WEBVTT 00:00:05.230 --> 00:00:07.830 Hey there friends, another week, another episode 00:00:07.830 --> 00:00:10.810 of the Semi -Seminarian. In this week's episode, 00:00:11.009 --> 00:00:14.830 I want to focus on a story of Jesus' life at 00:00:14.830 --> 00:00:17.989 the very end of his ministry when he gathered 00:00:17.989 --> 00:00:21.989 at what we call the Last Supper. And I'd like 00:00:21.989 --> 00:00:24.750 to use that story to illustrate something that 00:00:24.750 --> 00:00:27.429 is very important for us to understand about 00:00:27.429 --> 00:00:31.010 God, that in the middle of an uncertain life, 00:00:31.850 --> 00:00:33.969 When things in our lives, circumstances in our 00:00:33.969 --> 00:00:36.310 lives are incredibly uncertain, we can always 00:00:36.310 --> 00:00:40.969 trust that God is certain, that he's always faithful. 00:00:41.450 --> 00:00:43.810 I hope that you will enjoy this episode, and 00:00:43.810 --> 00:00:51.570 I will see you on the other side. One of the 00:00:51.570 --> 00:00:55.530 most dramatic moments in the Bible, and well, 00:00:55.590 --> 00:00:58.570 perhaps even in all of human history, took place. 00:00:59.210 --> 00:01:02.030 in an environment that we have come in our culture 00:01:02.030 --> 00:01:06.450 to know as the upper room. It was something that 00:01:06.450 --> 00:01:11.189 took place at the end of Jesus' ministry. And 00:01:11.189 --> 00:01:13.730 if we've even been to church one time on Easter, 00:01:13.950 --> 00:01:16.569 we've all heard bits and pieces of this story. 00:01:16.609 --> 00:01:19.230 And essentially, he and his disciples had come 00:01:19.230 --> 00:01:21.489 to the city of Jerusalem, and they were going 00:01:21.489 --> 00:01:24.890 to celebrate Passover together. Now Passover 00:01:24.890 --> 00:01:27.930 was this meal that they shared in that upper 00:01:27.930 --> 00:01:31.170 room. Now it was also kind of a festival and 00:01:31.170 --> 00:01:34.890 the meal was a remembrance meal where the Jewish 00:01:34.890 --> 00:01:37.549 people would get together and they'd have a meal 00:01:37.549 --> 00:01:40.569 and remember what had happened hundreds of years 00:01:40.569 --> 00:01:44.909 earlier when the Israelites were in Egypt and 00:01:44.909 --> 00:01:48.370 they were slaves and they were having their last 00:01:48.370 --> 00:01:51.930 meal in Egypt. And then the next morning, They 00:01:51.930 --> 00:01:54.709 were all going to get up and walk out of Egypt. 00:01:55.189 --> 00:02:00.069 And they had been in Egypt for 400 years. All 00:02:00.069 --> 00:02:03.870 they had ever known, their whole history to them 00:02:03.870 --> 00:02:08.189 as a nation, was as slaves. And since the very 00:02:08.189 --> 00:02:10.509 beginning, all that these people had ever known 00:02:10.509 --> 00:02:14.210 was slavery. And they had prayed and prayed and 00:02:14.210 --> 00:02:18.389 prayed to their God. And for 400 years, their 00:02:18.389 --> 00:02:24.409 prayers went unanswered. 400 years. If you're 00:02:24.409 --> 00:02:27.770 anything like me, after four days of praying 00:02:27.770 --> 00:02:30.229 for something and we don't get it, I'll ask, 00:02:30.310 --> 00:02:34.949 I mean, is there even a God? 400 years, their 00:02:34.949 --> 00:02:37.930 prayers had gone unanswered. And eventually, 00:02:38.030 --> 00:02:41.590 God finally sends them a deliverer by the name 00:02:41.590 --> 00:02:45.409 of Moses. And Moses said to his people, tomorrow 00:02:45.409 --> 00:02:49.009 we're leaving, and tonight, an angel of death. 00:02:50.060 --> 00:02:53.599 is going to pass over the land of Egypt and kill 00:02:53.599 --> 00:02:57.479 every single someone, that someone being the 00:02:57.479 --> 00:03:00.280 firstborn from every single family that does 00:03:00.280 --> 00:03:03.719 not have the blood of a lamb over the door and 00:03:03.719 --> 00:03:07.360 over the doorpost of their home. And so the Israelites, 00:03:07.439 --> 00:03:11.000 taking Moses at his word, slaughtered a lamb, 00:03:11.159 --> 00:03:14.400 had a meal, and then put that blood on the doorpost, 00:03:14.580 --> 00:03:17.199 if you've heard that story from Hebrew scripture. 00:03:17.240 --> 00:03:20.240 And that night, The angel of death passed over 00:03:20.240 --> 00:03:23.000 the land of Egypt and the next morning, Pharaoh 00:03:23.000 --> 00:03:27.400 said, you may now go. And that was their last 00:03:27.400 --> 00:03:31.319 meal. That was the last supper. That was the 00:03:31.319 --> 00:03:34.699 last time Israelite families gathered together 00:03:34.699 --> 00:03:37.139 in Egypt and the next day they packed up everything 00:03:37.139 --> 00:03:43.400 that they owned and left. And now, 1400 years 00:03:43.400 --> 00:03:48.560 after that event, 1 ,400 years after that original 00:03:48.560 --> 00:03:51.680 meal, Jesus is going to gather with his disciples 00:03:51.680 --> 00:03:55.580 and have their Passover meal. Now, they had done 00:03:55.580 --> 00:03:58.939 this before, but this time it was different. 00:03:59.819 --> 00:04:01.939 There had been a time when they had gathered 00:04:01.939 --> 00:04:04.500 for the Passover meal and things were going great 00:04:04.500 --> 00:04:09.360 because Jesus was a star. Jesus was a celebrity. 00:04:10.120 --> 00:04:13.259 He was a cultural icon at this point. Thousands 00:04:13.259 --> 00:04:16.620 of people had gathered together just to hear 00:04:16.620 --> 00:04:19.959 him speak. And the disciples were feeling like, 00:04:20.019 --> 00:04:22.519 hey, things are going great. There's a lot of 00:04:22.519 --> 00:04:25.220 momentum. The crowds are getting bigger and bigger. 00:04:25.360 --> 00:04:27.360 The miracles are getting bigger and bigger. But 00:04:27.360 --> 00:04:31.839 as they were about to gather for this, we call 00:04:31.839 --> 00:04:35.480 it the Last Supper, because it was the last time 00:04:35.480 --> 00:04:38.540 he would share Passover with them on the earth. 00:04:38.620 --> 00:04:43.759 Things weren't going well. In fact, the momentum 00:04:43.759 --> 00:04:48.500 had turned around. There were rumors that there 00:04:48.500 --> 00:04:50.879 were a group of people trying to arrest Jesus, 00:04:51.079 --> 00:04:53.839 trying to isolate him from the crowd, get him 00:04:53.839 --> 00:04:56.879 alone, and arrest him and accuse him of all kinds 00:04:56.879 --> 00:05:00.819 of things. And the disciples knew that if Jesus 00:05:00.819 --> 00:05:03.959 went down, they were going to go down with him. 00:05:04.800 --> 00:05:09.680 And then he began to talk about his death, and 00:05:09.680 --> 00:05:13.649 he talked about being taken. And they just sort 00:05:13.649 --> 00:05:16.370 of filtered all of that out because in their 00:05:16.370 --> 00:05:18.949 way of thinking, much like in our way of thinking, 00:05:19.110 --> 00:05:24.769 if God is with you and if God is, you know, working 00:05:24.769 --> 00:05:29.209 with you and if God is moving around you, then 00:05:29.209 --> 00:05:32.389 things get better, right? Because whenever God 00:05:32.389 --> 00:05:36.610 shows up, things get better. When God shows up, 00:05:36.610 --> 00:05:40.939 there's more certainty, not less certainty. They 00:05:40.939 --> 00:05:44.399 found themselves at a time when they were just, 00:05:44.439 --> 00:05:47.920 well, things just weren't going well. In fact, 00:05:48.019 --> 00:05:51.180 generally Jesus would tell them, hey, we're going 00:05:51.180 --> 00:05:54.180 to celebrate Passover in this city and you guys 00:05:54.180 --> 00:05:57.560 get ready. And here they were, the afternoon 00:05:57.560 --> 00:06:00.600 of Passover, and Jesus still hadn't even told 00:06:00.600 --> 00:06:04.000 them where they were going to celebrate Passover. 00:06:05.000 --> 00:06:07.500 They were going to Jerusalem. He said, when I 00:06:07.500 --> 00:06:10.439 go to Jerusalem, things are going to get really, 00:06:10.480 --> 00:06:13.800 really bad. And of course, they're like us. And 00:06:13.800 --> 00:06:17.399 they're going, so Jesus, why are we going there? 00:06:18.360 --> 00:06:21.860 I mean, it was like Jesus had some sort of death 00:06:21.860 --> 00:06:25.339 wish. It was like he was going to walk right 00:06:25.339 --> 00:06:29.160 into the jaws of death. Things are going to be 00:06:29.160 --> 00:06:33.300 bad when we get to Jerusalem, he said. But follow 00:06:33.300 --> 00:06:36.439 me. And they get to the outskirts of Jerusalem 00:06:36.439 --> 00:06:39.920 and they stop and they wait for the sun to set. 00:06:40.560 --> 00:06:43.720 And Jesus sends two of them into town to meet 00:06:43.720 --> 00:06:45.620 a mysterious man who takes them to a mysterious 00:06:45.620 --> 00:06:49.439 place. And somehow Jesus had prearranged this 00:06:49.439 --> 00:06:52.180 Passover meal, but he had never told his disciples 00:06:52.180 --> 00:06:56.000 about it because this was at a time when he wasn't 00:06:56.000 --> 00:06:59.839 even sure if he could trust them. And as it turns 00:06:59.839 --> 00:07:04.240 out, he couldn't. He didn't want anybody to know 00:07:04.240 --> 00:07:07.000 where they'd be because they'd be isolated from 00:07:07.000 --> 00:07:10.259 the crowds that adored him. And as a result, 00:07:10.279 --> 00:07:14.060 he would be vulnerable. So they sneak into Jerusalem 00:07:14.060 --> 00:07:16.759 under the cover of night. Not a big celebration 00:07:16.759 --> 00:07:20.420 this time. Not people shouting Hosanna. Not all 00:07:20.420 --> 00:07:22.060 of the other things that they had experienced. 00:07:22.180 --> 00:07:25.259 They sneak into Jerusalem under the cover of 00:07:25.259 --> 00:07:28.060 night and they go to this home and they go upstairs 00:07:28.060 --> 00:07:31.259 and they gather in this place, the upper room. 00:07:32.399 --> 00:07:37.079 And it was strange, and it was eerie, and there 00:07:37.079 --> 00:07:40.259 was no certainty. And then if things weren't 00:07:40.259 --> 00:07:44.699 bad enough, Jesus begins the conversation this 00:07:44.699 --> 00:07:48.019 way. I'm reading from the Gospel according to 00:07:48.019 --> 00:07:51.579 Mark, in the 14th chapter, verse 17, Scripture 00:07:51.579 --> 00:07:55.540 says this, When evening came, Jesus arrived with 00:07:55.540 --> 00:07:58.300 the twelve, and while they were reclining at 00:07:58.300 --> 00:08:00.759 the table eating, He said, Truly I tell you, 00:08:01.319 --> 00:08:05.160 One of you will betray me. Literally one of you 00:08:05.160 --> 00:08:08.360 is going to turn me in to the authorities. And 00:08:08.360 --> 00:08:12.220 nobody in that room raised their hand and said, 00:08:12.259 --> 00:08:15.480 hand you over to who? Because they already knew 00:08:15.480 --> 00:08:20.160 the answer to that question. The momentum had 00:08:20.160 --> 00:08:25.600 shifted. Things were not going well. One, he 00:08:25.600 --> 00:08:28.920 says, who is eating with me. And this would have 00:08:28.920 --> 00:08:32.000 punctuated the insult. To eat with somebody in 00:08:32.000 --> 00:08:34.799 that culture is like eating with somebody in 00:08:34.799 --> 00:08:37.440 our culture. It'd be like having somebody over 00:08:37.440 --> 00:08:40.519 into your home and saying, thank you for coming 00:08:40.519 --> 00:08:42.940 to my home. By the way, I know that you're going 00:08:42.940 --> 00:08:47.139 to betray me. Not only is it one of you, it's 00:08:47.139 --> 00:08:50.200 one of you who has chosen to gather with me around 00:08:50.200 --> 00:08:54.539 this sacred table and to celebrate this amazing 00:08:54.539 --> 00:08:57.700 thing God has done. And one of you who is eating 00:08:57.700 --> 00:09:01.470 with me is going to betray me. They were saddened 00:09:01.470 --> 00:09:05.090 or disappointed, and one by one they said to 00:09:05.090 --> 00:09:08.669 him, Surely not I. They looked to their teacher 00:09:08.669 --> 00:09:14.110 and said, Surely, Jesus, not me. It is one of 00:09:14.110 --> 00:09:17.289 the twelve, he replied, one who dips bread into 00:09:17.289 --> 00:09:20.129 the bowl with me. The Son of Man will go, and 00:09:20.129 --> 00:09:23.309 here's God's plan in play, just as it was written 00:09:23.309 --> 00:09:26.450 about him. But woe to that man who betrays the 00:09:26.450 --> 00:09:29.370 Son of Man. It would be better for him if he 00:09:29.370 --> 00:09:35.409 had not been born. The Bible is full of stories, 00:09:35.450 --> 00:09:38.710 full of narratives written and taking place in 00:09:38.710 --> 00:09:42.429 the midst of extraordinary uncertainty. In fact, 00:09:42.490 --> 00:09:46.269 I would say this, as we as families and people 00:09:46.269 --> 00:09:50.289 and as a nation, as a culture faced uncertainty 00:09:50.289 --> 00:09:53.850 like we've never faced before, The Bible should 00:09:53.850 --> 00:09:57.990 be a perfect place to run because your favorite 00:09:57.990 --> 00:10:00.870 Bible story, whatever that Bible story is, the 00:10:00.870 --> 00:10:03.149 one that you were raised on, the one that you 00:10:03.149 --> 00:10:06.149 love to hear repeated again, your favorite passage 00:10:06.149 --> 00:10:09.250 from Scripture, your favorite psalm, whatever 00:10:09.250 --> 00:10:13.330 your favorite bit is, was written and reflected 00:10:13.330 --> 00:10:20.049 a time of uncommon uncertainty. The Bible is 00:10:20.049 --> 00:10:25.070 not. a book about rich people having fun. The 00:10:25.070 --> 00:10:28.769 Bible isn't a book about when things went great, 00:10:28.830 --> 00:10:30.769 Monday got even better. Then Tuesday, you got 00:10:30.769 --> 00:10:33.009 the job and Wednesday, you got a raise. Thursday, 00:10:33.070 --> 00:10:35.929 you got a bonus. And then your kids, you know, 00:10:35.990 --> 00:10:37.629 they all grow up and they become professional 00:10:37.629 --> 00:10:40.129 athletes and they all go to medical school on 00:10:40.129 --> 00:10:43.330 scholarship. I mean that all of those wrinkle 00:10:43.330 --> 00:10:48.230 -free life kind of things, you know, like, and 00:10:48.230 --> 00:10:51.120 then they lived happily ever after. And there 00:10:51.120 --> 00:10:54.320 was no divorce in the land. And God, you know, 00:10:54.399 --> 00:10:59.240 it's just not in there. Every single passage, 00:10:59.320 --> 00:11:02.899 the thing that we draw hope and security from, 00:11:03.000 --> 00:11:07.059 all of those come from extraordinarily troubled 00:11:07.059 --> 00:11:09.899 times. From the lives of people who discovered 00:11:09.899 --> 00:11:14.539 that in the midst of uncertainty, God is still 00:11:14.539 --> 00:11:19.059 certain. That in the midst of uncertainty, When 00:11:19.059 --> 00:11:21.899 you couldn't even trace God's hand, when it seems 00:11:21.899 --> 00:11:26.059 like He's absence. You know, like to the tenth 00:11:26.059 --> 00:11:29.340 power, they discovered that God is still trustworthy. 00:11:30.179 --> 00:11:33.000 And if ever there was a time for us to pick up 00:11:33.000 --> 00:11:38.840 the Bible and read it, it's now. And we can read 00:11:38.840 --> 00:11:41.720 the story about David, King David, who eventually 00:11:41.720 --> 00:11:44.240 the Messiah would come from his lineage. And 00:11:44.240 --> 00:11:46.720 he awoke one day, and I know you have problems 00:11:46.720 --> 00:11:49.720 with your kids, but he awoke one day to discover 00:11:49.720 --> 00:11:52.159 that his son had raised an army and was about 00:11:52.159 --> 00:11:55.139 to invade the capital city to conquer him as 00:11:55.139 --> 00:11:58.179 king and replace him. An army to destroy his 00:11:58.179 --> 00:12:01.019 father. And you can read this story and you can 00:12:01.019 --> 00:12:04.740 discover that God was in the middle of that with 00:12:04.740 --> 00:12:08.370 David. Then there's a story that many of us had 00:12:08.370 --> 00:12:11.049 heard growing up about a mother who had a baby 00:12:11.049 --> 00:12:14.090 son and was told that Pharaoh decided to murder 00:12:14.090 --> 00:12:16.610 all the baby boys because there were just too 00:12:16.610 --> 00:12:18.990 many Israelites in the land. Here's a mother 00:12:18.990 --> 00:12:21.710 who wraps up her newborn son and puts him in 00:12:21.710 --> 00:12:25.070 a basket, shoves him into the Nile River as if 00:12:25.070 --> 00:12:28.769 to say, if it's between the crocodiles and the 00:12:28.769 --> 00:12:32.070 Egyptian butchers, I'll take my chances with 00:12:32.070 --> 00:12:35.559 the river. And we can read that story and we 00:12:35.559 --> 00:12:38.919 can discover that God was there. That that little 00:12:38.919 --> 00:12:42.419 baby boy was found. And they named him Moses. 00:12:43.039 --> 00:12:45.519 And he became the deliverer of his nation. But 00:12:45.519 --> 00:12:50.679 before she had known the end of that story, where 00:12:50.679 --> 00:12:55.179 was God in that? And then a reflection or perhaps 00:12:55.179 --> 00:12:57.460 a foreshadowing of another baby that would be 00:12:57.460 --> 00:13:02.169 rescued from a similar fate. As Mary and Joseph 00:13:02.169 --> 00:13:05.230 discovered that Herod, in his jealousy for the 00:13:05.230 --> 00:13:09.049 kingdom, based on just a rumor that there was 00:13:09.049 --> 00:13:11.850 a baby being born that would grow up to be the 00:13:11.850 --> 00:13:14.789 Jewish king, decided instead of trying to find 00:13:14.789 --> 00:13:18.289 that baby, just to wipe out an entire generation 00:13:18.289 --> 00:13:21.769 of little boys and send his butchers into Bethlehem 00:13:21.769 --> 00:13:24.649 and the surrounding area and murdering every 00:13:24.649 --> 00:13:29.470 single baby. And she escapes of all places back 00:13:29.470 --> 00:13:34.509 to Egypt. To save the baby Jesus. And as there 00:13:34.509 --> 00:13:37.350 was weeping and wailing in the land. You read 00:13:37.350 --> 00:13:39.809 that story and you discover that God was right 00:13:39.809 --> 00:13:43.269 there. In the middle of all that. That God somehow 00:13:43.269 --> 00:13:46.269 still had the whole world in his hands. That 00:13:46.269 --> 00:13:49.649 all the things, every single story. I mean, we 00:13:49.649 --> 00:13:51.909 read these stories for ourselves. And when it 00:13:51.909 --> 00:13:55.470 seems like things have spun out of control. And 00:13:55.470 --> 00:13:58.629 all of the momentum is backward momentum. And 00:13:58.629 --> 00:14:01.389 all of God's activity has ceased. And it seems 00:14:01.389 --> 00:14:04.309 like the bad guys have won. And the evil king 00:14:04.309 --> 00:14:07.389 has won. And the gods of the pagan empires have 00:14:07.389 --> 00:14:10.110 won. We read those stories and we discover that 00:14:10.110 --> 00:14:12.730 in the midst of that extraordinary uncertainty, 00:14:13.370 --> 00:14:19.179 there's God. The message for all of this, the 00:14:19.179 --> 00:14:23.519 word God has for each one of us is in the midst 00:14:23.519 --> 00:14:29.259 of uncertainty. God is still certain. And nothing 00:14:29.259 --> 00:14:32.899 has changed. And he still has the whole world 00:14:32.899 --> 00:14:37.899 in his hands. Let me read the rest of that story 00:14:37.899 --> 00:14:41.960 about that upper room. Verse 22. And while they 00:14:41.960 --> 00:14:45.179 were eating. Jesus took bread and I'm telling 00:14:45.179 --> 00:14:48.340 you, this would have sucked the life out of his 00:14:48.340 --> 00:14:50.919 disciples. While they were eating, Jesus took 00:14:50.919 --> 00:14:53.419 bread and when his disciples, when he had given 00:14:53.419 --> 00:14:56.360 thanks, he broke it and he gave it to his disciples 00:14:56.360 --> 00:14:59.620 and he said, oh yeah, by the way, this isn't 00:14:59.620 --> 00:15:03.419 what you think that it is. You've been taking 00:15:03.419 --> 00:15:06.299 Passover and eating this Passover meal since 00:15:06.299 --> 00:15:09.279 you were children, but from now on when you eat 00:15:09.279 --> 00:15:14.700 it, this is my body. Luke says, Jesus said, this 00:15:14.700 --> 00:15:19.220 is my body that has been broken for you. Jesus, 00:15:19.320 --> 00:15:24.179 what do you mean this is your body? Here's all 00:15:24.179 --> 00:15:27.139 that death talk again, Jesus. We don't want to 00:15:27.139 --> 00:15:31.399 hear this. If you really are from God, then things 00:15:31.399 --> 00:15:35.019 have to turn around. If you're from God, then 00:15:35.019 --> 00:15:39.100 things go well. If you're from God, there needs 00:15:39.100 --> 00:15:43.940 to be more certainty, not less certainty. Then 00:15:43.940 --> 00:15:46.340 he took the cup, and when he had given thanks, 00:15:46.419 --> 00:15:48.519 he gave it to them, and they all drank from it. 00:15:48.840 --> 00:15:53.009 And he said this, this is my blood. This is the 00:15:53.009 --> 00:15:55.750 blood of the covenant, which is poured out for 00:15:55.750 --> 00:15:58.710 many. And he foreshadows what's going to take 00:15:58.710 --> 00:16:02.389 place just a few hours later when he's going 00:16:02.389 --> 00:16:05.649 to be nailed to a cross and die in front of their 00:16:05.649 --> 00:16:09.529 very eyes. Then they leave that room and they're 00:16:09.529 --> 00:16:12.330 going to this place called the Garden of Gethsemane. 00:16:12.509 --> 00:16:15.190 And there's so much drama that happens there 00:16:15.190 --> 00:16:18.169 where he's eventually arrested. And then on the 00:16:18.169 --> 00:16:22.960 way, the news got even worse. He said, oh yeah, 00:16:23.000 --> 00:16:26.240 by the way, not only will one of you betray me, 00:16:26.340 --> 00:16:32.360 all of you, all of you will fall away. For it 00:16:32.360 --> 00:16:34.220 is written, I will strike the shepherd and the 00:16:34.220 --> 00:16:37.899 sheep will be scattered. But after I have risen, 00:16:38.059 --> 00:16:42.100 and they didn't hear this part, but after I have 00:16:42.100 --> 00:16:46.059 risen, I will go ahead of you into Galilee. And 00:16:46.059 --> 00:16:48.799 Peter, Peter is following along and he's thinking, 00:16:48.899 --> 00:16:52.559 enough. Enough of this negativity, enough of 00:16:52.559 --> 00:16:55.539 this bad news, enough about this arrest, enough 00:16:55.539 --> 00:16:58.740 is about this betrayal. There is no way, Jesus, 00:16:59.000 --> 00:17:01.419 we're going to allow this to happen because if 00:17:01.419 --> 00:17:04.220 God is with you and if you are the son of God, 00:17:04.400 --> 00:17:08.480 that's not how this story goes. There's more 00:17:08.480 --> 00:17:12.859 certainty. There's more faith. There's more miracles. 00:17:14.359 --> 00:17:18.680 But Peter declared, even if all fall away, I 00:17:18.680 --> 00:17:21.809 will not. Because that's not how the story is 00:17:21.809 --> 00:17:25.329 supposed to go, Jesus. Even if everybody abandons 00:17:25.329 --> 00:17:27.710 you, I'm not going to fall away. I'm going to 00:17:27.710 --> 00:17:30.309 stick with you through the very end. And later, 00:17:30.369 --> 00:17:33.410 the very same man with all of that faith would 00:17:33.410 --> 00:17:36.069 listen to a young girl accuse him of being one 00:17:36.069 --> 00:17:39.170 of Jesus' followers, and he would deny it three 00:17:39.170 --> 00:17:44.569 times. Now, here's the question for you and for 00:17:44.569 --> 00:17:49.019 me. As we continue to experience extraordinary 00:17:49.019 --> 00:17:52.279 uncertainty in our families, in our jobs, with 00:17:52.279 --> 00:17:54.960 our children, with our leadership, with the Congress 00:17:54.960 --> 00:17:57.339 and the Senate, with our government leaders and 00:17:57.339 --> 00:17:59.819 our state leaders, with the economy, with what's 00:17:59.819 --> 00:18:01.900 happening to our retirement, with all of that 00:18:01.900 --> 00:18:06.019 uncertainty, here's the question. Can you trust 00:18:06.019 --> 00:18:11.059 God? I mean, can you maintain faith in God when 00:18:11.059 --> 00:18:14.539 there is absolutely no evidence of His activity 00:18:14.539 --> 00:18:18.819 in your life? Can you continue to embrace faith 00:18:18.819 --> 00:18:22.619 in God as a personal Heavenly Father when there's 00:18:22.619 --> 00:18:25.819 absolutely no evidence of His activity in your 00:18:25.819 --> 00:18:29.539 life, in your culture, in our country, seemingly 00:18:29.539 --> 00:18:33.819 at times in the world? Your answer to that question, 00:18:34.039 --> 00:18:38.039 my answer to that question, will determine our 00:18:38.039 --> 00:18:40.220 response to the uncertainty in our lives with 00:18:40.220 --> 00:18:43.059 our children, with our family, with our parents. 00:18:44.940 --> 00:18:47.220 And I imagine if you were to go to the disciples, 00:18:47.420 --> 00:18:50.259 those men that were gathered around that table 00:18:50.259 --> 00:18:53.059 months later, and you were to ask them the question, 00:18:53.119 --> 00:18:56.720 guys, when was the darkest moment when you followed 00:18:56.720 --> 00:19:01.920 Jesus? When was the darkest time? When did you 00:19:01.920 --> 00:19:07.980 have the least amount of hope? And I would believe 00:19:07.980 --> 00:19:11.960 that they would say to us, it began when we gathered 00:19:11.960 --> 00:19:16.720 around a dinner table Things aren't going to 00:19:16.720 --> 00:19:20.299 get better. It's when we gathered around the 00:19:20.299 --> 00:19:22.799 table that night and he promised instead that 00:19:22.799 --> 00:19:25.279 things were going to get worse. And not only 00:19:25.279 --> 00:19:27.779 would one of us betray him, but all of us would 00:19:27.779 --> 00:19:31.900 fall away. And in a few hours, all of us had 00:19:31.900 --> 00:19:36.160 fallen away. And the one man that said he would 00:19:36.160 --> 00:19:40.079 never fall away, he denied him three times. And 00:19:40.079 --> 00:19:42.839 then hours later, we saw him arrested. We saw 00:19:42.839 --> 00:19:47.059 him tried. We saw him die. You want to know when 00:19:47.059 --> 00:19:50.240 the darkest hours was for us? It was those hours 00:19:50.240 --> 00:19:54.500 when we realized we had completely wasted our 00:19:54.500 --> 00:20:00.099 lives and God isn't up to anything here. But 00:20:00.099 --> 00:20:05.099 it was in those darkest, darkest hours when it 00:20:05.099 --> 00:20:08.740 seemed like God was completely inactive, he was 00:20:08.740 --> 00:20:12.549 the most active. Because those darkest hours 00:20:12.549 --> 00:20:16.170 were the epicenter of the salvation of all of 00:20:16.170 --> 00:20:20.789 mankind. That these would be the hours that for 00:20:20.789 --> 00:20:24.029 literally thousands of years later, people all 00:20:24.029 --> 00:20:26.990 over the world would look back to and rejoice 00:20:26.990 --> 00:20:29.990 in God's goodness and grace. But if you would 00:20:29.990 --> 00:20:32.349 have asked us in that moment, we would have said, 00:20:32.470 --> 00:20:37.660 game over. Waste of time. Not a man of God. We 00:20:37.660 --> 00:20:42.880 have wasted our lives. And that's a difficult 00:20:42.880 --> 00:20:46.779 message for us. That's a difficult message for 00:20:46.779 --> 00:20:51.259 American Christians. And yet... It is our story 00:20:51.259 --> 00:20:54.180 as those of us, for those of us who've chosen 00:20:54.180 --> 00:20:57.319 to follow God, and specifically for those of 00:20:57.319 --> 00:20:59.900 us who've decided to place our faith in Jesus. 00:21:00.099 --> 00:21:03.940 And it's not only your story, it's all of our 00:21:03.940 --> 00:21:08.200 story. Because for many of us, that's our experience. 00:21:09.039 --> 00:21:12.460 That God seems to take broken things and do His 00:21:12.460 --> 00:21:16.579 most amazing work. That God seems to wait for 00:21:16.579 --> 00:21:19.720 the last minute. to do His amazing work, that 00:21:19.720 --> 00:21:23.599 God takes the busted and broken and hopeless 00:21:23.599 --> 00:21:26.859 situations and show up in a way, not the way 00:21:26.859 --> 00:21:30.380 we would choose, but we would never allow things 00:21:30.380 --> 00:21:33.299 to get as bad as oftentimes they get. And that, 00:21:33.299 --> 00:21:37.259 friends, counterintuitively, is the good news. 00:21:38.900 --> 00:21:44.220 So how can we know to trust God? The greatest 00:21:44.220 --> 00:21:49.619 things. Begin in the biggest messes. And that's 00:21:49.619 --> 00:21:52.700 the truth of God we can take with us. The most 00:21:52.700 --> 00:21:56.579 amazing works of God generally are launched at 00:21:56.579 --> 00:22:01.480 a time of the biggest amount of brokenness. Because 00:22:01.480 --> 00:22:05.180 this is what God does. But the question for you 00:22:05.180 --> 00:22:09.579 and for me is will we maintain faith when we 00:22:09.579 --> 00:22:13.190 cannot see his hand? And as our faith begins 00:22:13.190 --> 00:22:16.609 to stutter, as our faith begins to shake a little 00:22:16.609 --> 00:22:19.589 bit, as our faith begins to waver and we begin 00:22:19.589 --> 00:22:22.170 to look to the left and look to the right and 00:22:22.170 --> 00:22:24.710 look at our circumstances and we begin to doubt 00:22:24.710 --> 00:22:28.230 more than ever, the Bible is the place to go 00:22:28.230 --> 00:22:32.190 because all of these stories we read in the Bible, 00:22:32.309 --> 00:22:35.869 all of the words in the Bible, the story of our 00:22:35.869 --> 00:22:39.650 very salvation was birthed at a time of extraordinary 00:22:39.650 --> 00:22:45.160 darkness. and extraordinary uncertainty. And 00:22:45.160 --> 00:22:47.420 you can be listening to this podcast right now 00:22:47.420 --> 00:22:50.160 and you can think, look, that's all neat, right? 00:22:50.440 --> 00:22:53.420 Maybe it's even a little bit inspirational, but 00:22:53.420 --> 00:22:56.500 that's not going to help me get a job. And that's 00:22:56.500 --> 00:22:58.359 not going to help my kids in school. That's not 00:22:58.359 --> 00:23:01.440 going to change anything. When tomorrow my wife 00:23:01.440 --> 00:23:03.400 goes back to work and we find out whether or 00:23:03.400 --> 00:23:06.859 not she's going to be able to keep her job. That 00:23:06.859 --> 00:23:09.099 won't get me a commission. That won't change 00:23:09.099 --> 00:23:12.220 anything about my prodigal son or my prodigal 00:23:12.220 --> 00:23:15.400 daughter. And that doesn't make me well. And 00:23:15.400 --> 00:23:20.619 you're right. And I struggle to find out faster 00:23:20.619 --> 00:23:23.839 and quicker how we can do practical things to 00:23:23.839 --> 00:23:26.359 help each other more. But here's one thing I 00:23:26.359 --> 00:23:30.940 do know. Because this is our message. That although 00:23:30.940 --> 00:23:34.900 that idea, that insight, that truth about the 00:23:34.900 --> 00:23:39.420 scripture doesn't change anything about our current 00:23:39.420 --> 00:23:43.960 circumstances. But here's what it does do. It 00:23:43.960 --> 00:23:47.559 allows us to embrace uncertainty with the certainty 00:23:47.559 --> 00:23:50.359 of knowing that God is still in control. That 00:23:50.359 --> 00:23:55.619 although our life is uncertain. God is not uncertain. 00:23:55.940 --> 00:23:59.539 Although life is uncertain and family is uncertain 00:23:59.539 --> 00:24:03.619 and our economy is uncertain and the world certainly 00:24:03.619 --> 00:24:08.660 is, God is not uncertain. He still has the whole 00:24:08.660 --> 00:24:12.160 world. in his hands and this knowledge and the 00:24:12.160 --> 00:24:15.539 bracing even if it's just with our fingertips 00:24:15.539 --> 00:24:19.960 barely holding on it allows us to keep from making 00:24:19.960 --> 00:24:23.460 decisions that even further complicate the difficulties 00:24:23.460 --> 00:24:26.900 that we're facing it allows us to go to bed at 00:24:26.900 --> 00:24:31.660 night and discover that there is there is a way 00:24:31.660 --> 00:24:34.880 to have peace even in the midst of the storm 00:24:35.849 --> 00:24:38.690 It will teach us to keep an eye out for the activity 00:24:38.690 --> 00:24:43.170 of God that often takes us by surprise, as it 00:24:43.170 --> 00:24:46.069 often took the characters of Scripture by surprise, 00:24:46.170 --> 00:24:50.470 to hang on, to embrace the simplest truth that 00:24:50.470 --> 00:24:54.369 even though life is uncertain, God is not uncertain. 00:24:56.029 --> 00:25:00.230 It's easy for me to say, because I don't, at 00:25:00.230 --> 00:25:02.630 the end of this podcast, have to get into your 00:25:02.630 --> 00:25:05.859 car and go back to your home. Or go back to your 00:25:05.859 --> 00:25:07.920 circumstances. I don't have to get up tomorrow 00:25:07.920 --> 00:25:11.279 like I know many listening here are doing and 00:25:11.279 --> 00:25:14.480 wonder, what am I even going to be able to do 00:25:14.480 --> 00:25:18.380 today? I don't have to go home and figure out, 00:25:18.400 --> 00:25:21.799 how am I going to figure this out? I realize 00:25:21.799 --> 00:25:24.819 that our circumstances are all very different. 00:25:25.680 --> 00:25:29.559 And what gives me the nerve to try to encourage 00:25:29.559 --> 00:25:34.450 you? Am I painting a picture of pie in the sky 00:25:34.450 --> 00:25:37.289 by and by? Is this just some sort of pep talk? 00:25:38.430 --> 00:25:41.529 So after we're done here, you can work out how 00:25:41.529 --> 00:25:45.430 you can maintain your faith. Is this just what 00:25:45.430 --> 00:25:48.529 someone like me is supposed to say? I understand 00:25:48.529 --> 00:25:51.809 all of that. And especially if you're new to 00:25:51.809 --> 00:25:54.230 faith or if you've had a bad negative experience 00:25:54.230 --> 00:25:56.849 or you've never seen it make a difference. I 00:25:56.849 --> 00:26:00.180 understand that. But here's what I would say 00:26:00.180 --> 00:26:06.160 in response. The foundation of this message is 00:26:06.160 --> 00:26:08.920 this. In a way that we all need to understand 00:26:08.920 --> 00:26:13.500 that when life is uncertain, God is not. The 00:26:13.500 --> 00:26:17.000 children's song is right. He still has the whole 00:26:17.000 --> 00:26:20.299 world in his hands. And he still has your world 00:26:20.299 --> 00:26:23.220 and your family in his hands. And he still has... 00:26:23.710 --> 00:26:27.529 Your life in his hands. He still has your personal 00:26:27.529 --> 00:26:30.829 finances and jobs and kids and all the things 00:26:30.829 --> 00:26:33.269 that worry us. Friends, I don't know what the 00:26:33.269 --> 00:26:36.609 future holds for us as a nation or for families 00:26:36.609 --> 00:26:40.250 or in our cities any more than anybody else does. 00:26:40.470 --> 00:26:44.430 But although life is uncertain, I do know that 00:26:44.430 --> 00:26:49.829 God is not. He still has the whole world in your 00:26:49.829 --> 00:26:54.829 hands. And regardless of what we see or we don't 00:26:54.829 --> 00:26:58.450 see, we have the opportunity to embrace a faithful, 00:26:58.589 --> 00:27:02.630 faithful God. Even through circumstances where 00:27:02.630 --> 00:27:05.670 it's very difficult, maybe impossible to see 00:27:05.670 --> 00:27:09.509 his hand or even catch a glimpse of faith because 00:27:09.509 --> 00:27:12.670 God is still in control. He's still on the throne. 00:27:13.640 --> 00:27:16.200 God is still a God we can worship with abandon. 00:27:16.440 --> 00:27:20.099 And God is a God that we can continue to trust 00:27:20.099 --> 00:27:23.880 that even though our lives are uncertain, he's 00:27:23.880 --> 00:27:28.920 not. He still has the whole world in his hands. 00:27:36.279 --> 00:27:39.019 Well, there you have it. I hope that you are 00:27:39.019 --> 00:27:43.480 able to draw. encouragement from that truth the 00:27:43.480 --> 00:27:46.589 way that I am. Hey, before we go... I would ask 00:27:46.589 --> 00:27:48.549 you to do me a favor, however it is that you 00:27:48.549 --> 00:27:50.869 listen to this podcast, if you could take the 00:27:50.869 --> 00:27:54.190 time to rate and review the podcast, I would 00:27:54.190 --> 00:27:56.829 greatly appreciate it. It helps spread the word 00:27:56.829 --> 00:27:59.329 out there for others that might be looking for 00:27:59.329 --> 00:28:02.630 an encouraging word to listen to. Also, in the 00:28:02.630 --> 00:28:05.630 show notes of this episode are all of the ways 00:28:05.630 --> 00:28:07.890 that you can find us on the internet for our 00:28:07.890 --> 00:28:11.670 website, thesemiseminarian .com, also our social 00:28:11.670 --> 00:28:13.930 media. I'd love to connect with you there if 00:28:13.930 --> 00:28:16.680 you have questions or comments. I'd love to hear 00:28:16.680 --> 00:28:19.339 from you and meet you. So take the time to click 00:28:19.339 --> 00:28:22.359 on those links and follow us on social media. 00:28:22.380 --> 00:28:25.539 Well, friend, I hope that in the coming week 00:28:25.539 --> 00:28:28.720 you will be blessed and you can be a blessing. 00:28:28.900 --> 00:28:29.920 We'll see you next time.