Faith When Life Is Murky | Is That In The Bible?: The Chosen | John 12:12–16 | Pastor Levi Lusko

just kind of on the back here just looking at her murky in the moment. >> Is that in the Bible? Week five teaching take one soft sticks. If you ever have a hard time knowing what God's will is, wonder how to make a decision when following him feels confusing, or if God has ever put something on your heart to do something, but you can't figure out why he's calling you to do that, you are going to love what God's word has to say to you today.

The title of this message is faith when life is murky. Hello to all those of you who are at Fresh Life or one of our partner churches through the open network and to everybody watching online. We are on the set of The Chosen, the first ever multi-season series about the life of Christ and the highest crowdfunded TV series or film project of all time.

No big deal. And we're here to ask the question, is that in the Bible? What we're seeing? Is that how it went in scripture? Today we're going to start with the scene that comes from season 5 episode 1. The episode is called Entry. ((applause)) ((music playing)) ((music playing)) Oh, king of kings. ((applause)) ((music playing)) ((applause)) ((music playing)) Yes.

((applause)) Baby. ((music playing)) ((applause)) ((music playing)) ((applause)) ((music playing)) Now, as we move from screen to scripture with that powerful image in our mind's eye, we're talking about the triumphal entry which took place on Palm Sunday. And this is not only in the Bible, it's in there four different times because Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John all record these details.

Let's read it from John's perspective in 12 verse 12-16. The next day, a great multitude that had come to the feast, when they heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem, took branches of palm trees, and went out to meet him, and cried out, "Hosana, blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord, the King of Israel."

Then Jesus, when he had found a young donkey, sat on it, as it is written, "Fear not, daughter of Zion. Behold, your king is coming sitting on a donkekeyy's colt." His disciples did not understand these things at first, but when Jesus was glorified, then they remembered that these things were written about him and that they had done these things to him.

Now, the big idea of this message is that God wants us to choose compliance over clarity. Because as you follow God, you can be sure of this. There are going to be times when life is murky. When you don't fully understand what's going on or why God is calling you to do something.

And here's this whole sermon boiled down to one sentence. In those times, trust your master, not your master plan. Now, if you're anything like me, you love the thought of a master plan. You want to understand what's going on. where are we at in the grand scheme of things?

And and and so it it tampers with our sense of equilibrium to not have clarity. But that's because God wants us to trust him. Now, when it comes to the episode and seeing the depiction of the triumphant tree in the chosen, of course, so much is just plucked straight from scripture.

The palm branches, the crying out of hosana, which means save now. people putting their clothes on the ground, Jesus sitting on the donkey. Of course, in the greater backstory as the chosen is getting ready for this scene on the show, there's elements that were fabricated uh that go in the imagination bin.

Uh the fact that the bridal that Jesus used on this animal was passed down all the way from the Exodus from Egypt and that it had at one point been in the hands of King David and had come to him and Mary had saved it. That's beautiful. that gives import.

That's sort of a token to establish what is biblical and that is that Jesus descends from David both from Joseph's side giving him the legal right and from Mary's side giving him the bloodline right to the throne of David that he is the son of David established here.

So that element which is not in the Bible is used to communicate with imagination what is in the Bible. Uh but the important parts of the scene Jesus on the donkey the disciples with him and even what comes next after the clip ended where the religious leaders show up and I'm recording this speaking to you from Caiaphas's office the high priest.

So when the religious leaders see what's happening they tell Jesus tell your disciples to stop worshiping you. tell these kids to stop praising you. And Jesus indeed does say, if I did, the rocks would cry out. Amazing. And this is a massive moment, a very big moment as Jesus is choosing this to happen where he does and when he does.

It's not by mistake. According to tradition, uh, Josephus, the historian, records that the population in Jerusalem for the feast of the Passover would be as much as 2.7 million people. Now, do you see what I did there? I I cited tradition, so that's not in the Bible. It's extra biblical, but that doesn't mean it's not true as some of the details that the chosen will pull from as well.

So, massive amount of people. Everyone's on edge. The Romans are on edge. The Jewish leaders are on edge. Jesus chose that moment to be the moment he would publicly declare himself. Coming full circle now. I am he is what he had said to the woman at the well.

So now he's saying it essentially to the entire nation. Publicly proclaiming himself to be the Messiah, which after the raising of Lazarus is going to leave the Jewish leaders with no choice but to take this threat seriously and to deal with him as such. So he's telling the world, "I am he.

I am the Messiah." and allowing himself what he deserves, a royal parade. He's allowing himself to enjoy the royal treatment which he had laid aside when he left heaven to come to this earth. Laying aside the divine use of his privileges. This is how he should have been treated every day of his life.

So in this one moment, it's the only moment that actually makes sense about his time on earth except for the choice of the donkey. The donkey makes no sense. Conquering kings come in on white stallions. They come in on a an amazing impressive horse. Jesus comes in on this like beat up pickup truck.

Basically, this is what you run to Home Depot with. The King of Kings should not be on a donkey. Now, remember, this is a different kind of king. And he's leading a different kind of a kingdom. And the disciples were a part of all of this, all without having a clue what was going on.

And I love, and I want to base this teaching on verse 16. We just read it, but look at it again. His disciples did not understand these things at first. Oh man, that makes me feel so good. That makes me feel so seen that even Jesus's disciples did not understand these things.

But when he was glorified, then they looked back on it, remembered, and they saw it all as it actually was. Translation, it was murky in the moment. They didn't get it. They didn't know. But I love this. They obeyed anyway. A lack of clarity didn't keep them from compliance.

They didn't have the master plan, but they trusted the master anyway. Now, what things did they not understand? Well, John doesn't elaborate. So, we have to jump over to Matthew's perspective. For Matthew 21 tells us, "Now when they drew near Jerusalem and came to Beth Page at the Mount of Olives, then Jesus sent two disciples, saying to them, go into the village opposite you, and immediately you will find a donkey tied and a colt with her.

Loose them and bring them to me. And if anyone says anything to you, you shall say, "The Lord has need of them," and immediately he will send them. Now, the specific mechanics of getting the donkey is covered in The Chosen in season 4, episode 8 is called Humble.

You should watch it. So powerful. In the scene, Matthew and Simon the Zealot Z are told to go get this donkey. Now, in scripture, this is exactly how it happens, except we don't know which two disciples go get it. But you got to love the interaction on screen when he tells them this and their faces are like, "Wait, stealing livestock?

This makes no sense." And then there's the immortal lines from Matthew. You want us to borrow a burrow? And I love it because that's exactly what Jesus wanted them to do, to borrow a burrow. And it made no sense, but they did it anyway. So, what does that mean?

That means for you and for me like Matthew and Simon, your job is not to understand God. Your job is to obey him. And his plans will often not make sense in the moment. The cross in the beginning made no sense to the disciples. When Peter first heard about the cross, he tried to talk Jesus out of going to it.

He took him aside, Matthew 16:22, and rebuked him, saying, "Far be it from you, Lord. This shall not happen to you. And of course, Jesus to Peter, get behind me, Satan. You are not mindful of the things of God. You are mindful of the things of men. This was offensive to Jesus.

It's a hear me. It's offensive to Jesus when we are mindful not of the things of God, but we're mindful of the things of man. That's why Proverbs 3 says, "Lean not on your own understanding." We cannot trust our perspective. So what God's doing in our lives is not going to make sense always in the moment.

In those times, we must trust his understanding and not ours. What I want to do is give you five things to hang on to and to remember that can help you in the murky moments when God's calling you to do something that feels like borrowing a burrow. so that we can stay mindful of the things of God and not offend him by trusting the things of men.

Thinking like men. So, first of all, jot it down. Muscle confusion. Let's factor in muscle confusion. Like when you go to the gym and you're like, "Oh, I did push-ups yesterday. I'm going to do push-ups today." No, no, we're going to do sit-ups today. We're going to do rows.

Well, for a while, we're going to do always the Bosu ball. We're going to do the tricep dips. We're going to do overhead press. And then just when you get used to that rhythm, they're like, "All right, we're mixing it up and we're going to do we're going to do the TRX bands and we're going to do the exercise bands now.

We're going to go run." Why? You plateau without things being mixed up. And God's like a good trainer. He needs to introduce instability and to get us off of our norm and then we can grow and enlist other muscles. Otherwise, we'll plateau. So, he has to mix things up to get to the next level.

Which is why James 1:3 says, "Knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience." You see, Jesus allows trials to come that mix us up and get us off of our control, our comfort so we can trust him. And then he works in a different way to get us to a different level.

And that's why I believe Jesus almost never healed the same way twice. You see him healing one person this way who's blind and another blind person completely different way to the same healing. It's like in CS Lewis's classic, The Chronicles of Narnia. One time the wardrobe gets you in, but then the next time it's rings.

It's never the same way twice to get into this fictitious land because God is a God who's constantly changing his methods, though he himself never changes. So the point is, we don't trust a man-made system. We trust the Savior who's with us always. And he coaxes out our faith by calling us out onto the waters where we have to take steps of faith.

So take heart if you feel like your spiritual life right now is disoriented. God might just be trying to grow you. Muscle confusion. Number one. Number two, jot it down. Unorthodox methods. Unorthodox methods. Quite frankly, God does strange things. And he admits that he owns it. Isaiah 55:8, "My thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways, my ways, says the Lord."

God can do what you can't. And he knows what you don't. So roll with him. Trust his perspective. Don't trust your own judgment. And it's an emphasis all throughout The Chosen. It's one of the the great bylines or themes throughout the show is that following Jesus, you have to get used to different.

I mean, think about it. God spoke to Moses through a bush on fire. He raised up a nation through an old man whose body was as good as dead. He brought the walls of Jericho down by his people marching around it and yelling. He ordered Elijah to wet a sacrifice before he lit it on fire.

And that's just the Old Testament. In the new, he brought Jesus into the world through a virgin. He insisted John needed to baptize his cousin. He performed a miracle by telling servants to take water and bring it to the master of the feasts. He then used five loaves and two fish to feed 5,000 men plus women and children.

None of these things add up. And yet, when we get into situations where God is calling us to do something that doesn't jive with our master plan, we all we always kind of freak out. When I first felt called to plant our church in Montana, I didn't see how it could be compatible with a ministry that we felt like God was calling us to.

We would reach out nationally and globally. I couldn't reconcile a small town in the middle of what felt like nowhere with what I felt like he had put on our lives. I didn't see it then, but you know what? I see it now. We followed God. We obeyed God.

And we watched God work. That's how it always goes. My favorite example of this murky obedience is in 2 Kings 5 when there's a man named Non who needs to be healed of his leprosy and God tells him go bathe in the Jordan River seven times and you'll be fine.

And non thinks this is crazy. He actually says the words, "Aren't there better rivers back where I come from?" The point was God wanted the murky waters, not the waters that made sense to him. the elegant, the impressive, the oh wow, of course those waters healed you. They're from Fiji.

They're imported, right? No. God wanted to use the simple, the ordinary, the humble. It's never about the object of our faith. It's the opportunity for us to put our faith in him. So don't miss out just because it feels strange in the moment. God likes to stack the deck against himself so he will get all the glory.

And this extends to his selection of you and me. Because the Bible tells us 1 Corinthians 1, you see your calling, brethren. Not many are wise according to the flesh. Not many mighty, not many noble are called, but God has chosen to use the foolish things of the world to put to shame the wise.

And God has chosen the weak things of the world to put to shame the things which are mighty. I also think about how even in this moment, God is changing, growing, sanctifying, perhaps saving some through the preaching of his word. And scripture admits that it's foolishness. God uses the foolishness of preaching.

But I'm not ashamed of the gospel because even though it is foolishness to those who are perishing, to those who believe, it is the power of God unto salvation. And so we proclaim a foolish message that a carpenter thought to be illiterate and illegitimate, born 2,000 years ago, who died on the cross and rose from the dead, if you let him into your heart, he will save you.

And you could think that doesn't that doesn't make sense, and you'd be right. And yet, if you believe, you will be saved from your sins and live with God forever in heaven. Muscle obedience, unorthodox methods, and then number three, readiness. How could Jesus used this donkey? Because it was tied up, sitting, ready, and waiting.

If it was out doing something else, it wouldn't have been sitting there waiting. The the the owner of the donkey was told the master needs it. And it was sitting tied up even though he didn't understand it all either, waiting for Jesus when he needed it. It was ready.

The idea is there was space. There was capacity. There was margin. I love in the Old Testament that the children of Israel were told, "When you plow your fields, don't do the corners. Leave the corners for the poor." There was margin built into the law. Mercy built in.

That's how Ruth and Naomi were able to eat because of the what was margin. because of what was left over, what was ready for them. Why did Mary get the chance to be Jesus's mother? Because she had made herself available through virginity, through chastity. She thought being a virgin and not having known a man disqualified her.

But turns out that's what qualified her. That's why God picked her because there was something ready. She had dedicated herself chased unto God. So the application of course would be, "What's your proverbial donkey? Have you set aside finances or time or emotional space and said, "Hey, I don't know exactly what, but when God calls, when God reveals, I want to be ready so that I can in this part of my life, carry Jesus into the city, carry Jesus into places and spaces that need him."

It could be as simple as praying before you go to work. God, show me someone that needs your love today. I remember once praying, "God, I pray you'd give me someone to share the gospel with today." Then the next thing I knew it, a flight got cancelled. I ended up in an Uber to a hotel I never thought I would be in and opened my eyes and had the chance to have the most beautiful conversation with this driver about Jesus.

Why? Because I opened my eyes to see that the fields are ripe for harvest. I just needed to make myself available. So readiness is important. Proverbs says, "Look at the ant. It lays up in one season what's ready in the next season." And it's wise for doing so.

So in your life, enter into new seasons, new weeks, new days, saying, "God, I'm ready for you to do what might feel weird in the moment." The fourth is kingdom. Kingdom. And that's the focus we need to always hang on to. His kingdom, not ours. His will, not ours.

His master plan, not ours. So many of the disciples lowest moments came when they argued about which one of them was the greatest. Talk about missing the point. And yet, it's so relatable because we so often make it about us and not his kingdom. We have to say what John the Baptist said, "He must increase.

I must decrease." We need to have the servant mentality to remember the donkey. To remember it's different. To remember it's upside down. It's not like the world does it. He didn't ride in on a waror. That would be impressive. He rode in on a simple, humble beast. So living like Jesus, the life of a servant is all about the kingdom of God.

Fifthly, you'll know more later. That's the fifth point. You may not understand it now, but clarity often comes in hindsight. You'll often see the fingerprints of God in your life when you look in the rearview mirror and you say, like the disciples, "I didn't understand it at the time, but I'm so glad I was willing to say yes."

Obedience now, revelation later. Trust in the Lord with all of your heart. Lean not on your own understanding, little one. Acknowledge him in all your ways. Welcome the murkiness. And what will happen? He will make your paths straight. The disciples eventually connected the dots. They had their minds blown when they realized what they were a part of.

They saw it all. Oh my gosh. Like looking at the matrix symbolically, prophetically, significantly. They were fulfilling prophecy. Zechariah 9:9. Wow. Psalm 118:25. They saw all of these things and they realized we were a part of it. Why? They were willing in the moment to walk by faith and not by sight.

And the result of all of this, directly after the triumphal entry passage that we began with, John 12 continues, "The Pharisees therefore said among themselves, you see that you are accomplishing nothing. Look, the world has gone after him." And there were as as a way of proving that what they just said was true, certain Greeks among those who came up to worship at the feast.

They came to Philip who is from Bethesda of Galilee and they asked him this question and it's the same question the world is asking us sir we wish to see Jesus and so Philip came and told Andrew Andrew and Philip told Jesus the point is these people got to come and talk to him why different kind of king kind of kingdom Jesus majesty yes but in meekness power yes but expressed through weakness and it drew the world to him and I believe that's what God wants to do through us as we follow follow in his footsteps.

God wants to draw the world to him as we lift up his son. So to recap, Muscle confusion, U unorthodox methods, R readiness, K kingdom. Why? You'll know more later. So we can trust God even when it's murky. Don't demand clarity. Offer compliance. Say this. Here am I, Lord.

Send me. I don't need my master plan. I have a good master. And don't forget, if you lack wisdom, you can always ask for it. Now, in closing, one more murky detail from communion, from the last supper, that moment when Jesus took the bread and broke it, saying, "This is my body."

When he lifted the cup and said, "This is my blood." and he inaugurated this new covenant based on love, based on trusting him, based on faith, based on his sacrifice. How did the mechanics of that whole meal take place? Well, Luke 22, we're told that Peter and John were given these instructions to find out where we're going to celebrate the last supper.

I want you to walk into the city till you find a man with a picture. A man with a picture? Yeah, like a picture you'd hold water in. There's going to be so many men in the city holding pictures. How will I ever know which one? No, no, no.

In that day, men didn't carry pictures. That was a woman's job. Not so in the kingdom of God. Remember, a different kind of king, a different kind of kingdom. This man would have a servant's heart and not view it as beneath him and was willing to do what what other people wouldn't do.

What could God do? How could the world be drawn to Jesus if we were different like our king? If we were willing to be servants, to do anything to have nothing be beneath us that is attractive to the world and brings glory to God. And so to keep us in that proper place like Mary at the feet of Jesus, let's not think more highly of ourselves than we should and let's go back to the meal, back to the table, not where there was lamb on the table.

In fact, the gospels at the communion stories in the gospels never talk about lamb on the table. There was always lamb at the Passover being served. Well, this was communion. The lamb wasn't on the table. The lamb sat at the table. The lamb of God who came to take away the sins of the world.

And so, let's go back in our mind's eye to that moment as we watch one more clip from season 5 of The Chosen, The Last Supper Scene. In a little while, you will not see me, and then after a little while, you will see me. Truly, truly I say to you, you will weep and lament, but the world will rejoice.

You will be sorrowful, but your sorrow will turn into joy. ((music playing))