CHAPTER 1

TRUST GOD WHEN LIFEIS TURBULENT

Scripture: Matthew 11:2-6

A few years ago while on vacation, our family went togetherto hear our friend Paul Rasmussen preach. Paul is now thesenior minister of that church, but at the time he was a ministerialstudent at Perkins School of Theology at SMU and a studentintern. He and our son, Jeff, have been best friends since they werefive years old, and over the years Paul has been like family to us.

We were so proud of him that Sunday morning. He did anoutstanding job in the pulpit. In his sermon, Paul said thatearlier in the summer the senior pastor explained to him thatthey had a situation in the youth department and needed Paulto be the interim youth minister until they could find areplacement.

One week later, Paul found himself with a bunch of senior highyoung people getting ready to go whitewater rafting down theOcoee River in Chattanooga, Tennessee. Paul said he supposedthis was covered in his contract under the phrase other duties asassigned. Most people—and especially the kids-were excited andlooking forward to the trip. Paul was not! He was dreading thiswhitewater rafting experience for three dramatic reasons:

"First," he said, "I don't like to swim at all."

"Second," he said, "I don't like to be cold at all."

"And third," he said, "I have seen the movie Deliverance."

Things got worse when the guides arrived. Most of them wereseasoned veterans. One guy had been doing this for over twentyyears and in all that time his boat had capsized only twice. Butdid Paul and his group get him? No. They got "Fuzz."

Fuzz was a free-spirited college student who had been a riverguide for less than a week. As soon as Paul saw Fuzz, his firstthought was, Abort! Abort!

The trip turned out to be an unforgettable experience, but Paulhad still not recovered mentally, emotionally, or physically. Theyrafted class III, IV, and V rapids. For those of you who have neverbeen rafting, that means "bad," "real bad," and "real, real bad!"Paul fell out of the boat three times. The water was freezing, andas he was bouncing around in the rocks and the rapids, feelinglike a human pinball, he said he was thinking unchristianthoughts about Fuzz—and about the senior minister. After goingoverboard for the second time, he said he came up out of thewater and was sure that he saw vultures circling overhead.

Paul said the third time he fell out wasn't his fault. About fivemiles into the trip, for no apparent reason, Fuzz, the river guide,did a weird thing. Right in the middle of a class IV rapid calledHell's Hole, Fuzz stood up in the boat, jumped straight up into theair, and disappeared into the river. He was gone—lifejacket andall.

Meanwhile, Paul and the young people, deserted by theirguide, had to try to navigate Hell's Hole all alone. They didn'tmake it. They flipped over pretty quickly and all fell into theriver. A minute or so later, Fuzz shot back up out of the water, nottoo far from where he had jumped in. It was absolute pandemonium.Two other boats had to come to the rescue to pull Paul andFuzz and all those young people out of the rapids.

When they finally got everybody to safety back on shore,Paul turned to Fuzz and said, "Fuzz, what in the world were youthinking?"

Fuzz said, "You don't understand. That's the best part of theriver. That's where the vortex is."

Fuzz explained it like this: Right at that point in the river, thewater churns like a tornado. The vortex is like the eye of thestorm. If you can jump out just right and hit the vortex (evenwith your lifejacket on), you can drift peacefully to the bottom,under eight feet of water.

Fuzz said, "It's amazing. It's so peaceful down there. There isturbulence all around you, but there in the vortex, it's peacefuland calm and serene."

Let me tell you something about the vortex. You can stay downthere as long as you want to—except for one thing: you can'tbreathe there! At some point, no matter how great the sensation,you have to leave the vortex and come up for air. You do that bystepping back into the turbulence so it shoots you right up to thesurface, where you can breathe again. The vortex feels pleasantfor a short while, but if you stay there, you suffocate. The onlyway to survive is to get back into the turbulence.

Since I heard Paul's sermon, I have thought a lot about Fuzzand the vortex. The truth is that many people go through life likethat: looking for the vortex, even if it means deserting the peoplethey are responsible to and for; trying to escape the turbulence oflife, trying to find that quiet, serene place where all is calm andpeaceful.

Many of us long for that. We are looking for the vortex. Wedream of that safe place that's protected from the turbulence,from the hardships, challenges, and problems of the world. Andthe bad news is we can find it pretty easily, or at least we thinkwe can—in drugs, in alcohol, in affairs, or even in some off-brandreligion that offers serenity in some easy quick-fix plan for nineteendollars down and nineteen dollars a month.

But the problem is that the vortex isn't real. There is no lastingvortex! And even if there were, no matter how great the sensationmay feel in the short run, it never lasts. At some point, youhave to come up for air. You can't stay there. If you do, you suffocate.The point is clear: real life is in the turbulence.

Now, of course, we all remember that even Jesus had momentswhen he needed quiet time—time apart, time away, time to meditateand think and pray—but don't miss this: he didn't staythere. He came back to live in the turbulence. He came back tohelp people with their hurts, their struggles, their problems.

That's what this Scripture passage is about in Matthew 11.John the Baptist has been arrested by King Herod and throwninto prison, and John is tired of the turbulence of life. In otherwords, he wants Jesus to hurry up and bring a new kingdom, tozap the Romans—and quickly—with his power, to create a newera of peace and prosperity and tranquility.

John the Baptist and Jesus were cousins, and Cousin John getsa little impatient with Jesus. He wants Jesus to hurry up and leadthem to some quiet, calm, serene vortex. So, as only one cousincould do to another, John sends his disciples out to Jesus with apointed question: "Are you the one who is to come, or are we towait for another?" What are you waiting for? When are you goingto get with the program? Why don't you hurry up and establishthis kingdom we have all been longing for and waiting for?

Look now at how Jesus answers the disciples of John theBaptist. He says, "Go tell John what you see and hear. The blindreceive their sight. The lame walk. Lepers are cleansed. The deafhear, the dead are raised up, and the poor have good newsbrought to them."

What was Jesus saying to John? Simply this: real life is in theturbulence.

The Kingdom is not found in some safe, comfortable nest insulatedfrom the problems of the world. The Kingdom is the powerof love reaching out to those who are needy, to those who aresick, to those who are broken, to those who are hurting, andbringing them help and hope and healing. That's where theKingdom is. That's where the breath of real life is!

Jesus is saying to John, "Look, John, I am bringing theKingdom, but it's not a kingdom of wealth and clout and militarymight. It's not a kingdom of calm repose and tranquility hiddenaway from the struggles of life. No, it's a Kingdom of love and sacrificeand service to others. And that's where real life is found—notin the vortex, but in the turbulence.

Let me show you what I mean with three quick thoughts.

1. Real Life Is Found in the Turbulence of Daily Living

Real life is not found so much in arriving at some longed-fordestination as it is in the excitement and the challenges and theopportunities of the journey. And when we learn that, it changesour lives. When we learn that, it enables us to embrace life withboth hands.

But somehow we get it all mixed up. We get duped into thinkingthat real life is out there somewhere. It's somewhere off in thedistance. And we long for it, look for it, wish for it, dream of it—andwhile we are doing all that longing and looking and wishingand dreaming, life passes us by. Life happens and we miss it!

Recently a friend sent me an article that says it well. Theauthor is unknown, but it has a great title: "Dance like No One'sWatching."

We convince ourselves that life will be better after we get married,have a baby, and then have another. Then we are frustratedthat the kids aren't old enough and we'll be morecontent when they are. After that, we're frustrated that wehave teenagers to deal with. We will certainly be happy whenthey are out of that stage. We tell ourselves that our life will becomplete when our spouse gets his or her act together, or whenwe get a new car, or a nice vacation, or when we retire. But thetruth is there's no better time to be happy than right now. Ifnot now, when? Our lives will always be filled with challenges.It's best to admit that to ourselves and to decide to be happyanyway.

Alfred D. Souza put it like this: "For a long time it had seemedto me that life was about to begin ... real life. But there wasalways some obstacle in the way, something to be gotten throughfirst, some unfinished business, time still to be served, or a debt tobe paid. Then, life would begin. At last it dawned on me thatthese obstacles were my life."

So treasure every moment you have and treasure it more whenyou have someone special to share it with. Stop waiting around.Decide that there is no better time than right now to be happy.Happiness is a journey, not a destination. So work like you don'tneed money. Love like you've never been hurt. And dance likeno one's watching!

This is precisely what Jesus was underscoring in Matthew 11.Real life is now! So seize it with both hands; embrace it with botharms; love it with all your strength; celebrate it with all yourheart. Real life is not in some tranquil vortex cut off from theworld and its problems. Real life is found first of all in the turbulenceof daily living.

2. Real Life Is Found in the Turbulence of Unselfish Service

Broadly speaking, there are two kinds of people in the world:sick people and healthy people. The sick people go miserablythrough life saying, "For God's sake, love me." And the healthypeople go happily through life saying, "For God's sake, let me loveyou."

You want to be happy? You want real fulfillment? You want reallife? Here's how you find it: go find somebody in need today andhelp them. Go find somebody hurting today and comfort them.Go find somebody struggling today and encourage them.

In his book The Cherry Log Sermon, Dr. Fred Craddock tellsabout an experience he had as a visiting preacher. One Sundayafternoon, a van pulled up in the church parking lot and agroup of young people got out. They were a rag-tag lookinggroup, tired and dirty and sweaty and rumpled. "What is this?"Dr. Craddock asked. "Oh, they are members of our church.They have been on a mission work project." For one week thoseyoung people joined with others to build a little church foranother community. Now they were exhausted. They were sittingon their sleeping bags, waiting for their parents to comepick them up.

Dr. Craddock went over to one of the boys and asked, "Are youtired?"

The boy said, "Whew! Am I tired? Oh man, am I tired!" Thenhe said, "But this is the best tired I've ever been."

Why did he say that? Because he had been out there in the turbulenceof the world, unselfishly helping others, reaching out toothers, serving others, sacrificing for others, making a differencefor others.

That's what Jesus was doing and talking about in Matthew 11.Real life is not found in some sheltered cocoon far away fromthe stress of the world. Real life is found in the turbulence-inthe turbulence of daily living and in the turbulence of unselfishservice.

3. Real Life Is Found in the Turbulence of Sacrificial Love

Time and again over the years, I have seen it played out in hospitalrooms: the dramatic and touching picture of what real lovelooks like.

Let me give you one illustration. It was a Tuesday morning, andas I was making hospital calls, I stepped into the room where afriend and church member Ted was a patient. Ted had endured atough night and now was having a tough morning. He was feelingclammy and nauseated. He pushed himself upright in his hospitalbed, and the heart monitor went into a frenetic scribble. Hiswife Betty was there with him. She would not leave his side. Shepulled her chair closer to Ted. "I'm thirsty," Ted said in a hoarsevoice. Betty placed the straw to his lips as he pulled the oxygenmask to the side. He was feeling sick and close to upchucking.Betty grabbed the basin just in case he needed it. She wrappedher arm around him and held him lovingly as she dabbed his facewith a wet cloth. This is what it's really all about. It's called "sacrificiallove." It's not Brad Pitt throwing smoldering glances at hisbeautiful co-star as she positions herself in a seductive pose. No,it's "Let me help you sit up. Let me get you some water. Let mehold your hand. Let me dab your brow with a cool cloth. I'm herefor you no matter how long the struggle. I'm here. Don't you forgetthat. You can count on me."

That's what real love is.

Now, let me ask you something: do you know what it is to lovelike that? Do you love anybody like that? You can't live in a vortexand love like that. Jesus Christ came into the world to teachus the real meaning of love, and he showed us in a manger, heshowed us with his healing touch, he showed us on a cross. Reallove is sacrificial, self-giving, and generous, and that's the wayGod meant life to be lived—not in some secluded, isolated vortex,but rather in the turbulence of daily living, in the turbulenceof unselfish service, and in the turbulence of sacrificial love.