SERMON: JOY IN THE SUFFERING

JOY IN THE SUFFERING
22 November 2009

I. Introduction
-- turn in Bibles to Hebrews 12

1. Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us.
2. Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.
3. Consider him who endured such opposition from sinful men, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.

-- in the 17th century, the world experienced one of the most devastating conflicts known to man -- starting as a religious conflict between Protestants and Catholics, the Thirty Years' War soon spread to erupt all of Europe in the fighting -- but what made this war so devastating was not the military battles, but the complete destruction of entire regions and the whole-sale slaughter of innocent people
-- during this war, German pastor Paul Gerhardt and his family were forced to flee from their home for their very lives -- they traveled throughout the country, homeless and afraid, not knowing where they might find safety or shelter with so much destruction going on around them
-- One night, as they sought shelter in a small village inn, Gerhardt's wife broke down and wept bitterly in the midst of her despair -- the constant traveling -- the hiding -- the desperation of their situation finally broke her to her core -- she was worried about her children -- about her family -- and she saw no hope and no end to their struggles to survive
-- Gerhardt tried to comfort her by reminding her of Scripture promises about God's provision and keeping -- but the promises came forth like empty platitudes in the midst of their situation -- finally, Gerhardt, too, broke down and wept at the hopelessness he felt -- they had come to their darkest hour and all hope was gone -- the suffering was too great -- soon, the blackness would overwhelm them and his family would be destroyed
-- but, praying there in a garden near the inn, Gerhardt felt his burden lifted and sensed anew the Lord's presence -- he took his pen and wrote a hymn called "Give to the winds thy fears," that has brought comfort to many.
-- here are part of the words that God gave Gerhardt in that hymn that night -- "Give to the winds thy fears -- hope, and be undismayed -- God hears thy sighs and counts thy tears -- God shall lift up thy head -- Through waves and clouds and storms He gently clears the way -- Wait thou His time -- so shall the night soon end in joyous day."

-- there have always been times in the lives of God's people when the darkness threatened to overwhelm -- when it seemed like all hope was gone -- when it seemed like God would never appear again
-- we only have to think of Job, and the suffering that he endured -- the loss of his family -- his wealth -- his health -- and all that he had
-- we only have to think of the holocaust and the lives of six million Jews who suffered and died at the hands of the Nazis
-- and, we only have to think of our brothers and sisters in Christ who are imprisoned at this very hour -- some in the most horrific of places -- some facing torture and the prospect of execution -- to realize that some have faced -- and are facing -- suffering and persecution so great that hope seems a distant dream
-- the chapter that precedes the passage that we opened with -- Hebrews 11 -- sometimes called the "Hall of Faith" -- is filled with the stories of men and women who suffered in this lifetime at the hands of others
-- Hebrews 11:35-39 says, they "were tortured and refused to be released" -- "Some faced jeers and flogging, while still others were chained and put in prison. -- They were stoned ; they were sawed in two; they were put to death by the sword. -- They went about in sheepskins and goatskins, destitute, persecuted and mistreated -- the world was not worthy of them -- They wandered in deserts and mountains, and in caves and holes in the ground" -- and yet, they "were all commended for their faith"
-- how can this be? -- how are men and women able to endure such sufferings -- to face such trials and persecutions -- and yet not lose their faith? -- that is the question that I want us to consider this morning

II. Scripture Lesson (Hebrews 12:1-3)
-- look back at Hebrews 12 and let's start there -- before we read this again, let me give you the context
-- this letter was written around 64 AD to encourage the early Jewish Christians in the face of persecution by the Roman Emperor Nero following the devastating fire in Rome
-- as you probably know from your history, Nero blamed the fire in Rome on the Christians and had the people turn on them -- Christians were betrayed by their friends and arrested and thrown in prison -- "many Christians were crucified -- Some were sewn up in the skins of wild beasts -- and then big dogs were let loose on them, and they were torn to pieces -- Women were tied to bulls and dragged to death -- Nero even went so far as to coat Christians in oil, tie them to stakes, and set them on fire at night to provide light for people to visit his garden while he "drove around in his chariot enjoying the spectacle
-- it was a time of extreme suffering -- it was a time when many were losing hope and turning from their faith in Christ
-- and, so, the author wrote this letter to remind them of the hope that they had in Christ and to encourage them to remain faithful in the face of persecution and suffering

-- look back at verse 1

1. Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us.

-- the author begins by reminding the Jewish Christians of those who had gone before -- of those who had faced similar persecution and suffering in their own lives -- but who had remained faithful to the end
-- he uses the analogy of a race to point out to them that the purpose of life in Christ is not to focus on what you receive now -- whether good or bad -- but to focus on what comes at the end
-- when you run a race, you don't expect to receive the reward in the middle -- if you're going to receive the prize, you have to continue on until you cross the finish line
-- I have a friend who runs marathons -- and she says that in the middle of a race, you hit what the runners call "the wall" -- it's a place where many people give up and quit -- they face extreme fatigue -- they face suffering -- their body starts to collapse on them and a lot of them lose control of their bodily functions -- she told me that the only way to make it past "the wall" was to think of the end -- to focus on finishing the race -- on crossing the finish line -- she said that if you have your goal firmly in mind, you can press on past the pain and persevere and endure all the hardship of running the race
-- that's the picture that we see here -- the writer says, "You're going to hit the wall -- you're going to feel like it's too hard -- you're going to feel like giving up -- but throw off all that is hindering you -- all that is slowing you down -- think about the end -- think about the reward that is waiting for you in Christ -- and keep on keeping on until you reach the final victory"

-- as we've talked about before, this is a problem that we have in our modern world -- we don't like to wait -- we want it now -- we want instant gratification for all our wants and needs and desires
-- this is what is driving the prosperity theology and the "feel good" messages that are so prominent in our culture today -- this is what makes Joel Osteen such a popular preacher -- because he and others like him tell us that God wants us to be successful and happy and wealthy -- they tell us we can have our best life now and that if we're not getting it, it is because we don't have enough faith

-- I even heard a preacher one time make the claim that if you had faith, God would make you rich -- he told people that even if they couldn't pay the electric bill right now, that if they would go ahead and send him a donation for his ministry, that God would bless that and one day they would own the electric company
-- but the claims of all these people fall in the face of the biblical witness -- God's focus is not on making us wealthy here on earth -- God's focus is not on what we might get now -- God's focus is on the future -- on our eternal life -- on the end of the race
-- that is why Christians sometimes suffer and die -- and that is why the author here encourages us to be faithful and to endure and persevere through the trials and troubles of life because we know a better life awaits

-- verse 2

2. Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.
3. Consider him who endured such opposition from sinful men, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.

-- the author tells us, "Don't look at your circumstances -- don't focus on your suffering -- look instead to Jesus -- focus on the promises that you have in Him"
-- in Romans 8: 18, the Apostle Paul wrote, "I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us." -- in other words, whatever suffering I face right now pales in comparison to the reward that awaits me in Jesus -- whether that's suffering in prison or in sickness or even in death
-- the author here in this verse tells us that Jesus endured the suffering of the cross -- He willingly took upon Himself our sins and our punishment and the entire wrath of God -- all because of the joy that was before Him
-- Jesus didn't want to go to the cross -- He prayed in the Garden of Gethsemene for that cup to be taken from Him -- but, when the Father said, "no" -- Jesus faithfully endured the flogging and the suffering on the cross because He knew what the future held -- He knew that this was part of His journey -- the middle of the race -- and not the end
-- the author says here, "Think of Jesus -- think of what He did -- think of what He endured -- think of what He promises -- so that you will not grow weary and lose heart in the face of your own suffering

III. Closing
-- in 1 Peter 4:12-13, Peter reminds us that it is normal for Christians to face trials and persecutions -- it is normal for us to suffer in our present life -- he wrote, "Dear friends, do not be surprised at the painful trial you are suffering, as though something strange were happening to you -- but rejoice that you participate in the sufferings of Christ, so that you may be overjoyed when his glory is revealed."
-- both Peter and the writer of Hebrews give us the same answer to our initial question, "How do we endure suffering?" -- their answer, "Rejoice in what suffering can produce and in the promise of eternal life with Christ"
-- you know, honestly, most of us Christians in America don't suffer or face trials greater than anyone else -- what we face is really nothing compared to our brothers and sisters in other countries around the world -- so, sometimes it's hard for us to know what to tell people when they're going through a hard time -- when they're facing trials that are so great that hope is lost

-- I faced such a situation a couple of weeks ago in the prison -- as part of the Kairos weekend, we ask the men to prepare a map of their life that shows the ups and downs -- the highs and the lows -- both physical and spiritual
-- and for most of them, they looked at that timeline of their life and realized that, in a very real way, their life here on earth was over -- many of them were going to be in prison their whole life -- they would never experience freedom again -- and rightly so, because they were having to face the consequences of their wrong choices that led them to that place
-- but, the purpose of this exercise was not to make them feel bad -- to take away their hope and their faith -- the purpose of the exercise was exactly the opposite -- it was to show them how they could experience joy in the midst of their suffering by looking to the future that Christ promised -- to eternal life with Him -- rather than focusing on the walls of their prison and their current situation
-- just as God told the German pastor Paul Gerhardt -- we told them to lift up their heads -- to wait for God's time -- because soon the night would end in joyous day as they entered God's eternal life and enjoyed being with Jesus forever
-- this is the lesson to us -- this is the answer to enduring sufferings and trials and persecutions -- to not look at what we are going through, but to look to the future and to trust and believe in the promise of God

-- I want to close by leaving you with a story that Richard Wurmbrand in his book, "In God's Underground"
-- he tells the story of a doctor in the early days of the church who was unjustly imprisoned by the emperor -- After some weeks his family were allowed to see him, and at first they wept -- His clothes were rags -- and all he got for his meals was a slice of bread with a cup of water every day-- yet he was bright and cheerful and full of joy
-- His wife asked, "How is it you look so well? You have the air of one who has just come from a wedding!" -- The doctor smilingly replied that he found a remedy for all troubles -- he said, "I have discovered a tea which is good against all suffering and sorrow -- It contains seven herbs that I found here in this place"
-- "The first herb is called contentedness: be satisfied with what you have. I may shiver in my rags as I gnaw on a crust, but how much worse off would I be if the emperor had thrown me into the dungeon naked and with nothing at all to eat!
-- "The second herb is common sense. Whether I rejoice or worry, I shall still be in prison, so why complain? -- I must simply endure what God has allowed
-- "The third herb is remembrance of past sins: by counting them and considering the punishment I would face for them if Christ had not paid their debt, I realized that even this time in prison is letting me off lightly
-- "The fourth herb is the thought of the sorrows which Christ bore gladly for us. If the only man who ever could choose his fate on earth chose pain, what great value He must have seen in it! So we observe that, borne with serenity and joy, suffering redeems.
-- "The fifth herb is the knowledge that suffering has been given to us by God as from a father, not to harm us, but to cleanse and sanctify us. The suffering through which we pass has the purpose of purifying us, and preparing us for heaven.
-- "The sixth herb is the knowledge that no suffering can harm a Christian life -- If the pleasures of the flesh are all, then pain and prison bring an end to a man's aim in living; but if the core of life is truth, that is something which no prison cell can change -- In prison or out of it, two and two make four -- Prison cannot stop me from loving: iron bars cannot exclude faith. If these ideals make up my life. I can be serene anywhere.
-- `The last herb in the recipe is hope. The wheel of life may put the emperor's physician in prison, but it goes on turning. It may put me back into the palace, and even put me on the throne -- if not, then my hope remains in Christ's eternal life"

-- wise words for all of us who face sufferings and trials and persecutions in our lives -- the secret to enduring these times is to fix our eyes on Jesus and to focus on the goal that awaits at the end of the race
-- let's pray