John 16:22
The Wilderness State
By: Rev. Kenneth Emerson Sauer, Pastor of Parkview United Methodist Church, Newport News, VA
In our Gospel Lesson for this morning Jesus Christ is telling His
disciples, before His crucifixion, "now is your time of grief, but I will
see you again and you will rejoice, and no one will take away your joy."
Jesus was not about to leave those who believe in Him, those who love
Him alone in say a wilderness state
no
The resurrection would change things permanently, bringing a joy that
cannot be removed by the assaults of the world.
Jesus said that there would be grief at first.
He would be going away and leaving the disciples by sacrificing Himself
for the world.
They would "weep" and "mourn" and experience deep grief.
Their hopes would seem to be dashed upon the rocks of humankinds
ultimate enemy: death.
But after this grief there was to be irrepressible joy.
Jesus said that He would arise, and His resurrection would cause His
followers to burst forth with joy.
And the same can be said of us today.
Before we came into a personal relationship with the risen Christ, we
werein effectin a state of deep mourning and grief.
We were traveling along in this world of darkness and shadowsas fallen
peopleas people who are living without God
without the knowledge of the love of God, without faith in Christ,
without hope that comes through faith, and joy that comes through faith,
and the "peace"the peace which transcends all understandingwhich only
comes from a daily walk with the risen Lord.
We were in a wilderness state.
We were in bondageor slaves to sin, fear and the devil.
Old age was faced with fear, and sin and suffering were all that we had
in our repertoire.
During a time that I was living in the wilderness state I had a dream
that I died and went to hell.
In my dream, hell was not so different from the world in which I was
living.
In my dream, in hell, I was walking alongwhen I spotted some high school
friends of mine partying on the beachgranted I was in high school when
this dream occurred, and partying at the beach was our favorite thing in
the whole wide world to do.
We all seemed to be having a good time until one of my friends turned to
me with a bright smile and said, "Ken. Isnt this great? We can party
here 24 hours a day, 7 days a week for ever and ever and ever."
I remember having sort of an epiphany at this momentwhen I came to a
dreadful realization of the reality we were facing
I said, "Yeah, but there is no time here. Whats the point? What is
there to party about? There is no hope, there is no loveno real love
there is no relationship with God.
Were all just a bunch of losers partying with nothing to party
aboutforever."
In my dream, from that point on, all I wanted to do was to get out of
hell!
Its funny, but I knew what I had to do to get out. I had to say, "Jesus
Christ died for my sins."but somehowdown in hellthose were the only
words I could not get to come out of my mouth.
I remember, in my dream, coming along a family that I had known in my
previous life on earth.
The woman in the family came running up to me: "Hi Ken. So you are here
too. You missed the mark too."
missed the mark
missed the mark
it wasnt until later on in my life that I learned that the meaning of
the word "sin" is to "miss the mark."
Finally, in this dreamor shall I say nightmareI came to a point where I
was going to be forced to bow down and literally worship Satan.
I didnt want to do itand just as this incredibly evil and ugly
facedone up in incredible detail was beginning to appear before my
eyesI was able to force out the words: "Jesus Christ died for my sins."
At that I woke upfeeling as if I had literally been in hell. I couldnt
go back to sleep for the rest of the nightso I got up and wrote down my
dream in great detail.
We as human beings are created with a capacity for memory; and we are
endowed with the power of present insight
and we are created with the power to anticipate and plan for the future.
And hope is an essential element in our lives.
Without hopeeven the finest and the best things that this world has to
offer us are shrouded with a deadly decomposing futility.
Without the hope of a real future, even our most meaningful experiences
are but a mere teasing projection of our imaginations.
Of what value is education, and our noblest principles, if we are in the
end just en-vel-oped in the dark night of death, and the unfeeling grave
of extinction?
And if the gospel of Jesus Christ were to be devoid of the
Resurrectionif it was only to bring us the revelation of Gods saving
truth and Gods redeeming grace for the presentthen it would plunge us
even deeper into despairknowing that we have a hopeless future!
How astonishingly marvelous and new is the gift of hope that comes to
those of us who come to the point in our lives when we "believe!"
The Resurrection and all that it means to human life and history is no
myth, no dreamy possibility.
It is a free act of the merciful God Who did something for humankind that
we can not do for ourselves
It gives us hope
undeserved hope
that no amount of human energy or money can pay for!
And the gift of this living hope can only be appreciated by those
whohaving once been held captive by the wilderness statehave now been
born again through faith in Jesus Christ and in Jesus Christ alone!!!
Jesus gave a good illustration of the violent contrast between the sorrow
of the wilderness state and the joy of the Resurrection.
The illustration describes a womans pain in giving birth.
She suffers so much that she literally groans and gasps in desperation
for the new life to begin.
Once the child is born, the sorrow and pain are all forgotten because a
new life has emerged!
The Resurrection brings irrepressible joy to those who believejust as a
newborn baby brings joy to woman in pain.
Just think: Jesus is not dead!
His body has not decayed in a grave: He has arisen!
He emerged from the grave and ascended to the Father.
There is victory over the grave, triumph over death.
Humankind can now live forever with God.
No truth can fill a person with any more joy and rejoicing than really
knowing that death has been conquered in the resurrection of Jesus
Christ!
And for those of us who believeour joy is increased by really knowing
that the Resurrection of Jesus Christ can not be taken away from us by
any man, woman or child!
As believers we know this!
This causes our joy to be permanent, deep-seated, and unmovable.
So, when the trials and grief of this life come upon us
we still know the joy of the Lords presence and care
we still know that Christ will escort us into the Fathers presence
eternally
we still know that we will be children of the new heavens and the new
earth that will be created for Gods family!
Our hopethe hope of those who are no longer miserable graveling about in
the wilderness stateis based upon the Resurrection.
The Resurrection is a unique and personal event; it is not like the
inevitable recurring springtime
Nor is it in a category with hatching eggs and procreating bunnies.
The Resurrection means that Jesus was raised from the dead, and all that
He said and did is alive through the mighty act of God.
This is what we are to celebrate every day!
Jesus Christ lives!
This is what we are to tell those who are still living in the wilderness
state: "Jesus Christ lives!!!"
We no longer have to be alienated from Godbecause the Resurrection has
given us an open door into Gods presence.
Jesus Christ is not just a historical figure; He lives now and is with
those who have given their lives to Him forever!
He is our assurance and pledge that the future is meaningful, that "all
things work together for good to them that love God", that the last word
is with the life Jesus generates, and that those of us who are
incorporated into His life can face the future with the spirit of triumph
and confront trials without dread!
As Christians, we know that what we will come into is much more
significant than what we have already experienced.
In Christ, the best is truly yet to come!!!
