I love movies. I do, I really do. I always have and always will. I often fall asleep to them and literally seen some more times than I can count. I enjoy rewatching movies. Once I know the whole story, I love re-watching the movie to see how knowing the end changes how I see conversations, interactions, and remarks. For me, it adds a depth and an appreciation for the movie. It is neat to see the detail and foreshadowing that directors can put into them, and I want to notice or see that.
During the last few weeks of Easter, the Church gives us an opportunity to do something similar. The texts for the last few weeks of Easter takes us back to Maundy Thursday to rehear and see certain events and teachings of Jesus in light of Easter. Knowing Easter gives a greater depth and insight to these events and teachigns. It even helps us to see and appreciate the depth and beauty of Scripture.
Today, we find ourselves back in the Upper Room after Judas leaves to betray Jesus. In this passage, we have so material. Jesus teaches His disciples about prayer and asking in His name. He talks about His mission. He explains our relationship to the Father. All of these are multiple sermons in themselves. For today, we will focus on something else. We will focus on the last thing that Jesus says to His disciples, His two-fold promise that He gives to them and to us!
To help with this, we will look at a man named Robin. On the outside, Robin had it all. He had a loving and caring wife. He had been blessed with two healthy and beautiful children. He had fame and a good sized fortune. He made about 14 million dollars over the last 8 years. On the outside, he seemingly had it all. The inside, however, told another story.
Robin described his childhood by saying, “Growing up was a seemingly endless wave of horrible violations.” He experienced abuse, addiction, and atrocities he wishes he could forget. As a result, he started drinking young and hung out with the wrong people. With age, these things didn’t get better, but worse. His addiction spiraled out of control. He couldn’t sleep at night, and so became dependent on sleeping pills. He was up to a case of beer a day, and suffered a humiliating mental breakdown at work due to anxiety. Poor Robin was later diagnosed as being bi-polar, along with having ADHD with PTSD and severe trauma. All of this by the age of 27! Robin knows troubles and tribulations. Jesus says that you will too.
This leads us to our first promise. Jesus says, “In this world you will have tribulations.” “You will.” We wish that Jesus would have said something else. Perhaps, “You might, You could, Maybe you will…” Or “Not everyone will, Not a guaranteed thing, if you are lucky…” Maybe, “They are completely avoidable, they go away if you follow me, Christians are spared from…” Unfortunately, no. He says, “You will have”. It is unavoidable and certain. There are not coulds, mights, or maybes, but “will.” And will have what? Tribulations.
The word “tribulations” comes from the Greek word thlibo which means “to press” or “to squash”. It refers to physical pressure, and not the good kind. Think of a pressure cooker, where the locked lid and heat create an extraordinary amount of pressure on the food inside. What happens to the food? It becomes soft and tender, and can fall apart.
Think of the pressure we experience when life tries to squeeze us like a towel that is being wrung, or when things out of our control weigh us down and try to crush us, like a moving box too big and heavy to carry. I’m talking about the pressure we feel from a tight financial situation that wakes you at 2:00 a.m. I’m talking about the squeeze we feel from health problems that just seem to keep getting worse. I’m talking about the stress that comes from family fighting, and the general anxiety that just comes from life. I’m talking about the persecution we can face as Christians and what Luther famously called anfechtung, the times of spiritual trial, terror, crisis, and despair. I’m talking about the things that Robin endured. Tribulations put pressure on us and try to squash us. I cannot think of a better word picture to describe this!
But, at this point, you are probably thinking: “Pastor Kooi, this is a terrible promise!” When experiencing these things, it is hardly comforting, I admit that. But, when in the midst of these things, it does mean that God has not abandoned us, or give up. It means that our tribulations have not caught Him unaware, or that it has escaped His attention. It is in the experience of this promise that we are driven toward the second one. Robin eventually found this out.
After Robin’s breakdown, he finally admitted that he had a problem and needed help. He went to the famous rehab facility named “The Meadows” in Arizona, and was placed into a small room to sober up and detox. He was in that room from three weeks, and endured hallucinations, limited sleep, and painful and vivid dreams when he did. The doctors said that his detox was one of the worst that they had ever seen. It was that bad. During this time, Robin met with counselors, therapists, and a pastor. Reflecting on this time, he said, “For truly the first time, I found religion. I was baptized in Arizona during this time. This new faith is what helped me through. This was truly one of the best things that ever happened to me and I have to thank Pastor Greg for that…. I am not sharing this story to make people think differently of Robin…I want people to know that there is hope in desperation, there is healing in facing an ugly past and there is no shame in involving others in your battle.”
He gets it. He is absolutely right. There is no shame in involving other, or, Another in your battles and tribulations. In fact, it is the only way you get through it. We involve the One Who says, “Take heart! I have overcome the world!” This is the second promise. In our tribulations, we are driven to the One Who says, “Take heart!” This is a phrase that Jesus uses throughout the Gospels. In Matthew 9, He tells the paralytic, “Take heart, my son, your sins are forgiven.” He told the bleeding woman, “Take heart, your faith has saved you.” He told the frightened disciples on the stormy sea, “Take heart, it is I; don’t be afraid!”
This is a phrase He says to you! He says, “Take heart! You are sins are forgiven and you are saved.” In times of financial fears, worldly worries, health hardships, painful persecution, and awful anfechtung, our Lord says, “Take heart my child! Take heart!” Why? Why does He say this?
“I have overcome the world. I have overcome the world.” Did you catch what is odd about His statement? Did you catch what is mystifying and strange about it? What is weird about the timing? It would be cocky and arrogant if someone but the Son of God said this. “I have overcome the world.” Jesus says, “I have”. Jesus says this before Easter, not after. Even before Jesus rose from the dead, He had already overcome the world. The cross was not failure, but triumph. It was not the end, but, simply, the beginning. His resurrection cements His victorious Lordship of and over the world that opposes Him. It cements His victory against the world that hates Him and us, that cannot give the peace He gives, that rejoiced over the disciples’ sorrow and pain. But, but, the ruler of this world is judged and defeated. By faith, we are chosen out of this world.
Our Lord has overcome the world. He has! He really has. What does that mean for you? What does that mean for your tribulations? What does that mean when you are being pressed on and squeezed? It means that His victory over the pressures facing us and the tribulations that we endure are already completed, even before we finish enduring them, not just after! We can face these things with faith and courage for His resurrection is the confirmation of this victory and promise. He is with us. We can truly take heart in times of financial fears, worldly worries, health hardships, painful persecution, and awful anfechtung because He has truly overcome the world. I think it is only appropriate to end our message with the last words that Jesus gave to His disciples, and, for today, us: “In this world you will have tribulations, but take heart, I have overcome the world!”
