Conclave is a 2024 film billed as a “political thriller”
It is, but the politics surround religion at the Vatican.
It is based on a fictional depiction of a gathering(conclave) of cardinals to elect a new Pope.
The Cardinal in charge delivers a sermon where he declares that “The one sin I have come to fear more than any other is certainty.”
“Certainty” he says, “Is the great enemy of unity.”
Certainty…he says, is a sin…and the enemy of unity.
Now the real world in order to have unity in diversity you must have a settled certainty surrounding beliefs, values, and behaviors.
And certainty is a gift, not a sin.
One irony of the film is that this lead Cardinal is absolutely certain about the “wrongness” of the moral and ethical failures he encounters, and he acts with great certainty about the “rightness” of how to proceed.
“Why”…because he can preach uncertainty, but to make decisions in the real world, you have to have some settled certainties.
Then, there is the greatest of all ironies…He preaches with absolutely certainty that you cannot be certain.
He is certain about the sin of certainty.
Everyone lives out of certainty but not everyone’s certainty is based on what is certain.
Much of the National argument around any number of issues is emotional, not rational…even by those who take pride in their own rationality.
Gender transitioning is irrational and is not based on sound science or facts, even non-Christian doctors, politicians and health officials in the UK realize this.
Does America have better or different science than they do? Do we have different data points?
No, “rationality” has been submerged here under a flood of subjective emotions.
People are certain because they FEEL so strongly.
Even Christians who proclaim the Bible as the Word of God are too often prone to trust their feelings over the objective facts of faith.
I have heard people say, they feel “lead” to do something that is directly contrary to what is clearly written in Scripture…so who is leading you?
Well, your own feelings are.
Feelings trump biblical facts.
In the bible, feelings are important, they are part of our design…when God moved in people’s lives they sometimes experienced powerful feelings.
But we trust the facts of the revelation of God…we do not put our certainty in our feelings.
Francis Schaeffer was a brilliant thinker, and a kind and caring evangelist whom God used to shape generations of Christians.
He was accused of being overly “rationalistic” by some, but that is a mischaracterization.
I’ve read all of his books, many more than once…he has been very influential in my life.
His trilogy are his first, and I think, most important books…I have mentioned them before:
The God who is there.
He is there and he is not silent.
Escape from reason.
These together form the foundation for certainty:
- God is there (the implications for this shape everything)
- He is not silent he has spoken (Scripture is the revelation of God, if he had not told us important things we could not have discovered them on our own.)
- Escape from reason:
-Here he addresses what was at the time not widely understood but now has become assumed…it is sometimes known as “postmodernism” but it is the rise of relativism.
-Your truth, my truth…not THE truth.
It includes a distrust of what is called “metanarratives”…grand stories that explain everything.
There is “your story” but not “The Story.”
The worst of all of these metanarrative, is the Christian worldview.
The thing is, there is no escaping a metanarrative…even the rejection of metanarratives, is one.
Christianity, the Bible…as we have been discovering as we have read through…is a single narrative…it does explain everything.
I got my idea of “single story” living from Shaeffer’s book “Escape from reason”
He described how the abandonment of reason in favor of emotion and experience has led to a loss of objective truth and a sense of meaninglessness.
People came to believe that there are downstairs facts…science…the real world.
Then upstairs is where belief and religion (meaning and purpose) are found.
We get upstairs (to meaning) through an irrational leap of faith…we can’t prove our faith…supposedly it’s not faith if it is about facts.
This two-story approach has led to disaster.
Modernity…was the rise of rationalism.
-Humans can discover all the truth they need without any help from God.
-No need for revelation, the Bible.
-So, people could know a lot of the “what” of human existence…but there is no real foundational “why”…no purpose.
This was lost…but people could not live with the loss of meaning.
So instead of returning to God and his Word…to find meaning…they took an irrational leap.
There is no ultimate meaning…so make one up…your truth, my truth.
Look for some experience, some emotion…something within yourself…to give your life meaning.
Modernity was the rise of rationalism…there is no revelation from God, only human discovery.
-With it, a corresponding loss of meaning and purpose.
Postmodernity was the rise of irrationalism…to make up for the loss of meaning.
-I call it irrational, some would say “transrational”…emotional, experiential…my truth…all that.
-There is no true true…all is relative.
-So, you must on your own, discover, invent…a “why” a purpose.
This, has been a failed experiment.
But this is now the air we breathe…it has become the prevailing worldview in the west.
It is the lens through which people see the world.
But our certainty must come from the God who is there, who has spoken.
There isn’t a world of facts and a separate world of faith.
Everyone lives by faith…and everyone, must yield to the facts…reality will always win.
This focus on facts is not the absence of passion…Shaeffer lived with great passion.
In fact, the facts of his faith kept his passion alive.
Because those facts came from a personal God…a God he loved and worshipped.
Schaeffer:
- Taught that the message of Christianity isn’t primarily about “religious experiences,” but about “true Truth.”
Truth outside of us…that starts with God.
- In contending for the truth, Schaeffer sought to do so with gentleness and compassion, and by doing so to demonstrate the holiness and love of God.
Certainty is a gift from God to humans.
If someone is arrogant about a gift…which some Christians have been…then they fail to understand the nature of a gift.
It is given, not earned or deserved.
We are not to be arrogant about certainty…we are to be grateful and humble that God has given it us.
Last week Trace talked about the book, Experiencing God, where Henry Blackaby describes “Seven Realities of Experiencing God”
He said that reality 5, responding to a crisis of faith, is the place where most people miss out on truly experiencing God
Blackaby writes, “When God asks you to do something you cannot do, you will face a crisis of belief. You’ll have to decide what you really believe about God…How you respond to His invitation reveals what you truly believe about God, regardless of what you say.”
Most people, “If they cannot understand exactly how everything is going to happen, they won’t proceed. They want to walk with God by sight, not faith.”
But, he continues, “All of God’s promises and invitations will be meaningless to you unless you believe Him and obey Him.”
Blackaby didn’t advocate for an irrational leap of faith that was divorced from the facts.
Some have misused his work to that end.
Biblical faith is not an irrational leap divorced from facts…because it is a fact that God has spoken.
What this crisis of faith looks in actual practice is that God has said one thing (these are the facts), and our emotions and circumstances seem to be saying another thing.
At that point, many people give more weight to their feelings and their circumstances than to the truth of God.
In our reading through the Bible, we have seen that David has been anointed by Samuel to replace the rebellious Saul.
What follows is nearly 15 years of difficult circumstances (and plenty of emotions) before David actually becomes King.
So, the fulfillment lags way behind the promise…and the fulfillment will often look to be in doubt.
When I say difficult circumstances…I mean these were a very difficult 15 years.
God has given us a great gift in that David who was a good leader, a warrior king…was also a musician and poet.
We have many Psalms that David wrote preserved for us in God’s word.
In his Psalms we read that David was able to pour out his heart to God and find help and hope as a king and a commander, as a father and as a miserable sinful failure…because of the objective truth of God revealed to him.
Many of his Psalms were written during times of great uncertainty, or at least when David remembered those times later in his life.
They are written in the face of human uncertainty, but they are grounded on powerful certainty.
God is there; God has spoken…David’s emotions were continually tethered to the facts of his faith.
His faith was not rationalistic…it started with God, not with his own mind.
Rationalism begins with the human mind, not with God.
But neither was his faith…irrational.
His faith was rational…because God had revealed himself to David…he knew true truth.
It was not an irrational and emotional leap of faith into the dark.
It was a faith in the facts of God.
So, his faith was not cold and void of emotion…David could pour out his heart to God because God is a person, not an impersonal life force.
If we only believe our emotions and our circumstances and not the objective word of God then we will eventually end up in despair.
I have seen it happen.
If we feel what we feel but believe what is real…we will be positioned to become healthy emotionally, mentally, relationally, and spiritually.
What we are going to do next:
- We will look briefly at David’s Psalm 27.
- Then I am going to tell you a personal story.
- Then I will conclude with a challenge and some encouragement from Paul’s letter to the Romans.
If you are reading through the Bible with us you know that early on every aspect of David’s life is contested…his life is enormously difficult.
He is hiding in caves, running for his life, living in desperate situations.
He often doesn’t know who to trust, who will turn against him next.
His life is void of peace.
There is no peace as in the absence of conflict
There is often no peace as in the presence of feelings of well-being.
In all this emotional and circumstantial turmoil, he dreams of being able to Worship God in God’s “house”
He isn’t dreaming of life in the palace, luxury…he longs for space just to worship God.
The way God has wired humans, when we are suffering…our hearts often turn to God, or at least we look for higher purposes than pleasure, and stuff.
This is something, I have seen countless times in my years as a pastor.
During times of suffering and trouble, facing the reality of death…the things of earth, loss their charm.
CS Lewis: “Pain is God’s megaphone to rouse a sleeping world. God whispers in pleasure, but he shouts in our pain.”
David tells himself the truth, because his circumstances and his feelings are telling him something else.
“Heart”…he says to his own inner self….”seek God’s face!”
Outcomes are in doubt…Please don’t turn me over to my foes, he pleads.
Those closest to him have turned on him (even if my mom and dad forsake me, you will receive me).
His feelings are all over the place, his circumstances are terrible…yet he is telling himself the truth.
He concludes with a statement of settled confidence that I quoted in a hospital room a little over a week ago.
“I am certain that I will see the Lord’s goodness in the land of the living. Wait for the Lord;
be strong, and let your heart be courageous. Wait for the Lord.”
He is telling this to himself…and telling ourselves the truth is a vital habit…if you don’t have that habit…get it, start today.
Daivd believes God…even though his feelings and circumstances are saying something else.
Feel what you feel, believe what is real.
Let’s read this Psalm together.
Please stand with me…we are going to read it slowly…pause between lines
Psalm 27
1 The Lord is my light and my salvation—whom should I fear?
The Lord is the stronghold of my life—whom should I dread?
2 When evildoers came against me to devour my flesh, my foes and my enemies stumbled and fell.
3 Though an army deploys against me, my heart will not be afraid; though a war breaks out against me, I will still be confident.
4 I have asked one thing from the Lord; it is what I desire: to dwell in the house of the Lord
all the days of my life, gazing on the beauty of the Lord and seeking him in his temple.
5 For he will conceal me in his shelter in the day of adversity; he will hide me under the cover of his tent; he will set me high on a rock.
6 Then my head will be high above my enemies around me; I will offer sacrifices in his tent with shouts of joy. I will sing and make music to the Lord.
7 Lord, hear my voice when I call; be gracious to me and answer me.
8 My heart says this about you: “Seek his face.” Lord, I will seek your face.
9 Do not hide your face from me; do not turn your servant away in anger. You have been my helper; do not leave me or abandon me, God of my salvation.
10 Even if my father and mother abandon me, the Lord cares for me.
11 Because of my adversaries, show me your way, Lord, and lead me on a level path.
12 Do not give me over to the will of my foes, for false witnesses rise up against me, breathing violence.
13 I am certain that I will see the Lord’s goodness in the land of the living.
14 Wait for the Lord; be strong, and let your heart be courageous.
Wait for the Lord.
I want to tell a very personal story now.
I do this with the intention of illustrating from my own recent life experience the importance and power of having certainty…during times of emotional and circumstantial uncertainty.
Certainty is a gift from God.
Certainty is even more a gift when surrounded by uncertainties.
I have found this to be true in Combat zones, at gravesides, and in many difficult life settings.
A week ago, Friday, I sat, as I have countless times, in a hospital room.
The difference is, this was one of those times, where it was my own kids.
I sat with my wife, daughter and son in law as the doctor laid out what seemed to be an impossible choice for my kids to make…that is all I will say about that.
The room felt dark; the situation felt like despair…the circumstances were terrible.
But, in that room, in that moment…in all that emotional and circumstantial uncertainty.
I will speak only for myself at this point because it would be inappropriate to do otherwise.
In that dark moment…the certainty of God’s Word brought light…and pushed back darkness.
It wasn’t that I merely somehow “felt better”…you can take a drug and feel better for a short time.
What happened is that I turned my mind and heart to what is true…to the certainty of God and his Word.
People will sometimes speak about and pray for “peace” in these kinds of circumstances, but this often is a desire for peace as “feelings of well-being”…as the absence of turmoil.
In these kinds of circumstances rarely have I had…peaceful feelings…sometimes I have, but not usually.
Peace that passes understanding is not about peaceful feelings.
Again, morphine or cocaine can give you those.
Real peace is having certainty, especially in the absence of feelings of well-being.
Certainty in uncertain circumstances.
There was a time in my life when I had no peaceful feelings, no sense of well-being for months on end.
But, I had the peace of certainty even then.
The Psalms are not personal promises of peaceful feelings and the absence of trouble.
They don’t promise that all of life’s difficulties will have a fairy tale ending.
The Psalms are not normally about personal promises at all…they are not written for that.
Scripture is full promises, but that is not the nature of the Psalms.
They are most often:
Heartfelt Prayers, re-shaping perspective, leading to a God-centric life posture.
They are heartfelt prayers, shaping perspective.
They often start with what someone feels, with difficult life circumstances…then before you know the Psalmist is confessing what is true contrary to those feelings and in the middle of those circumstances.
This perspective leads to a God-centric life posture.
Posture can be defined as a “particular way of dealing with something, an approach to something.”
It is positioning yourself for action.
I’ve been working with my grandson Oliver on basketball skills, one thing I continually speak to is his posture.
“Oliver, get your head and eyes up, bend your knees, get off your heels and on your toes, prepare to move”
Have a Basketball posture…get ready to move.
This is what I mean by a God-centric posture…get off your heels on your toes…prepare to move…move to join God where he is at work.
The reason we are often unprepared to join God’s invitation during times of crisis of faith is that we fail to live with a God-centric life posture throughout our lives.
We live on our heels…left of the bang…and are not postured to Join God in the bang.
We must practice believing God, trusting him not merely our emotions or circumstances…throughout our lives.
Challenge again: Feel what you feel, believe what is real.
Life is full of what is to us…uncertainties.
We are limited in wisdom, strength, and we hurt, suffer…don’t know what will happen next.
God has given us, in his Word…certain certainties.
As I read from Romans 8, pay attention to the circumstances and to the facts of faith in this passage.
We wait with patience on God’s unbreakable plan to be completed.
As we wait, we groan…as we groan we believe that God will oversee all things for our ultimate good.
Paul uses the word “groaning” to describe life as it is now…how we experience it, feel it.
Life now is full of pain and disorder…groaning.
We will suffer…suffering involves emotions and circumstances that are unfavorable, difficult…seemingly at odds with the promises of God.
This passage describes the already fulfilled promises of God, we have the Spirit, Christ has won the ultimate victory…and it describes the not yet full experience of the promises of God…meanwhile we groan.
So, wait in faithful patience.
Notice…
Creation groans…things are not right in the world.
We groan…things are often not right in our world.
The Spirit himself groans in intercessory prayer for us to stay encouraged, hopeful, faithful…in this time of things not being right.
I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us. 19 The creation waits in eager expectation for the sons of God to be revealed. 20 For the creation was subjected to frustration, not by its own choice, but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope 21 that the creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the glorious freedom of the children of God. 22 We know that the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time. 23 Not only so, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for our adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies. 24 For in this hope we were saved. But hope that is seen is no hope at all. Who hopes for what he already has? 25 But if we hope for what we do not yet have, we wait for it patiently. 26 In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groans that words cannot express. 27 And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints in accordance with God’s will. 28 And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. 29 For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the likeness of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. 30 And those he predestined, he also called; those he called, he also justified; those he justified, he also glorified. 31 What, then, shall we say in response to this? If God is for us, who can be against us? 32 He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all—how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things? 33 Who will bring any charge against those whom God has chosen? It is God who justifies. 34 Who is he that condemns? Christ Jesus, who died—more than that, who was raised to life—is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us. 35 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? 36 As it is written: “For your sake we face death all day long; we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered.”37 No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. 38 For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, 39 neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Nothing can separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Of this you can be…CERTAIN.