MAY 8 2016 | John 14

Sea Change Church · "John 14" · Adam Stadtmiller · May 8, 2016
John 14
Automated transcript. Not reviewed for accuracy.

Work out for your good. Either direction, my translation, either direction you turn will work out for your God, for you, for those who love God and are called according to his purposes. So there's two caveats there. One, that whatever turn you make, that you do it while loving God. And two, that you are called according to his purposes, which we know that we are.

And so Jesus begins to talk about a sequential journey, and I want to help you on this journey. I want to show you at least the terrain of the journey. Jesus talks about this journey in verses 1 through 4, and we're going to go sequentially through John 14. We're going to go exegetically through that, which means we're going to pull out each verse and look through it.

We'll be back in Acts soon, but I wanted to stop here because I felt the last few messages opened up the opportunity to teach this scripture, which I didn't have planned, but I added it in. Verse 1, here we are again, starting with the heart. Now remember, if you've been here for a long time, we're talking about two things a lot, the heart and the Father.

The heart and the Father. And if you've been in the seats for a while, or if you continue on in the seats, you're going to keep hearing about them because they are the beginning of the journey for us, and they are the end of the journey for us. And Jesus, when he mentions it in John 14, 1 here, he talks about the beginning, and he talks about the destination.

Now let me give a quick caveat that the beginning was actually, that we read out of Romans earlier, that while we were yet sinners, what happened? Christ died for us. Christ found us before we knew he existed. You cannot seek God unless you've already been found by God. I said that last week because he has to reveal himself to us. But nonetheless, Jesus starts this journey, so put yourself on this journey.

Do not let your hearts be troubled. There we are. We're starting with the heart. Don't let them be troubled. Let me ask you today, do you have a troubled heart? You believe in God, but believe also in me. My Father's house has many rooms. This is one of over 20 times Jesus uses the word Father in John 14. If that were not so, I would have told you that I am going there to prepare, and I am going there to prepare a place for you.

And if I go there to prepare a place for you, I will come back to take you with me, that you may also be where I am. You don't know the way to the place where I am. No, excuse me. You know the way to the place where I am going. And then he gets this question from Thomas, and they're really confused. How do we know? What are we talking about? We don't know the way.

And Jesus says the same thing, basically, that he says, that God says to Abraham, it's this way. Because if you know the way maker, you don't need to know the way. You see, the way is the way maker. He is the way. He is the ultimate road that we walk on. And so Jesus is talking about a journey. It says in the notes, it starts with the heart and ends with the Father.

Let me say, the Christian faith, the whole point of it, the whole point of Jesus coming to earth was not to save you from your sins. The point that Jesus came to earth is so that you can go back and be with your Father. Because there was a loving Father who was desperate for you, who was not willing for us to perish. And it's said that he sent his own Son.

Did Jesus die on the cross because he loved the world? No. John 3, 16, it says, who loved the world? God, God the Father, so loved the world that he gave his only Son. That he would give a Son. And the scriptures we read earlier today says that some people will do that for a good person, but who would do it for a bunch of sinners? But that is God the Father, and that is the story.

So the destination begins with our hearts. We've been looking at our hearts and ends with a loving Father. And then he assures the disciples that they know the way. Jesus' point is not that you know the route, but that you know him. He says, that's his point here. The point is not that he sits down with you and gives you a big plan so you can get God in a box.

Okay, well, you're going to go out, you're going to go right, and then you're going to meet three people. And on occasion he did that when he wanted the donkey. He sent some guys and some of his disciples, and he said, there's going to be a donkey. This dude's going to come out. And on occasion he does that. But with the story and the journey that is your life, often God just says, I want you to lock arms and go with me.

Let's just go together on this thing. And I want to send you out onto this journey. And he says that I am the way maker. He says, if you know me, you know the way. For John 14, 6, one of the most powerful verses in the scripture, Jesus gives this entire narrative of this journey. He says, I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one will come unto the Father except through me.

You don't need to know, as I said in your notes, you can underline that, you don't need to know the way if you know the way maker. Let me say that again. Let me say this again. Get this in your heart. You don't need to know the way if you know the way maker. Most of us are in a place right now of wondering what the next step is. I would say that's part of the human condition.

God created us so that we can't know that. Why? Because he wants us to know him. And to put knowing him more important than the next step you're going to take, whether it be in your job, your family, the trip you're going to take. He is intimately and ultimately concerned about those things. He loves you and he wants to be a part of it, but he wants you to know him more than he wants you to know your way.

And let me ask you this. Do you spend more time thinking about your next step so that you can be safe or filled with pleasure, or do you spend time thinking about him? What he assures you, if you seek ye first the kingdom of whom? God. What will happen? All things will be added unto you. Let me say, if we can turn our mind off, take 80, just think about your life.

I would say, actually the scripture actually puts it like this. And I know this would be, would be, would seem extreme, but I will be hyperbolic about it. That if you never thought about your next step and just thought about God, I think the scripture says that you'll end up where you're supposed to go. I think it says that. Now I'm not going to say throw your mind away and don't make wise decisions because the Bible is full of, Jim, this is for you.

I saw your text two weeks ago that said you wanted to talk about my message. I didn't text you back on purpose. It was on Sunday afternoon. I get a text. Perhaps we can speak tomorrow about your sermon yesterday. Delete. Chew on the cut of that sermon for a while. Then get back to me. Yes, yes. If you are in cyber world listening to this, you're missing out on some good fellowship here.

Join us when you come to town. Where was I? Oh, that we can go. We can end up. Hey, I'm just saying, I want to encourage you. All the time you think about how you're going to figure things out, just maybe try 80, 20. Just go 50, 50. Let's, you know, let's start easy. Let's go 30% thinking about God first. Let's just, instead of 99 thinking about yourself and 1% God, can we just get to 30% where we say, you know, I'm worried right now.

I'm just going to go focus on knowing God. Like, not knowing God so I can know the step to take because that's conditional. I'm going to, and I do this all the time. I'm going to, oh, I need an answer or I need peace. I'm going to go spend time with God because of what he offers me. I'm really trying to get to the point in my life where I go to God because he's good.

What I find is when I do that, all those things get sorted. But I don't want to come like with a gun to God and say, God, the reason I'm coming is because I want to hijack you for some peace. Now, he says we can come to him for that. Or God, the reason I want to come is because I want to hijack you for some answers. He says we can do that and he expects that.

But just showing up raw and real and authentic before God, just saying, you know what, no matter what, even if you ruin me, I'm just here because you're so good. And his nature is just to pour out on you. See, when you come to God like that, it is impossible for God not to just pour out himself upon you. It's impossible for him just to show up raw and honest before God.

We might know the exact route, but we can know the way maker. And let me say, we can know this. I would say that while we might not know the exact route on where you're going in your life, we can know the destination. Jesus' goal is to lead you to his father, to get in touch with your father. Father's mentioned over 20 times in John 14. 20 times.

The whole purpose. Jesus, if you ask Jesus, you have one goal on earth, what is it? He would say to bring God's children back to him, that they might spend eternity being loved and lavished upon by their father. That's the gospel. It is different than any other path, way, religion, anything. There was no story in my mind, no religious narrative that I know of in my mind that compares to the beauty of that story to me.

To me. That we see 20 times. And Jesus was fascinated by his father. I want to say, are we as fascinated by our father in heaven as Jesus was? He was fascinated by him. So we know the destination. We can also know the terrain. And this is where I really want to come in today, which is really important. The terrain. The only way you can approach the father is through the way of raw and honest truth.

Let me say this. The only way. Read that again. The only way you can approach the father is through the way of raw and honest truth. Jesus in this says, I am the way. So he says, start with your heart. Don't let your hearts be troubled. And then he says, I am the way. Get to know me because I am the path. I am the road that you're going to be on. I am the way.

And I am the truth. And to approach God with anything else but raw, honest truth is to play the fool. And God does not suffer fools. If there's one thing we know through the scripture, he does not suffer fools. He wants you to be real. He wants you to be honest. He wants you to show up and tell him why you like the sin that you like. To say, God, I really like this sin and I don't want to give it up and here's why I like it.

Or I am ticked off at you, God. As Eugene Peter says, we need to learn to cuss at God or we need to learn to cuss without cussing. See, we're not cussing but we need to be honest with God. We need to tell him and be real with each other. Why do I think the world is running away from the church in droves? I think the reason they're running away from the church in droves is because the church is dishonest about how it really feels.

I think it's fake. And the reason I can't listen to a lot of Christian radio or TV and these things is because it's a bunch of platitudes that I can't even get with. And I think it is so, it smells like the world can smell it. And they look at it and they think, I want nothing to do with that. I was watching a really famous televangelist and his wife on Larry King.

And Larry King is searching. I mean, he always has Billy Graham on there. If you're watching, that homeboy was searching. He's like, look, I don't know what he found, but he's always asking questions. Because whenever he has Christians on there, he's going, you can tell he's honestly asking questions. And he asked the one wife of this pastor and they were so happy and the hair was great and big smiles.

And I'm watching it because I think, I want to just, tell me something true. Tell me something true. Because Jesus was true. He was straight up how he felt. You know, God, you're forsaking me, God. He never said his father forsook him. But he said, you're forsaking me. Or don't send me here. I don't want to die. Or Israel, I can't put up with you anymore.

Or get behind me, Satan. He was so real. He doesn't put up with baloney. I'd like to use a different word. I should learn it in Hebrew because it's in the Bible and I should say it. In Hebrew, then nobody would know. Except God. And he put it in the Bible anyways. And he said to her, what about sin? Don't you struggle with temptation? And the wife of this man said, well, sometimes I want to have that extra piece of cake.

Where's my... Really? Thank you, Alan, for building this. Extra piece of cake? There's people that have lost children. There's people that have murder in their hearts. There's raw life. And what you have to offer a national audience who's watching for you to give them some truth that you struggle with having an extra piece of cake. Now, I get that if you have an eating disorder.

And I get that. But that isn't what she was saying. She was saying, you know what? Maybe I should need a little bit of extra cake sometimes. With a smile on her face. And I thought, that's baloney. I turned it off. I got no time for it. I got a video right now we're going to show. It's Bono and Eugene Peterson. Eugene Peterson wrote the Message Bible.

They were having a conversation. They became friends. They have a great story of how they became friends. Bono asked to meet with Eugene Peterson. And he said, I don't know who Bono is. And I don't have time. And they said, but it's Bono. And they told him who he was. And he says, but I'm translating the Bible. And it's Jeremiah. So I don't have time.

Bono kept pursuing him. And they were having a conversation here about being real and honest before God. And if we are going to be anything as a congregation, we are going to be honest. Watch this. I got started translating the Psalms by translating a Psalm for a certain person, just a single person. To try to get them to realize that praying wasn't being nice before God.

I would translate a Psalm that I thought fit them. And, you know, the Psalms are not pretty. They're not nice. And I would ask them, just pray this Psalm using my translation. I think I'm doing it about as close to the Hebrew as I can get it. But it's not smooth. It's not nice. It's not pretty. But it's honest. And I think we're trying for honesty, which is very, very hard in our culture.

I'm talking about dishonesty. That I find a lot of, in Christian art, a lot of dishonesty. Yeah. And I think it's a shame because you've got, these are people who are vulnerable to God. In a good way. You know, vulnerable. I mean, porous, open. I would love if this conversation would inspire people who are writing these beautiful voices and writing these beautiful, say, gospel songs, write a song about their bad marriage.

Write a song about how they're, you know, pissed over the government. Because that's what God wants from you. That truth. The way, the truth. And that truthfulness. Know the truth. The truth will set you free. It'll blow things apart. Why I'm suspicious of Christians is because of this lack of realism. And I'd love to see more of that in art and in life and in music.

That's it. Translate. I love what they said there because there is such a lack of truth and honesty. We speak the truth. We tell the Bible as truth. But we live dishonestly. I'm not saying that we go out and take our raw emotions and just dump them all over people. I'm not saying that. Like Eugene Peterson says later in that video. It's a 21-minute video and it's phenomenal.

He said we need to learn how to cuss without cussing. We need to learn a way to be real with God. To show up. And to tell God how we really feel. To tell our friends and to live in love and in honesty with people. What would it look like? And so let me ask this. What would it look like if you were really honest? What would it look like if you went to your spouse and you said, Hey, I just want to have a conversation with you after you've bathed it in prayer and say, Look, I've been feeling lonely for 25 years.

That needs to be fixed. Or we can die lonely. Or get to that place in our relationship where it just breaks up. Or you go to your children where there's a brokenness in the children and to say, Whatever you have to say, you just say it. But it's got to start with God. It's got to start with you and with me and us being honest. Being honest before. No more baloney.

I believe the gospel is not going to penetrate this culture any longer with the Serpy, and it wasn't all Serpy, but a big portion of the Serpy 1980s Christianity I grew up with. And that is not discounting all the amazing things that happened. Because youth movements happened. Great stuff happened. The church of Christ is glorious. I am not bashing the church.

But I am bashing the inauthentic baloney that we bring with it. To show up and somebody asks you about God and they ask you a hard question to say, I don't know. I don't know. I have the same questions and I don't have that figured out but I know God loves me. Or I don't feel like God loves me at the moment. And I'm angry because I don't feel like God loves me.

Or God, where have you been? What would it look like if you just showed up honest before God? Here's the thing that I did this week. I showed up before God and I started talking about the wickedness that was in my heart and why I wanted to keep that wickedness in my heart because I've never talked to him like that before. I kind of hide it but it's stupid.

I'm being a fool. We don't, prayer is not to show up in platitudes and nicety. To put on your Sunday best and show up. Look at the Psalms. The Psalms are so honest. I want us to be honest. We are not going to make an impact in the world unless we start being honest. And so that is where we're going as a church. Because Jesus says, I am the way. I am the truth.

And if you are honest with God, what is the next step in that journey that we're talking about? That sequential journey. Life. Look at it. I am the way. I am the truth. And the next thing is the life. If you want, why are we starving for life? Because we're not honest. We're not honest with how we feel about God. When we lose a family member to an addiction.

When someone takes their life. When we, shh. You know how many people I've met with that come in and they talk and they say, this happened again this week. My so and so committed suicide but no one in the family will talk about it. We're just saying that they died of natural cause or some other thing because we can't talk about it. And we just stuff that little problem.

I've had that happen three or four times in the last two years. Of families that can't talk about what really happened anymore. We can't talk about it. If we are going to be anything, we are going to be honest. I'll tell you, one of the things I love about my wife is she's honest. Not brutally honest but she's honest and she tells me how she feels. How long did it take you to learn to do that?

15 years with me? Yeah. We're getting it now, trust me. It's better than waking up when I'm 80 and her telling me then. Let me just say that. It's better than waking up when I'm 80 and having her tell me then and looking back at the entire life and saying, oh, how do I repair that heap of ashes? I want to live in truth. I want us to live in truth but I want us to be kind before God.

Let's just look at the journey here real quick. There's five bits and we're done. It all starts with him. He says, I am the way. He's your map. You don't need to know every turn in the road. Jesus says, I'm the way. Get to know him. Get more excited about him than your journey. Get more excited about him than your purpose. We are so, we are so opiated up. It's like purpose is a Christian opiate.

It's like your purpose, what your thing is, what does God call you to and until you get that you can't be fulfilled. That's so antithetical to the point of spirituality. The whole point is that you are in him and he loves you and there is the fullness of your purpose. Now go and play in the world and do the things you enjoy or perhaps do the things you don't enjoy in the name of Jesus and he will fulfill you when you show up raw and honest before him with a loving God.

That's the point. I want to say purpose has become an opiate. He loves your purpose. He has a purpose for you. We are called according though to a different purpose. It's not yours. Whose is it? His. It's his purpose. Detoxify yourself from your purpose. Few things are just bind up people in general but especially believers until I get into the perfect the center of God's will.

The center of God's will is called love and it's living in the midst being soaked in the love of God. It starts with I am the way. The next place it moves is I am the truth. It moves to authenticity. The next is it provides life. Step three. If you're honest with God watch the life start to creep back creep back in. Watch. You ever been in a flood where the water starts coming under the door?

You ever had a flood in your house or it starts bubbling up from the ground and in and starts ruining it but we've had a few floods and different things. When you're honest with God trust me the foundation of your life is going to crack in a good way and the water will start bubbling up from an artesian well that never ceases. An eternal well and it'll begin to flood you to the point where it floods your house to where it's up to your nose where you can't breathe anymore and it goes over your head with the love of God because you're finally being honest with him and you begin to drown.

And I've said it over and over again you can't breathe with God until you drown. Just like a baby in a womb he created it to show that. They breathe the liquid into their lungs but they are sustained in the midst of it until you drown and we need to drown with honesty and I'm not saying go to every single person you know and just keep it real. I'm not about keeping it real.

My mentor came up to me once and he said Adam you know what I love about you? You're honest. Most of you say that to me on a regular basis. The reason that you like the preaching or whatever you like me is because you tell me I'm authentic. I hear it from you all the time. At least that's what you've told me. And I told my mentor he goes I love you because you're honest.

And I was feeling yeah I'm honest. He goes and you're brutally honest. And I was like yeah yeah keep it real. He said there's two things I love there's two things about brutal honesty. The first one is it's honest. I'm like yeah keep it real. He said the second is it's brutal. And he said at this point in your life I was 19 or 20 at the time. He said you have a trail of bodies behind you.

I'm not telling you to be brutally honest. I'm telling you to be real. To be authentic. Because God only deals with reality. And truth is eternal. The rest will pass away. And God dwells since he dwells in the eternal now hear me since he dwells in the eternal he can only harvest things that are also eternal which is truth. Lies and deception will pass away.

Show up honest before God. Tell him you don't believe in him. My daughter's hit me on a regular basis on this. My daughter Lucy right now she's brilliant. She really is brilliant. Really smarter than me. I mean she asked yesterday I told you the sound was carrying from she's eight the sound was carrying from La Jolla Shores and she said why can't we hear that?

I said well sound carries on the wind and she says so wind is so sound must be physical. Sound must be yeah she's right it's vibrations an eight year old like sound must be physical where are you putting that together? You know and then she'll ask us these questions about God and how does he exist and what comes before like what comes after white? That's what she asked me the other day.

Like in the color spectrum like what's after white? Or when the earth explodes and if it's expanding what's on the opposite side remember I preached that? What's on the opposite side of the expansion? That was her. Like as the universe the scientists have said is expanding she asked me what's on the other side of the expansion? I mean stuff like that. Yeah she's really smart I'm scared because I just can't answer.

Authentic questions she asked me she says to me on a regular basis and please she just asked me I'm just going to leave it at that. She asked me questions about God because I don't want to play out her spiritual life in front of you. I don't want to have good boundaries with her. But she asked really good questions if he exists why does he exist not sure but she loves God carrying her Bible and she picked her Bible to be the book she reads for her school project this year.

Coming in for a closing it provides life. If you're dying for life be real start being honest. Jesus says I am the way the truth and the life and then it leads you back to family because it says I'm the way the truth and the life no one goes where? To the Father except through me and then after you get to the Father he pours out his Holy Spirit because if you go on in John 14 6 sequentially excuse me in John 14 it comes down to John 14 15 through 18 put that on the board if you would.

If you love me and keep my commandments I will ask the Father and he will give you another advocate to help you who will be with you forever. Keep going. The Spirit of Truth I love it. The Holy Spirit is what kind of spirit? Yeah. See what we're doing here? The Spirit of Truth. You can't fool God anyways. If you try to fool God who's the fool? The world cannot accept him because it neither sees him or knows him.

I'll tell you what the world cannot accept truth right now. It has no tolerance for truth. Let me just say if there's one thing that it's intolerant of it's called truth. Truth is love because it neither sees him or knows him but you know him for he lives within you and will be in you. And then in verse 18 because I love that so there's a sequential it goes from I am the way the heart then I am the way then you have truth and that'll give you life it'll lead you back to the Father and then I will give you the Holy Spirit.

You will be filled with the Spirit and if you're missing one of those pieces there and it's probably truth and wondering where the Holy Spirit's been in your life try the road of truth for once because Jesus says that's his road. And then he brings it back to this I think probably one of my five are the five most important scriptures in all the Bible. I almost think it might I think it might be the most important and that's I've been thinking about it for a couple years.

It says in verse 18 I will not leave you as orphans I'll come to you. The world is fatherless and trying to eradicate the need for fathers do you see that? Anybody can be a father. Do you see that? It is so antithetical to truth to who God is. Do you see what's happening and then we're just going to eradicate fathers in the name of love. Let's eradicate them for one reason or another.

God chose for whatever reason he did to reveal himself as father that we would not be left as orphans. That's the message of the scripture. The world needs a father and we are orphans and God refuses. He will not allow us. To be separated from his love and so he sent his only son. And so here's as we ask the band to come forward here's my call to you my commission to you this week is be honest with God.

I'm not saying immediately matter of fact you might need six months of that before you're ready to talk to the other people you need to talk to. This probably doesn't mean go make a phone call this afternoon to like get things right. I just want to challenge you. You go be honest with God for a while. Go spend some time in the base camp of honesty and then God will begin to ascend you to the next level.

Go tell him why you hate the person you hate. I was walking with a person here I know in the neighborhood and they walk past somebody's house and he says I have a problem with that. I just walk in with the neighbor because we were walking and the neighbor as we walked by a certain house said hate that neighbor. I wish he was dead. Yeah yeah I never heard anybody say that before.

Heavy. Heavy. But I think sometimes we have that in our heart we're just not willing to say it as easily. So get honest with God who do you hate? Maybe it's the woman who took your husband or vice versa. Maybe it's the teacher I had a teacher in fourth grade that humiliated me and I hated her and it's only in the last year I mean I tried to forgive her for years finally to the point.

It doesn't bother me anymore because I'm loved by a father. Let's stand. Lord Jesus we want to be honest with you we're going to sing we're going to sing God we're going to love you and then we're going to get blessed and then we're going to go and live a life of truth and find you in Jesus name. Let's sing. Let's sing.