Suffering and Hope: 1 Peter Seven

"You are coming to Christ, who is the living cornerstone of God's temple. He was rejected by people, but he was chosen by God for great honor. And you are living stones that God is building into his spiritual temple. What's more, you are his holy priests. Through the mediation of Jesus Christ, you offer spiritual sacrifices that please God." -- 1 Peter 2:4-5 (NLT)

Peter uses architectural language to describe our relationship with God, one another, and the world. Clearly he has the Temple of Jerusalem in his mind as he unfolds this imagery. In the analogy, Peter cites Jesus as the cornerstone. Several years ago I participated in a mission trip to Haiti, where the chief objective was to build a church in a small village. When our team arrived, we discovered that the floor had been poured in preparation for construction of the block building. I stood and watch for what must have been two hours as the team leaders laid the very first cornerstone. It had to be placed perfectly because that first cornerstone was what would bring the entire building to square.

That experience added color to my previous understanding of Jesus as the cornerstone. He is the first stone laid, and his work brings the entire Kingdom to "square." As Peter fleshes out his analogy, he states that the believing community of faith are living stones as opposed to the dead stones of the Temple. Believers are the living stones of a new temple that house the presence of God. We are built on top of the foundation of Jesus Christ, the cornerstone, and we lean on one another as we rest on the cornerstone.

Peter then switches gears and suggests that the living stones of the new temple also have a second function: serving as priests to the world. Old Testament priesthood was a position of privilege. To be a priest one had to be born of the trive of Levi. Today we are qualified as priests by rite of the new birth. Peter makes the argument that every believer functions in the role of priest, offering the spiritual sacrifices of their bodies in continual service to God (cf. Romans 12:1-2). As living stones and priests, we house the presence of God's Spirit who empowers and guides our work. We live as the incarnational presence of God in our communities and our world.

As believers, we are to function as priests in a world in desperate need of priesting. How can you be a priest to the world today?

Suffering and Hope: 1 Peter Six

So think clearly and exercise self-control. Look forward to the gracious salvation that will come to you when Jesus Christ is revealed to the world. So you must live as God’s obedient children. Don’t slip back into your old ways of living to satisfy your own desires. You didn’t know any better then. But now you must be holy in everything you do, just as God who chose you is holy. For the Scriptures say, “You must be hold because I am holy.” And remember that the heavenly Father to whom you pray has no favorites. He will judge or reward you according to what you do. So you must live in reverent fear of him during your time as “foreigners in the land.” For you know that God paid a ransom to save you from the empty life you inherited from your ancestors. And the ransom he paid was not mere gold or silver. It was the precious blood of Christ, the sinless, spotless Lamb of God. God chose him as your ransom long before the world began, but he has now revealed him to you in these last days. Through Christ you have come to trust in God. And you have placed your faith and hope in God because he raised Christ from the dead and gave him great glory. You were cleaned from your sins when you obeyed the truth, so now you must show sincere love to each other, as brothers and sisters. Love each other deeply with all your heart. For you have been born again, but not to a life that will quickly end. Your new life will last forever because it comes from the eternal, living word of God. As the Scriptures say, “People are like grass, their beauty is like a flower in the field. The grass withers and the flower fades. But the word of the Lord remains forever.” And that word is the Good News that was preached to you. So get rid of all evil behavior. Be done with all deceit, hypocrisy, jealousy, and all unkind speech. Like new born babies you must crave pure spiritual milk so that you will grow into a full experience of salvation. Cry out for this nourishment, now that you have had a taste of the Lord’s kindness.

– 1 Peter 1:13-2:3 (NLT)

Theology precedes ethics. Or one might say what we believe determines how we behave. This is the pattern of the epistles. It is clearly evident in Paul’s letters, and 1 Peter is no exception. The first section of 1 Peter (1:1-12) is an intense theological passage. Like Paul, Peter follows up his doctrinal statement with an ethical section. In the above passage, he challenges his readers with five imperatives to apply to their everyday lives.

1. Control your thought life (1 Peter 1:13).
Their new found faith should inform how they process information. The same is true of us. The experiences of life are real. But what we choose to think about those same experiences is under our control. We can’t change reality, but we can manage our thoughts about those experiences.
2. Be holy (1 Peter 1:14-16).
I find it interesting that Peter’s instruction is to be holy, not to do holy. We commit a grave injustice when we reduce holiness to a list of “do’s and don’ts” rather than seeing it as a vital part of our position in Christ. As holy people we do self-examination. But holiness motivates our self-checking, not vice versa.
3. Live in reverent fear of God (1 Peter 1:17-21).
One of the most important daily disciplines a Christian should exercise is the simple confession “God is in control.” Living in reverent fear of the Lord is the result of living with the conviction that God is sovereign and in control of all things. God has already saved us from the worst of all, so we can trust him to reign over every circumstance in our lives.
4. Intentionally love others (1 Peter 1:22-25).
One of the first things we learn when we come to faith is that God loves us. We know our faith is beginning to mature when we learn that God loves others too. Love is important, because it’s the one eternal value that we possess on earth that will carry over into our life in heaven. In heaven we won’t need faith and hope for faith will be sight and hope will be fulfilled. But love endures eternally.
5. Develop good eating habits (1 Peter 2:1-3).
Good nutrition is a critical part of good health. This is true of the spiritual realm as well as the physical realm. We must grow as believers, and a balanced diet from the word will make sure that we are spiritually healthy and balanced.

Helping Others When They Hurt (part 3)

"(God) comforts us in all our troubles so that we can comfort others. When they are troubled, we will be able to give them the same comfort God has given us." 2 Corinthians 1:4 (NLT)

God is the source of all comfort and he comforts us when we face crushing pressure. But God doesn't comfort us to make us comfortable. He comforts us so that we will become comforters.

When Jesus appeared to the disciples after his resurrection he spoke words of assurance to them. The Bible then tells us that Jesus showed them his scars. He comforted the disciples with his presence, and gave them an indellible reminder of his suffering. Though the image of Jesus' scars is not referred to again in the New Testament story, one has to believe that with every blow of suffering the disciples experienced that the image of those scars comforted and encouraged them.

Helping Others When They Hurt (part 2)

“He comforts us in all our troubles…” (2 Corinthians 1:4a, NLT)

God is the source of all comfort and he comforts us in our troubles. The word Paul used to describe our troubles is thilipsis, which means pressure. It’s a word picture for a wine press that crushes the juice out of the grapes. So we might say that troubles are the crushing pressures of life. When the crushing pressures occur, God comes to our side and comforts us.

How then does God comfort us? The Bible is not specific, but allow me to offer three thoughts that will help us understand what God’s comfort looks like. First, God comforts us though his presence. We are assured that God is nearby during the crushing pressures of life. Perhaps this is the reason that Jesus referred to the coming Holy Spirit as the paraklete, the one called alongside to help.

Second, the word comfort is in the present tense, meaning that his comfort is continuous. God’s comfort is not on again and off again. His presence is steady and ongoing.

Third, his comfort is sufficient for our need. 2 Corinthians 1:5 states, “For the more we suffer for Christ, the more God will shower us with his comfort through Christ.” (NLT) In other words, the more we suffer, the more we recognize God’s continual presence by our side. This is perhaps why we esteem those who suffer the most to have the closest relationship with Christ. As we suffer, Christ is revealed more and more in our lives.

How does God comfort us? God comforts us by revealing his continuous and sufficient presence in our lives.

Helping Others When They Hurt (part 1)

Scars tell stories. For example, I have a scar on the palm of my hand. I got it when I was around 10 or 11 years old from a bicycle accident. My friends and I loved to ride our bikes and every time we found a patch of loose gravel we would ride as fast as we could into the loose gravel and lock up the brakes and skid the tires and spin the bikes around. It was about as wild and reckless of behavior as we could muster! One evening I took the bike out for a quick spin and as you may have guessed, crashed. As I looked at my throbbing hand I saw gravel imbedded in my palm. There was a nice open gash which resulted in the scar that I bear in my hand to this day.

As I have said, scars are a part of the story of our lives. They communicate things about our lives and inform us of the nature of life as well. Scars give evidence of that we have been wounded at some point in the past. At the same time, scars also provide evidence of healing. We don’t remain perpetually wounded, for through time and care we experience healing. Scars serve as ongoing reminders of past experiences that provide lessons that can’t be learned any other way. We are transformed through those pains from the past. After all, scars change our appearance. The story of life is developed through each one of those transitions. Obviously some of our scars are physical. But not every scar we bear can be seen. Some of our deepest scars are on our hearts, in our minds, and in our souls.

For the past several weeks I’ve been teaching on the subject of suffering and adversity. This past weekend I concluded my portion of the teaching from Paul’s words to the Church at Corinth. 2 Corinthians 1:3 says, “All praise to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. God is our merciful Father and the source of all comfort.”

We learn about pain early in life. Some of our earliest memories of life are associated with pain and injury. Quite naturally we sought comfort from a parent who would care for our bumps and bruises. When my kids were very young my wife always carried Band Aids with her where ever she went. Any good mother knows that a Band Aid will do wonders to quiet a child’s tears. I believe the band aid may very well be the universal symbol of comfort. In fact, if comfort flew a flag, the symbol on the flag would be the Band Aid.

Paul states that God is the source of all comfort and that God himself is the source of any comfort we know or experience in life. That’s easy enough. So what’s the definition of the word comfort? The word Paul used for comfort is paraklesis, which is also be translated as encouragement. We know from communication dynamics that face to face is the posture used when for things like teaching or even confronting. But paraklesis is not a face to face posture. The word literally means to be “called to one’s side.” Comfort is a side by side posture. Why is that important? When you are side by side you face the same thing at the same time in the same direction. I think we can understand comfort more fully if we think of it as a posture instead of an activity. Comfort is my expression of love toward others that has been perfected by personal experience.

When God Inflicts the Hurt (part 4)

“But God’s discipline is always good for us, so that we might share in his holiness. No discipline is enjoyable while it is happening—it’s painful! But afterward there will be a peaceful harvest of right living for those who are trained in this way. So take a new grip with your tired hands and strengthen your weak knees. Mark out a straight path for your feet so that those who are weak and lame will not fall but become strong.” –Hebrews 12:10b-13 (NLT)

In the final section concerning discipline, the writer shares two purposes that God desires to accomplish. First, God’s loving discipline is beneficial because it produces holiness in our lives. Psalm 119:67 reads, “I used to wander off until you disciplined me; but now I closely follow your word.” Verse 71 of the same chapter continues, “My suffering was good for me, for it taught me to pay attention to your decrees.” Discipline serves as a corrective and produces holiness in our lives.

Second, discipline trains us in right living that purifies our character. Hebrews 5:8 states, “Even though Jesus was God’s son, he learned obedience from the things he suffered.”

In the western world parents view their objective as that of raising independent children who will be functional in the world. In the ancient world of the Bible, the goal was different. The goal of parents in Bible times was to create worthy heirs. (Think about that as you read Matthew 5:10-12 and Luke 15:11-32.) God uses discipline to create worthy heirs who inherit the Kingdom of God.

As we experience the necessary discipline to inherit the Kingdom, we must first deal with ourselves. We “take a new grip” and embrace the promised outcomes of God’s discipline. It may be painful at the time, but God doesn’t expect us to embrace the pain. He expects us to embrace the outcomes that he’s working out in our lives. As we deal with ourselves, we simultaneously must watch our influence. When we undergo God’s loving discipline we cannot forget that people are watching us and taking note of how we respond to God’s work in our lives. God is good, and he’s working out his plan for our best. Remember, it’s not what happens to us that matters. What matters most is what happens in us.

When God Inflicts the Hurt (part 3)

“Since we respected our earthly fathers who disciplined us, shouldn’t we submit even more to the discipline of the Father of our spirits, and live forever? For our earthly fathers disciplined us for a few years, doing the best they knew how.” –Hebrews 12:9-10a (NLT)

Since God’s discipline is an act of love that is based on our relationship to him, it seems logical for the writer to use our human fathers as an illustration of God’s function as our heavenly Father. According to the author, our earthly fathers disciplined us though they doubtless made mistakes. Some fathers discipline too much and others not enough. Some fathers discipline too heavily, while others discipline too lightly. But God makes no mistakes.

You may have had a father who disciplined you inappropriately. We live in a world where abuses of all forms are too frequent in society. Any time a parent abuses a child in any form is an injustice and should be renounced in the strongest possible manner. If that’s your story, it’s important that you not enforce that same standard of measure on God. Good fathers make favorable comparisons to God. They provide living and visible signposts to enable children to see God with clarity. But not every father is a good father. These fathers provide contrasting images to that of our heavenly father. Instead of thinking that God is like my bad father, think God is not like my bad father.

Recently my daughters were watching an episode of Jon and Kate Plus 8 on TLC. As I was in the kitchen, I heard Jon Gosselin describe to the camera the objectives of good parents. He remarked that in his opinion, good parents make sure their children are happy, healthy and safe. That’s not terrible advice, but it is certainly incomplete. A parent’s ultimate role is to enable their children to know God. Through every aspect of parenting, which includes discipline, we help our children learn how to relate to God.

When God Inflicts the Hurt (part 2)

“For the Lord disciplines those he loves, and he punishes each one he accepts as his child. As you endure this divine discipline, remember that God is treating you as his own children. Who ever heard of a child who is never disciplined by his father? If God doesn’t discipline you as he does all of his children, it means that you are illegitimate and are not really his children at all.” --Hebrews 12:6-8 (NLT)

The writer of Hebrews uses these verses to make a couple of very important points. The first is that God’s discipline is an act of love. That’s hard for us to grasp. Maybe you’ve heard a child respond to their parent’s discipline with the words, “you don’t love me!” As a parent, nothing is further from the truth. Parents discipline their children because they do love them. God’s discipline is to be considered as a sign of his affection for our lives. Love motivates God’s discipline, and love governs God’s discipline. Every expression of discipline passes through the Father’s loving heart.

The second point the writer makes in this section is that discipline is based on our existing relationship with God. A father who doesn’t discipline is being negligent. A child who escapes discipline loses out of the benefits of being related to the father. But here’s the surprise: The absence of discipline informs the relational status of the person. Discipline is so much a part of God’s way with his children that if it’s absent their status as children of God should be called into question. (On the flip side we could say that discipline is a mark of assurance of salvation.) God’s discipline proves our legitimacy as children of God. Discipline is the Lord’s acknowledgement that he claims us.

When God Inflicts the Hurt

Is what I’m facing God’s way of telling me to change something? Is God trying to get my attention? Or is it part of what comes with living in a fallen world? Can I know the difference? How can I know the difference? Those are the kinds of important questions I sometimes hear from those who suffering.

God’s discipline, like persecution, is a type of suffering that is unique to the people of God. Suffering can be a means of God’s discipline in our lives. But how do we know the difference? How can we identify it? In The Problem of Pain, C.S. Lewis wrote, “God whispers to us in our pleasures, speaks in our conscious; but shouts in our pain; it is his megaphone to arouse a deaf world.” Lewis would agree that God will sometimes introduce pain into our lives in order to get our attention. What is God’s discipline, anyway? What do we mean when we say that? God’s discipline is loving training given to amend actions and attitudes. In other words, it is correction, not punishment.

I can’t recall a time in the past 26 year of teaching and preaching that I have ever dealt with this subject or this passage in a full length sermon. It was challenging to prepare and challenging to deliver. I’m sure it was challenging to hear as well. I think it’s an important subject, especially in light of the broader context of suffering. There’s no need for Christians to speculate on matters and questions when Scripture provides insight and understanding. So over the next few days I’m going to unpack the concepts that I shared in last weekend’s message.

Hebrews 12:3-5 provides some context for the readers understanding of God’s loving discipline: “Think of all the hostility (Jesus) endured from sinful people; then you won’t become weary and give up. After all, you have not yet given your lives in your struggle against sin. And have you forgotten the encouraging words God spoke to you as his children? He said, ‘My child, don’t make light of the Lord’s discipline, and don’t give up when he corrects you.’”

Perhaps the discipline that the author has in mind is to provide help in the battle against sin. The word “struggle” comes from a wrestling metaphor and literally means “hand to hand combat.” One scholar suggested that the readers were afraid that their suffering was a result of God’s inattention to their lives or that God had abandoned them. That was not the case. They were experiencing God’s discipline and needed to identify it as such.

Just because we identify our suffering as God’s discipline does not necessarily mean that we will respond to it appropriately. It is possible to respond inappropriately to God’s discipline, and the writer gives two classic examples. First, it is possible to make light of it or to shrug it off as no big deal, not unlike a junior high kid that laughs with his friends after being sent to the principal’s office. The second response is to become so overwhelmed by the discipline that you feel like giving up or quitting the Christian race.

It’s very important that we identify God’s loving discipline when (not if) it comes and that we respond appropriately. When you accept God’s discipline in your life you are acknowledging God’s authority over your life!

Suffering and Hope: 1 Peter Five

Throughout chapter 1, Peter continually references joy. It reminds me of James' words found in James 1:2, "Dear brothers and sisters, when troubles come your way, consider it an opportunity for great joy." Why does Peter place an emphasis on having joy in the midst of suffering?

Joy is the by-product of settled faith. When a person becomes convinced that victory has become certain, joy begins to emerge.

Football fans know that when a team has the lead in the last minute of the game, the quarterback will take the snap from the center and drop to one knee. Those who watch football know exactly what I'm talking about. Today its called the "victory formation" or the "victory play." Because the game is secure, players on the sideline start congratulating one another. Coaches take off their headsets. The fans stand and cheer. Why? Joy overflows when victory is secure and the outcome is assured.

Joy doesn't come in moments of uncertainty. Even in the midst of suffering we can experience true joy because of our confident faith in God.

Suffering and Hope: 1 Peter Four

"This salvation was something even the prophets wanted to know more about when they prophesied about this gracious salvation prepared for you. They wondered what time or situation the Spirit of Christ within them was talking about when he told them in advance about Christ's suffering and his great glory afterward. They were told that their messages were not for themselves but for you. And now this Good News has been announced to you by those who preached in the power of the Holy Spirit sent from heaven. It is all so wonderful that even the angels are eagerly watching these things happen." -- 1 Peter 1:10-12 (NLT)

In these verses Peter discusses the Old Testament prophets and the angels unique perspectives on the salvation we enjoy. The prophets spoke no nearer than four centuries prior to the life and work of Christ. Yet they did so with great confidence that one day the Messiah would come and provide the final sacrifice for sin. They were intrigued by the promise and investigated those promises with great interest knowing that what would happen in the future would someday impact even them.

Though they didn't fully comprehend all of the promises, they spoke nonetheless with great confidence. They didn't know when or how the promise would be fulfilled, but that didn't diminish their bold enthusiasm. The words of the prophets remind us that it is possible to live a life of conviction regarding something in the future, even though we may not fully understand it. This principle is true of all things including our response to suffering.

While the prophets were seperated from salvation by time, the angels were seperated from salvation by distance. From heaven they eagerly watched the drama of salvation unfold. The angels live in the continual presence of God, yet have not experienced the fullness of grace that we enjoy (cf. Hebrews 1:5-14).

These two examples are given to us to remind us of the reasons we have hae to celebrate our marvellous salvation. While we look to history to see the fulfillment of the promise in Christ, we are reminded that we have much more to anticipate that is still to come.

Suffering and Hope: 1 Peter Three

“So be truly glad. There is wonderful joy ahead, even though you have to endure many trials for a little while. These trials will show that your faith is genuine. It is being tested as fire tests and purifies gold—though your faith is far more precious than mere gold. So when your faith remains strong through many trials, it will bring you much praise and glory and honor on the day when Jesus Christ is revealed to the whole world.” –1 Peter 1:6-7 (NLT)

The theme of Peter’s letter is suffering and hope and throughout its verses he informs his audience how to hold those two in tension. His opening paragraph has reminded readers that whatever we face in life begins with Christ, specifically the salvation that he has provided. Whatever we face must be viewed through the lens of the cross, not vice versa.

In verses 6 and 7, Peter gets into the subject of trials. A textbook definition of the word trial would be “subjection to suffering or grievous experiences, a distressed or painful state; an affliction or trouble.” We don’t really need a better definition of the word trial. We already know the word quite well from life experience. The Christian distinctive, however, helps us to see the purposes that trials serve in our lives. This is where Peter invests his energy. Here are some purposes that I see that trials serve in the life of a Christian:

1. Trials reveal authenticity
Last week when I was preparing my sermon on Paul’s thorn in the flesh, I came across a line I had written in the margin of my Bible. I have to confess that I don’t recall if it came from a sermon I heard or from a book that I read. But I thought it was powerful. It said, “Vision makes leaders passionate, and thorn keep leaders authentic.”
There is something about suffering that helps peel away the thin veneer of life that we like to hide behind. Trials do produce some positive outcomes in our lives. But as a point of departure, trials reveal what’s already there.

2. Trials reveal the existence of faith
Peter’s readers were suffering because they were Christians. They endured many things simply because of their faith. There is a sense in which all of us suffer because we live in a fallen world. But there are also elements of suffering that are particular and unique to those who are Christians. Persecution is a clear example of that. God’s loving discipline is another. Everyone suffers at some point in time. Christians are called to suffer in unique ways above and beyond that.

3. Trials Develop Humility
Suffering works to produce and develop humility in our lives. They cause us to realize that we are not in control and us that we can’t fix every challenge of life. We are God dependent. We learn to rely on God’s help through others. We are not “large and in charge.” We are reliant and desperate at best. Humility teaches us that we don’t have it all figured out and that our true significance comes from God alone.

4. Trials Produce Holiness
Whenever we suffer we are invited to take inventory of our lives. We pray the words of Psalm 139:23-24, and invite God to search our hearts to “point out anything that offends (Him).” Suffering will naturally incline our hearts to walk with God. He is holy, and those who walk with him will be holy. One of the biggest battles that rage in our lives is the battle of duplicity. Those trials we experience remind us that we cannot live with one foot in each world. We must be firmly planted in God’s kingdom with both feet.

5. Trials Increase our Faith
In verse 8, Peter continues, “You love him even though you have never seen him. Though you do not see him now, you trust him; and you rejoice with a glorious, inexpressible joy.”
Trials invite us to higher levels of faith. God allows us to undergo those painful experiences to prove that he is trustworthy. If we address our trials properly, God becomes larger in our lives, not smaller.

When God Doesn't Heal our Hurts: part 3

“Each time he said, ‘My grace is all you need. My power works best in weakness.’ So now I am glad to boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ can work through me. That’s why I take pleasure in my weaknesses, and in the insults, hardships, persecutions, and troubles that I suffer for Christ. For when I am weak, then I am strong.”

– 2 Corinthians 12:9-10

Paul deliberately requested that his thorn in the flesh be removed. With each request, Christ’s response was “no.” But with the denial came an explanation. The explanation was that his weakness magnified the power of Christ in his life. The NLT misses an important turn of a phrase in verse 9. For example, the NIV renders, “Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me.” The word rest literally means “made its home” or “tabernacled,” which helps us to understand the lasting nature of Christ’s power upon Paul’s life. Paul was given a thorn, but with the thorn came the grace of God which filled every broken part of his life.

Here’s the takeaway: “When I am weak, then I am strong.”

Weakness is like an Interstate superhighway that ushers the grace of God and the power of God into our lives. One of my favorite C.S. Lewis quotes is, “Our problem is not that we are too weak. Our problem is that we are too strong.” God uses our weakness so that he receives the glory for our lives. He makes us a sort of living paradox so that his power is magnified over our talents and abilities. Think about the paradox of Paul’s life. He is a sick miracle worker that cannot heal himself. He’s a visionary with bad eyes. He’s the spokesperson for the gospel in Asia with a speech impediment. God receives glory when he’s able to accomplish through us what no one else expects, even ourselves.

One of the important lessons of this wonderful text is that it reminds us to be open to the fact that the worst thing that happens to us produces the best things that happen in us and through us. That may mean that we have to quit looking at ourselves as victims, and instead anticipate the victories that God brings to us and through us that he could accomplish no other way.

When God Doesn't Heal our Hurts: part 2

“Three different times I begged the Lord to take it away.” – 2 Corinthians 12:8 (NLT)

When suffering strikes our lives our first response is usually to try to eliminate it. It’s quite natural. After all, who among us hasn’t dropped everything when we have obtained a splinter to find the tweezers and pull it out? Paul’s thorn in the flesh was certainly more substantial than a splinter in the finger. His response, though, was the same. He asked the Lord to remove it, not once, but three times.

Reading this verse reminds me of Jesus’ prayer in the Garden of Gethsemane. On the night before his crucifixion, Jesus asked the Father to remove the imminent suffering of the cross. He passionately asked the Father for the “cup to pass.”

Sometimes a person will ask me how they should pray when suffering invades their lives. I think it’s ok to ask God to remove it. Paul and Jesus certainly weren’t afraid to pray that direction. At the same time, we need to remember that ultimately it’s about God’s will, not ours. Nevertheless, it’s ok to ask.

When God Doesn't Heal Our Hurts: part 1

One of the clearest biblical passages that deals with the purposes that suffering works out in our lives is Paul’s autobiographical discussion of his “thorn in the flesh.” 2 Corinthians 12:1-4 states,

“This boasting will do no good, but I must go on. I will reluctantly tell about visions and revelations from the Lord. I was caught up to the third heaven fourteen years ago. Whether I was in my body or out of my body, I don’t know—only God knows. Yes, only God knows whether I was in my body or outside my body. But I do know that I was caught up to paradise and heard things so astounding that they cannot be expressed in words, things no human is allowed to tell.” (NLT)

No one can say with confidence what experience Paul is referencing. The dating would have put it in the vicinity of 43 A.D. It seems that one logical possibility would have been his stoning in Lystra (cf. Acts 14:19-20). His testimony attested to being caught up into the third heaven. In Jewish cosmology, the first heaven was the abode of the birds; the second heaven was the abode of the stars; and the third heaven was the abode of God and his angels. His point is that he had greater reason to be prideful than his arrogant readers in Corinth. His visions and revelations were superior to theirs. Yet he was not going to boast in these things. He gave preference to boasting in his weakness instead (cf. 2 Corinthians 11:30). Why? In 12:6, he shares “I won’t do it, because I don’t want anyone to give me credit beyond what they can see in my life and hear in my message.”

So, to reduce or even eliminate pride in his life he received a thorn in the flesh. The word thorn is literally “stake,” similar to a stake that would be used to impale someone. This thorn (or stake) was described as a messenger from Satan that served two purposes. The first purpose was “to torment him.” The word torment means to “harass;” “fisticuff;” or “strike blows.” Every day the presence of the thorn created discomfort, as though someone repeatedly struck him in the face with their fist. The second purpose was to develop humility in his life.

So what was the thorn? Several suggestions have been offered by biblical writers. Among those suggestions are:
1. Paul had a physical ailment such as epilepsy.
2. Paul was physically short, or perhaps suffered from a speech impediment (1 Corinthians 2:1-5; 2 Corinthians 10:10).
3. Paul was prone to a particular temptation to sin.
4. Paul struggled under the heavy load of his work and the difficulty of the ministry (2 Corinthians 11:23-28).
5. Paul had poor eyesight stemming from his experience in Acts 9 on the road to Damascus (Galatians 4:13-15; 6:11).
6. Paul’s thorn was not a physical challenge at all but rather an enemy that purposed to create pain in his life (2 Timothy 4:14-15).

The bottom line is that we don’t know what the thorn was. It’s a fun conversation. But it brings an important question: What is your nagging reminder to renounce pride and depend upon God? Could it be that the clearest indicator that something is wrong is that everything is right?

When Innocent People Suffer: Part 3

In this final post, I’d like to offer four thoughts on applying the story of Job to our lives.

First, focus on what you affirm to be true about God. Those who know me are aware that I have a deep distaste for cliché Christianity and “pat answers.” I think those things should be categorically rejected. Neither can we praise mystery without restraint. As I mentioned in yesterday’s post, Job struggled deeply, but his struggle was the struggle of a believer who clung tightly to his convictions about what he knew to be true of God.

Second, it is possible to serve God with a pure heart in the midst of suffering. It’s important to remember that suffering does not give you a hall pass on faith and the practice(s) of faith. You can and should live your faith to the best of your ability in spite of your circumstances.

Third, be aware that there are always bigger purposes at work in your life, whether you know it or not. Job endured his entire battery of suffering not knowing about God’s conversation with the accuser at the throne. We must realize that when suffering strikes home God is not being capricious or arbitrary. He’s not playing cosmic games with his creatures to alleviate his own boredom. At the same time, what you experience is not always about you. There are larger forces and purposes at work even though we may not see them as such.

Finally, any suffering helps us to identify more closely with Christ. If you lay the life of Job atop the life of Jesus you’ll quickly identify several interesting parallels. Both suffered greatly, both suffered innocently, and both understood the fickle nature of friends and followers. Ultimately, both Job and Jesus found help on this earth in the end. For Job, it was restoration, and for Jesus, it was resurrection. Never forget that suffering is the primary tool that God invests in your life to make you more like Jesus. In Paul’s quest for knowledge of Christ, he wrote, “I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of sharing his sufferings” (Philippians 3:10, NIV). The former does not come without the latter. That was true of Paul, and its true of us as well.

When Innocent People Suffer: Part 2

I suppose volumes could be written on Job and his suffering. I think that the 30,000 foot view of the book as a whole provides some helpful insights regarding the broken places in our lives.

Observation One: Job insisted that his suffering was within the framework of the sovereignty of God. In chapter 2:10 he asks, “Should we accept only good things from the hand of God and never anything bad?” Job is not certain as to what was happening to him, and even less certain as to why those things were happening. But he realized just the same that nothing could touch his life without God’s sanction. Behind the suffering stood Satan, and behind Satan stood God.

Observation Two: Job highlights the fact that there is such a thing as innocent suffering. Sometimes our suffering is the direct result of a particular sin or sins. But some suffering occurs that is not directly related to any sin. Suffering can be the result of human malice, negligent behavior, irresponsible governing, human selfishness, or natural disaster. All suffering is a consequence of the fall. But not all suffering is the direct retribution of particular sin. The whole point of the story is that Job was innocent. We insist on an economy where good people have good things happen to them and bad people have bad things happen to them. If bad things happen to you, you have done something wrong. Job is a blanket protest against this analysis of how things are in the world.

Observation Three: No matter how we prepare ourselves for the possibility of suffering, nothing can adequately prepare us for the actual shock of reality. It’s not unlike diving into an ice cold pool or stepping into a cold shower. In Job 3:25 Job said, “What I always feared has happened to me. What I dreaded has come true.” Job had already thought about these things. He knew it was not beyond possibility, and to that extent he was prepared. But awareness of the possibility or even the probability doesn’t decrease the pain.

Observation Four: Job doesn’t know at the beginning or the end the root of it all…God’s conversation with Satan. God’s intent was to prove that humans can love him, fear him, and pursue righteousness without any prompt material reward. Satan’s contention was that human’s pursuit of God was grounded in self interest, that humans are merely mercenaries, offering their devotion to the highest bidder.

Observation Five: Though his lament was loud and strong, at no point did Job abandon his faith. Why? He knew God was there and he believed God to be loving and just. Job struggled deeply, but his struggles were the struggles of a believer. God does not blame us if in our suffering we honestly vent our despair and confess our loss of hope, our sense of futility and our lamentations about life itself. But in the midst of his complaint lie deep confession. Job affirmed the right things about God’s character and nature.

When Innocent People Suffer: Part 1

"He (Job) was blameless -- a man of complete integrity. He feared God and stayed away from evil." (Job 1:2; 1:8; 2:3, NLT)

Any time we discuss the problem of evil and suffering, we are going to face challenges. Those challenges are never more poignant than those times in which the particular suffering strikes us as irrational and unfair. How do we reconcile the lack of proportion between the depth of the suffering and the seeming innocence of those who are afflicted?

One of the benefits of studying the book of Job is that it affirms the innocence of Job. Please notice I didn’t say he was perfect. But on three occasions in the first 25 verses he is called “blameless and upright.” And that was God’s evaluation of his life! Whatever he endured in his suffering was not divine retribution.

Assuming you’re familiar with the story, I’ll skip re-telling the detail of the plot. Suffice it to say, Job had ten children and massive wealth. He was pious and devout to God. It was not pretense. He had his act together in every area that counts: his family, his finances, and his faith.

Unbeknownst to Job, there is a conversation at the throne of God. Satan’s accusation was that God’s followers follow him merely motivated by God’s blessings and protection. He argued that if the blessings and protection of God were removed, the followers would no longer follow.

Which leads to a strong question: Why do you follow God? Is it for the blessings and benefits? Or do you follow God because he is God?

Suffering and Hope: 1 Peter Two

“All praise to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. It is by his great mercy that we have been born again, because God raised Jesus Christ from the dead. Now we live with great expectation, and we have a priceless inheritance—an inheritance that is kept in heaven for you, pure and undefiled, beyond the reach of change or decay. And through your faith, God is protecting you by his power until you receive this salvation, which is ready to be revealed on the last day for all to see.” (1 Peter 1:3-5, NLT)

One of the rich doctrines of my Baptist tradition is the doctrine of eternal security. Or, as our folks like to call it “once saved, always saved.” This selection from 1 Peter is one of the great passages on eternal security. Peter uses wonderful imagery to describe the permanence of our salvation in Christ.

I think the most helpful point Peter makes is his affirmation that our salvation is kept by the power of God. Just as there is nothing one can do to attain salvation, there is nothing one can do to preserve salvation. That which is received by grace cannot be lost by works.

Peter’s statement reminds me of the words of Jesus in John 10:28-29, “I give them eternal life, and they will never perish. No one can snatch them away from me, for my Father has given them to me, and his is more powerful than anyone else. No one can snatch them from the Father’s hand” (NLT).

Good news, right?

This strong statement concerning eternal security is made in the context of suffering and is addressed to an audience that is suffering. So how does salvation and eternal security relate to suffering?

Salvation is my anchor when pain comes into my life. The suffering I experience is, in Paul’s words, “a light and momentary affliction.” Paul isn’t suggesting that what we suffer is easy. What he means is that what I face is not lasting, eternal, or ultimate. Salvation causes me to think about my suffering in an eternal dimension. It helps me to keep things in perspective. By securing salvation I have secured the most important thing of all.. It cannot be lost or taken from me. Peter begins his letter by writing about salvation and security. By doing so, he is encouraging his readers to view their suffering in light of their salvation and not to view their salvation in light of their suffering.

Suffering and Hope: 1 Peter One

"This letter is from Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ. I am writing to God’s chosen people who are living as foreigners in the provinces of Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia. God the Father knew you and chose you long ago, and his Spirit has made you holy. As a result, you have obeyed him and have been cleansed by the blood of Jesus Christ." 1 Peter 1:1-2, NLT

I’ve always enjoyed the book of 1 Peter. I remember preaching verse by verse through the book twenty years ago when I served a congregation in St. Louis. I’m sure I gave it my best effort, but clearly did not have enough miles on my odometer to appreciate the value of what Peter offered to his audience concerning suffering and hope.

I facilitate a men’s Bible study that meets in the early hours of Thursday mornings at a local supermarket restaurant. Over the next several months we’re going to do work on this marvelous New Testament book. It’s my desire to share some of my reflections on our study and conversation over bacon and eggs.

1 Peter begins with his salutation to a general audience that is scattered over (at least) 5 provinces. His intended readers are Jewish Christians that have been scattered across the region due to persecution that arose in Jerusalem (e.g. Acts 8:1-3). One of his purposes is to encourage the readers to faithfully live their lives as Christians even though they are undergoing suffering and persecution at the hands of those who are hostile to Christianity.

The NLT (I’m a fan!) describes these believers as “foreigners,” which they were in more ways than one. Literally, they were not citizens. They were not native or indigenous to the region they were living. Metaphorically, they simply didn’t belong. They didn’t fit in and were clearly out of place because of their faith. I like Joel Green’s thoughts at this point. In his commentary on 1 Peter, Green remarks, “1 Peter is written to folks who do not belong, who eke out their lives on the periphery of acceptable society, whose deepest loyalties and inclinations do not line up very well with what matters most in the world in which they live. This is not the sort of life that most people find attractive.” (Green, p. 18) For Peter’s audience, this exclusion would have extended to a person’s economics, family, religion, social structure and government.

Perhaps there are times when you feel like you don’t fit in because of your faith. While our government guarantees certain freedoms and protects our rights to worship, Christians can still face exclusion, even if only in social circles. If you have never felt out of place, then perhaps something is wrong!

Peter continues his salutation by referencing our great salvation. In our salvation he references the entire work of the Trinity: the Father who chose, the Spirit who makes holy, and the Son who cleanses by his blood. One may doubt whether or not Peter’s readers understood all of the implications of election, sanctification and justification. After all, we’ve been plumbing the depths of these concepts for 2,000 years. Suffice it to say, all of God was involved and is involved in saving all of me! Salvation has provided grace and peace, which frames Peter’s prayer request at the end of the verse.

Unlike Paul, Peter concludes his salutation with a brief prayer. He asks God to provide “more and more grace and peace.” Given the subject matter of the book, suffering, this is a curious request. It would seem natural and logical for his request to be more akin to God delivering these persecuted sufferers from persecution and suffering. He does not.

Grace and peace are at the front end of our Christian experience. But it’s also the stuff that composes our ongoing life with God. So what does this prayer request tell us about salvation and suffering?

First, my suffering may not be removed. Our obvious prayer is to alleviate or remove it altogether. But sometimes God’s sovereign providence allows us to continue in our pain and suffering. Grace and peace become the things that sustain us in the midst of what we are called to endure.

Second, as grace and peace have brought Christ into my life, grace and peace continue to bring Christ into my life in deeper and more meaningful ways. Suffering becomes a pathway which ushers more and more grace and peace into my life. Grace and peace strengthen my character and transform me into the likeness of Christ.