First Baptist Church
Turbulent Times
Matthew 11:2-6
June 23, 2002
Paul Rasmussen was an associate pastor when the senior pastor asked Paul to fill in as the "Interim Youth Minister" until they could find another one.
One week later, Paul found himself with a bunch of senior high youth getting ready to go white water rafting down the Ocohee River in Chattanooga, Tennessee. Paul said he supposed this fell in his contract under the phrase, "Other duties as assigned." The kids were very excited and looking forward to this trip. . . Paul wasn’t! He was dreading the white water rafting experience for 3 reasons: "First, I don’t like to swim at all. Second, I don’t like to be cold. And third, I’ve seen the movie Deliverance." Things got worse when the guides arrived. Most of them were seasoned veterans. One guy had been doing this for over 20 years and in 20 years his boat had capsized only twice. But did Paul and his group get him? Nope. They got a guy who called himself, "Fuzz."
Fuzz was a free-spirited college student who had been a river guide for less than a week. Paul said as soon as he saw Fuzz, his first thought was, "Abort!" They rafted Class 3, 4, and 5 rapids — which means bad, real bad, and real, real, bad! Paul fell out of the boat three times. The water was freezing and as he was bouncing around in the rocks and the rapids, he said he felt like a human pinball machine. He admits thinking un-Christian thoughts about Fuzz… and about the senior minister. After his 2nd fall, he was certain vultures were circling overhead.
The 3rd time Paul fell out wasn’t his fault. About 5 miles into the trip, for no apparent reason, Fuzz did the unexpected. Right in the middle of a real bad rapid called "Hell’s Hole," Fuzz stood up in the boat, jumped straight up into the air, and disappeared into the river. He was gone – lifejacket and all.
Meanwhile, Paul and the kids tried to navigate "Hell’s Hole" and within seconds they flipped over and everyone fell into the river. About a minute or so later, Fuzz shot back up out of the water, not too far from where he jumped in. It was absolute chaos. Two other boats had to come to the rescue of Paul and the youth. When they finally got everybody safely back on shore, Paul asked, "Fuzz, what in the world were you thinking?" Fuzz said, "You don’t understand. That’s the best part of the river. That’s where the vortex is."
Fuzz explained, "Right at that point in the river, the water churns like a water tornado. The vortex is like the eye of the storm. If you can jump out just right and hit the vortex (even with your life jacket on) you can drift peacefully to the bottom in 8 feet of water." Fuzz said, "It’s amazing. It’s so peaceful down there. There’s turbulence all around you, but there in the vortex, it’s so peaceful, calm & serene."
If you’re in a vortex, you can stay down there as long as you want to – except for one thing. . . you can’t breathe! At some point, no matter how great the sensation, you have to leave the vortex and come up for air, and the only way to do that is to reenter the turbulence and it shoots you right back up to the surface, and you can breathe again. The vortex feels pleasant for a short while, but if you stay there, you drown. The only way to survive is to get back into the turbulence.
The truth is that many people go through life like that – looking for the vortex, even if it means deserting the people they are responsible to and for, trying to escape the turbulence of life, trying to find that quiet, serene place where all is calm and peaceful. Many of us want it and long for it. We’re looking for the vortex. We dream of that safe place that’s protected from the turbulence of hardships, challenges, and problems of the world. And the bad news is people and companies are selling it in the form of alcohol, affairs, drugs, pornography & credit card debt. Even off brand religions offer some easy quick-fix plan for $19.00 down and $19.00 a month.
But, the problem is that the vortex won’t last! No matter how great the sensation may feel in the short run, it never ever lasts! At some point, you have to come up for air. You can’t stay there. If you do, you smother and suffocate.
What’s the point . . . real life is in the turbulence. Now, of course, even Jesus had moments when he needed quiet time, time apart, time away, time to meditate, to think and pray, but remember, He didn’t stay there. He came back to live in the turbulence. He came back to help people with their hurts, struggles and problems.
Now that’s what this scripture passage is about in Matthew 11. John the Baptist had been arrested by King Herod and thrown into prison. John is tired of life’s turbulence. He wants Jesus to hurry and bring a new kingdom, to quickly zap the Romans with his power, to create a new era of peace, prosperity and tranquility.
John the Baptist and Jesus were cousins, so cousin John gets a little impatient with Jesus. He wants Jesus to hurry up and lead them to some quiet calm, serene vortex. So, as only one cousin could say to another, John sends his disciple out to Jesus with a pointed question "Are you the one who is to come, or shall we look for another?" In other words, ‘What are you waiting for? When are you going to get with the program? Why don’t you hurry up and establish this kingdom we have all been longing for and waiting for?’
Jesus answers John’s disciples, saying, "Go tell John what you see and hear. The blind receive their sight. The lame walk. Lepers are cleansed. The deaf hear. The dead are raised up. And the poor have good news preached to them."
Do you think that is what John wanted to hear? No way!! John wanted Jesus to tell him that in 2 months, 3 weeks, 5 days, 12 hours and 31 seconds My kingdom will be realized; and the fruits of your labor will be evident. But that is not what Jesus said, and that is not what He tells us, either.
What was Jesus saying to John? Simply this, real life is in the turbulence. The Kingdom is not found in some safe, comfortable nest insulated from the problems of the world. The Kingdom is the power of love reaching out to those who are needy, to those who are sick, to those who are broken, to those who are hurting, bringing them help and hope and healing. That’s where the Kingdom is. That’s where the breath of real life is!
In essence, Jesus is saying, "Look John, I am bringing the Kingdom, but it’s not a kingdom of wealth and clout and military might. It’s not a kingdom of calm and tranquility hidden away from the struggles of life. No, it’s a Kingdom of love and sacrifice and service to others… and that’s where real life is found, not in the vortex but in the turbulence.
I. REAL LIFE IS FOUND IN THE TURBULENCE OF DAILY LIVING.
Real life is not found so much in the arrival at some longed-for destination as in the excitement and the challenges and the opportunities of the journey. And when we learn that, it changes our lives. It enables us to embrace life with both hands. But somehow we get it all mixed up. We get duped into thinking that real life is out there somewhere. It’s somewhere off in the distance… and we long for it, look for it, wish for it, dream of it… and while we’re doing all that longing and looking and wishing and dreaming… life passes us by! Life happens and we miss it!
Recently I got an email that says it well. It has a great title "Dance like no one’s watching." Have you ever done that? Have you ever grooved to some music that really moved you when nobody was listening? I see some smiles and head nods. Of course you have. Or what about singing like no one’s listening. Have your favorite song on the stereo or radio and it’s easy to forget nobody is around.
But what often happens instead is we convince ourselves that life will be better after we get married, have a baby, then another. Then we are frustrated that the kids aren’t old enough, they’re too high maintenance. Then we’re frustrated that we have teenagers to deal with. We’ll be happy when they are out of the house. We tell ourselves that our life will be complete when our spouse gets his or her act together, or when we retire. But the truth is there’s no better time to be happy than right now. If not now, when? Our lives will always be filled with challenges.
Alfred D. Souza put it like this "For a long time it had seemed to me that life was about to begin… real life. But there was always some obstacle in the way, something to be gotten through first, some unfinished business, time still to be served, or a debt to be paid. Then, life would begin. At last it dawned on me that these obstacles were my life."
The call of Christ is to treasure every moment we have. Even the times when you are in the turbulence of life. The joy we have is the belief and trust that Jesus is with us in that turbulence. And more often than not, in the end, our relationship with Jesus has grown, because we have to be more reliant on Him. As Paul said in 2 Corinthians 12, "When I am weak, then I am strong."
You see, Jesus promised us that we could experience His peace and joy. But He never said that we would experience it in a vacuum. No, we can experience that peace and joy in the midst of the storms of life, in the midst of the turbulence.
There is no better time than right now to be joyful. Joy comes from your inner soul, from your faith in Jesus. You don’t have to be happy, but you are called to be filled with His joy. So work like you don’t need money. Love like you’ve never been hurt. Dance like no one’s watching! Give grace like you know what it feels like to receive it.
This is precisely what Jesus was underscoring in Matthew 11. Real life is NOW! So, seize it with both hands; embrace it with both arms; love it with all your strength; celebrate it with all your heart. Real life is not in some tranquil vortex cut off from the world and its problems. Real life is found in the turbulence of daily living.
II. REAL LIFE IS FOUND IN THE TURBULENCE OF UNSELFISH SERVICE.
There are basically 2 kinds of people in the world – sick people and healthy people. The sick people go miserably through life saying, "For God’s sake, love me." And the healthy people joyfully say, "For God’s sake, let me love you."
You want to be happy? You want real fulfillment? You want real life? Here’s how you find it… go find somebody in need and help them. Go find somebody hurting and comfort them. Go find somebody struggling and encourage them.
In his book, The Cherry Log Sermon, Dr. Fred Craddock told of the time he was the visiting preacher at a church and on Sunday afternoon a van pulled up in the church parking lot and a group of young people got out. They were a rag-tag looking group – tired, sweaty, dirty, and rumpled. Dr. Craddock asked, "What is this?" Someone answered him, "they are members of our church. They’ve been on a mission trip. In one week those young people joined with other churches and they built a little church for another community. These young people were exhausted. They were sitting on their sleeping bags waiting for their parents to come and pick them up. Dr. Craddock went over to one of the boys and said, "Are you tired?" He said, "Man! Am I tired?" Then he said, "But this is the best tired I’ve ever been."
Why did he say that? Because he had been out there in the turbulence of the world unselfishly helping others, reaching out to others, serving others, sacrificing for others, making a difference for others.
That’s what Jesus was doing and talking about in Matthew 11. Real life is not found in some sheltered cocoon far away from the stress factors of the world. Real life is found in the turbulence, in the turbulence of daily living and in the turbulence of unselfish service.
III. REAL LIFE IS FOUND IN THE TURBULENCE OF SACRIFICIAL LOVE.
A few years ago an article appeared in the Columbus Dispatch that shows dramatically what real love is all about. The article read like this — "When Frank Segher pushed himself into an upright position in his hospital bed, the heart monitor went into an erratic scribble. His wife, Mary, drew a chair to his bedside. "I’m thirsty," Frank said. Mary lifted the straw to his lips as he pulled his oxygen mask aside. The medicine was making him sick. She fetched the basin, wrapped her arm around his spasm-wracked shoulders and mopped the sweat from his forehead."
And then the article said, "So in the end, love comes down to this… not some Clark Gable appraisal of Vivien Leigh, not some sex symbol’s seductive pose, but ‘Help me sit up.’ In the end, love is not a smoldering glance across the dance floor, or the clink of crystal, or a leisurely picnic, nice as they are. No, instead it’s the squeeze of a hand. I’m here no matter how long the struggle. I’m here. I’m with you. Don’t forget that. You can count on me. Water? You need water? Here, drink. Let me straighten your pillow. Let me put a cool cloth on your face." That’s what real love is.
Now, let me ask you something. Do you know what it is to love like that? Do you love anybody like that? You can’t live in a vortex and love like that. Jesus Christ came into the world to teach us the real meaning of love. . . and He showed us with his healing touch, He showed us on a cross that real love is sacrificial, self-giving, generous love and that’s the way God meant life to be lived. Not in some secluded, isolated vortex, but rather in the turbulence of daily living, in the turbulence of unselfish service, and in the turbulence of sacrificial love.
Dear friends that is the purpose of this church -- to go into the world, going into your world, your world at work or school or with friends and make a difference. The only way we will make disciples of our neighbors is when we live out there, in the real world, a world filled with tremendous pain, yet a world filled with incomprehensible joys. My friends, go into the world and be a difference maker. Do it in the name of Jesus.
