Our Beliefs : Sermons : Sermon Archive - 2008 : May 6, 2008

Theme: See the Big Picture

Church year occasion: Pentecost

I'd like you to imagine that you're on your first date with a person you're crazy about. In fact, your heart skips a beat any time you think about this person. Now if you're a boy who doesn't like girls yet, or if you're a girl who doesn't like boys, then just work with me on this one -- just pretend. And for those of you who have been married for, well, what seems to be a very long time, try to think back to your first date -- think happy thoughts. OK. You go out to a fancy restaurant. You're nervous, but you are pleasantly surprised at how well the evening is going. And then you realize your mistake. You foolishly ordered a salad, and you suddenly realize that you've got a piece of spinach stuck between your front teeth. You're terrified. You have no idea how long it's been there. You have to think quickly, and then it comes to you. You point over your date's shoulder and proclaim, "What in the world can that be?" Then, as your date is looking over her shoulder, you quickly remove the offending piece of spinach and promise that you'll never eat anything on a date ever again. Ah, yes -- the art of diverting someone's attention -- it's the oldest one in the book. And it works.

Actually, it is the oldest one in the book. Our enemy the devil is a master at diverting attention. He diverted Adam and Eve's attention from God's love for them and instead had them focus on how they could become wiser. The same trick works on us also -- and then he has us where he wants us: not seeing how we fit into the big picture.

On this Pentecost Sunday, Jesus wants to keep us from having our attention diverted to insignificant things and instead to see the big picture. He shows us the big picture in John 16:5-11. He said the night before he died, "Now I am going to him who sent me, yet none of you asks me, 'Where are you going?' Because I have said these things, you are filled with grief. But I tell you the truth: It is for your good that I am going away. Unless I go away, the Counselor will not come to you; but if I go, I will send him to you. When he comes, he will convict the world of guilt in regard to sin and righteousness and judgment: in regard to sin, because men do not believe in me; in regard to righteousness, because I am going to the Father, where you can see me no longer; and in regard to judgment, because the prince of this world now stands condemned."

This is kind of a tough section of Scripture to understand at first reading, but let's see the big picture Jesus wants to show us. We find ourselves with Jesus and his disciples on Maundy Thursday evening. In a few hours Jesus would be hanging on a cross, damned in our place so that God's wrath against sin wouldn't fall on us. He had just been talking about how he would suffer and be put to death and then leave them, and how the world would hate them because it hated him. Then he says, "Now I am going to him who sent me, yet none of you asks me, 'Where are you going?' "

The disciples were confused because of the things Jesus was saying. They didn't know how he would save the world. They didn't understand that he had to suffer and die to do it. They were asking Jesus some questions, but not the important ones. Actually, Peter had asked Jesus where he was going, but he didn't focus on the answer Jesus gave. Instead, he was focusing on the fact that although all the other disciples would forsake Jesus, he promised he never would. He and the other disciples weren't seeing the big picture -- they were too concerned with their own little pictures of how they were going to get through the next days if Jesus were taken away. So Jesus said in verses 6-7, "Because I have said these things, you are filled with grief. But I tell you the truth: It is for your good that I am going away. Unless I go away, the Counselor will not come to you; but if I go, I will send him to you." Jesus was trying to tell the disciples, "This is it! This is what I came for. This is the fulfillment of all those Old Testament prophecies about me." His work would be complete. The New Testament Age was about to begin. Everything would be different from then on because the message of salvation through Jesus would be proclaimed for all the world to hear.

But it wouldn't happen until the Holy Spirit was poured out on Jesus' disciples, making them apostles -- literally "sent out ones." They would turn the world upside down by the message the Spirit would make them bold to proclaim. It would be so important to them that they would be willing to die for that message -- and most of them would. But the key was the working of the Holy Spirit in their hearts. Without the Spirit, they wouldn't be able to see or communicate the big picture of God's plan of salvation that was meant for the world, for each and every sinner, for you and for me.

The disciples had trouble at that time seeing the big picture of Jesus' coming victory. In fact, even after he rose they still didn't get it -- the Holy Spirit had to change them from within. Sometimes it's hard for us to see the big picture too, isn't it? Sometimes it's hard for us to see that all the pain and hardship that we endure in our lives will work for our good. Sometimes it's hard to see that even if we lost everything in our lives, even life itself, we could still rejoice because we are children of God and heirs of heaven. It's like a funeral. At a funeral we can be overcome by grief for the loved one who has died. And that's OK. Jesus himself wept when his friend Lazarus died. But at a Christian funeral, do we see the big picture? Yes, we're sad, and our lives won't be the same. But God has taken another Christian home to heaven. That's where we all want to be someday. That's the big picture.

No matter what tragedies happen to us in this life, we need to see the big picture -- Jesus is victorious, and we are victorious through faith in him. We may have physical problems or spiritual problems. We might be having family problems or problems with our neighbors or friends. But do we get bogged down on those things? No! We see the big picture. Jesus won! We won't get what our sins deserve. Instead our sins are forgiven. New life is ours -- the victorious life of a child of God. Our lives are different now. We don't focus on every bad thing that happens to us in this life; we see the big picture that Jesus has a room ready for us in heaven. And that motivates us to pour our lives out in service to our loving Savior. And one way we do that is by serving others.

In essence, here's the big picture: world history is divided into three stages.

Stage one -- God the Father promised to send a Savior after we fell into sin.
Stage two -- God the Son fulfilled his Father's will when he lived, died and rose for us.
Stage three -- God the Holy Spirit spreads that message to the world through his Church, his believers. Then the world ends.

We're in stage three! We're almost at the end! Remain faithful even to the point of death, Jesus says, and he will give us the crown of life.

We're in stage three -- the New Testament Age, the Age when the Holy Spirit is most visibly active. Jesus tells us what the work of the Holy Spirit will be: "When he comes, he will convict the world of guilt in regard to sin and righteousness and judgment." That's hard to understand, so Jesus tells us what he means: "He will convict the world of guilt...in regard to sin, because men do not believe in me." In other words, people won't like the message the Holy Spirit speaks through us. They don't like it when God's word convicts them of sin. They don't think they need a Savior from sin. They think that they can take care of their own eternal destiny by being a pretty good person, by trying as hard as they can to live a good life. Unfortunately, those who die believing that will be in for a rude awakening when Jesus says, "I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers."

People need to see how serious sin is. Sin leaves only one thing in its wake -- death. But the fact of the matter is that we need to see the seriousness of our own sins as well. We might think we live a pretty good life compared to some people. After all, we go to church almost every Sunday. We give a good percentage of our income to the work of the church. We are good, friendly neighbors. But that doesn't cut it before God. He demands perfection.

When you were growing up, did it seem like your mom demanded perfection from you? Was she always harping on you to clean your room and do your chores? Did she make sure you did your homework? Did she wash your mouth out with soap when you said something you shouldn't have? (Mine did -- more than once!) She wanted you to grow up knowing the difference between right and wrong and to make the decision to do what was right. In other words, our mothers reminded us of our sins. That's what Jesus says the Holy Spirit does. He convicts the world because of their sins to show them they need a Savior.

Jesus reveals a second thing the Holy Spirit will do. Jesus said, "He will convict the world of guilt...in regard to righteousness, because I am going to the Father, where you can see me no longer me." The Holy Spirit is known as the Counselor, the Comforter. Even though Jesus has left us visibly, the Holy Spirit is always there to remind us that Jesus is always with us, especially when we can only focus on our failures. While it's true that we can't offer God the perfection he demands of us, it's also just as true that Jesus did it for us. Then he gave his life as a ransom for the sin of the world. Even when we are down in the dumps, when the whole world has turned against us, the Comforter gets us to see the big picture. Our sins are paid for. Now we can offer God a lifetime of good works done out of love for Jesus as a thank you for his love to us.

Mothers do that same thing. Even if we did a horrible thing that might even land us in jail, would our mothers abandon us? Never. Even if the whole world is against us, our mothers never will be. That's the kind of love the Holy Spirit shows us -- in fact, it's even greater than that -- it's the love that goes beyond all comprehension.

So the Holy Spirit convicts us of sin and reminds us of our forgiveness, but what else does he do? The third thing Jesus mentions is this: "He will convict the world of guilt...in regard to judgment, because the prince of this world now stands condemned." The Holy Spirit is always there to remind us of the big picture. We aren't part of this world. God will judge the world, and that day is soon. But the Holy Spirit called us out of darkness into the wonderful light of the gospel of forgiveness. Even though we deserve judgment and punishment for our sins, Jesus paid for them already. The Holy Spirit reminds us that we aren't on the side of this world or of the prince of this world. The devil stands condemned already. But we've been declared not guilty by the blood of Jesus. Heaven is ours. It's just a matter of the rest of our earthly lives before we get there.

In the same way, the greatest thing our mothers could have taught us was about Jesus. Hopefully she reminded you to say your prayers at night, read devotions to you and told you about Jesus. She didn't hesitate to remind you what this world is really about -- Jesus lived, died and rose for you, so now you live for him until you die and he takes you to heaven.

That's the big picture. It effects every moment of our lives. Today we set aside time to thank our mothers for all they've done for us. The greatest thing we can thank them for is being used by the Holy Spirit to show us the big picture. Thank you, Mom. Amen.