Pastor Elwin Ahu
September 14, 2008 - W0837

Do you ever run across things that don’t make sense?  For example, have you ever watched a woman put on mascara?  Why is her mouth never closed?  It doesn’t make sense!  Or have you watched as someone at a fast food place orders a double cheeseburger, large order of fries, and a diet coke?  Why?  It doesn’t make sense!  Well have you ever found yourself in a position where you’re doing all that you can for God but then you run into obstacles or potholes?  It just doesn’t seem to make sense, does it?

Well, today we’re continuing our series called Making Mondays Count and we’re going to talk about what we should be doing when we’re doing all that we can for God but things just don’t seem to be working out.  There are a lot of things in life that don’t seem to make but what about Bible verses?  They’re God’s word?  They should make sense, right?  Well how about this verse:

“But how is it your credit if you receive a beating for doing wrong and endure it?  But if you suffer for doing good and you endure it, this is commendable before God.  To this you were called, because Christ suffered for you, leaving you an example, that you should follow in His steps.” (1 Pet. 2:20-21 NIV)

When I read this passage, I thought, “Peter, I just don’t understand this...to suffer for doing good – and that’s good?”

In the society and world we live in, we were raised to think that if we’re doing good, we’re not supposed to suffer.  When you’re doing everything you can to follow God and something bad befalls you – e.g., the break-up of a relationship, an illness, you lose your job…or it rains on your Ho’olaule’a – what do you do?  When misfortune befalls you, how you react is the most critical thing in determining your favor in God’s eyes and your testimony to the ones around you who may not know God directly but are trying to assess His character based on you.

I believe that one of the biggest challenges for us in making Mondays count is the inability to endure unjust suffering.  One thing that we all have in common – both Christians and non-Christians – is that we will all suffer.  But for us Christians, how we respond is what’s important.

When God made us, He designed us as survivors.  For example, if you throw a child who doesn’t know how to swim in water, he or she will splash their arms and kick their feet to fight to reach air.  And if you put a man in a desert without food or water, he will eat leaves to get water and bugs to get protein/sustenance to survive.  In fact, I think that’s where those Chinese delicacies of marinated scorpion and barbequed roaches all started – from the need to survive!

Men are wired to be survivors but we don’t like to suffer so we rearrange things in our lives to avoid suffering.  So how do we respond to suffering?

1.     RESPONSES TO SUFFERING

·    AVOIDANCE

If there’s anyone who deserves to avoid suffering, it was Jesus:

“He committed no sin, and no deceit was found in His mouth.  When they hurled their insults at Him, He did not retaliate; when He suffered, He made no threats.  Instead, He entrusted Himself to Him who judges justly.” (1 Pet. 2:22-23 NIV)

Jesus patiently and humbly endured suffering.  He was the Son of an omnipotent God yet He endured the sin and suffering of all of mankind that we would be reconciled and would have everlasting life if we so choose.

Have you seen the movie The Passion of Christ?  If you haven’t, you should consider it.  It does a wonderful job of showing just how much suffering Jesus endured for us.  I was trying to find a clip for today’s sermon that demonstrates how much He cares for us by how much He endured for us but I couldn’t find a clip that could be shown to a G(eneral) audience.

Whereas we tend to avoid suffering whenever possible, Jesus took a different approach:

·    SUBMISSION

Jesus didn’t choose to suffer; rather, He chose to submit.

“‘Father, if You are willing, remove this cup from Me; yet not My will, but Yours be done.’  And being in agony He was praying very fervently; and His sweat became like drops of blood, falling down upon the ground.” (Luke 22:42,44)

He continually turned Himself over to the Lord because He had a complete belief and trust that God was in control.  “And Jesus, crying out with a loud voice, said, ‘Father, into Thy hands I commit My spirit.’” (Luke 23:46)

Sometimes when we’re going through tough times, we think, “Am I doing this right?  Am I doing the right thing?”  In those times, let me encourage you to turn the focus off of yourself and onto the Lord, as Jesus did.

We’ve been conditioned to think that good things happen to good people but that isn’t always the case.  The reality is…

2.     REALITY CHECK:  LIFE IS UNFAIR; GOD IS NOT.

Don’t get confused in seasons of suffering.  Don’t question your purpose and your calling (e.g., as a submissive wife, an obedient employee, or a humble servant) when things don’t seem to be going well in spite of doing all that you can for God because you need to remember that Life is unfair but God is not!

Remember, God’s creative order did not include suffering.  Suffering only occurred because of the disobedience of Adam and Eve.  Because of their sin, suffering was brought into this world.  The world is full of wickedness because of man’s doing, not God.  We often confuse Life with God.  We suffer because of the facts of Life, not because of the will of God.  In fact, in hard times, I think God stands right alongside us and anguishes at our suffering. 

There is a well-known Christian author by the name of Phil Yancey who was writing an article about people’s disappointment with God.  He got a lot of letters and stories from people but he went to interview a man that, of all of the people he knew, thought had the greatest right to be disappointed with God.  This gentleman, Douglas, was righteous man who gave up a lucrative practice as a psychotherapist to worth with poor inner-city people.  Soon after, his wife was diagnosed with breast cancer which seriously impacted not just her life but the lives of their entire family.  Then to make matters worse, the family was involved in a serious traffic accident where a drunk driver ran into them head-on, causing their 12-year old daughter to be thrown threw the front windows, his wife to be hurt as well, and Douglas with serious vision problems due to hitting his head on the dashboard.  In spite of everything that had happened to him, when Phil asked Douglas to tell me about his disappointment with God, this is what Douglas had to say:

“You know, Philip, I don't think I've ever been disappointed with God...I learned a long time ago and especially through this accident not to confuse God with life. Is life unfair? You bet. My life has been unfair. What has happened to my wife, what has happened to my daughter, what has happened to me, it's unfair. But I think God feels exactly the same way. I think He is grieved and hurt by what that drunk driver did as much as I am. Don't confuse God with life."*

In fact, we hear Bible stories all the time about how life is unfair, take Job for example.  He was a wealthy, prosperous man who had a large family (ten children), yet lost his wealth, children, and health virtually overnight.  All he had left was his wife and three friends to told him to “Curse God and die," and told him “God is punishing you because of something bad that you have done," respectively.  But Job’s response was, “And [Job] said, ‘Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked I shall return there.  The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away.  Blessed be the name of the Lord.’ Through all this Job did not sin nor did he blame God.” (Job 1:21-22)

Job [and Douglas] recognized that God did not cause all of this.  On the contrary, we often forget the price that God paid for us – for our healing and salvation:

“But He was pierced for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon Him, and by His wounds we are healed.”  (Is. 53:5 NIV)

God has a plan for us so don’t let the wickedness and suffering of this world define us.  I think the wise old tortoise character from the animated movie Kung Fu Panda put it in perspective when he said, “Yesterday is history.  Tomorrow is a mystery.  But today is a gift; that’s why it’s called the present.”

3.     DON’T LET THE PAIN OF YOUR PAST AND THE FEAR OF YOUR FUTURE DEFINE YOUR PRESENT.

Psalm 118:24 says, “This is the day which the LORD has made; Let us rejoice and be glad in it.”  It is easy to be afraid of what the future holds for us based on the pain of our past but the scriptures tell us to “rejoice and be glad” this day, today!

“Don’t be afraid, for I will protect you.  I call you by name, you are Mine.  When you pass through the waters, I am with you; when you pass through the streams, they will not overwhelm you.  When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned; the flames will not harm you.  For I am the Lord your God, the Holy One of Israel…” (Is. 43:1-3 NET)

We have God’s assurance that He is watching over us and the He will protect us as long as we trust in Him.  And it is proven over and over in the Bible that God’s favor is not demonstrated by the smoothness or uneventfulness of our lives.  On the contrary, if you look at just about every person in the Bible who was following God’s Will, you will see that they almost always faced great adversity:  Daniel and the lions, Noah and the flood, and of course, Job. The thing about these people who were favored by God is that they able to separate the physical reality of their lives from the spiritual reality of their relationship with God.

“‘The Lord is my portion,’ says my soul, ‘Therefore I have hope in Him.’” (Lam 3:24)

The Road to God’s favor is not paved smooth for us to glide through life, but rather rocky and difficult – which much adversity and suffering along the way.  Yet our response to that suffering should not be avoidance, but rather submission.  Jesus was the prime example for whom Life was unfair, but He understood that God is not so He fully submitted His life to His Father’s hand.

Don’t let the pain of your past and the fear of your future define your present.  Rather, “Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him and He will make your paths straight” (Proverbs 3:5).  Give your burdens and suffering to the Lord – the one who loves you  -- and let Him comfort you in your times of need.

*  For Phil Yancey’s complete article on “Disappointment with God,” see http://www.csec.org/csec/sermon/yancey_3302.htm. 

DISCUSSION SUGGESTIONS

1.      How do you typically handle suffering?  What is your response?

2.      What does it mean to submit to your suffering?  How is that different from what you may be doing today?

3.      Think of someone you believe has suffered greatly but has not turned that disappointment on God.  What can you learn from them and how can you apply it to your own life?

4.      What pains of your past have created stumbling blocks in your walk with Christ?  And how have those pains affected your walk?

5.      What steps can you take to let go of your fear of the future?  And what steps can you take to define your present within the favor of God?