(This message extensively based on the sermon starters provided in the "Who Cares" package materials from Outreach.)
Who cares. Despite the structure of that phrase, which should be a question, it is probably used more frequently anymore as a statement of fact rather than a question. Who cares.
But deep down inside. In the hearts of many people, it often echoes through our lives as a longing, searching, endless question, “Who cares? Does anyone?” Because as we face all the challenges that go with this thing called life, it is easy to reach a point of wondering, “Is there anyone out there that cares about my life, my struggles, the things that I am facing?”
This week we are beginning a new teaching series called “We Care”, and over the next couple of months we will be looking at some of the issues that cause us the most pain and trouble in this life. We’ll be looking problems such as…
- Divorce
- Addiction
- Debt
- Lust/Pornography
- Stress and Depression
And most importantly, looking at what God’s Word would speak into those struggles and challenges. If I was looking to make one of the greatest understatements of the day, I would simply say, “Life is hard,” and would expect to hear at least a few rousing “Amen”s.
And guess what? Jesus not only knew life would be. He told us it would be. In John 16:33 Jesus tells his disciples, “In this world you will have trouble.” Anyone ready to “Amen” yet?
But let’s look at the entirety of that verse (read John 16:33).
Jesus says, “Yea, you are going to have troubles in this world. You are going to struggle with such things as loss and grief, family crisis, loneliness. But in Me, you can have peace. Not instead of trouble, but in the midst of trouble.”
I want us to look closely at this verse, because there is one thing that is guaranteed, and another that is optional. Jesus says, “You will have trouble.” No question about it. It’s guaranteed. Take it to the bank. The Greek word that we see as trouble is thlipsis. It means pressure. Distress. Jesus said that would be a fact of life. Was He right?
But He also offered an option. “You may have peace.” That Greek word is iraynay. It means, a state of tranquility. Harmony among individuals. Security. Safety. The way of the Messiah’s peace.
Jesus makes a connection between trouble, and peace. And here is my suggestion today. Much, if not most. . .if not all, of the social trouble and turmoil of our culture today is due to a hunger for peace. And where all this turmoil, and pressure, and distress kicks in is where the search for peace, the hunger for peace, takes people to the wrong places.
Do you know that in the next thirty minutes,
just while I am sharing with you –
57 kids will run away from home
29 children, not adults, children will attempt suicide
22 girls under 19 years of age will receive an abortion – in the next 30 minutes
Another 14 teenagers will give birth in completion of an unexpected pregnancy
And I don’t know if you put two and two together, but that was the culmination of more than one teenage pregnancy per minute with more then 2/3 of them ending in abortion.
685 teens will use some form of narcotic
In just 30 minutes. We, our children and youth, everyone around us, are in a constant search for peace, but looking in all the wrong places.
Let’s make it more personal. How distant are those statistics for you? Not so much for me. 57 runaways every 30 minutes. Ever lived through a runaway? I remember during my middle school years when my oldest sister jumped in a car with a few young men, and left the state as runaways. I remember the state troopers, the stress, the agony, the fear that event brought into our home as to how it would all end.
29 pre-adult suicide attempts every 30 minutes. As a 16 year old, I attempted suicide twice. Was placed on medications, counseled, shipped across the country for a few months to try and get it all back together. My guess is, in a group of people this size, that the suicide statistic isn’t a very far stretch from your world.
14 teenage births every 30 minutes. As most of you know by now, growing up in a Nazarene parsonage, I had the opportunity to endure that distress, that tension, that trouble not once, but twice when my sister informed my parents she was indeed pregnant. In fact, in America today, one of every 3 girls will be pregnant before they turn 20.
685 teens utilizing some form of narcotic in a 30 minute period. My younger brother was still a teenager when he found himself heavily involved with alcohol, marijuana, and even experimenting with cocaine. Lost a college soccer scholarship. Kicked out of a university.
And I have to tell you. When you live in the pastor’s house. When you are the pastor’s kids and these things are happening, you don’t have a pastor to go to. And it doesn’t take very long at all for “who cares!” to become “doesn’t anyone care that I am hurting?”
In this world you will have trouble. And in this world, peace seems to be elusive.
Those that study such things have determined that the average person has more than two hundred negative thoughts a day. We don’t have these posters hung up in our living room, but if we were honest about our negativity, we sure could. Thought like. . . (show slides).
Two hundred negative thoughts a day: worries, jealousies, insecurities, cravings for forbidden things, etc. The same studies suggest depressed people have as many as six hundred per day.
In this world you will have trouble. But can we find peace?
Did you know that since the beginning of recorded history, the entire world has been at peace less than eight percent of the time? In fact, in a study conducted by The Personnel Journal, it was discovered that of 3,600 years of recorded history, there have been only 286 years of peace. Even though during this time an excess of 8,000 peace treaties were made—and broken.
During this same period of time there have been 14,500 wars in which 3.60 billion people have been killed.
In this world you will have trouble. Guaranteed. But will we find peace?
Of course, the very people that Jesus was speaking to would learn the troubles of life the hard way. Peter was crucified upside down. Andrew was crucified in a spread-eagled position. James was beheaded. John was banished to the nearby island of Patmos.
Bartholomew met his death by being skinned alive, and then beheaded. Thomas was speared to death near Madras.
On top of that, there were other unnamed followers of Christ that suffered brutal fates, and lives of trouble. We read in Hebrews 11:36, “Some faced jeers and flogging, while still others were chained and put in prison. They were stoned; they were sawed in two; they were put to death by the sword. They went about in sheepskins and goatskins, destitute, persecuted and mistreated — the world was not worthy of them. They wandered in deserts and mountains, and in caves and holes in the ground.”
Listen to the personal testimony of the Apostle Paul in 2 Corinthians 11 (read verse 22 through 28).
That last phrase is a great one for all pastors. As if all this isn’t bad enough. As if the troubles guaranteed by Jesus in this world don’t weigh us down hard enough. Daily pastors face the pressure of concern for the church. In this world, we will have trouble.
Have I adequately painted the picture? Anyone who would want to dispute the reality of trouble in this world? But this is my contention. For those who have chosen to walk with Christ, there should be something different about our confrontation and handling of the trouble. Not only something different, but something transferable. Something that we can pass on to those around us. So that when their troubles of life overwhelm them, and they scream out, “Who cares!” We can lovingly respond, “We do.”
You see, I believe it is one thing to be able to empathize with those we come in contact with. Even non-Christians can do that. Empathy is not an emotion reserved for the godly. But it is a whole ‘nother story to be able to model and offer them something that can transform their lives, and experience the peace that Jesus speaks of.
So how do we do that? How do we experience, live out, demonstrate and convey peace in the midst of a restless, troubled world?
Let’s see what Jesus tell us. If you haven’t broken out a Bible yet, grab one and turn with me to John 14. John 14:27 (read).
By now, you might know the setting for this verse. Jesus is preparing His disciples for His betrayal, rejection, trial and death. He is attempting to comfort them as He prepares to return to His Father and complete His work on earth.
For three and a half years they have walked with Him. They have watched Him heal the sick, they have seen Him bring comfort to the afflicted and laughter to the face of children. Not a day has past where Jesus has not been with them. Their sole thought and attention has been Him since the day they were called. And now they are faced with continuing His ministry, but now, without Him.
I’m guessing they were afraid. This was a crisis point where they could be overcome by emotions of uncertainty, confusion, anxiety, depression, or frustration. In fact, those emotions, if allowed to blossom unchecked, could threaten to undermine all that Jesus has attempted to teach them and show them, and could turn them into a group of individual survivors. Survivors whose primary concern was for their own future and self-interest.
That is what we have become in our society today, right? Survivors. Apprentices. American Idols. Individuals who figure that when the going gets tough, it’s up to me to get going. It’s up to me to survive. It’s up to me to overcome my own troubles.
And it is in the midst of this setting that Jesus says (read verse 27).
Now, we need to notice that Jesus indicates that there are at least two kinds of peace. There is. . .
1. THE PEACE THAT THE WORLD GIVES
And by World, Jesus is referring to those who are ruled by unbelief in the Father. They are blind to the things of God. They have not chosen to participate in Christianity. They are seeking the peace of the world.
So, inevitably, they grab hold of the world’s definition of peace which is typically defined by the absence of something. Think about it. When the world defines peace. It means something is missing. World-Peace is the absence of war. Inner-peace is the absence of conflict. In fact, according to the world, for there to be peace there has to be a lack of the very thing that Jesus guarantees. Trouble.
Here is why. Because according to the world, peace is based on control and circumstances. So when a situation gets out of hand the world says, “Maintain control. You are the only one who can alter your future and destiny – you must maintain control.” When you have lost your job – the world says “take control.” When you have been diagnosed with a life threatening disease the world says “take control.” When you have lost someone close to you the world says “take control.”
If you want peace, when troubles come, when your circumstances take a turn for the negative, you have to take control. That’s the world’s kind of peace. And when the world says the answer to peace is found in your ability to maintain control and alter your circumstances, you have one person to rely upon – yourself. So you end up on this teeter-totter of control. A teeter-totter that has you bouncing back and forth between anxiety and depression?
On one end of the teeter-totter is anxiety. Anxiety arises when something happens to us – we get fired, we get older, we watch a loved one suffer – we come to a place where we feel like we should be in control, but we know that we aren’t. So in our desire to regain control over our circumstances, we get anxious. We fight, we cling, we cheat, we injure, we battle to get back what we feel we should have. We wrongly seek peace by believing we will find it when we are in control.
Depression is at the opposite end of the teeter-totter. If anxiety is a desire to regain control, depression is the resignation of control. Depression comes when life becomes difficult or something goes wrong and we realize we aren’t in control and we never really were. So we loosen the grip. We resign. We succumb. We give up and passively allowing ourselves to be tossed along by circumstances, often believing that no one is in control.
So the world tells you to find peace in the midst of your troubles, which Jesus guarantees us we will have, by taking control. And since we can’t control our troubles, we get on the control teeter-totter, and either take a seat on the anxiety end, or the depression end, or just roll back and forth across the teeter-totter.
Now, if this doesn’t sound like you, or if you can’t relate to this type of inner turmoil and wrestling, great! But I can guarantee you that you know someone who is sitting on this teeter-totter, in the midst of life’s playground of turmoil, searching for the peace the world gives, and living in fear that someone is about to jump off, and send them crashing to the ground.
But it’s supposed to be different for us. Because we have received. . .
2. THE PEACE THAT JESUS GIVES
And the peace that Jesus offers is altogether different than the peace offered by the world. It hangs not on external circumstances or maintaining control but on Jesus Christ and the eternal certainties of which this world knows nothing.
Look again at what Jesus says (verse 27). What is the peace of Christ?
1) IT IS SOMETHING THE WORLD KNOWS NOTHING OF.
And therefore can’t offer you, so don’t look for it in the world. Whether that is through empty relationships, addictions, or even just playing on the teeter-totter. The world doesn’t know the peace of Christ, so don’t look to them for guidance to it. Because. . .
2) IT IS A GIFT OF CHRIST.
Jesus said, “Peace I leave with you.”
This is a promise to the disciples. The peace of Christ is a gift of Christ, it can not be earned, but it must be accepted. But check this out. It is not only a gift of Christ. . .
3) IT IS THE PEACE OF CHRIST.
This peace is the same peace Jesus experienced while on earth. He said, “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you.”
Jesus faced every difficult earthly situation imaginable. He lost his closest partner in ministry, John the Baptist, who was beheaded by a wicked woman and an easily seduced ruler. He felt the rejection of his own family who did not understand his mission. He suffered persecution from angry religious leaders and unwelcoming peasants. He knew hunger, he experienced thirst, he went days without sleep and had no place to lay his head. Ultimately he was betrayed by a close friend, beaten, forsaken, and murdered.
Yet all the while, Jesus’ life was characterized by peace. It is this peace, this very peace that Jesus offers. The peace of Christ is just that – Christ’s peace – the same peace He had in life can be ours and to the same extent.
Finally, and this is so important. . .
4) IT RESULTS NOT IN FEAR BUT FAITH (CONFIDENCE) IN GOD.
Did you see what Jesus said this little teaching? “Do not let your hearts be troubled, and do not be afraid.” The result of accepting Christ’s gift of peace is confidence that God is in control. Life is difficult and hard times do come, but you do not have to live in fear, and you do not need to be in control. You can live with the confidence that comes from knowing the peace of Christ.
Please hear me this morning. As we journey through this series together, I don’t want to minimize pain and suffering, and yet, as Christians, we are called to take a long-term perspective to this life. Remember that testimony of Paul’s sufferings that we read earlier? Look at his perspective regarding all those events.
He writes, “For our light and momentary troubles” — wait a second: light and momentary troubles? Five different times his back was shredded when he was flogged 39 lashes with a whip; three times he was beaten to a bloody pulp by rods. But he says, “For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all.” (II Corinthians 4:17)
Look at Romans 8:18: “I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us.”
Think of it this way. Let’s say that on the first day of 2007, you had a terrible day. You had a painful root canal at the dentist. You crashed your car. Your stock portfolio took a nose dive. Your spouse got sick. A friend betrayed you. From start to finish, it was Alexander & the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day.
But then every other day of the year was just plain terrific. A friend wins the lottery and gives you $25 million. You get promoted at work to your dream job. Time magazine puts your color photo on its cover as “The Person of the Year.” You have your first child and he’s healthy and strong. Your marriage is idyllic, your health is fabulous, you have a three-month vacation in Tahiti.
Then next New Year’s Day someone asks, “So, how was your 2007?” You’d say, “It was great; it was wonderful!”
And they’d say, “But didn’t it start out bad? Didn’t you go through a lot of trouble that first day?”
Then, you might think for a moment and say, “You’re right. It was a bad day, no denying it. It was difficult at the time. But when I look at the totality of the year, when I put everything in context, it’s been a great year. The 364 terrific days far outweigh the one bad day. It just sort of fades away.”
And the same will be true in heaven. That’s not to deny the reality of our pain in this life. It might be terrible. It might be chronic. It might go on for all 72 of our years. But in heaven, after 54,484,545 days of pure bliss — and with an infinite more to come — if someone asked, “So, how has your existence been?”
We’d instantly react by saying, “It has been absolutely wonderful! Words can’t describe the joy and the delight and the fulfillment!”
And if they said, “But didn’t you have a tough time before you got here,” We’d probably think back and say, “Well, yes, those days were painful, I can’t deny that. But when I put them into context, in light of all God’s outpouring of goodness to me, those bad days aren’t even worth comparing with the eternity of blessings and joy that I’ve experienced.”
One Christian who lived a life full of pain said: “In light of heaven, the worst suffering on earth, a life full of the most atrocious tortures on the planet, will be seen to be no more serious than one night in an inconvenient hotel.”
British church leader Galvin Reid tells about meeting a young man who had fallen down some stairs at the age of one and had shattered his back. He had been in and out of hospitals his whole life — and yet he made the astounding comment that he thinks God is fair.
Reid asked him, “How old are you?” The boy said, “Seventeen.”
“How many years have you spent in hospitals?” he asked. The boy said, “Thirteen years.”
The pastor said, “And you think that is fair?” The boy replied, “Well, God has all eternity to make it up to me.”
God promises a time when there will be no more crying, no more tears, no more pain and suffering, when we will be reunited with God in perfect harmony, forever. I Corinthians 2:9 says, “No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has conceived what God has prepared for those who love him.”
But let me ask you this morning. Before we even begin exploring the challenges and “troubles” that Jesus has guaranteed us are going to take place. Which solution are you seeking to all that is being thrown at you?
Are you riding on the teeter-totter of the world’s view of peace? Looking to gain control? Wavering back and forth between anxiety and depression?
Or are you accepting the gift of Christ’s peace, and applying it to your life.
For those who have chosen to walk with Christ, there should be something different about our handling of the trouble of this world. Not only something different, but something transferable. And that is the peace of God. And next week, we will begin to see what that looks like in the face of specific troubles and challenges.
Let’s pray.
