Into the Unknown

For a solid six months - after Frozen 2 released - my two youngest daughters demanded the sound track to be played every night at bed time.  And since we often would lay in with them until they fell asleep, I quickly memorized every word to every song (not by choice).  Even to this day I can give you a rousing rendition of Into the Unknown…minus the octave levels of Idina Menzel. 

The chorus of that song rattled around in my head recently as I thought about the changes coming in the life of our church.  This upcoming Sunday we are multiplying to two gatherings for the sake of creating more space for more people in our city to encounter Jesus and follow his way.

Changes like this are helpful reminders to me of a story that plays out over and over again in the Bible.  Often God calls his people to journey into the unknown.  In fact it’s where God does some of his most formative work on his people.  More often than not God calls people in a direction where the outcome is unclear and the results are not known.

One of my favorite Bible stories is of three Hebrew men who were called into such an unknown.  Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego were forced to make the choice to either bow in worship to King Nebuchadnezzar (which would be sinning against the One true God) or disobey and be thrown into a blazing hot furnace.  We read in Daniel chapter three what they chose.

Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego answered and said to the king, “O Nebuchadnezzar, we have no need to answer you in this matter. If this be so, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and he will deliver us out of your hand, O king. But if not, be it known to you, O king, that we will not serve your gods or worship the golden image that you have set up” (vv.16-18).

What is so striking - if you stop and think about this deeply for one second - is that they remained so confident despite not having ANY idea how this would work out.  They resolved to trust God regardless of the outcome.

Reflecting on this text Tim Keller wrote, “Their confidence was actually in God, not in their limited understanding of what they thought he would do.  They had inner assurance that God would rescue them…they were not so arrogant as to be sure they were ‘reading God right.’  They knew he was under no obligation to operate according to their limited wisdom.”

And so they were tossed into the fiery furnace.  It’s a reminder in seasons where big change is about to take place that we walk by faith not by sight.  We step forward in obedience not because we have assurances of the outcome but because we have confidence in the One who called us forward.  Which is why the end of this story is so important.  

Yes, the three men were thrown into the furnace but watch what happens next: “Then King Nebuchadnezzar was astonished and rose up in haste. He declared to his counselors, “Did we not cast three men bound into the fire?” They answered and said to the king, “True, O king.” He answered and said, “But I see four men unbound, walking in the midst of the fire, and they are not hurt; and the appearance of the fourth is like a son of the gods” (vv.24-25).

We may not know the outcome but we have the promise of Jesus’ presence.  In Daniel 3 we have Christophany, an instance where Jesus - the Son of God - temporarily shows up on the scene.  Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego didn’t know how things would turn out but they did know that God, himself, stood next to them through it.  In the past several months i’ve had several people ask how they think things will go when we move to two gatherings.  And the honest answer is…I’m not 100% sure.  

There are many reasons why our elders think this will be an incredible move for our church.  Reasons which have compelled us to make the necessary changes to move forward.  But even with all the insight, statistics, and wise counsel we don’t know the outcome.  And yet we know the promise of the One who has called us forward in taking these steps: “And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age” (Matthew 28:18-20).

Port City we are entering into the unknown but we are doing it with Son of God not just beside us but in us.