Shelter in Troubled Times

We are in a series we call shelter. It's all about sheltering in God as we shelter in place. Good morning and happy Palm Sunday, everybody. My name's René, another one of the pastors here at Twin Lakes Church. I just want to welcome everyone joining us on all the various platforms all around the world.

A couple of people I want to call out specifically this hour, welcome to Jessica Hefling. Yeah, I'm talking to you, Jessica, because it's your birthday today. Happy birthday to Jessica Hefling. Also, we had a couple of people log in, Rosie G and Alma from Switzerland. So, go to Morgan, go to me tonight. It's great to have you guys joining us from Switzerland, showing off a little bit there.

Yesterday, before the rain started, I took a walk around our neighborhood to try to get some exercise. I stretched my legs. As I'm looking down at the sidewalk while I'm walking, I came across some chalk drawings. One of the kids in the neighborhood had taken some chalk, done some drawings, and I had to take out my phone and take some pictures to show you, because I thought these chalk drawings really tell the story of what's going on in homes all around our county right now.

The first chalk drawing simply said, "Be careful world." Then down here, it said, "I miss you." Then the third chalk drawing said, "Mad Mama." There's a picture of Mama. She's really upset. I looked at this and I thought, man, that's a story all of us can relate to right now. It's just starting to get to us. Even Time Magazine on their website had an article called, "The Coronavirus Pandemic May Be Causing an Anxiety Pandemic." Listen, we're all feeling it. We're all incrementally turning into Mad Mama.

So, what are we going to do about that? You ever wondered, what would Jesus Christ himself say? If he were here bodily and we're standing like on this stage, delivering some words of encouragement, what would he say? What themes would he emphasize? Well, actually think we don't have to wonder. We can know.

Today, we're going to go to a part of the Bible that was painted for us in Leonardo da Vinci's famous painting, "The Last Supper," where Jesus is gathered around the Passover table with his disciples just hours before he is about to be betrayed and then crucified. This is in the Bible in the Gospel of John, chapters 14 through 16. It's known as the farewell discourse, where at this table, Jesus Christ looks at all his 12 closest disciples and he gives them some words of encouragement. Why? Well, because they were already very troubled and they're about to get even more trouble.

Jesus, as this scene kind of is kind of snapshotted for us by Leonardo da Vinci, he has just announced to his disciples that he is going to be betrayed by Judas. And by the way, as Leonardo captured well here, that comes as a shock to all the apostles. Nobody said, "Judas is going to betray you." I knew it. Judas has been kind of shifty for years. No, they were all stunned.

And then Simon Peter takes this opportunity to stand up, clear his throat and say, "Can I just get everybody's attention here, please? Jesus, even if all these others, all these losers betray you, I will never betray you." And Jesus says, "Well, since you brought it up, Peter, you're actually going to deny me three times tonight." And again, everybody's shocked. Peter's shocked. All the rest of the disciples, I mean, Jesus has basically just told them that their treasurer and their board chairman are both going down in flames that night.

And then he drops the bombshell that he himself, their beloved master, is not only going to be betrayed, he is going to suffer and he is going to die. He knows that in just a few hours from this moment, he is going to be hanging on the Roman cross, looking to his disciples like the biggest failure in world history. And Jesus knows that they're all headed for even more trouble after that. He knows that what's going to start is years of persecution against all of his disciples. He knows Stephen is going to be killed. He knows James is going to be killed. He knows Peter's going to be jailed. John's going to be jailed and much, much worse.

So with his last words in this moment, knowing he has just a few minutes really to prepare them for these years of suffering, what does he say? Listen, I don't know what you think of the Bible. I don't know if you think it's inspired or not or holy or not, but the fact is what Jesus says next worked. His words inspired Christians to survive and hang in there and endure through three centuries of on and off again Roman persecution. So these next words are worth your full attention.

What did Jesus say in this moment that was so memorable that it kept his followers going through the darkest of days? Well, you could really summarize what Jesus talks about in the very last verse of the farewell discourse. It's in John 16:33 where Jesus says, "In this world, you will have trouble." Now, I want to stop right there for just a minute and emphasize that this is a promise from Jesus. In this world, you will have trouble. You've got his word on it.

And some of you know it's one of my pet peeves that nobody ever wants to claim this promise. You know, you never find this promise in one of those pocket promises that you see at the checkout stand at Safeway. Look at promises about trouble. You're going to have it. You never see this promise like hanging on grandma's wall in one of those cross stitches. In this world, you will have trouble. But Jesus says it's going to happen. It's not that God causes all the trouble. It's that you live in a world that is broken and troubled.

And maybe right about now you're going, "Great. Very encouraging, René. Glad I tuned in." Here's why this is important. If people somehow get the idea that being a Christian and having faith means I never have trouble, then when they experience trouble, they either think, "God must be mad at me. There's something wrong with me." Or, "God must be a fake. There's something wrong with this belief system." No, Jesus said in this world, there's going to be trouble. Way it is, you're going to have it.

Now, of course, that's not the end of the verse. He says, "But take heart, for I have overcome this troubled world." He's saying to these guys, "I want you to watch what I am about to do, about all the trouble that has headed my direction." You know, I used to coach youth softball when I was a youth pastor down in San Diego, and I didn't know a lot about coaching softball, so I kind of took a refresher course right before I went into it. And I learned that there was one piece of advice that covers 90% of the situations, and it's this, "Keep your eye on the ball."

You know, those kids and youth would get distracted so easy by like a bird, a lizard, the sound of the ice cream truck. And it was the easiest thing in the world to say, "Guys, guys, guys, keep your eye on the ball." And again, that solved 90% of their discipline issues and helped them play the game better. Well, Jesus is saying, "Guys, eyes on me. Eyes on Jesus." You want to get through times of trouble, eyes on Jesus. Now, hang on to that thought because we're going to circle back to it. That's kind of the big picture.

Now let's drill down into the details of the farewell discourse in John 14:1. Jesus begins his farewell address with this sentence, "Do not let your hearts be troubled." Now, it's an interesting word he uses there for "trouble." In the original Greek, it literally means to shudder. He says, "Don't let, don't allow your hearts, your emotions, your inner being shudder." That's such a great description, right? Have you felt your heart shudder a little bit these last few weeks? I know I have.

But Jesus is saying, you know, you are to some degree in control of that. You can choose, you can learn not to allow your hearts to shudder all the time. Jesus is saying, you will have trouble, but you don't always need to be troubled. Now, being alarmed is a normal thing when we're in alarming times like this, but living in a constant state of adrenalized alarm is unsustainable and it's unhealthy.

To get through this COVID crisis, you and I have to learn how to have trouble, but not be troubled and shuddering all the time. How can I do that? Well, Jesus gives these guys three reasons, three themes that he keeps coming back to again and again in his farewell discourse. And if you want to know how to stay stable inside while you're surrounded by unstable circumstances, you really need to know these three things. Jot these down. Number one is this, trust him. Trust him.

Jesus continues that first phrase, do not let your hearts be troubled. You trust in God, trust also in me. He's saying around that table, guys, trust me. And here's why he has to say this. Let's rewind to Palm Sunday, what we're celebrating this weekend. Five days before Jesus spoke his farewell discourse, he's riding into Jerusalem on a donkey and it says that the crowd took palm branches. Stop right there. Why palm branches? Well, palm branches were the national symbol in those days of the nation of Israel.

You can find them in all the coins that they printed or that they imprinted in those days. The palm branch is there just like say the American Eagle would be on United States coinage. So waving the palm branch was like waving the national flag in those days. That's why palm branches. They took palm branches and it says they went out to meet him shouting Hosanna. Now what does Hosanna mean? Do you know what it means? Well, it simply means save now.

They're waving the national flag. They're shouting save now, basically liberate us now. And how did they expect Jesus to liberate them? Well, what do they say next? Hosanna, blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord. Blessed is the king of Israel. They were expecting Jesus to lead a revolution, to be a human king. People, this was a political rally, not a religious rally. They had an agenda for Jesus. Kick out the Romans, save us now, start a revolution.

But when Jesus, instead of kicking out the Romans, goes into the temple and kicks out merchants, everybody's confused. And Jesus, who was trending on Sunday, becomes a liability by Friday. He is just socially toxic all of a sudden to the crowds. He's a disappointment to the power structure. He's a threat to the Romans. He's a loose cannon. And by Friday afternoon, he is hanging on a Roman cross dead.

And this is why Jesus had to say to his disciples, trust me, because I know it got weird, but it's about to get a lot weirder. And it's going to look to you like all the wheels are coming off. You're going to wonder where God is in all of this. But trust me, I'm going to work through this. And really the question for you and me on Palm Sunday is, can I trust Jesus when he acts in ways that surprise me, or do I only trust Jesus when he acts in ways I like and expect?

You know, are you and I like these fickle crowds, or do you trust him even when he is confusing, even when he's unpredictable, even when he seems to be allowing evil to win? You know, somebody said Christianity is unique. It's not just a worldview. And it's not just a list of commands. You are asked to trust a person who is there with you. So can you, do you trust him?

Now watch this, a few verses later, Jesus tells the disciples, and I will ask the father and he will give you another counselor to be with you forever. He'll never leave the spirit of truth. I will not leave you as orphans. I will come to you. Interesting word for counselor. You may know that that's a Greek word that means called alongside to assist. You know, when we were little kids, they used to tell us, you've got a guardian angel. Well, this is much better than a guardian angel. You have the Holy Spirit right there with you always.

In other words, you are not alone. Some of you are sheltering in place alone. You have not been next to another human being. And in weeks, you are not alone. Some of you have severe separation anxiety already. I know because that's something I struggle with. And this is really hitting hard right now. You are not alone. The Holy Spirit will always be with you, empowering you. And this is real life. This is not just like church propaganda.

I want to read you something. I got a profound email a couple of days ago from this woman, Camila Fisher. Camila is an RN. She's a nurse in an ICU unit over the hill in San Jose. But listen to what she writes. During these dark times, we nurses are struggling to feel God's strength. And we battle the fear of what our job entails. In addition to the fear over COVID, we have sick children dying of other conditions. And our facility is locked down. No pastor, family, or friends can come visit or be at the bedside during these tender moments.

I found myself last weekend praying with another nurse and a doctor with parents whose baby was in the hospital. Listen to this. "Amongst the COVID crazy," as us nurses call it, "they're in a tiny ICU room. God was present." Even our non-believing ICU doctor told us he felt the power of the Holy Spirit. Now, listen. Although I am uncomfortable in sharing at times, I sense God's power and his encouragement to continue to share his promises. I'm finding it more important than ever to stay fixed on Jesus.

There it is. Eyes on Jesus. God is still at work through every dark, isolated moment. Now, listen to our closing words. I really want you to hear these. "For those at home," that's you. This is me. You know, these nurses and doctors, they're on the front lines. We should be praying for them and applauding them every chance we get. But listen to what one of those people tells you and me. "For those at home, I know it may seem dark, but God is still at work, providing grace and strength amongst the suffering and amid the chaos." And that is powerful.

Trust Jesus that even in the chaos, he is still at work. You are not alone. He is with you to the very end of the age. Trust him. And then there's a second theme that comes up again and again in the farewell discourse. Think of home. Think of home. Watch this. These are beautiful words. Jesus says, "In my father's house are many rooms. If it were not so, I would have told you, I'm going there to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me, that you also may be where I am."

What's he talking about there exactly? Last time I was in Israel, we went to Capernaum, which was the town that Jesus lived in for a while. And archaeologists there have excavated the ruins of a typical mansion from those days. This house covered an entire city block. And here's what you're looking at. A family would buy a nice plot of ground. And as their family grew, they would add rooms to the mansion because more in-laws, more grandkids, more rooms were needed because the whole extended family lived together.

Like what you're looking at here are the foundations of all the various rooms of this huge multi-room mansion. And this was probably a two-story mansion, a lot more a sophisticated house than we typically imagine people had in those days. But you see, this is what Jesus is referring to when he says, "In my father's house are many rooms." He's saying, "This is what it's going to feel like in heaven." It's not like God gives you a mansion all by yourself on some mountaintop isolated and you're basically shelter in place for eternity. No, we all get to live together.

Jesus is saying, "You're coming to my house." What he's saying is, "You are family. And what will the world be like?" This new place that he's preparing. Listen, this weekend's Palm Sunday, right? Did you know that there is one other place in the Bible where people welcome in Jesus as King, waving palm branches? It's in the future. It's in the Bible in Revelation 7. The author, John, says this, "After this, I saw a vast crowd." Too great to count. I love that. "From every nation and tribe and people and language, standing in front of the throne and before the Lamb, they were clothed in white robes and held palm branches in their hands." They are welcoming Jesus in this time as King of all kings.

And he takes his throne and John goes on and says, "He who sits on the throne will give them shelter. They will never again be hungry or thirsty. They will never again be scorched by the heat of the sun for the Lamb who sits on the throne will be their shepherd. He will lead them to springs of life-giving water and God will wipe every tear from their eyes." Yes, in this world, you will have trouble. But think of the home he is preparing for you now.

You know, having a robust view of heaven will really help you get through trouble down here. During this service, we had somebody, a comment, in the comments section, somebody named Carol Loewen, who said that her mother passed away last night. Now, I want you to hear what Carol typed during the worship part of this service. She said, "Tears are flowing, but I'm so glad for the worship this morning, knowing that Mom is singing praises in Jesus' presence right now." Man, Carol, as soon as I saw that, my prayers went out to you. But do you see what I mean? A view of heaven helps you go through troubles here.

It really does. It's all about what are you allowing to dominate your event horizon, doom and gloom or glory? You know, are you anticipating gloom or glory? So first, trust him. Second, think of home. And then finally, Jesus says, turn to one another in love. Turn to one another in love. Jesus knows that this tidal wave of trouble is about to land on the disciples. And so he says, a new command I give you. Guys, this isn't a suggestion. This is a command. Love one another as I have loved you, sacrificially, personally. So you must love another.

And then he says it again. My command is this. Love each other as I have loved you. And then he repeats it again. This is my command. Love each other. Jesus says something three times. It's probably a pretty good idea to pay attention, right? So let's turn to one another in love. I want to show you a great image of true love right now. You might have seen this video. An 80-year-old man named John Klein singing here in this video to his wife, who is in a nursing home with Alzheimer's.

So he can't go in to see her right now. So every day, he goes to the nursing home and he sings to her through the window. Man, that is just true, true love right there. You know, I just want to encourage you to obey Jesus' command, to love one another. How? Well, let me give you two C's, two C words that summarize how we can obey this command. First is connect. Connect with people. Don't let social distancing become friendship distancing.

Conversations are literally medicine right now. They will boost your immune system. So phone them up. Go on a video chat. And I want to strongly suggest that you connect not just with your family—that's important—your siblings, your friends, but also that you connect with people through our online groups here at Twin Lakes Church. No matter where you are around the country or the world, you can get online in little fellowship groups.

Now, listen, I talked this week on the phone with a couple of people who were all alone and feeling lonely. And I suggested, why don't you get into a small group, virtual small group? And both of them told me, I'm a little intimidated by that technology. I'm not used to it. I've never done it. So I want to show you all some pictures to kind of un-intimidate you so you can see what it's like if you've never tried with this.

Here's a typical group, meaning, in fact, this is one of our small groups. From this past week, you get to see everyone's faces. You get to hear their voices. This is, again, one of our own small groups this week. And this was my pastor fellowship group that I met with earlier this week. This was one of our high school small groups. This was our youth group. And this one is actually Jesus and the Apostles at the Last Supper. Many of you don't know that this was the upper zoom, not just the upper room.

Listen, if you are still unsure about this, I want to show you a little message from our pastor of connections, Jim Jocelyn. Watch this.

Hi, my name's Jim Jocelyn, and I'm sheltering in place at home. And I wanted to go over some ways you can connect, even though we're not meeting in person. We have groups that meet weekly, going through the discussion questions found in your sermon notes. My wife and I also have an online parenting group and marriage group. You can find more information about those classes and many others at tlc.org/classes.

You know, don't let technology intimidate you. It's as easy as making a phone call or sending an email. In fact, if you email me, jim@tlc.org, I'll be happy to help you get connected to a group. Come and be part of a TLC online community group.

Jim is probably like the nicest guy on the planet, probably way nicer than me, definitely way nicer than Mark Spurlock. So don't be intimidated. Email Jim. He'll be like your personal small group concierge, and he'll get you connected. He'll teach you the technology if you don't know it. Jim mentioned the sermon notes. Did you know that you can download the sermon notes every week at tlc.org/notes? And you'll notice that there are always questions for group discussion or personal reflection.

And you can use these questions that relate to that week's message like this one to kind of use as discussion starters in your small group. So connect. And then the second C is care. You know, Twin Lakes has so many ways that you can get involved with, that you can volunteer with, that we're caring for our community right now. But let me just tell you about one of them.

A group of TLCers led by D.V. Vargas and Chuck Allen is coordinating efforts with four other local churches to bring bags of essentials to homebound senior citizens. They call it Project Elderly Care. They've already delivered over 2,000 bags. And here's the way they do it. They meet on Thursday mornings, they pray, they divide up deliveries, and then they deliver them and listen to this story D.D. passed on to me.

She says, "A gentleman in his early 70s, who is taking care of his 90-something mom who was bedridden, received two bags of food from us this past Thursday. And when he got his food, he started to cry because they had no food left. He was so thankful and kept saying, may God bless you and thank you."

Listen, you can get involved in any of our care ministries by going to TLC.org/help. And then finally, here's a super practical application of this, I sincerely believe that one of the most loving things you can do is virtually invite people to join us for Easter services next weekend. It starts with Good Friday services on Friday. As you heard Mark say, get some pieces of bread or some juice or water ready to go in front of your laptop or television for Friday communion. And we'll be taking communion together on Friday.

And then Easter services, Saturday and Sunday, invite your friends by sending them this link, TLC.org/Easter. My message is going to be all about hope. It's gonna be uplifting. In fact, I want to ask you to do something this week that I think will inspire people. You answer the question, why I still have hope this Easter. How would you answer that question? Why do you still have hope this Easter?

I want to encourage you to post that on your social media outlets, #twinlakeslive or email it directly to us at info@tlc.org because I would love to share some of your thoughts next weekend, but flood social media, flood my email box with this, why I still have hope this Easter. It's gonna be fantastic next weekend.

Now here's the bottom line. Jesus says at that upper room to all his disciples, peace I leave with you. My peace I, crucial word, give you. The gift of peace that Jesus Christ has for us is exactly that, a gift. You don't have to earn it. You don't have to achieve some level of enlightenment to get it, but this gift of peace must be received.

And the way I receive the gift of peace from Jesus is when I welcome him into my life as those crowds welcome Jesus into the city. But when I sincerely welcome him in as King, as Lord, when I trust him to take charge and I don't say, yeah, I'll welcome you in Jesus as long as you hew to my agenda. Now when I say Jesus, I acknowledge you as Savior and Lord. That is the moment that I begin to receive his peace.

Now you may want to do that for the first time this morning, but I suspect that a lot of us watching are Christians who would say, yes, Jesus is my Lord and Savior. And yet we've been slipping away from that peace that he said that he's going to give us. What's the deal there? Why have we slipped away from feeling peace? Well, I think it's because we try to grab control back and we get disappointed when God's not acting, when Jesus isn't doing what we wanted him to do when we welcomed him in.

Can you say truly to Christ, you are Lord, I trust you. That's when you begin to sense that peace that he offers you. So I want to invite you on this Palm Weekend to pray with me now, close your eyes and bow your heads and let's receive the peace of Christ, either as a first time decision or as a recommitment. Let's pray together.

Lord, thank you so much for the peace that you offer us. And in this moment, we want to receive it. We welcome you in as King of Kings, King of our hearts, King of the universe, worthy of all our praise. God, help us not let our hearts spiral down into being constantly troubled. Help us choose to take heart because you have overcome.

And I especially pray that if any want to, for the first time, give their lives to you now that they'd say, Lord, I receive you as my Lord and King. I welcome you in. And finally, Lord, we just want to pray for all of the medical professionals like Camila, all the researchers, and of course, for all those who are sick, that you would strengthen them with skill and with hope. And we pray this in the name of the King of Kings, Jesus Christ, amen.

Amen.