Going the Distance

Well, hello and good morning. Thank you, hello to you up in the balcony. I see a couple of you there as well. Welcome to all of you here live and in person also on our live stream. We are so glad that you're with us. My name is Mark, I'm one of the pastors and we've been in a series called Truth Stories, which is based in the parables of Jesus for the course of the summer. And last weekend, our young people kind of took that and ran with it as well. And I have to say, our youth takeover service was astounding. I mean, come on. Do we have amazing young people at this church or what? I mean, I was brought to tears at moments between the worship music and the message and the communion time. It was just so encouraging. And I know it had the same impact on so many of you.

In fact, after hearing Johnny Vakaro share the devotion on the two foundations, a number of people approached me after the service and said that I ought to be nervous about my job security. And I happen to fully agree with that in a very good way. I affirm that sentiment. And today we are bringing our Truth Stories series to a close, our final parable. And I just wanna say thank you for your warm encouragement over the summer to me and to all of our summer speakers. We so appreciate that. And next weekend, our senior pastor René Schlepper will be back from sabbatical. Yes, and it's gonna be awesome. And he will be here. I will be in Hawaii. Not really, but René will be here to introduce a guest speaker named Jeremiah Johnston. Jeremiah is a New Testament scholar and author and president of the Christian Thinkers Society. He's gonna be kicking off a new series called Unleashing Peace.

But wait, there's more. Because also we're going to be celebrating back to school for our teachers and students, which means there will be gifts for teachers and students. And we're also celebrating the one year anniversary of Loft Coffee House. So yeah, next weekend marks one year. Thank you for all of your support and enthusiasm. Couldn't happen without you. But to celebrate this first year, on Saturday night we're gonna have free decafs and free baked good pastries and the like. And then Sunday we're gonna have a couple, two, three food trucks, we're going to have matchas, micro mochas and drip coffee for just a buck and free nitro floats. And if you don't know what that is, it's not for your heart palpitations. It's a really good beverage, but you gotta come check it out. It's gonna be a lot of fun. That is all going on next weekend.

This morning, I got nothing for you, sorry. I do have a message though that I'm eager to share with you. And I'll begin with a story. On September 2nd, 2013, a distant swimmer named Diana Naid waded into the ocean from a beach in Havana, Cuba. Her goal, to swim to Florida. Something no human being has ever done. In fact, Diana attempted this four times previously and failed each time. Her first attempt was when she was 29. Her fifth attempt, when she was 64 years old. No shark cage, no guaranteed defense against box jellyfish, which happened to have the most potent venom of any creature on the planet. All she has is a small boat that will accompany her with her support team.

38 hours later, Diana was hallucinating. It was the middle of the night. She has a black abyss below her. A moonless sky above her. And because sharks and box jellyfish are attracted to light, every light on the boat is out as well. Her coach senses that this may be a turning point for Diana. Again, imagine a scene where they can't even see her. They can only locate her by the sound of the splashing of her swimming. And even though the water is 85 degrees, you stay in it long enough and hypothermia will set in. Not only that, but prolonged exposure to salt water causes the throat to swell up, which makes breathing increasingly harder and harder.

So again, coach senses that Diana is near her breaking point. That failure could be just hours away. And so she says, "Diana, Diana, look up at the horizon." And when Diana looks up at the horizon, she sees just this very thin ribbon of light. And she says to her, "Coach, is it almost morning?" And the coach says, "No, those are the lights coming from Key West." And so Diana locks in on the promise of those lights. And the reason her coach doesn't tell her how far those lights away is because the currents and the weather can make a liar out of you. And so all she has is those lights. It's like a focal point.

And 15 hours later, Diana Naid just barely walks up the beach in Key West, Florida, 53 hours after leaving Havana. In all, she swam 110 miles. Imagine, never sleeping, 110 miles. At age 64. Wow, I mean, that's even older than René. I mean, come on. What an incredible feat. Now, few of any of us would ever want to submit ourselves to that kind of ordeal. But I'm pretty confident most, if not all of us, know what it's like to hit the wall in some other area of life, where you want to throw in the towel. Perhaps in your educational career. Perhaps in your job. Maybe even your marriage. Perhaps at times even in your faith.

Some of you may be in the process of being treated for a serious health condition or a loved one is, and it can be such a grind, a roller coaster ride, and you wonder, you know, is this ever-increasing or is this ever going to end? Or others, you were wronged by someone. They took something from you. They cheated you, and you are yet to see justice. Maybe you're in the midst of a fresh grief in your life, and it's just, it's so hard. Or you're just overwhelmed by an endless stream of bad news. You know, fires, floods, drought, war, crime, poverty, injustice, it just never seems to end like wave after wave after wave. And you might even find yourself wondering, Lord, when is enough gonna be enough? Can anyone relate?

Some people are in the thick of it. Some of you are in the thick of it right now, wondering if you will have the strength to keep going. I wanna tell you, you're not alone. And you're also in the perfect place. Because I believe that Jesus is going to speak to you today to your heart, to your situation, and meet you in this moment. And so I'd like to ask him to do just that. Would you pray with me? Heavenly Father, we thank you for gathering us together today, whether here in person or remotely. But Lord, your spirit is with all of us. And so Lord, I simply pray that for those who are carrying a heavy burden right now, who maybe feel like they're just at their wits end, that Lord, you would give them the power, the strength to continue on and to persevere.

And for others, Lord, today is in a way, it's a preparation for some event in the future. And this is like a deposit of truth that will serve them in that day. I pray that you would accomplish that as well. And I pray this in the name of Jesus Christ, all God's people said, amen. To be clear, God does not necessarily give us what we need when we want it. But He always gives us what we need when we need it. And I know this to be true because I've experienced this countless times, and I know many of you have as well. And so today we're gonna be focusing on going the distance. Going the distance.

We're gonna be in Luke's gospel, chapter 18, looking at verses one through eight. But first, I wanna give you some context. It's really important to understanding this parable is a little different, a little harder to really get to the kernel of truth and meaning to it. So we're gonna set this up by going back to 17, which begins with Jesus warning His disciples about stumbling blocks to faith. Reminding them that when we stumble, often we can cause others to do the same. And so in response to this, at verse five, it says, "The apostles said to the Lord, 'increase our faith.' You know, we don't wanna stumble. But you know, that's a dangerous prayer when you mean it. You know, that's like asking God to make you more patient. Right? How's God gonna answer that? Yeah, let me get back to you on that. Or heaven forbid, praying that God would make you more humble. That's not gonna end well. Okay? I do not recommend you pray that prayer. Kidding, kind of.

And in response to all this, Jesus starts talking about His second coming. And keep in mind that His followers are still trying to get into their heads that He has to leave first before He can return. But Jesus says that that time between when I leave and when I come back, it's going to be longer than you would want it to be. In fact, He says in verse 22, He says, "Then He said to His disciples, 'the time is coming when you will long to see one of the days of the Son of Man, but you will not see it.'" It's gonna be a longer interval than you know, even though you long for it to come. And He says, "So don't get sucked up into people who tell you they know when that day will be." And for over 2,000 years, there's been no shortage of people who have claimed to know just that, that they knew when Jesus would return. And for the record, they've all been wrong, haven't they? They've all been wrong.

And yet these types of bogus predictions, they can get traction among people because they pray on people's longing for Jesus to come and His kingdom to be established fully so that there will be healing and justice and restoration in this messed up world. But Jesus is telling them and us by extension that this may go much longer than you want it to. Because God's on His own timetable. Which brings us to today's message. To equip His followers for this reality, Luke 18 begins like this. Then Jesus told His disciples a parable to show them that they should always pray and not give up. He said, "In a certain town, there was a judge who neither feared God nor cared about people. And there was a widow in that town who kept coming to Him with the plea, 'grant me justice against my adversary.' For some time he refused, but finally he said to himself, 'even though I don't fear God or care about people, yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I will see that she gets justice so that she won't eventually wear me out with her coming.' And the Lord said, 'Listen to what the unjust judge says. And will not God bring about justice for His chosen ones who cry out to Him day and night? Will He keep putting them off? I tell you, He will see that they get justice and quickly. However, when the Son of Man comes, will He find faith on the earth?'

This is the word of our Lord. I want you to notice how this parable begins. Two things that Jesus wants to be characteristic of His followers, that we are devoted to prayer and that we do not give up. The implication is that the more we're devoted to the first, the less likely we are to succumb to the latter. To illustrate this, Jesus talks about a judge who neither fears God nor cares about people. Sounds like a great guy, right? But talk about two essential qualities to being a good judge, to know that you are responsible before God and to actually care about the people that you are serving, but He lacks both. And then there's this widow. She may not necessarily be an old person that we might imagine in her minds because girls were married in those days, as young as 14, 15 years old, so she could actually be quite young. She could still be in her teens, childless, alone, defenseless, no safety net, nothing. So she's as helpless as you can get.

And now, someone is making her life even harder, even worse. But the judge who's supposed to provide justice in this situation, he could not care less. He can't be bothered, so he thinks, because she won't give up. She's relentless, just keeps coming back to Him over and over again until He says, "Man, even though this guy, I love this judge, he's so self-aware." He's like, "Hey, even though I don't fear God or care about people," he's perfectly content with that. Even though that's true, He says, "I will see that she gets justice so that she won't wear me out with her coming." Now, no doubt, the disciples, they're laughing at the image of this helpless widow, and in fact, the term wear me out in the original, it's a word that literally means to give a black eye to. So the image is of this widow. She's browbeating this powerful judge into submission, and Jesus says, "Now listen to what the unjust judge says."

I mean, if He granted justice to this widow, how much more will He grant justice to you when you cry out to God day and night? God could not be more different than this judge. He actually cares about you, in fact, more than you can even imagine. And that's where, if we're honest, we wanna say, okay, time out, you know, time out, reality check time, because in fact, I had been crying out day and night to God. I've been praying persistently, repeatedly, faithfully, for years. And you know what I've heard? Nothing. Nothing. So how can Jesus say that God will respond quickly? I mean, is this just one of those, you know, a day is like a thousand years to God, one of those situations where He's just gonna get to it in His timetable? Possibly.

But this parable, like others, has kind of built into it this now, not yet, tension. Never heard that phrase. There are things that are true now, and yet there is a fuller expression of 'em that will come later, that not yet. For instance, in addressing the hardships that we experience, God does bring us relief now. He gives us grace and strength and blessing to sustain us. But ultimate justice isn't going to happen perfectly and completely until Jesus comes again and establishes His kingdom in its fullness. So there is the now and the not yet. Also bear in mind that this parable is pretty deep into Luke's gospel. Only a few more parables left. And in fact, in the next chapter, Jesus is gonna arrive in Jerusalem and less than a week later, He will be hanging on the cross.

And so if you think about it, justice was in fact much, much closer than the disciples knew when the one perfectly just man would die for all of the unjust, like you and me. So right now, if you really think about that, we have the greatest reason to keep going. The greatest promise to watch and to wait for that glorious day when Jesus returns. And that is the point that He is making and He encourages us to count on that, to take that to the bank. But in the meantime, whether by death we go to heaven or through the second coming, heaven comes to us, we are called to be prayerful and to be persevering. And so with this in mind, I just wanna suggest you three applications that will help make this a reality in our lives.

And we're gonna get some help today from someone who was in the audience when Jesus told this parable. He was one of the apostles who said, "Increase our faith." And when Jesus says rather rhetorically at the end, "You know, when the Son of Man returns, will He still find faith on the earth?" No doubt, this disciple was thinking to himself, "You will if you come back while I'm still around." Because he was so sure of himself. I could not be more confident in his faithfulness. And yet, just a short time later, he quit. He gave up, and you probably know his story, Peter, the one who in this very same night said, "Lord Jesus, I will die for you. Even if the rest of these guys, they quit, I will die for you. Only a few hours later, I never knew the man." I never knew him. No, let me make that clear. I never knew him.

And so Peter knows what it's like to have your world collapse. Peter knows what it's like to say and do things you thought you never could, never imagined yourself being in a place you're like, "Oh my Lord, how did I even get here?" Peter experienced all of that and more. But eventually, he came out the other side, didn't he? Jesus forgave him and restored him and said, "Peter, let's get back into game." And when he did, Peter went the distance, didn't he? He went the distance so much so that according to church tradition, he ended up on his own cross. And according to that same tradition, he did not feel worthy to be crucified in the same way Jesus was. And so he asked that they crucify him upside down. That's how persevering Peter became.

And so Peter's gonna, in a way, affirm these applications for us in his own words. And the first one is this. It's so simple and yet it's so powerful and it's just simply this. Find your prayer closet. You know what I mean by that? Find your prayer closet, let me explain. In Matthew 6:6, Jesus is teaching us how to pray and he says, "But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your father." This word in the original for room refers not to a bedroom, but in these Middle Eastern homes, typically there was a room in the center of the house, no windows in it or just a door going in, and it was like a storage room. It would put valuables and it was also a place where people would go if they needed just a little bit of privacy. It's a closet. Jesus says, "Go into your closet where you can be alone." And we all need these spaces where we can pray in a way where we're not so distracted.

One of my prayer closets is the cab of my truck. When I get into my truck, I'm triggered to pray because habits are almost always linked to a specific location. You've discovered this. You get cued and so it's just automatic. I'm pulling out of my driveway and I should start praying, not because I'm just like the world's greatest prayer. It's just a habit that's triggered by this prayer closet. So if I'm driving down the road and you happen to notice that my mouth is moving like this, I'm not talking to myself, I'm talking to the Lord in most cases. I may be talking to other drivers too, but mostly to the Lord. And again, it's not because I'm just like the super prayer. It's just, it's a habit. So let me ask you, where's your prayer closet? Where's that place that just triggers the reflex to pray? For some, it's a cozy chair or it's at the kitchen table. Another one of my prayer closets is just to go for a walk. I'll leave the office and do a lap run cabrio. And again, it's just automatic. I start praying. And so find a prayer closet in your life if you haven't already. A place or an activity that is regular and routine and you will find that the habit of prayer just takes over.

And why is this so key? Well, look at what Peter says in his first epistle in chapter three. He says, this is about prayer. He says, "For the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous." That's you, whether you like it or not. "And his ears are attentive to their prayer." Look what he's saying there. God's eyes are on you. And his ears are attentive to your prayer. He actually wants to hear what you have to say. And I know some people will ask, why even pray if God knows the outcome? You ever heard this question before? Well, I pray if God already knows. I think that's akin to saying, why should I talk to my spouse? We're already married. See how well that works out for you, okay? Prayer is intimacy. Prayer is connection. Prayer builds our relationship with God.

And not only that, we tend to focus on the personal or sometimes the therapeutic benefits of prayer, which are real. But the Bible really doesn't even talk about that kind of stuff. In the Bible, prayer is portrayed as something that is powerful, that makes a difference. Where we are invited to participate with what God is doing and in ways that are mysterious, we don't even understand, prayer actually makes a difference. Sometimes the difference may not be in the outcome, sometimes the difference is in us. But think of it this way, you wouldn't think that Jesus, of all people, needed to pray, right? And yet Jesus made it a huge priority. Famously, going off by himself to pray. Well, how much more are you and me along the way? And by the way, find your prayer closet because you're gonna need it. You're gonna need it. That's the first application.

The second one is this, remember God's nature. Remember God's nature. You know, if ever there's a time that we are tempted, it's in the tough times to think, you know, I don't think that God is everything the Bible has him cracked up to be. 'Cause there's all this glorious stuff in it, I'm down in the dumps. And so we start to question God's very nature. But I want you to listen to me. We live in a broken world, we can all agree to that. We live in a broken world where bad things happen to everybody regardless of being good, bad or indifferent. But we do not have a broken God. Be careful not to confuse the two. God is good. God is faithful. Do you believe this?

Look what Peter says, let's go back to him. Now, chapter four in his first epistle, verse 19, it says, "So then those who suffer according to God's will," and that will happen at times, sometimes we suffer because of our own stupidity, but sometimes we suffer, God allows it. When this happens, they should commit themselves to their what? Let me hear you. Faithful creator and continue to do good. This, two weeks ago on our Thursday meeting, pastors every Thursday get together to pray, and we pray for every single name that's on our prayer list, every one of them. Because again, we wanna be practicing this with integrity, and we believe in the power of prayer. But like I said, two weeks ago, we also met with two women, a mom and her adult daughter, who are refugees from Ukraine. They're right here in this picture, meeting with the pastors, and not pictured with them are two school-aged children, and the four of them are living in Capitola right now, coming to this church. They're living expenses being paid by you, Twin Lakes Church, thank you, God bless you. But this is how your generosity spills into the lives of other people.

Now, at the same time, the husband and dad in this family, he's back in Ukraine, he's with their two foster kids, it's very difficult to bring foster children into the US. So he stayed back in Ukraine, and since the onset of the war, he has hosted up to 60 people at a time in his house, fellow Ukrainian refugees, wow. Now, mom here, she's actually a doctor. She's an OBGYN, and she spends just about every day, every week talking to several women from Ukraine, emailing back and forth. Women who are facing the challenge of a crisis pregnancy, and not to put too fine a point on it, a fair amount of those women are pregnant because of war crimes committed by Russian soldiers. That's their reality. And yet, living on the other side of the globe, she keeps reaching out, helping, serving, loving, caring. Her husband, even now, is adding onto their house so that they can accommodate even more refugees.

Now, let me ask you, how in the world do people have the strength to do this kind of stuff? I'll tell you how. It flows out of their confidence that God is good, that God is just, that God is faithful. They are doubling down on their faith that no army, no nation, no tyrant can ever thwart God's good purposes in this world. Amen, indeed. In fact, those two women were here last night and just wanted to thank you again for serving them, loving them in the midst of crisis. But remember God's nature. And when you do, it will allow you to live out this third thing, which is to live now in light of then.

Already kind of touched on this, so I'll be brief. But when Jesus taught us to pray, your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven, those weren't just flowery words for us to recite, to feel better about things. The kingdom of God is real. The king is going to return. And when we become convinced of this, it just informs our perspective so much more radically. We can bear hardship, we can persevere, we can suffer knowing that whatever we're experiencing now is going to be addressed then. And so keep your eyes on the prize. One more, well, almost one more reference to Peter. Going back to chapter four, he says this, dear friends, do not be surprised at the fiery ordeal that has come upon you to test you. As though something strange were happening to you. Peter's well aware of the world that we live in. But rejoice in as much as you participate in the sufferings of Christ so that you may be overjoyed when his glory is revealed. And what a day that will be. Count on that. Meditate on that. Take that to the bank.

And that will all be made easier when you find your prayer closet, when you remember God's nature. And then again, you live now in light of then. I wanna close with this. In the year 1248, the first stone was laid for the Cologne Cathedral. Some of you have seen this amazing building. But in 1248, the very first stone was laid. And work continued, pretty good progress, into the 1400s until it ground to a halt. A lot of turbulence, reformation, wars, religious schisms, everything, just this project just ground to a halt. 400 years. Vast majority of those men who put their efforts into the building of this building would never see the end result, right? In fact, the delay went so long, it didn't really even pick up until the early 1800s. And the Cologne Cathedral was completed in 1880. That's 632 years after the project was started. 632 years, workers showing up, giving their sweat, their energy, their lives to an outcome they will never see, not only them, but their kids, their grandkids, their great grandchildren would not see the finished product.

But now, this amazing gift to the world, the largest and arguably the most spectacular cathedral in Europe, if not the world, this gift to humanity, this is their legacy. Would not exist if not over 600 years ago. People were willing to persevere towards a day that, again, they wouldn't see. Well, my dear brothers and sisters, we are a part of so much greater thanks than even this, the kingdom of God being built in us and through us. As Peter says, "As you come to Him, the living stone, rejected by men, but chosen by God and precious to Him, you also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Christ." Now, listen to these words. You are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God that you may declare the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His wonderful light. That's you, church, and that's your destiny. You are a part of this if you're a part of Christ. And so, may nothing ever get in the way of it. And may you live your life in anticipation of the day when you see our Lord face to face. Amen? Amen.

Let's pray. Lord God, thank You for loving us. And thank You that You never leave nor forsake us, that we are not abandoned in the messes of this world, or we're not abandoned in our own messes. But You have offered and promised that You would never leave nor forsake us. And so God, I pray that You would fill us with much hope and strength today to persevere wherever we're at, those who are hurting, those who are tired, those who are discouraged. Lord, would You meet them in this moment and give them whatever they need? I have confidence that You will, Lord. Renew the hope of Your people today. And for any who have not yet received Jesus as their Savior and Lord and placed their hope in Him, you can. And if that's You and You're sensing His call right now, You simply need to acknowledge Your need, knowing that we will all face Him someday. But You need not dread that phi. You could actually live in anticipation of that thought by simply confessing, now, Lord, I admit I need You. I'm helpless in so many ways, and I'm helpless even in the way I live and think and speak. I'm a sinner. I've missed the mark of who You created me to be. And so, Lord, would You be my Savior? Would You be my Lord? And would You show me how to follow You from this day forward? That's You, He hears You. Live in confidence of that truth. We pray this in the matchless name of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, all God's people said, amen.