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ValleyChat
The official podcast of Shepherd of the Desert Church, Scottsdale, Arizona. Faith, life, and wisdom in the Valley of the Sun.
ValleyChat
Walking with Christ Through Trials and Triumphs: Lamentations 3
Ever wake up with a sense of anticipation, eager to discover what God has in store for you? That's the sentiment Pastor John and I explore as we reflect on the beauty of being morning people, awakened by the promise of divine love and mercy. Our discussion, rich with personal anecdotes from festive seasons and the lessons of the Epiphany, delves into the wise men's journey to the newborn King, their crucial discernment to sidestep King Herod, and what this means for our daily walk with Christ. We confront the stark dichotomy of light and dark within Matthew's gospel, acknowledging the sacrifices of the earliest Christian martyrs and the resilience of faith that withstands the trials of life.
Join us as we weave through the narrative of personal suffering, the significance of confronting our own shadows to truly appreciate Christ's illuminating presence. Pastor John shares how the 'me issue mindset' can weigh us down with the false belief that we must face life's storms in solitude, and we offer a counter-narrative of a God who intimately shares in our tribulations. We discuss the human yearning for predictability, the comfort found in the daily renewal of God's mercies, and the encouragement to process life's emotions one day at a time. As we aspire for spiritual growth within our communities, we invite you to partake in this episode's journey, to live out the epiphany light in the ordinariness of our days and embrace the roles we play in manifesting God's mercy and love to those around us.
Hey, shepherd family, every one of us has a morning. For some it may be 6 am. If you're my 17-year-old son, it might be more like 12 noon on a Saturday. But regardless of when your mornings start, this promise from God holds true for every single one of us, and that is this from Lamentations, chapter 3, the steadfast love of the Lord never ceases His mercies. They never come to an end. They are new every morning. Great is thy faithfulness. It's a hymn, by the way, john, and it's a reason every single Christian should be a morning person, and that's what Pastor John and I want to talk about today is how to make sure, every single morning, you are ready for the great adventure, which is the great adventure of following the Lord Jesus Christ. John, how was your New Year's celebration, christmas? We've started 2024. What's been going on with you and Kaylee? Thank you.
Speaker 2:We are, you know we're happy, celebrated, refreshed. We got to spend a lot of time with both our families over Christmas, first with her family, as they were hosted by her parents here in Scottsdale, and then my parents had all of their kids and extended families at their house in Wisconsin for New Year's, extended everything from a murder mystery night to appetizer competition, and the retired Welsh policemen happened to be the murderer, which was also me, and we didn't know till the very end. But it made for a very memorable New Year's Eve and it was a ton of fun. Fascinating, fascinating, yeah. And then we jumped right into New Year's with Epiphany preaching.
Speaker 2:I use this Sunday over at Mountain View as the kickoff for a good goal series, kind of following the idea of New Year's resolutions. What does it mean? To chart out a kind of a course for the year ahead Love it. The season ahead, the month ahead Love it. And we both use the same text, though, from Matthew, chapter two, the wise men, epiphany, and there's 12 verses in that reading that we used in church, and it basically tells a story of these wise men. They see a star, they go to Jerusalem. They're told to go to Bethlehem. They go to Bethlehem. They give Jesus their gifts, they worship Him and then, by way of a dream, they're instructed by God directly to go home by a different route. They don't stop back in Jerusalem and tell King Herod that they found the baby, and if you don't know the story, you don't have the context to understand why that's a big deal. So do you want to talk a little bit about the context of Matthew before we dive in?
Speaker 1:I would love to talk about the context of Matthew, because waking up every single morning is the knowledge that probably, somewhere along the way we're going to encounter some dark moments. And those dark moments can be just a light gray. Some of them can be absolutely inside a cave with no source of light whatsoever. And Matthew chapter two begins with the king being born in Bethlehem. It ends with the murder of the innocents. I was reminded, by the way, as I was preaching.
Speaker 1:Sometimes, when you're preaching, just stuff pops in your mind, you're like in a microsecond and you're like, yeah, I think I'll talk about that for a while. The innocents were the first martyrs for Christianity. Do you realize that we often think that Stephen, in fact Stephen was the first martyr in the book of Acts. He died for the faith and that's really a big deal in Christian history. But the reality is the first martyrs were the innocents and the ones that were murdered by King Herod as he was seeking out with jealous rage the one born king of the Jews. And into that incredible darkness we're hardly a chapter and a half into Matthew's gospel. That's the world that Jesus enters into and it is profound.
Speaker 2:It contrasts Matthew, chapter 1, the promise of peace on earth. Good old to men, the angels singing in all their glory. And then you have these travelers from the east. They're coming with valuable gifts, they're coming to humble themselves, to listen to God's word, to worship the newborn king. And until you were to continue reading which, the Bible reading in worship the lesson that was shared didn't continue. But that's where you got those scary details. And it's interesting how that fact connects with the opening verse you shared from Lamentations New Morning Mercies. God's steadfast love never fails To hear that while you're in a season of darkness or in a season of difficulty. It creates somewhat of a disconnect, or it can, especially if you sort of have an idea of God's promises that is incompatible with reality or with some of the harder parts of reality. And so here we have in Matthew, chapters one and two, that same kind of strange dichotomy of great, glorious, peaceful, joyful moment, and then this tragedy, this absolute tragedy.
Speaker 1:And what I pointed out in the message is that whenever someone goes through a tragedy, whether it be light, gray or cave black, that is your tragedy and no one else in this world has ever or will ever go through the tragedy you're going through ever. People may go through similar things, but they are not you encountering these circumstances that weigh your soul down and maybe cause you to question God's faithfulness, and the upshot of that is from a pastoral point of view. I wanted to communicate clearly to the congregation. If you find yourself saying, well, you know people, there are people who have it worse than I do, or I shouldn't complain because you know my life could be a whole lot worse.
Speaker 1:I asked the congregation here at Shepard yesterday please stop saying that, because that minimizes the light that God wants to bring in your life. To speak to what is profoundly dragging you down and causing you to question or doubt God's faithfulness. You only get to the brilliant light of God by walking through darkness, as you have experienced and are experiencing it, and so I just think that as such a critical piece of the epiphany journey for all that, we're going to talk about the light of Christ, his revelation, manifesting his glory before the world. It's all great, but ultimately it comes down to each and every individual and the church needs to take a step forward into that individualized darkness.
Speaker 2:We spent a lot of time in worship talking about how, when we look at the life we want to have, or we look at the aspirations that we have either for ourselves or for our family, for our career, whatever it is, sometimes we struggle with what do we even aim for? And so then we ask the question well, what would God want me to aim for? And until we understand kind of the limited starting point you know, the kind of the limited opportunities or limited perspective we have here and understand who God really is so we need to understand our limitations and understand the real nature of God we're not going to be in a place to actually be guided by him. So I shared what I called the me issue mindset, which is one, I tend to be the number one person in control and in authority over my life. I know what's best for me, I know what I want, I know what's going to be the right thing for me to do, and then, two, I compound the pressure of the world on top of me by just the fact that I've got a sinful, corrupt nature. So not only do I take primary authority, but then, two, I say, well, if I don't figure this out, then I'm going to fail my family, I'm going to fail my friends, I'm going to fail my boss, I'm going to fail my congregation, I'm going to fail my friendships, and all of this pressure begins to mount on and I've got myself in a very tight, difficult spot where I may not even be walking through difficulty, but it already feels like the lights are going out. And then we need to understand the nature of God. So we need to understand.
Speaker 2:That's kind of where all of us struggle to start from. We need to understand who God really is, because as long as we still think God is this thing to be figured out, this puzzle to be solved, this mysterious power hiding behind a right door and a wrong door, and we need to figure out which door is right before we interact with him, we're always going to be stuck in that me issue mindset. But we need to understand who is God really. Well, he's the baby that was born in Bethlehem. And what was the baby like that was born in Bethlehem and what was the Bethlehem like that he was born into? Well, you look at Matthew chapter one and Matthew chapter two and it's a scary place.
Speaker 2:It's a dark place, and yet that's where God was born. And he said I'm going to be real, I'm going to walk through your life, I'm going to face your difficulties, I'm going to feel your temptations, I'm going to weep your tears. And even in the midst of his early years of life the first before he probably even is putting together coherent thoughts and memories, as a human baby boy already, his parents are having to flee to another country to escape the slaughter of the innocents. And so we spent a little bit of surprise time in my preaching as well to explain why did they take a different route? What's the deal with King Herod wanting to know, and then his deception, and then, all of a sudden, that tragedy, that difficulty.
Speaker 2:But that's who God is. He's a God who is not afraid to interface with us in the face of, and even to focus on our tragedies and our difficulties. Right, and that brings up I know I'm soaking up a lot of our conversation time here, but it reminds me of this comment one of my good friends from seminary told me, jared Townley. He's a pastor out in Pennsylvania. He said don't let someone else's difficulty minimize the suffering that you're experiencing, right, because you can't control how something affects you. You can't control how heavy something is, and so, even though it looks like your neighbor or your friend is navigating a similar issue much more easily, with much more joy, with much more strength of character, right, and you're like, I still struggle with how God could do this to me. I still struggle with why they didn't hold up their end of the deal. Right, it's OK to grapple with the significance of something as it hits you.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I mean, predictability matters to us. We, as human beings, like predictable things. Some of us do have a lower risk aversion to unpredictable events. You know, spontaneity, improvisation for some personality types is a real blessing, but on on balance, we like predictable things. When darkness comes in, by nature it is unpredictable.
Speaker 1:And for this God says you know, my mercies are new every morning. For Rachel weeping because Israel was no more the, the prophecy that was fulfilled in the murder of the innocence there was still a promise that in that deep lamentation literally the Old Testament book, in that deep lamentation, jeremiah the prophet was still able to say God's mercies are new every morning. And that is for me, ultimately, to your point. You know what I try to pastorly bring into people's lives, which is look, we don't need to consume this 500 pound block of cheese as little Christian mice in one swallow Each day. We can nibble off just a little bit more of the sadness, the grief, the depression, the anxiety, uncertainty, anger, denial.
Speaker 1:What does, what does Kibbutz Rassarov say? You know these other parts of what happens when grief occurs. We can take that day by day, knowing that at the beginning of each day, god's mercies are new every morning. What do you got on tap for this year, john, in terms of ministry and bringing these resolutions through the Mountain View Campus? What's kind of your end goal as you're looking toward the end of that sermon series?
Speaker 2:The hope I have is that as a community we are in a much better place to hear and to follow and obey God's prompting in our lives.
Speaker 2:So we started here in Matthew, chapter one and two, matthew two, especially, listening to the wise men which you know epiphany, the discovery of something new.
Speaker 2:I tried to teach the preschool kids in chapel this morning what epiphany means, and then I introduced them to the you know the kind of orthodox nicknames of the wise men and their gifts and everything. But anyways, it's something new, a discovery of something new, something revealed. And God slowly reveals his mercy to us, he reveals his patience to us, he reveals his love to us. And so my hope is that as we follow the example of the wise men, we're humble before him, we're open to hearing his word, to listening to his teachers, and then we live a life characteristic of worship, acknowledging who God is, acknowledging what he's done. And if we can't name what he's doing right now, then we can name what he's done in the past or what he's promised to do in the future. And when we live a life like that, we're in a better place to follow the instructions he gives us. So that's my hope for this sermon series, love it.
Speaker 1:You know, I was just thinking as you were talking about, you know, the hope for the Mountain View campus. Here at Shepherd we have two campuses. John leads the Mountain View campus, I am Pastor Alan are up on our Shea North Campus. You know it's. We were talking about. What was your phrase? The Calvin of Baptists. You know what something.
Speaker 1:But you know, in Christianity, especially in large church ministry, there's like five steps to every, you know, endeavor you want to have as a Christian. Five steps to a better family, five steps to a happier job, five steps to a pure, you know, moral life, whatever it is. And we were, we were kind of tossing back and forth how there's a part of Christian ministry that helps people self actualize, like how to be a better you. And for me as a pastor, in this present moment, I certainly want that for the people that are listening. How do we realize a greater, more faithful form of Christianity? Great, fine. But I also want to equip people to be helpful in helping others self-actualize, and that's really the missionary, you know, kind of call that's placed on us by God. How do we help others who themselves are finding their way to God, as Paul says, you know, to the Athenians. You know they're kind of crawling their way back to God so that somehow they find Him again.
Speaker 1:And this conversation, it's not just about recognizing, for each of us who are listening or participating in this podcast, how we receive God's mercies, which are new, every morning.
Speaker 1:It's how also do we help remind people who themselves are walking through gray to cave, black levels of darkness, that God's mercies are for them too, incrementally, step by step, little by little. If we can do that as Christians in this new year, if we can make that our New Year's resolution to live as new mercies every morning, kinds of Christians, john, we're gonna be doing some great stuff, not just here at Shepherd, but each of us in the cathedrals of our own homes. Your home is a cathedral. Your family, your household is a church unto itself. How do you share the epiphany light of Christ in your orbit of influence? I mean, that's really the call and my hope and prayer for our Shea campuses. I want people to change and be better Christians themselves. I want people to be helpful helpful for others that are groping, seeking, clawing their way back to God, to find and be surprised that Christ has already come and through the Holy Spirit is finding them. That's grace and that's what we wanna celebrate here at Shepherd.
Speaker 2:And just kind of in a closing thought, if you find yourself surrounded by or in connection with somebody who you know is walking through a difficult time, who you know is struggling to see the light, to feel the mercy of God, know that we have a God who engages with us incarnationally as the body of Christ. Believers are the extension of Jesus out in the world and the ministry, the mercy of God isn't necessarily just saying the right thing to alleviate all of our pain or to settle all of our conflicts. It is also simply the act of being there and listening. And so you can be the mercy of God. You can be the love and the grace of God simply in being a companion, being there to listen, being there to gently remind of the promises of God and to hear and help bear the weight of those difficulties.
Speaker 2:And if you find yourself in a place where you're currently personally walking through one of those difficult moments and you're here in Scottsdale or you're near a church, I hope that you can find and I hope that you will find here if you come and visit us a gentle, listening, companionship-based ministry that is simply trying to be that incarnate mercy and love of God in your life, because that's what his companionship, his mercy, his grace for us is. It's that being there and being willing to listen and being willing to bear the load as we all walk through the various things that we have, we've come across or been pushed toward. So thanks for joining us today as we engage in this conversation around mercies, around epiphany, around darkness and light, and we hope that this has been a encouraging, uplifting podcast for you. We look forward to connecting with you again soon.
Speaker 1:And as we close up just remember, Valley Chat is in a developmental kind of experience. We're learning as we're going and the more we have these conversations, John and I realize that we have topics, that kind of gather around themes, themes of devotion, themes of leadership, just pure and simple leadership, and finally, themes of church and ministry life. And so, as we make our way forward, we're gonna start organizing our conversations and in this new year, conversations we have with folks from outside of our shepherd family that we believe are an asset of value for folks like you to maybe hear from over here, from learn from and share the joy of Christian life together. So look for that as we make our way forward. Thanks again for joining. We'll talk to you again soon. Ahíreesa 깊 dagger.