Silent Answers
John 11: 1-44
Opening illustration:
When Jenelle was born I expected a to ¡§feel¡¨ ¡§something¡¨. I did not ¡§feel¡¨¡¨anything¡¨. I was disappointed because I had unrealistic expectations about something that I did not know about. We often get disappointed in God because we expect to ¡§feel¡¨, ¡§experience¡¨, or ¡§have¡¨ something that we expect. God may be on a complete different page from where we are. It is unexpected and we get disappointed.
We all expect to have good days. We get upset when we don¡¦t.
You know it¡¦s going to be a bad day when:
1. You get pulled over and you haven¡¦t even left your driveway
2. Your birthday cake collapses from the weight of the candles
3. You call your answering service and they tell you it¡¦s none of your business who called
4. The blind date you had anxiously been awaiting turns out to be your older sister.
5. You wake up to discover that your waterbed broke and then you remember you don¡¦t have a waterbed.
6. You know its going to be a bad day when your income tax check bounces
These are funny because of the reality of these situations.
1. This is close to reality
2. We can relate
3. We are thankful it isn¡¦t us
4. Bad days are a reality of life
5. They come without notice or effort ¡V
They become real in our lives:
a) When bills push you in bankruptcy ¡V financial problems
b) When home no longer is a place of sanctuary but a battlefield ¡V family problems
c) When death looms over your family ¡V loss and grief
d) When separation and divorce shatter the lives of a man and a woman ¡V marital problems
e) Illness, unexplained losses and disappointments fracture the very essence of who we are ¡V health problems
When the laughter of a bad day turns to pain, we wonder how God could let this happen. We ask where God was when we needed Him the most. If He has only been there, if He was listening, if He¡K¡K. How could you have let this happen? „³ Is often asked
We find this even in Jesus¡¦ day. When tragedy struck, people responded in the same way.
Every time you venture out in your life of faith, you will find something in your circumstances that, from a commonsense standpoint, will flatly contradict your faith. But common sense is not faith, and faith is not common sense.
Can you trust Jesus Christ when your common sense cannot trust Him?
Can you venture out with courage on the words of Jesus Christ, while the realities of your commonsense life continue to shout, "It¡¦s all a lie"?
When you are on the mountaintop, it¡¦s easy to say, "Oh yes, I believe God can do it," but you have to come down from the mountain into the valley and face the realities that scoff your belief Luke 9:28-42. This is what Mary and Martha experienced first hand with the death of their brother Lazarus.
When things seem to become clear, you will encounter something that will contradict it. As soon as you say, "I believe and God will supply all of my needs (Phil. 4:19), the testing of your faith begins. When your strength runs dry and your vision is blinded, will you endure this trial of your faith victoriously or will you turn back in defeat?
Faith must be tested, because it can only become your intimate possession through conflict.
(Romans 5:3-4)
What is challenging your faith right now?
Jesus said, "Blessed is he who is not offended because of me" Matthew 11:6). The ultimate thing is confidence in Jesus.
Faith is absolute trust in God¡Xtrust that could never imagine that He would forsake us
Hebrews 13:5-6
Unrealistic Expectations will disappoint us. We often expect God to do things in our way because we have become to believe a certain way. When our expectations are not met we get disappointed.
It is only natural that Mary and Martha would inform the Lord that Lazarus was sick
They didn¡¦t explicitly ask Jesus to come
Perhaps that request is implicit in their notification
Perhaps they believed that Jesus could heal Lazarus from where he was and they didn¡¦t need to ask him
In any event, it is clear Mary and Martha expected Jesus to heal Lazarus
But Jesus waits¡K.. (pause)¡K and Lazarus dies. This is not what they expected They are disappointed
Illustration. Chuck New expected faith healers to heal his daughter of cancer
After Lazarus had died
Four days after Lazarus dies, ¡V Jesus shows up
The Jewish people believed that the soul resided in the vicinity of the body of a deceased for three days, hoping to rejoin the body - life was still possible but
After four days passed the soul gave up and departed - and there was no more hope. It was over - the person was dead.
The fact that Lazarus had been in the tomb for four days meant that there was no possibility of him rejoining his body.
It meant it was hopeless from a common sense point of view
Jesus often uses a hopeless situation to illustrate the hope that is only in Him. Faith becomes an intimate possession through hopeless situations,
I. The Expectation of Jesus John 11: 1-6
A. The Prayer
1. When we have a need, we go to God. John 11:3 says the sister sent word to Him that Lazarus was sick. They expected Jesus to do something immediate. He did not respond to their need in the time and way they expected.
a. Jesus responds to the prayer
i. Lazarus is going to be ok. He is only sleeping; he is not going to die. This did not make sense to the people. They were looking through mortal eyes, not the eyes of Jesus. Jesus was going to use this for. His Glory. We often miss a blessing because we pray and already have the solution planned and expect God to follow in that plan. He often has the plan in place and we don¡¦t see that because we are in control. Jesus responds as He always does, but they did not accept the response. This will result in disappointment.
B. John 11:8 The disciples respond to Jesus with logic.
1. They reminded Jesus that if He goes back there, He will be stoned. The concerns of the disciple¡¦s concerns were valid. They expected Jesus to be logical by their standards. There was a good chance that this will happen. In our wisdom, this is good advice.
2. There was one thing that Jesus was doing that was creating uproar. He was proclaiming Himself as God. He was telling the religions leaders that the God they served is He. They responded by accusing Him of blasphemy. According to the law, stoning was the acceptable punishment. They plotted to do this and the disciples knew this. (John 8:59; 10:31)
3. Jesus responds by using an analogy of light and darkness. When a person is in the light, the danger is not there as in the darkness. He is referring Himself to the light of the world (John 1:3-4)
4. The Disciples do not understand to what Jesus is telling them. Instead of resting in what He is saying, they are fearful.
i. ¡§Lord, if he sleeps, he will get better¡¨ They don¡¦t understand the magnitude of what Jesus means when He said that Lazarus is sleeping. Jesus means death. The disciples are looking for a reason not to go to Bethany. This is for good reason in their wisdom. They are not They are not allowing Jesus to be in control of the situation, this they are disappointed. They react in fear and allow fear to guide their minds.
ii. Jesus said to them that Lazarus is dead. Sometimes we don¡¦t take the hint. Jesus plainly told them. This means that Jesus is making it perfectly clear of His plan. The disciples respond by saying they will go, not because of an eager willingness to obey God¡¦s Word but rather of a resentful willingness.
iii.How often have we been there, we know what God wants us to do, but because of hindrances that we see, we are hesitant in doing what God is telling us to do. We often excuse ourselves out of obedience, or do it with resistance and not allowing God to use us completely.
C. John 11:20 Martha responds with anger. She expected Jesus to move quicker then what He did
Just because you don¡¦t understand what Jesus Christ says, you have no right to determine that He must be mistaken in what He says.
When I begin to weigh the pros and cons, and doubt and debate enter into my mind, I am bringing in an element that is not of God. This will only result in my concluding that His instructions to you were not right.
Many of us are faithful to our ideas about Jesus Christ, but how many of us are faithful to Jesus Himself? Faithfulness to Jesus means that you must step out even when and where you can¡¦t see anything Matthew 14:29).
Faithfulness to your own ideas means that you first clear the way mentally. Faith, however, is not intellectual understanding; faith is a deliberate commitment to the Person of Jesus Christ, even when you can¡¦t see the way ahead.
Are you debating whether to take a step of faith or wait until you can see what Jesus is waiting to do in your life?
Simply obey Him with unrestrained joy. When He tells you something and you begin to debate, it is because you have a misunderstanding of what honors Him and what doesn¡¦t.
Are you faithful to Jesus, or faithful to your ideas about Him?
Are you faithful to His Word or are you compromising His Word with the thoughts you have about what you want from God?
1...Martha places the blame on Jesus.
i. Martha believed in the power available to Jesus Christ; she believed that if He had been there He could have healed her brother; she also believed that Jesus had a special intimacy with God, and that whatever He asked of God, God would do.
ii.But¡Xshe needed a closer personal intimacy with Jesus. Martha¡¦s faith had its fulfillment in the future. But Jesus continued to attract and draw her in until her belief became an intimate possession. It then slowly emerged into a personal inheritance¡X"Yes, Lord, I believe that You are the Christ . . ." ( John 11:27).
Is the Lord dealing with you in the same way?
Is Jesus teaching you to have a personal intimacy with Himself?
Allow Him to drive His question home to you¡X"Do you believe this?" Are you facing an area of doubt in your life? Have you come, like Martha, to a crossroads of overwhelming circumstances where your faith is about to become a very personal belief? This happens only when a personal problem brings the awareness of our personal need.
To believe is to commit. In the area of intellectual learning I commit myself mentally, and reject anything not related to that belief. In the realm of personal belief I commit myself morally to my convictions and refuse to compromise. But in intimate personal belief I commit myself spiritually to Jesus Christ and make a determination to be dominated by Him alone.
A result of disappointment is a lost of interest. When we get disappointed, or something does not meet our expectation, we loose interest
Remember when you would be eating your cereal in the morning as a kid and you would be looking at the box and really wanting the prize that is inside or the prize that you can send away for. On the box it is large and fantastic. You send away for the thing that you want and several weeks if not months later it arrives. You open the box and ¡§Disappointment¡¨.
It is nothing like you expected. This is similar to what happens when we expect God to do something the way we want. The difference is, when we can see that His way is better then we expected, we have lost interest. We may not want to pray, read the Bible. The Passion has left. We are not waiting with anticipation of what we know he can do, but rather have lost interest like that toy that did not meet our expectation as a kid.
Then, when I stand face to face with Jesus Christ and He says to me, "Do you believe this?" I find that faith is as natural as breathing. And I am staggered when I think how foolish I have been in not trusting Him earlier
D. John 11:29 Mary responds with worship even though she expected a difference response
1. Mary is disappointed but responds to Jesus in worship.
II. The disappointment in Jesus
Unrealistic expectations result in disappointment. When we expect something and it does not happen in our time, we will get disappointed. Jesus sometimes replaces our expected responses with unexpected silence
Has God trusted you with His Silence?
Have you experienced God¡¦s Silence?
God¡¦s silences can be actually His answers.
Just think of those days of absolute silence in the home at Bethany! They sent word to Jesus and they assume from the silence that He as not responded to their need.
Is there anything comparable to those days in your life?
Can God trust you like that, or are you still asking Him for a visible answer? God will give you the very blessings you ask if you refuse to go any further without them, but His silence is the sign that He is bringing you into an even more wonderful understanding of Himself.
Are you mourning before God because you have not had an audible response?
When you cannot hear God, you will find that He has trusted you in the most intimate way possible¡Xwith absolute silence, not a silence of despair, but one of pleasure; because He saw that you could withstand an even bigger revelation.
If God has given you a silence, then praise Him¡X
He is bringing you into the mainstream of His purposes.
The actual evidence of the answer in time is simply a matter of God¡¦s sovereignty. Time is nothing to God. For a while you may have said, "I asked God to give me bread, but He gave me a stone instead¡¨ Matthew 7:9). He did not give you a stone, and today you find that He gave you the "bread of life" ( John 6:35).
A wonderful thing about God¡¦s silence is that His stillness is contagious¡Xit gets into you, causing you to become perfectly confident so that you can honestly say, "I know that God has heard me."
His silence is the very proof that He has. As long as you have the idea that God will always bless you in answer to prayer, He will do it, but He will never give you the grace of His silence. If Jesus Christ is bringing you into the understanding that prayer is for the glorifying of His Father, then He will give you the first sign of His intimacy¡Xsilence.
III.The Hope through Jesus
A. He is the companion of the broken hearted Ps 38:16
B.He is the great counselor John 14:6
C. He is the one who brings good from the ruins of life Romans 8:28
D.. , He is in control
What does that mean?
Lazarus¡¦ death provided an opportunity for people to see the presence of God in their midst, ---- to witness God¡¦s power ----- to experience God¡¦s love
It means that even in the tough times of our lives, in the times when we think God has all but deserted us, in the times when it seems as if four days have passed and there is no hope-----------our lives can glorify God it¡¦s one thing to have faith when everything is going right it is another to have faith when everything is going wrong Faith in the midst of adversity is a powerful witness.
IT GLORIFIES GOD AND THAT GIVES US HOPE!!!
Not hope that sys bad things won¡¦t happen to us, not hope that God will fix all of our problems so we won¡¦t suffer or hurt but in his life, in his death and resurrection and death again Lazarus¡¦ brought glory to God GLORY THAT YOU CAN ONLY GIVE WHEN YOU KNOW ETERNAL LIFE IN CHRIST JESUS
Tomorrow morning," the surgeon began, "I¡¦ll open up your heart..." "You¡¦ll find Jesus there," the boy interrupted.
The surgeon looked up, annoyed. "I¡¦ll cut your heart open," he continued, "to see how much damage has been done..." "But when you open up my heart, you¡¦ll find Jesus in there."
The surgeon looked to the parents, who sat quietly. "When I see how much damage has been done, I¡¦ll sew your heart and chest back up and I¡¦ll plan what to do next."
"But you¡¦ll find Jesus in my heart. The Bible says He lives there. The hymns all say He lives there. You¡¦ll find Him in my heart."
The surgeon had had enough. "I¡¦ll tell you what I¡¦ll find in your heart. I¡¦ll find damaged muscle, low blood supply, and weakened vessels. "You¡¦ll find Jesus there too. He lives there." The surgeon left.
The next day surgeon sat in his office, recording his notes from the surgery,"...damaged aorta, damaged pulmonary vein, and widespread muscle degeneration. No hopes for transplant, no hope for cure. Prognosis:, " here he paused, "death within one year." He stopped the recorder, but there was more to be said.
"Why?" he asked aloud. "Why did You do this? You¡¦ve put him here; You¡¦ve put him in this pain; and You¡¦ve cursed him to an early death. Why?" The surgeon¡¦s tears were hot, but his anger was hotter. "You created that boy, and You created that heart. He¡¦ll be dead in months. Why?"
And in the midst of his anger and tears the great counselor, the one who cares for the broken hearted came. And the surgeon wept. (PAUSE)
The surgeon sat beside the boy¡¦s bed; the boy¡¦s parents sat across from him. As the boy awoke and whispered, "Did you cut open my heart?" "Yes," said the surgeon. "What did you find?" asked the boy. "I found Jesus," said the surgeon.
IN THE MIDST OF OUR PAIN, our hurts, our sorrows - we will find Jesus there - and somehow in the midst of all it may we bring glory to God that may others find him there too.
