Christ Rules! When God Seems Absent

Christ Rules! Gospel of Mark Series (Part 25)

A Sermon By Jim Hammond from Mark 11:27-12:12

Ever since the fall of Adam and Eve, all humans have experienced times when it seems like God is absent.  There are basically two reasons for this:

1.                     By our sin we have removed ourselves from God.  OR

2.                     The pain caused by the falleness of our world clouds our view of God.

Many of you have heard of Joni Eareckson Tada.  She is a quadriplegic as a result of a diving accident when she was a teenager.  She tells some stories I hadn’t read in her books in a message she spoke entitled Life is Hard, but God is Good.  She tells of a visit she had with a high school friend at a High School reunion.  Her friend’s name was Jackie.  They were friends before her accident.  They played on the field hockey team together.  Joni was a center forward, and Jackie was her defender.  Joni was captain and Jackie co-captain of the team.  They were two of the ringers at Parkville High School.  They were remembering the Baltimore County Championship game and how they had lost in the last quarter in the pouring rain.  They got into the back of the bus in the rain and listened to the clunk, clunk, clunk, of the windshield wipers.  Some of the girls were crying.  Joni and Jackie being Christians approached the loss in a unique way.  They wiped their tears away as one began to sing then the other joined them.  “Man of Sorrows, what a name, for the Son of God who came” They were glad they had a savior who understood their heavy hearts.

It was only a couple of months after that experience that Joni had her accident. Suddenly God didn’t seem to be Good.  God didn’t seem to be close.  Suddenly God seemed to be absent.  Joni says she was heaven bent on finding answers.  She wanted to believe in the goodness of God.  She needed reasons for her paralysis.  Over the years to make sense of it, she began to formulate a mental checklist of some of the reasons for her paralysis.  Here is part of her list:

Heaven Bent on Finding Answers

1.          I have learned that all things fit together into a pattern for my good and God’s glory.

2.          Hardships have forced me to make decisions about God.  Ah, this wheelchair has made muscular my faith.

3.          Suffering has done a job on my character.

4.          Being paralyzed has made heaven come alive in a way that makes me want to live better on earth because I know full well more is coming in the next.

5.          My thought life sure has been jerked right side up.

6.          Suffering has made me a lot more sensitive to people who are hurting.

Summarizing, Joni noted, God is more concerned about conforming me to the image of Jesus Christ than he is about my comfort zones.  God is more interested in my inward character than my outward circumstances.  These are answers to my questions about God’s goodness, but these aren’t the best answer. 

For that matter when God seems absent good answers for these feelings aren’t enough.  The checklist feels dry.  No matter how many answers Joni knew, there were still times when these answers were just not enough!

The best answer is a person.

One night as she laid in that hospital bed for a check-up, she had been watching a movie, The Birdman of Alcatraz.  Watching she suddenly identified with Burt Lancaster behind the bars.  She was in a paralysis prison and she was feeling claustrophobic.  Lord, I can’t do this.  Even all the good you have in mind, all the things I’m learning, don’t outweigh the pain.

That was the night Jackie sneaked in to see Joni after hours because she had gotten off work late, past visiting hours.  She hid behind the couch in the visitor’s lounge until the lights went out in the hallway and the nurses station cleared. 

While Joni was wide awake wrestling with her emotions after watching The Birdman movie, here came Jackie crawling on the floor toward Joni.  Joni saw her through the guardrail of her hospital bed.  Joni hisses, “Jackie if they catch you they are going to kick you out of here.”

She says, “Shhh.”  She lowered the guardrail of the hospital bed, and she climbed right into bed and snuggled next to Joni.  She took Joni’s hand and raised it up so Joni could see that they were holding hands; remember Joni couldn’t feel anything to know Jackie had even taken her hand.  Do you know what they did?  They faced each other and began to sing again “Man of Sorrows, what a name, for the Son of God who came.  Ruined sinners to Reclaim.  Hallelujah, what a Savior.”

This met Joni’s need like nothing else.  At that point, Joni didn’t need an answer, she needed a person.  God wasn’t absent anymore.[i]

And one need not be a quadriplegic to struggle with the feelings of abandonment by God.  Have you ever wondered why God seems absent?  Christ knew what those feelings were like.  He himself stepped into those feelings as he hung upon the cross.  He said, My God, My God, Why have you forsaken me.  To a world feeling those thoughts God sent his son, the man of sorrows into the world.  He understood.

Not everyone yearns for God’s presence.  For some, the absence of God is good news.  The last thing they want is to discover God really will call them to account. 

Today as we continue our study from the Gospel of Mark, in the midst of a discussion about his authority, Jesus tells a story about an absentee landlord.  In this story we learn much about How Christ Rules!  even when it seems like God is absent.

Focus:  The starting point for experiencing God’s presence is the acknowledgement of the authority of Jesus Christ.  Many people live life as if God were absent, by ruling their own lives and calling their own shots, attempting to retain their own independent authority.  Even then, God will only seem to be absent.

I.                   The Starting Point For Experiencing God’s Presence

Mark 11:27 through Mark 11:33 (NIV) ²⁷They arrived again in Jerusalem, and while Jesus was walking in the temple courts, the chief priests, the teachers of the law and the elders came to him. ²⁸“By what authority are you doing these things?” they asked. “And who gave you authority to do this?”

²⁹Jesus replied, “I will ask you one question. Answer me, and I will tell you by what authority I am doing these things. ³⁰John’s baptism—was it from heaven, or from men? Tell me!”

³¹They discussed it among themselves and said, “If we say, ‘From heaven,’ he will ask, ‘Then why didn’t you believe him?’ ³²But if we say, ‘From men’.…” (They feared the people, for everyone held that John really was a prophet.)

³³So they answered Jesus, “We don’t know.”

Jesus said, “Neither will I tell you by what authority I am doing these things.”

A.  Accept Authority From Above (Mark 11:27-33)

The starting point for experiencing God’s presence is the acknowledgement of the Authority of Jesus Christ.  Till you accept the authority of Jesus you will never have an intimate personal relationship with God.  He sent his Son that God might be revealed.

John 1:10 through John 1:18 (NIV) ¹⁰He was in the world, and though the world was made through him, the world did not recognize him. ¹¹He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him. ¹²Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God—¹³children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God.

14The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.

. . .   16From the fullness of his grace we have all received one blessing after another. 17For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. 18No one has ever seen God, but God the One and Only, who is at the Father’s side, has made him known.

The answer the Pharisees gave to Jesus counter question reveals something.  They didn’t care whether John’s authority was from heaven or not.  What they cared about is doing as they pleased.  They wanted to be able to ignore John the Baptist and Jesus.  They wanted to be able to discredit the authority of both.  But they feared discrediting the authority of John the Baptist because the crowds acknowledged that he was a prophet.  His popularity had grown since his martyrdom.   Jesus did two things through the use of his counter question.  1)  He showed that they do not recognize authority when they see it.  They don’t know whether someone’s authority comes from heaven or not.  They themselves acknowledge, “We do not know.”  They have no understanding of God’s work, and therefore they have no spiritual authority.  2) Because they will not answer his question and refuse to acknowledge John’s authority, Jesus refuses to answer their question about authority.  Since they do not understand, refuse to acknowledge, and admit they are in no position to evaluate, they have no authority.  Therefore, he has no reason he should answer their question designed to trap him. 

AUTHORITY

This illustrations is well known but here it is for the record:

In U.S. Navel Institute Proceedings, the magazine of the Naval Institute, Frank Koch tells the following story: 

Two battleships assigned to the training squadron had been at sea on maneuvers in heavy weather for several days. I was serving on the lead battleship and was on watch on the bridge as night fell. The visibility was poor with patchy fog, so the captain remained on the bridge keeping an eye on all activities.

Shortly after dark, the lookout on the wing reported, "Light, bearing on the starboard bow."

"Is it steady or moving astern?" the captain called out.
The lookout replied, "Steady, Captain," which meant we were on a dangerous collision course with that ship.
The captain then called to the signalman, "Signal that ship: 'We are on a collision course, advise you change course twenty degrees.'"
Back came the signal, "Advisable for you to change course twenty degrees."
The captain said, "Send: "I'm a captain, change course twenty degrees.'"
"I'm a seaman second-class," came the reply. "You had better change course twenty degrees."
By that time the captain was furious. He spat out, "Send: 'I'm a battleship. Change course twenty degrees.'"
Back came the flashing light, "I'm a lighthouse."
We changed course. [ii]

The starting point for understanding God and growing close to him and knowing him is accepting Jesus as the authority for God and the authority for your life.  Are you acknowledging God is God, or are you telling the lighthouse to move?  Accept his authority—Jesus Christ, as boss of your life. 

II.                  When God Seems Absent

Jesus demonstrates his incredible authority when he tells the next parable.  When Jesus’ authority was questioned, Jesus wouldn’t give a straight answer.  But he gave an answer.  We will read the parable he gives.  I want you to notice several things as you read it.  Notice that Jesus was fully aware of his identity.  Notice that his parable reveals that he has authority over Israel (represented here as a vineyard), notice also that he was fully aware of his impending death (and who was responsible for it.  He speaks of it to their faces).  Notice also that he is fully aware of the vindication that would follow.  The parable of the absentee landlord reveals that though God seems absent, in Christ He Rules!  He Cares! He Knows! 

Mark 12:1-12 (NIV) ¹He then began to speak to them in parables: “A man planted a vineyard. He put a wall around it, dug a pit for the winepress and built a watchtower. Then he rented the vineyard to some farmers and went away on a journey. ²At harvest time he sent a servant to the tenants to collect from them some of the fruit of the vineyard. ³But they seized him, beat him and sent him away empty-handed. ⁴Then he sent another servant to them; they struck this man on the head and treated him shamefully. ⁵He sent still another, and that one they killed. He sent many others; some of them they beat, others they killed.

⁶“He had one left to send, a son, whom he loved. He sent him last of all, saying, ‘They will respect my son.’

⁷“But the tenants said to one another, ‘This is the heir. Come, let’s kill him, and the inheritance will be ours.’ ⁸So they took him and killed him, and threw him out of the vineyard.

⁹“What then will the owner of the vineyard do? He will come and kill those tenants and give the vineyard to others. ¹⁰Haven’t you read this scripture:

      “‘The stone the builders rejected

          has become the capstone^£;

¹¹      the Lord has done this,

          and it is marvelous in our eyes’^£ ?”

¹²Then they looked for a way to arrest him because they knew he had spoken the parable against them. But they were afraid of the crowd; so they left him and went away.

A.             Confront Your Misbeliefs (the Lies You Believe)

In the story Jesus told, it becomes obvious there were misbeliefs, or lies, the tenants believed.  One lie they believed was that they would not get caught.  Another lie they believed was that the master of the vineyard was dead.  Why else would they have reasoned as they did in v. 7?  We also buy into lies when we start slipping into sloppy thinking that God is absent. 

·          “No one will ever know” or “He will never know” 

The truth is, God knows every deed.  Not only does he know it, it is recorded in his books. 

·         “Everybody else is doing it. everyone thinks it’s OK so it must be OK.”

Here is the problem, the danger of living in a sinful world: 

No snowflake in an avalanche ever feels responsible. 

·         “He Does Not Care”  

·         “I’ve already (killed messengers) . . . (killing his son) won’t make any difference”  

I’ve already gone this far, what will a little further do?  I’ve already had a chocolate, I might just as well finish the box.  I’ve already blown my diet with this bowl of ice cream, I might just as well finish the carton so that it won’t tempt me tomorrow. 

·          “Nothing will happen”

·         “He Is Not Coming Back”, 

·         “We will not be caught”

·         “He Will Not Do Anything”  

·         “I can just ask for forgiveness”

This is the misbelief of people who have become over familiar with grace and under familiar with God’s Holiness, or justice.

·         “God is Dead” (this is the assumption of the tenants, that’s why they think they will gain the inheritance if they kill the Son.)

Humans are foolish enough to think that by erasing God from their lives they can take control of their earthly and eternal destinies.  The parable reveals this foolish thinking.

Studying for a philosophy exam in college, I found some comic relief etched on the wall of the cubicle in which I was studying.  It said:

“God is dead.” 

–Nietzsche

“Nietzsche is dead.”

–God

The truth is, God is alive, he cares.  It does matter.  There are consequences.  You know he cares by the number of messengers he has already sent.  He sent prophets, and teachers, and messengers.  And lastly he sent his son.  Do you realize the incredible authority of his son? 

Even if it seems to you that “no one knows” or “he does not care” he does care.  He does know.  He has done something about it, and he will do something about it.

B.              Confront The Profession of your Lifestyle

In the Parable of the Wicked Tenant Farmers (Read Mark 12:1-12), it becomes apparent that the tenants believed that the owner of the vineyard was dead.  That is why they reason in verse 7, “This is the heir. Come, let’s kill him, and the inheritance will be ours.” 

There are two ways to live, 1) as if God is Alive, OR 2) As if God is Dead.  Normally it is believers who live as if God is Alive, and non-believers who live as if he were dead.

Those who live like the wicked tenant farmers, live in a self-centered world with no awareness of God of God’s judgment. They want to live as lords of their own little lives.  They reject the idea that they are creatures in God’s vineyard, for God’s purposes.  They kill God’s messengers. The first messenger they kill is the sensitivity of their own consciences.  When conscience says “stop”, they say “go” until their conscience is never heard from again.  As long as they have killed enough of God’s messengers, they have a false sense of security. Their false sense of security leads them to further defiance.  That defiance is setting them up for a greater fall. 

What is saddest is that some who believe in God live as though he were dead.  These believers also kill God’s messengers.  First, they kill off personal Bible Study and Prayer time.  Usually they are killing off the sensitivity of their own consciences at this point also. Second, they kill off their regular attendance in a care group fellowship.  Social life begins to revolve around other relationships that are not connected to Christ. Third, they kill off regular attendance at Church.

Other messengers, friends who call and ask about them and express their concerns, are unheeded.  They might even accuse the church later of not ever calling them, when in reality they were doing all they could at the time to dismiss every effort, and avoid every admonishment to return.  They did everything to excuse themselves, and then later in a place of inner and outer desolation, when God seems more absent than they can bear, they will accuse others for not doing enough to help them.  They dismissed every help offered, and then say the church offered nothing.

To these people, God seems like an absentee Landlord, and maybe even a foolish one.  But things are not what they seem.  Though it seems God is easily betrayed and cheated, remember, in scripture we are clearly warned, Do not be deceived.  God is not mocked.  You reap what you sow. 

Living with the Consequences

One mother explained one day to her 5-year-old daughter:  “Since you chose to disobey me, you will have to live with the consequences.”   "Oh, Mommy!" she said with a terrified look on her face. "Please don't make me live with the Consequences. I want to live here with you!" [iii]

Let me ask you.  Are you living with the consequences, or are you living in the presence of God, enjoying a rich personal and intimate relationship with HIM?

C.  Things are not as they seem-- God is pursuing you!

It surely seems like God was foolish according to this story.  Sure sometimes it seems LIKE God is absent and doesn’t care.  But this story tells us things are not as they seem.  This is a story of God’s endless hopefulness.  On the surface what the Landlord does seems foolish.  But once you understand this is an allegory of the gospel, it doesn’t seem so foolish.  We are glad God has pursued us.  We are glad for God’s wise foolishness.  He is constantly putting forth effort to bring sinful people back to their senses.  God fully expects you to produce fruit.  We are glad Jesus, the man of sorrows, was sent by God into our world.  The answer was a person, who is the way, the truth, and the life.

Just before Joni Earekson Tada’s high school reunion visit with Jackie, Joni had discovered some news about Jackie from another friend on the Hockey team. 

“Is Jackie going to be there?”  Joni asked.

“Joni, didn’t you hear the news?”

“What news?”

“Oh, it happened last night.  You knew that Jackie and her husband separated, didn’t you?”

“Yes, I had heard that,” Joni said.

“Well, you know her teenage son, Joshua?  He’s been having a lot of problems lately,  bad grades in school, hanging around the wrong crowd, dabbling in drugs.  He made a profession of faith some time back, but he’s wandered away from the Lord.  Last night the evening news reported that Jackie’s son was found in a burnt-out fire.  He set himself on fire, and his dad’s house burned down.  He left a suicide note in the mailbox.  Joni, didn’t anybody tell you?”

“No.  No, I didn’t know that.”

Joni tried to call Jackie but couldn’t get a hold of her on the phone.  Since she couldn’t reach her she immediately wrote her a letter.

Dear Jackie,

Ken and I are planning to be in Baltimore soon, and I’m hoping that we can see each other then.  If so, Jackie, I would want to hold your hand as you once held mine in the hospital.  Do you remember when you crawled into bed with me?  I would softly sing to you as you once sang to me, “Man of Sorrows.”

I don’t know what else to write but that.  May the Man of Sorrows be your comfort.  And as in the hospital, I would hope you would feel what I felt and what I still remember to this day—peace profound and a soul settled.  Peace, Jackie, not answers, not reasons.  Do you remember that night 30 years ago?  Jackie, I have never forgotten it.

When Joni and Jackie did finally spend some time together.  Jackie said, “Joni, I’ve got this cross around my neck.  It’s one that my son gave me.  ‘Every time I start to feel desperate, like I can’t make it, like I’m in a prison, then I hold onto that cross.”

Jackie’s got her hand in the One who is present.  The one who says he will never leave or forsake us.  Even when Jackie doesn’t have all the answers, she has found comfort in the one person who IS the answer, and has been sent here for us.  God’s answer to our suffering is himself.