called Deep Questions from Dark Places. When John the Baptist was in prison (a dark place) he sent disciples to ask if Jesus was the Messiah (a deep questions).  Our journey of faith passes through dark places and we need to be bold enough to take our deep questions to Jesus. I can relate to John’s experience, but I am amazed by Jesus’ response.  Jesus did not rebuke John for his questions but provided evidence that He, in fact, was doing the work of the Messiah. He reminded John of who He is. Jesus calls us to a trust that is based on knowing His Character and not all His reasons.  Then He affirmed who John was.  Even calling him the greatest ever born of women! Jesus shows how He  feels about doubters who seek Him for answers, He loves them.  Going through a dark time? Have deep questions? Take them to Jesus. He can handle your struggle.


Here’s what I forgot to say….

In the sermon I explored the idea that deep questions arise when our expectation doesn’t match our experience. John expected something a bit different from the Messiah and Jesus didn’t meet His expectation.  God doesn’t always live up to our expectation but He always lives up to His Word!
I want to go a bit deeper with this thought than I had time to do in the sermon.  So here is a though… When Jesus shows up He doesn’t always bring clarity. In fact, sometimes things seem perfectly clear, until Jesus messes with it.  His actions mess with our Certainty Box.
Abraham had clarity. God promised him offspring that couldn’t be counted. But God let him get old with no son, and things became less clear. The clarity returned with the miraculous birth of Isaac only to get blurry again when God told Abraham to sacrifice the promised son. Jonah had clarity about the fate of the Ninevites. Then God shows up and brought conviction through Jonah’s preaching. When the city repented Jonah was confused.  And the disciples, they thought they understood where things were leading until Jesus knelt down and washes their feet. He told them that one of them would betray Him. He had them to put their swords away. And they watched Him put up no resistance to His arrest and crucifixion.
Our lack of clarity does not mean that God is not at work. Sometimes, it is just the opposite. Seeking clarity is not the same as seeking Jesus. Seeking certainty is not the same as seeking truth.  So our confidence should not be based on the clarity we have about our situation but on the relationship we have with Jesus.
            This week I have studied early Adventist history for a class I am taking. I have been reminded that the Seventh-Day Adventist Church is a movement that grew out of deep questions from dark places.  Early Adventists experienced a Great Disappointment. Advent believers were scatter, many denouncing the hope that disappointed them.  But there were others who were willing to ask deep questions in that dark place.  They sought God to learn where they were wrong.  And God led them in truth as those deep questions were brought to Him.  What if they hadn’t been willing to take their deep questions to Jesus?    


Comments

Popular posts from this blog

A New Living Faith in an Old Rugged Cross

This past Sabbath I preached a message from  Isaiah 43:14-21  entitled  A New Living Faith in an Old Rugged Cross .  I explored the tension between welcoming the new and holding onto the old.  Through the prophet Isaiah God called His people to “Remember  not the former things, neither consider the things of old” (Isaiah 43:18). Three chapters latter the same God called the same people to “Remember the former things of old” (Isaiah 46:9). Which is it?  Are we to run to the new or cling to the old? Well, both.  We are to welcome the new things that God leads us into while holding onto the unchangeable truth of who God is.  At the same time we are to run from the new things that will lead us away from God and from the old things that have kept us from Him. The point is not that it is new or that it is old but that it is God.  Here’s what I forgot to say…. God has promised to “make all things new”(Revelation 21:5). But He hasn’t promised to “make all new things”.  Th

Shadow of a Doubt

Last Sabbath I preached a message from Matthew 16:13-23 entitled Shadow of a Doubt. I challenged the idea that believers are called to live beyond the shadow of a doubt. Instead, we are called to have faith within the shadow.  In the text there are two stories, both about Peter and Jesus.  When we put these stories side by side there is an interesting contrast. Faith Within the Shadow (vv. 13-20) Certainty Beyond the Shadow (vv. 21-23) Confusion about Christ (vv.13-14) Clarity about Christ (v.21) Faith in Christ (vv.15-16) Certainty about Christ (v.22) Affirmation from Christ (v.17) Rebuke from Christ (v.23) “Blessed are you, Simon” (v.17) “Get behind me, Satan” (v.23) Truth Revealed to the Mind by God (v.17) Not Mindful of the Things of God (v.23) Where the Church is Built (v.18) Where the Church is Threatened  (v.23) When Peter had faith i

The Life of the Party

This past Sabbath I preached a message from Luke 15:17-32 called  The Life of the Party .   In the story of the lost son we see a picture of a God who is the life of the party.   It was the father who was ready to celebrate, not the sons.   We see how God celebrates. He is extravagant. He brings out the best. He kills the fattened calf.   And we see what God celebrates. The father says to the older son, “It was fitting to celebrate and be glad, for this your brother was dead, and is alive; he was lost, and is found.”   God celebrates transformed life!   We have the opportunity to join the festivities of a God who extravagantly celebrates life! Here’s what I forgot to say…. Extravagance is impractical.   I spent a year teaching at Nile Union Academy in Cairo, Egypt.   Among the many cultural differences that amazed me was their excessive hospitality.   I didn’t need continuous refills of tea. And it would have been more temperate of me to not eat every mystery meat an