THE SUFFERING WE ENDURE #3/3

#1 · June 2, 2003, 11:24 am

Quote from Forum Archives on June 2, 2003, 11:24 am
Posted by: bhfbc <bhfbc@...>

THE SUFFERING WE ENDURE #3/3

MAKING KNOWN GOD'S WAYS

June 1, 2003

Text: Psalm 67

Almost every weekday at Benson Baptist Church, the church I served in Omaha, the basement fellowship hall was turned over to an agency that served lunches to senior citizens. Among the regulars at this noonday meal was a gentleman I describe as polite but contrary - sort of the self-styled philosopher - always ready, willing, and able to debate any side of any topic. >From past encounters, I had the feeling he was skeptical toward most religious thought.

One day, he caught me in the hallway - again - with one of his ever-present questions. The day before there had been a major, devastating earthquake elsewhere in the world. There was significant damage, injuries, deaths, and the many miseries that go along with such a disaster. He began this day by asking if I had heard about the tragedy. I replied that I had. Then his question: "If there is a God, why did this happen? Why is there so much suffering?"

Thought-provoking question. I've thought it myself from time to time. But try answering a question like that. It eludes answers. Besides, I knew that he was not asking such a question out of concern for any victims. His was a question aimed at the nature of God. When disasters like that happen, how can I - or any minister - claim that God is in charge and that He is good? So, while thinking of a response, I decided not to answer him. At least not that question as asked. "The question is misdirected," I said. "Instead of the why, I have to ask what. That is, since there is a God - indeed, since there is God - what is my response going to be? What can it be and what should it be?"

Since then, that question has struck my interest often. Replacing the "why" with a "what" makes a lot of difference, and a lot more sense in most cases. What is my response to those struck with disaster? What is my response to suffering in my own life? What has God revealed about Himself that causes me to continue to respond with faith in Him?

Our Scripture text this morning, the 67^th Psalm, does not address the topic of suffering. To the contrary, it is a song of joy and thanksgiving. There is no evidence that the psalmist was having a bad day when he wrote this one. It is applicable, though, because it expresses the Hebrew's attitude, and therefore the Christian's attitude, toward God.

For the faithful Hebrew, there is no question about the existence of God. God is a given; He is the starting point of faith. The Bible begins with a simple statement of fact and faith: "In the beginning God created…" And really, that's what faith is all about; either you believe in God and His revelation or you don't. In spite of how much or how little proof we have about the truth of Scripture - and there is a lot - belief comes down to that personal choice of acceptance or rejection.

So it is in our response to suffering. We can respond to suffering like we never heard of God, or we can respond like our life is mingled with the sweetness of God. The faith response of the Christian is to make known God's ways. "May the peoples praise you, O God; may all the peoples praise you."

But surely that doesn't mean during adversity, too? If I'm afflicted with illness or tragedy, then I must be relieved of some of the responsibility to praise God and make known His ways! That sounds fair.

How many are familiar with the hymn "Jesus Is Calling"? "Praise Him! Praise Him!"? "To God Be the Glory"? "Blessed Assurance"? I could go on and on because the poet of the verses of those hymns wrote thousands of poems over her lifetime. Fanny Crosby, the author, was blind. At six weeks of age, she developed a minor eye inflammation that should have been easily treatable even in her day. It was a doctor's careless treatment that left her without sight for the rest of her life! Yet, throughout her life, she harbored no ill will toward him nor anyone else. Her first poem, written at the age of eight, reflected her life-long attitude:

Oh, what a happy child I am,

Although I cannot see!

I am resolved that in this world

Contented I will be.

How many blessings I enjoy

That other people don't!

So weep or sigh because I'm blind,

I cannot, nor I won't!

And from that poem, she went on to write thousands, many of which were set to music. What do you think Fanny Crosby would say if we asked her to exempt us from making known God's ways because of an affliction or tragedy?

So one of the keys to dealing with suffering is to become increasingly aware that we are given the ability to make a faith response to it. If we are suffering, then we need to trust God's sovereignty. That is to say, we need to trust that God knows what He is doing. Look at Psalm 66. It begins: "Shout with joy to God, all the earth!" Then, right in the middle of this hymn of praise and adoration, at verse 10, the Psalmist has written, "For you, O God, tested us; you refined us like silver. You brought us into prison and laid burdens on our backs. You let men ride over our heads; we went through fire and water, but you brought us to a place of abundance." Paul carried this same trust in his own life. In 2 Corinthians 12:8-10, he writes concerning the thorn in his flesh, "Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. But he said to me, 'My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.' Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weakness, so that Christ's power can rest on me. That is why, for Christ's sake, I delight in weakness, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong." To believe these verses of Scripture is to believe that God knows what He is doing.

Even in adversity, we are to respond by forgiving those who hurt us. Ephesians 4:32 reads, "Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you." If we cannot respond to our suffering with this attitude, then we are poisoning our lives; we are shutting the door to our own healing. In one of his teachings on faith and prayer, Jesus said, "And when you stand praying, if you hold anything against anyone, forgive him, so that your Father in heaven may forgive your sins." (Mark 11:25) Fanny Crosby was not trapped in a life of dark bitterness. Instead, she forgave the doctor who caused her harm, and then she moved on with her life of praising God.

We need to respond to suffering with patience. To this, many of us say "uh-oh!" Patience is not one of our best virtues. James wrote in 5:7-8, "Be patient, then, brothers, until the Lord's coming. See how the farmer waits for the land to yield its valuable crop and how patient he is for the autumn and spring rains. You too, be patient and stand firm, because the Lord's coming is near." Adoniram Judson, the first overseas missionary of Baptists in America, worked and preached in Burma six years before he received and baptized the first convert to Christianity. He remarked at one point that winning a convert in those regions was "like drawing the eye-tooth of a live tiger." Like Judson, we can endure suffering patiently because we know that all of God's promises will bear fruit.

We are to respond to suffering by giving thanks. This is a tall order, I know, but Paul writes in 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18, "Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus." From Psalm 67:3-4, "May the peoples praise you, O God; may all the peoples praise you. May the nations be glad and sing for joy, for you rule the peoples justly and guide the nations of the earth."

The verb "guide" is especially noteworthy. The Hebrew suggests not only "to guide," but also "to comfort, console, have compassion on." God's guidance is recognized as being touched with compassion. Moreover, in Aramaic, the modified Hebrew language of the Greek world, the verb could also mean "to raise to life, revive, resurrect." How marvelous it is that the word used by the Old Testament Psalmist would also come to mean that which is central to the New Covenant faith. We, too, are to praise God and "give thanks in all circumstances."

We are to make known God's ways not only in the midst of our own suffering, but also in response to our neighbor who is suffering. We are called to be part of others' lives for the purpose of ministry. "Rejoice with those who rejoice; mourn with those who mourn" we are told in Romans 12:15. A suffering person needs someone to share the moments of grief. Many times we feel inadequate in such circumstances; we don't know what to say or how to act. Suffering people don't need lectures; they need listeners. Job's friends came and sat with him in the ashes. "No one said a word to him, because they saw how great his suffering was." They sat for seven days and seven nights.

Likewise, we are to "carry each other's burdens, and in this way fulfill the law of Christ." This means to be sensitive and responsive to the needs of those around us. To help carry one another's burdens means to be available physically, emotionally, and spiritually to the suffering neighbor. We need to be like the Good Samaritan who stopped on his journey to aid the man beaten and robbed. Frequently, it is in the midst of disaster that the opportunity to make known God's ways presents itself. There was a fishing village in Japan that was devastated by a tidal wave. It was flattened. In a nation that is full of Buddhist teachers and believers, we would expect that they would flock to aid the survivors in this village. They didn't. It was a small band of Christians from neighboring villages that flocked together to rebuild that devastated village. Later, when the Buddhist monks came around, they were told by the villagers, "We want to hear about the Christ, not the Buddha!"

We need to pray for and with those who are hurt. It can be a great comfort when someone shares with us in prayer and leads us to "the throne of grace" where we can "find grace to help us in our time of need." (Hebrews 4:16) When I am with someone who is suffering, the greatest time of comfort I experience is when we engage in prayer. For then we are in dialogue with God; I am speaking with Him on behalf of the other person and on behalf of myself. We begin to listen for His reply. I can express to God my helplessness; the sufferer can express his or her helplessness. Together, we can plead with God to be the source of healing before the wound closes over with scar tissue that becomes calloused against everyone - even God. Praying for and with those who are hurt becomes a vital way of sharing faith and making known God's ways.

There is a story of a pilot who had an indication on his panel that a cargo door was not shut. So, leaving his copilot in control, he went to check the door. As he grabbed the door's latch to check it, the door came open, and he was sucked right out of the plane! As he fell out, he was able to grab a cable and hang onto it. There he clung until his copilot, who had no idea he was hanging on, landed the plane. Fortunately for the pilot, he came out of it with no more than scrapes and bruises. But because his grip had been so tight on that cable, rescuers had to literally pry his hands loose before they could get him to a hospital and checked out.

I do not get up in the morning and pray, "Lord, I hope I suffer today. God, bring me tragedy so that I can suffer." I doubt that that is your prayer, either. But I do hope and pray that if I am caused to suffer today or any day that my response will be such that causes others to say, "He is clinging to God for his very life; he is clinging so tightly that his hands would have to be pried loose before he could let go." I hope that our response to suffering can always be one that makes known the will of God.

Rev. Charles A. Layne, pastor, First Baptist Church, Bunker Hill, IN

Posted by: bhfbc <bhfbc@...>

MAKING KNOWN GOD'S WAYS

June 1, 2003

Text: Psalm 67

Almost every weekday at Benson Baptist Church, the church I served in Omaha, the basement fellowship hall was turned over to an agency that served lunches to senior citizens. Among the regulars at this noonday meal was a gentleman I describe as polite but contrary - sort of the self-styled philosopher - always ready, willing, and able to debate any side of any topic. >From past encounters, I had the feeling he was skeptical toward most religious thought.

One day, he caught me in the hallway - again - with one of his ever-present questions. The day before there had been a major, devastating earthquake elsewhere in the world. There was significant damage, injuries, deaths, and the many miseries that go along with such a disaster. He began this day by asking if I had heard about the tragedy. I replied that I had. Then his question: "If there is a God, why did this happen? Why is there so much suffering?"

Thought-provoking question. I've thought it myself from time to time. But try answering a question like that. It eludes answers. Besides, I knew that he was not asking such a question out of concern for any victims. His was a question aimed at the nature of God. When disasters like that happen, how can I - or any minister - claim that God is in charge and that He is good? So, while thinking of a response, I decided not to answer him. At least not that question as asked. "The question is misdirected," I said. "Instead of the why, I have to ask what. That is, since there is a God - indeed, since there is God - what is my response going to be? What can it be and what should it be?"

Since then, that question has struck my interest often. Replacing the "why" with a "what" makes a lot of difference, and a lot more sense in most cases. What is my response to those struck with disaster? What is my response to suffering in my own life? What has God revealed about Himself that causes me to continue to respond with faith in Him?

Our Scripture text this morning, the 67^th Psalm, does not address the topic of suffering. To the contrary, it is a song of joy and thanksgiving. There is no evidence that the psalmist was having a bad day when he wrote this one. It is applicable, though, because it expresses the Hebrew's attitude, and therefore the Christian's attitude, toward God.

For the faithful Hebrew, there is no question about the existence of God. God is a given; He is the starting point of faith. The Bible begins with a simple statement of fact and faith: "In the beginning God created…" And really, that's what faith is all about; either you believe in God and His revelation or you don't. In spite of how much or how little proof we have about the truth of Scripture - and there is a lot - belief comes down to that personal choice of acceptance or rejection.

So it is in our response to suffering. We can respond to suffering like we never heard of God, or we can respond like our life is mingled with the sweetness of God. The faith response of the Christian is to make known God's ways. "May the peoples praise you, O God; may all the peoples praise you."

But surely that doesn't mean during adversity, too? If I'm afflicted with illness or tragedy, then I must be relieved of some of the responsibility to praise God and make known His ways! That sounds fair.

How many are familiar with the hymn "Jesus Is Calling"? "Praise Him! Praise Him!"? "To God Be the Glory"? "Blessed Assurance"? I could go on and on because the poet of the verses of those hymns wrote thousands of poems over her lifetime. Fanny Crosby, the author, was blind. At six weeks of age, she developed a minor eye inflammation that should have been easily treatable even in her day. It was a doctor's careless treatment that left her without sight for the rest of her life! Yet, throughout her life, she harbored no ill will toward him nor anyone else. Her first poem, written at the age of eight, reflected her life-long attitude:

Oh, what a happy child I am,

Although I cannot see!

I am resolved that in this world

Contented I will be.

How many blessings I enjoy

That other people don't!

So weep or sigh because I'm blind,

I cannot, nor I won't!

And from that poem, she went on to write thousands, many of which were set to music. What do you think Fanny Crosby would say if we asked her to exempt us from making known God's ways because of an affliction or tragedy?

So one of the keys to dealing with suffering is to become increasingly aware that we are given the ability to make a faith response to it. If we are suffering, then we need to trust God's sovereignty. That is to say, we need to trust that God knows what He is doing. Look at Psalm 66. It begins: "Shout with joy to God, all the earth!" Then, right in the middle of this hymn of praise and adoration, at verse 10, the Psalmist has written, "For you, O God, tested us; you refined us like silver. You brought us into prison and laid burdens on our backs. You let men ride over our heads; we went through fire and water, but you brought us to a place of abundance." Paul carried this same trust in his own life. In 2 Corinthians 12:8-10, he writes concerning the thorn in his flesh, "Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. But he said to me, 'My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.' Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weakness, so that Christ's power can rest on me. That is why, for Christ's sake, I delight in weakness, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong." To believe these verses of Scripture is to believe that God knows what He is doing.

Even in adversity, we are to respond by forgiving those who hurt us. Ephesians 4:32 reads, "Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you." If we cannot respond to our suffering with this attitude, then we are poisoning our lives; we are shutting the door to our own healing. In one of his teachings on faith and prayer, Jesus said, "And when you stand praying, if you hold anything against anyone, forgive him, so that your Father in heaven may forgive your sins." (Mark 11:25) Fanny Crosby was not trapped in a life of dark bitterness. Instead, she forgave the doctor who caused her harm, and then she moved on with her life of praising God.

We need to respond to suffering with patience. To this, many of us say "uh-oh!" Patience is not one of our best virtues. James wrote in 5:7-8, "Be patient, then, brothers, until the Lord's coming. See how the farmer waits for the land to yield its valuable crop and how patient he is for the autumn and spring rains. You too, be patient and stand firm, because the Lord's coming is near." Adoniram Judson, the first overseas missionary of Baptists in America, worked and preached in Burma six years before he received and baptized the first convert to Christianity. He remarked at one point that winning a convert in those regions was "like drawing the eye-tooth of a live tiger." Like Judson, we can endure suffering patiently because we know that all of God's promises will bear fruit.

We are to respond to suffering by giving thanks. This is a tall order, I know, but Paul writes in 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18, "Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus." From Psalm 67:3-4, "May the peoples praise you, O God; may all the peoples praise you. May the nations be glad and sing for joy, for you rule the peoples justly and guide the nations of the earth."

The verb "guide" is especially noteworthy. The Hebrew suggests not only "to guide," but also "to comfort, console, have compassion on." God's guidance is recognized as being touched with compassion. Moreover, in Aramaic, the modified Hebrew language of the Greek world, the verb could also mean "to raise to life, revive, resurrect." How marvelous it is that the word used by the Old Testament Psalmist would also come to mean that which is central to the New Covenant faith. We, too, are to praise God and "give thanks in all circumstances."

We are to make known God's ways not only in the midst of our own suffering, but also in response to our neighbor who is suffering. We are called to be part of others' lives for the purpose of ministry. "Rejoice with those who rejoice; mourn with those who mourn" we are told in Romans 12:15. A suffering person needs someone to share the moments of grief. Many times we feel inadequate in such circumstances; we don't know what to say or how to act. Suffering people don't need lectures; they need listeners. Job's friends came and sat with him in the ashes. "No one said a word to him, because they saw how great his suffering was." They sat for seven days and seven nights.

Likewise, we are to "carry each other's burdens, and in this way fulfill the law of Christ." This means to be sensitive and responsive to the needs of those around us. To help carry one another's burdens means to be available physically, emotionally, and spiritually to the suffering neighbor. We need to be like the Good Samaritan who stopped on his journey to aid the man beaten and robbed. Frequently, it is in the midst of disaster that the opportunity to make known God's ways presents itself. There was a fishing village in Japan that was devastated by a tidal wave. It was flattened. In a nation that is full of Buddhist teachers and believers, we would expect that they would flock to aid the survivors in this village. They didn't. It was a small band of Christians from neighboring villages that flocked together to rebuild that devastated village. Later, when the Buddhist monks came around, they were told by the villagers, "We want to hear about the Christ, not the Buddha!"

We need to pray for and with those who are hurt. It can be a great comfort when someone shares with us in prayer and leads us to "the throne of grace" where we can "find grace to help us in our time of need." (Hebrews 4:16) When I am with someone who is suffering, the greatest time of comfort I experience is when we engage in prayer. For then we are in dialogue with God; I am speaking with Him on behalf of the other person and on behalf of myself. We begin to listen for His reply. I can express to God my helplessness; the sufferer can express his or her helplessness. Together, we can plead with God to be the source of healing before the wound closes over with scar tissue that becomes calloused against everyone - even God. Praying for and with those who are hurt becomes a vital way of sharing faith and making known God's ways.

There is a story of a pilot who had an indication on his panel that a cargo door was not shut. So, leaving his copilot in control, he went to check the door. As he grabbed the door's latch to check it, the door came open, and he was sucked right out of the plane! As he fell out, he was able to grab a cable and hang onto it. There he clung until his copilot, who had no idea he was hanging on, landed the plane. Fortunately for the pilot, he came out of it with no more than scrapes and bruises. But because his grip had been so tight on that cable, rescuers had to literally pry his hands loose before they could get him to a hospital and checked out.

I do not get up in the morning and pray, "Lord, I hope I suffer today. God, bring me tragedy so that I can suffer." I doubt that that is your prayer, either. But I do hope and pray that if I am caused to suffer today or any day that my response will be such that causes others to say, "He is clinging to God for his very life; he is clinging so tightly that his hands would have to be pried loose before he could let go." I hope that our response to suffering can always be one that makes known the will of God.

Rev. Charles A. Layne, pastor, First Baptist Church, Bunker Hill, IN