Teachable Moments: "Times of Trial, Tribulation and Transition"

Pastor Burcham’s Sermon

Sunday, August 1, 2010

Grace, mercy and peace to you from God our Father and our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Amen.

It was just a couple of weeks ago that the paper was plastered saying that Wells Fargo was going to close down 638 financial stores. Over 3,000 employees would have to be let go, 1,000 of which would be in the Metro area. Some of our own members are affected by those closings.

Turn to Page 3 of the Weekly Word. Scan down the prayer request on any given weekend. You will see people who are battling cancer, recovering from surgery or mourning the death of a loved one.

Flip through the pages of the Des Moines Register and when you get to the public announcements, you will see the names of couples whose divorce has been finalized and, right below that, those who have had to declare bankruptcy.

Trials, tribulations, they’re all around us. Maybe not on the same level but equally stressful are times of transition. We have members who are having to move across the country because of a job transfer. And how about the thousands of young people who are getting ready to make the transition from high school to college, from living at home to living in the dorm. Everybody’s stressed about that one.

Trials, tribulations, transitions. All of us have to face them. All of us have to live through them, but none of us have to like it. Scripture doesn’t even call upon us to like the fact that we have to go through rough times in life. God doesn’t say that it’s not supposed to be enjoyable when we go through those tough periods in our life or those times of transition in our life but scripture does say that during those moments, God can teach us some powerful lessons, God can strengthen and empower us during those times because they are teachable moments.

Teachable moments are those lessons that are learned that are linked to events and sometimes the rough spots in life are some of the most powerful events in our lives which means they can be the most meaningful lessons we learn in our lives. But with teachable moments, we first of all have to recognize them and then we have to respond. We have to seize the moment. Jesus was the master of recognizing and responding to teachable moments. And Jesus Himself lived through some pretty tough times. His life wasn’t all rosy. He had all kinds of peaks and valleys throughout His life and the roughest time of His life was at the end of His life, the most trying times, the most troubling times. Talk about a trial, a tribulation, the last week of His life. And yet, in the midst of that, Jesus recognizes a teachable moment.

It’s recorded for us in the gospel of John, the 12th chapter. The setup is this. Jesus has just come into Jerusalem for what would be His final time. Before entering into the city, He said to His disciples, “We’re going to Jerusalem but I’m going to die in Jerusalem.” They didn’t really understand what He’s talking about but Jesus knew. He knew everything that was going to happen to Him.

So He comes into the city. You may recall the story. Palm branches are put down in front of Him. The people hail Him as the king with shouts of Hosanna but Jesus knows, in a few short days, some of those same people are going to cry out that He needs to be crucified, He needs to be executed. Jesus knows all the events that are going to happen that week. He knows about the betrayal. He knows about the trial. And in the midst of this, He sees a teachable moment.

John records this for us, after he records the triumphal entry into Jerusalem, the very next thing he says is this, “Now there were some Greeks among those who went up to worship at the feast. They came to Philip who was from Bethsaida in Galilee, with a request. ‘Sir,’ they said, ‘we’d like to see Jesus.’ So Philip went and saw Andrew and then Andrew and Philip went to Jesus with the request. So in the midst of everything that’s happening with Jesus, talk about a lot on the guy’s mind, ‘There are a couple of people who would like to meet you, Jesus. They’re not even a part of the chosen people. They’re not the Jews. They’re not part of Israel. They’re the Greeks and they would like to meet you, Jesus, and talk with you.’” Now talk about a guy who has a lot on His mind. He knows that on Thursday, Judas is going to betray Him. He knows the rest of His disciples will desert Him. He knows about the fake trial that’s going to happen. He knows about the crucifixion. He knows about the literal hell that He’s going to have to go through and He has a couple of visitors. I would think that it would be completely justified for Jesus to say, “This just isn’t a good time, you know. I have a lot on my mind.” But Jesus recognizes this teachable moment because teachable moments are lessons that are linked to events. No one would ever forget the final events of Jesus’ life. They’re recorded for us in all four gospels. When it happens, those final five days of Jesus’ life, this is going to be a powerful event and also a powerful lesson that could be learned. So Jesus recognizes, and we’ll see in a minute, He responds to this teachable moment.

Can we learn to recognize teachable moments during the tough times in life? You see, I think we’re really good at recognizing them after the fact, after we’ve gone through the valleys, after we’ve gone through something that’s been very trying and troubling to us and we’re sort of through it and we’re on the other side, then we look back and we say, “Wow, I can’t believe I made it through that. I wish I knew then what I know now. It would have made it a whole lot easier.”

Well, maybe you can. You see, instead of waiting until after the event, can you recognize while you were in the midst of it that this may be an opportunity where God is either teaching you something or God wants to teach others through you. So in the midst of your troubles, in the midst of the challenges in life, recognize, as Jesus did, that this could be a teachable moment.

There’s a challenge to that because our natural reaction is we want to get through it. We just want to get to the other side just as quickly as possible. If we’re dealing with illness, we want to get better. If we don’t have a job, we want to find one. We want the problem solved. We want to get through the transition. But in that, we may miss the moment. We may miss the opportunity. We’re asking all of the wrong questions while we’re going through this time. Instead of asking what is God teaching me? We’re saying, “God, why are you letting this happen?” And you’re saying, “God when will this be over?” And, “God, will I really make it through?” And thus, we’re missing the moment because we’re trying to rush through it. And I’m not saying that we enjoy it and I’m not saying that we don’t try to solve whatever issue it is, but maybe be open. If during those tough times are when powerful lessons can be learned, can we recognize “This may be a moment that God has something to teach me?”

And then when we do, respond. That is, capitalize on that moment. That’s what Jesus did. Now Jesus is in the midst of, I’d say, a lot of trial and tribulation. He’s in the last days of His life. He knows all these events that are going to happen to Him. These Greeks come in but He seizes the opportunity, and this is what Jesus says to the Greeks and to the crowd, “The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. I tell you the truth, unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed; but if it dies, it produces many seeds.” Jesus is saying that He’s going to have to die. Unless He dies, then many people will not be able to live, that is, to live forever. Jesus understands what His mission is. He has come to seek and to save which was lost. He has come to give His life as a ransom for many. That hour is now upon Him.

So Jesus goes on and He says this, “Now my heart is troubled.” Jesus isn’t looking forward to the next few days. Do you remember in the garden, He is sweating blood? Do you remember His prayer in the garden? He says, “Father, if there is another way, then show it to me.” It’s not like He relishes all the pain that is coming His way. He says, “My heart is troubled,” but He goes on to say, “But what shall I say? Father, save me from this hour? Emphatically, no, for this very reason I have come.” Jesus understands He has to go through this trial. He has to go through this pain because this is why He came and now the real lesson: Remember, there are the Greeks and the Jews who are listening to Jesus and Jesus says these words, “But I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all men to myself.” Jesus says that when He is lifted up on the cross, when He is there making the payment for sin, He is making the payment for all men. That would be particularly interesting to the Greeks who are there who want to see Jesus. The Messiah, the Christ, has not come just for the Jews, not just for the people of Israel but Jesus, I imagine, looks eyeball to eyeball to those Greeks and says, “I’ve come for all people. I’ve come for you.” The lesson for us, Jesus says, “When I am lifted up on the cross, I’ve come for all people, not just the Jews, not just the people of Israel,” but He looks you eyeball to eyeball, all people, “I’ve come for you,” that Jesus gives up His life for you so that your sins are forgiven, so that your eternity is guaranteed. Jesus seizes the teachable moment. He links it to an event, the last days of His life. His disciples and those Greeks would never forget it. It would be forever forged in their memory the lesson that Jesus taught.

That’s what happens during times of trials, tribulations and transitions, powerful lessons can be learned. When you’re going through them and some of you right now I’m certain are going through some tough times; the person next to you doesn’t know it because you put on a good mask and you’ll look good going out but maybe by the time you hit the car, the tears will start coming, I don’t know. Some I do know. I know this: If you’re not going through a tough time right now, you will. That’s how it is this side of heaven. Maybe it’d be financial. Maybe it’d be health wise. Maybe it’d be emotional, it’d be relationships. Maybe it’d be a transition. That’s just how it is this side of heaven. We all go through them. Can we recognize them and can we respond? Can we seize the opportunity?

I believe that we can and there are two questions I believe we should ask ourselves. When we’re going through a tough time, when life goes south, the bottom falls out, two questions to ask yourself; the first question is this: What is God trying to teach me? As I’m going through this tough time, as I’ve lost my job, as my health is just going down, what is God trying to teach me in this time? Peter picked up on that in his first letter. He said this, he’s talking about trials, he’s talking about grief, tribulations, “These have come so that your faith, of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire, may be proved genuine and may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed.” He says your faith is like gold. He says, “I understand gold is temporary. Gold will pass away.” He says, “But you won’t. You’ll last forever.” He says, “But even gold is refined by fire,” that is, it has to go through the fire so all the impurities get out of it and all that’s left is that solid nugget of pure gold. He says your faith is like that and sometimes you have to go through the fire. Sometimes you have to go through the pain so all the impurities, all of the junk has to get washed away.

What’s God teaching me through this tough time? It doesn’t mean that you have to enjoy it. It doesn’t mean it’s pleasurable. What’s God teaching me? Is God refining you? Is God saying that He needs to strip some things away from you? Are you holding onto something? Are you just grasping onto it and won’t let go and God says, “You have to let it go.” You have to let it go.

Is He trying to teach you to trust Him and to put all of your dependence upon Him? We do that with our words, and I believe that we think we’re trusting Him but do we truly trust Him in our heart? So if you’re unemployed, you say, “But you know, I’m trusting that God is going to take care of me and my family,” and you believe that but yet, the next breath, you’re praying to God and you’re outlining for God exactly what He needs to do. “Now God, I have an interview Tuesday. If that could go well, that would be great. Follow-up interview may be the next week. That would be fantastic. And maybe a job offer on the fourth week. That would be great. Thanks, God. I am trusting in you for everything.”

What if the interview gets canceled? What if the test result isn’t what you prayed for? Is God saying, “You have to surrender everything. You have to depend upon me.” And maybe you have to go to the fire to get to that point. What’s God teaching you? Is God trying to teach you different priorities of what’s really important in life? Is God trying to strengthen you and fortify you? Is He getting you ready for something else that’s going to happen in life or is He getting you ready to help somebody else in life?

We go back to those passages of scripture that says God will never give us more than what we can handle, but you cry out to God, “But God, I’m at the end of my rope. I can’t handle anything more than this.” Maybe God is lengthening your rope. Maybe you’re stronger than what you believe and God is going to demonstrate that to you. “God, what are you teaching me? What do you want me to learn because it will be forever forged in my memory.” Because you don’t soon forget tough times in life.

Second question. This one is a little bit different. What is God teaching others through me? Have you ever thought of that? What is God teaching other people through the tough time that I’m going through? You know people are watching because they’re concerned about you. They probably know that you’re going through something and they want to know. So how could God use you to teach them?

Peter in his letter says this, “Live such good lives among the pagans,” the unbelievers, “that though they accuse you of doing wrong, they may see your good deeds and glorify God.” That is, even the unbelievers, as they see how you’re living your life, as they see how you handle the job loss, as they see how you handle the loss of health, as they see how you handle the loss of a loved one, you could be teaching them about your faith and about the grace of the love of God.

Last week, if you were with us, I told you a story about early on in my ministry, a wedding that I did for a church that I was helping out and just filling in. This week, I’ll tell you about a funeral, funeral of Hazel. But before we get to Hazel’s funeral, let me tell you about Hazel. Hazel was kind of an amazing woman. Hazel lived in the Marshalltown Vets Home. When she moved there ten years earlier than when I knew her, she really didn’t need to live at the Vets Home in Marshalltown. She was fully able to take care of herself. She was able to get around, clean her house, cook for herself, take care of her husband. She was in good health and in good spirits, but her husband suffered a series of strokes that put him into a permanent coma and he needed around-the-clock care. And so he got moved to the Marshalltown Veterans Home and so Hazel moved with her husband two and a half hours away.

Every morning, she would walk down to his room, have devotions with him, pray with him and then every afternoon, she’d come back and every night, she’d come. She’d say prayers, give him a kiss and then go back and go to bed. By the time I knew Hazel, now her health was failing. She was confined to a wheelchair, but the staff there would wheel her down to her husband’s room. She would have devotions with him, pray with him. Every night, she’d come in and pray with him, give him a kiss and then go back to bed. While I was there, her husband passed away and it wasn’t just a few short months later that she passed away also.

Now we make it to Hazel’s funeral. Yes, it was a time of celebration because it was a time which we knew Hazel was reunited with her husband but now both of them would be given new bodies, glorious bodies and a new life because that’s the promise that scripture gives to us, that those who die in faith will be given new life and new bodies in a glorious new place. But what was intriguing about the funeral was not so much that but who was there, because the family looked around and they didn’t recognize a lot of people. A lot of the staff had traveled all the way over for Hazel’s funeral because they had watched her through the years. God was teaching them. They were amazed at her faith and her commitment. God was using her times of trial and tribulation of ten plus years to teach all kinds of people that Hazel didn’t even know.

Who is God trying to teach through you? What lessons could God be teaching to your children? Could God be teaching your children that even  though Dad or Mom has lost a job, we’re just going to reprioritize and there are some things we need to let go of. Or maybe this is a time that it’s kind of a rough spot for the family so, you know we should have been doing this years ago but let’s pray as a family. Let’s come together and put our faith and our trust in God. What can you model for your children during those tough times?

How about your grandchildren? Your health starts to fail and you face those challenges. It doesn’t mean you like them. It doesn’t mean that you don’t have down days; but as they see your faith and as they see you depending upon God, what can you model for your grandkids, for your neighbors, for your friends? You see, second question. It’s a rough time. It’s a terrible time, but what could God be teaching through you?

By asking those two questions, you don’t really lessen what you’re going through and I don’t want to even give that impression but what it does to you, it says, “You know what? There’s a point to this. There’s a purpose to what I’m going through. I’m not just going through a yucky part in life and it has no meaning to it. No, God can taken even the worst things in our life and He can use it for good. God can either be teaching you something, He could be refining you or He could be teaching others through you. And I don’t know about you, but that makes it easier for me. When I know there’s a point and I know there’s a purpose to it, I’m more likely to get through it.

Our rough spots in life are powerful points and there are lessons to be learned. Teachable moments are when the lesson is linked to an event, even unpleasant events. So you ask yourself what could God be teaching me and what could God be teaching others through me? Amen.

Copyright 2010 Gloria Dei Lutheran Church