In the Meantime: The New Norm

[podcast]http://www.revkwon.com/podcast/meantime-new_norm.mp3[/podcast] What do you do when there’s nothing you can do? What do you do when you have a problem that seems to have no solution? Your career, your family, or your life is stuck. You’re miles from ideal with no good options. What do you do? This is the series that explains all of that. This is a great series to invite your friends to, especially if they feel stuck and you’ve been trying to work it out with them. This is a great series to invite your friends to listen to online. This is a series you listen to when there is nothing else to listen to. The series is titled, “In the Meantime…” In the meantime, while something else is happening or until something else happens. What a fantastic American idiom? Today we are going to examine what do we do when our circumstances are so challenging there’s no way forward and no way out? We have problems for which there seem to be no solutions. We have questions without answers. During times like these, we’re tempted to run or give up. We’re tempted to give in to jealousy, resentment, and anger . . . especially anger toward God. That’s because when life gets hard, it feels like God is absent, apathetic, or angry. But what if he isn’t? Is it possible to hang on to joy, hope, and patience in the meantime? I want to set the stage this morning to tell you the story of John the Baptist. Not the story of John the Baptist at the Jordan River baptizing Jesus. But John the Baptist and the reason he died early. Let’s open our Bibles to Matthew 14:1-12. At that time Herod the tetrarch heard about the fame of Jesus, ² and he said to his servants, “This is John the Baptist. He has been raised from the dead; that is why these miraculous powers are at work in him.” ³ For Herod had seized John and bound him and put him in prison for the sake of Herodias, his brother Philip’s wife, ⁴ because John had been saying to him, “It is not lawful for you to have her.” ⁵ And though he wanted to put him to death, he feared the people, because they held him to be a prophet. ⁶ But when Herod’s birthday came, the daughter of Herodias danced before the company and pleased Herod, ⁷ so that he promised with an oath to give her whatever she might ask. ⁸ Prompted by her mother, she said, “Give me the head of John the Baptist here on a platter.” ⁹ And the king was sorry, but because of his oaths and his guests he commanded it to be given. ¹⁰ He sent and had John beheaded in the prison, ¹¹ and his head was brought on a platter and given to the girl, and she brought it to her mother. ¹² And his disciples came and took the body and buried it, and they went and told Jesus. Herod the tetrarch is also known as Herod Antipas, grandson of Herod the Great. Herod the great was great because he was a madman who killed his own family, as well as priests that disagreed with him to expand his kingdom. Although he was more of a regent and sort of a pseudo king that acted only on Rome’s orders, he evilly rebuilt the Jewish nation. Anyways, Herod the Great didn’t like his son, Aristobulus, so he had him killed, but that’s also not important. Here is what is important, Herod the Great adopted Aristobulus’ kids which included Herodias. Okay, now this is where the story is crazy. When we go to verse three, Matthew reads us into the pretext of why John was in prison. Herod Antipas had “seized John for the sake of Herodias, his brother Philip’s wife because John had been saying [read preaching] ‘it is not lawful for you to have her.” Well, do you remember me telling you that Herod the Great adopted his grandkids after killing one of his sons and her name was Herodias? Well she married her uncle, that’s Herod Philip or Herod II, the son of Herod the great, and then had an affair with his brother, Antipas, which is where she’s at when this happened. Eventually Herodias marries Antipas, but only after John the Baptist is removed from his office of preaching against such a crazy family screw up. A niece marries one uncle, then marries the other. In the process John is imprisoned for preaching against the monstrosity. Now I want to go forward a little bit and illustrate what happened during the time when John the Baptist was in jail until he was beheaded. Let’s go to Luke 7:18-23. ¹⁸ The disciples of John reported all these things to him. And John, ¹⁹ calling two of his disciples to him, sent them to the Lord, saying, “Are you the one who is to come, or shall we look for another?” ²⁰ And when the men had come to him, they said, “John the Baptist has sent us to you, saying, ‘Are you the one who is to come, or shall we look for another?’” ²¹ In that hour he healed many people of diseases and plagues and evil spirits, and on many who were blind he bestowed sight. ²² And he answered them, “Go and tell John what you have seen and heard: the blind receive their sight, the lame walk, lepers are cleansed, and the deaf hear, the dead are raised up, the poor have good news preached to them. ²³ And blessed is the one who is not offended by me.” When we get to this story in the Bible, John had already been imprisoned. I want to say the time line was about one year since Jesus started gathering disciples and preaching in his ministry. He was arrested in the southern part of the Jordan River and then imprisoned in a fortress at a city named Machaerus. From the passage we know that Jesus knew that John was in jail. Jail back in the day was not jail like it is today. Jail back then is somebody needs to come and take care of you because there was no due process and if you were forgotten and died there, then so be it. Moreover, it was more like, there was only two ways out—if they needed your space in jail or if you were stinking up the place. Here’s the interesting thing though. We know that Jesus and John had been together because John baptized Jesus at a place on the Jordan River by a city named Aenon. We also know from scripture, it wasn’t soon after that John had been imprisoned and that people were talking about it. We know people were talking about it because it had a profound impact on Jesus’ ministry. From scripture, we know some of John’s disciples started to follow Jesus after he was baptized. John was imprisoned in the south, toward Jerusalem. Which is where he ends up, but he goes north. In fact, the point I want to make is that when John gets arrested, even though Jesus knows John and thinks so very highly of him, went in the opposite direction. It’s like Jesus didn’t even care. Jesus was so far north, it wasn’t even funny. In fact, when John’s disciples catch up to Jesus, Jesus is at a beach town called Capernaum, where John is in prison in the middle of a desert. Could it be possible that Jesus even loved his cousin at all? But I think that’s how we feel sometimes. We feel that we’re in the thick of things and we’re in the middle of a desert and Jesus is nowhere to be found because he’s on some beach town doing his own thing. The worst part of it all is that I was doing what Jesus told me to do! What do you think John was feeling while Jesus, in the meantime was doing this awesome things, and he was in jail! This is the moment I was talking about. This is the moment we all face. God, it appears, has forgotten about me. I feel like pawn, or get the feeling that I am a pawn. But we’re not done with the passage, let’s go to verse 24 in this chapter. ²⁴ When John’s messengers had gone, Jesus began to speak to the crowds concerning John: “What did you go out into the wilderness to see? A reed shaken by the wind? ²⁵ What then did you go out to see? A man dressed in soft clothing? Behold, those who are dressed in splendid clothing and live in luxury are in kings’ courts. ²⁶ What then did you go out to see? A prophet? Yes, I tell you, and more than a prophet. ²⁷ This is he of whom it is written, “‘Behold, I send my messenger before your face, who will prepare your way before you.’ ²⁸ I tell you, among those born of women none is greater than John. Yet the one who is least in the kingdom of God is greater than he.” Do you see that? Jesus is thinking about John. He says that there is none greater (v28). There is so much respect. Sometimes when we feel like we’re waiting around imprisoned, we have to know that Jesus knows us fully and is quite aware of what we are capable of. He did, after all, create us in his image. When Jesus was telling the people there that there is none greater, Jesus was telling people about John’s prophetic skills. When I say “prophetic” I’m not talking about predicting the future. I am talking about prophetic as in, John’s life was a testament to God. Jesus was talking about John’s ability to preach God even in his circumstances—when things weren’t going right. Secondly, in the meantime, we have to understand that this is exactly the time. Jesus says about John, “he is doing exactly what he was supposed to do.” You need to understand that this time in your life where you may be feeling like you’re not living up the promises you’ve received, well, perhaps it is not that you’re not living up to the promises, but exactly what you need to experience before the next chapter? This is what we do because we are not living on our timeline, but on God’s. More than that, this is the time God needs, so that He can do what He does in the meantime of our waiting. John’s great contribution to society was preparing the way for Jesus. If it hadn’t been for John’s life and the way he died, people would have no reason to look at Jesus. In fact, when you look at that last statement in verse 28 that Jesus makes, you get an understanding that as important as John was to the plan, this time in the meantime was dedicated to the people who didn’t repent and are now offered an opportunity to. What if our time in the meantime is designed for just that—we’re on hold because we’re giving others time to catch up and our witness during this time is the only testimony they will hear? When Jesus heard John the Baptist was murdered by beheading, he “withdrew.” This indicated that Jesus did indeed love John. Yes, Jesus didn’t visit, but it couldn’t be denied that Jesus loved him. God loves you regardless of whether it feels like he loves you. We need to do something practical to remind ourselves that God hasn’t abandoned us, don’t we? I want us to work it out. We all need to do something when God doesn’t feel like He’s loving us. We need to do speak in prophecy like John the Baptist. We need to remember that life ahead of us will be better than the life behind us. Isn’t this what we talked about all summer long? Jesus didn’t die for the sake of silence. Jesus wasn’t resurrected for the sake of silence, rather, because he didn’t love you. Sometimes God is silent. Just because he’s silent. Just because he’s silent doesn’t mean he’s absent, unconcerned, or angry. You may need to know that someday. You may need to know it today. During challenging times, it’s easy to assume that you’ll never be happy again, no good can come from your circumstances, or there’s no use continuing. Hold on to joy, hope, and purpose by holding on to the truth that God still has the whole word—your world—in his hands.