suffering

God’s Hand in Suffering

July 21st, 2009 | Posted in sermons | No Comments
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Introduce

She had to leave her home because of a famine. Soon after that she found herself alone in a land of wicked people. Her husband? Dead. Both of her sons? Dead. No child. No grandchild. No one to carry on the family line. No one to provide for her. As she sees it, the Lord has turned against her. He has afflicted her. He has brought misfortune upon her. He has made her empty. He has made her life bitter. So bitter that it has become her identity. She has changed her name from Naomi (meaning pleasant) to Mara (meaning bitter).

It is her story that we will look at today as we open the Scriptures. But it’s not just her story. It is your story too. Now, hopefully you haven’t gone to the courthouse to have your name legally changed to “Bitter” (if you have I would urge you to reconsider). But you have experienced suffering. And if you haven’t you can know with certainty that you will. There will be times when death or the threat of death surrounds you. There will be times when poverty or the threat of poverty encompasses you. There will be times when you feel utterly alone. Times when it feels to you as if the Lord has turned against you. Times that you are tempted to respond with bitterness.

This is why God has preserved Naomi’s story in the Scriptures. He has preserved her story because her story speaks to your story. And what does her story tell you about your own? What does her story have to say to you when you confront death, poverty, loneliness, bitterness? This is the question we’ll answer as we review Naomi’s story, conclude Naomi’s story, and identify two very specific ways that her story speaks to yours. Please turn to Ruth 4. The book of Ruth is right after Judges and right before the book of 1Samuel.

Tell

We begin by reviewing her story. The book of Ruth opens in a very dark place with Naomi — in a foreign land — husbandless, childless, penniless and bitter. Looking at this opening scene of her story it’s quite clear to us as readers: things can’t possibly get any better…they can only get worse. And Naomi’s assessment is the same. She tells her daughter’s-in-law, “The Lord’s hand has turned against me.”

But just as we’ve written her situation off as hopeless we start to see little glimmers of hope, small signs that in her suffering God’s hand is working for her, not against her. The first is that her homeland, Bethlehem, is no longer consumed with famine. So Naomi decides to return there for the first time in ten years. Now, Naomi doesn’t expect this to make much of a difference. She’ll still be husbandless, childless, penniless, and bitter. She’s so sure of this that she urges her two daughter’s-in-law to stay in Moab and leave her to suffer alone.

But one of Naomi’s daughter’s-in-law, Ruth, refuses. “Where you go I will go,” she tells her, ”Your people are my people and your God my God.” And here’s where we see our second glimmer of hope, our second sign of God’s hand at work. This woman — a Moabite, an idolater – has made a turn from her false God to Yahweh the True God. If you know the Scriptures you know there is no explanation for this conversion other than God being at work. But if, for some reason, you still doubt that God is present in Naomi’s suffering think about this: not only did Ruth turn to Yahweh in worship she also turned to her mother-in-law and said, “I want to go where you go.” That has to be God. How else do you explain that? How else do you explain a young woman volunteering to follow her old, bitter, mother-in-law wherever she goes? Would your wife sign up for that? Mine wouldn’t. So, yes, Naomi’s suffering remains. Yes, she’s still husbandless, childless, penniless, and bitter. But whether she recognizes it or not we are starting to recognize that in her suffering God’s hand is working for her not against her.

These small glimmers of hope continue when Naomi and Ruth arrive in Bethlehem. First, Ruth volunteers to go into the fields and glean behind those who harvest the grain. This is hard work. And it is dangerous work. But Ruth is bold enough to take this risk in order to provide for Naomi. This is significant in and of itself but it becomes more significant when we find out where Ruth ends up picking grain. Of all the fields in the land she wound up in a field that belonged to Boaz, a good man who was related to Naomi. Again, we see that in Naomi’s suffering God’s hand is working for her and not against her.

But there’s more. When Boaz arrives on the scene he notices, of all people, Ruth. And he has compassion on her. He approaches her and says, “Listen. Don’t go anywhere else. Stay here and follow after the harvesters with the women who work for me. And don’t worry,” he adds, “I have told the men not to lay a hand on you.” Now, Ruth may be an out-of-towner. But she’s no naïve tourist. She recognizes the very uncommon nature of what has just happened. She bows with her face to the ground. “Why are you showing favor to me – a foreigner?” Boaz answers. “I have heard of all you have done for your mother-in-law. May the Lord repay you for what you have done.”

And that seems be just what he is doing. Through Boaz. At mealtime Boaz allows her to eat freely with him and, not only that, he seems to have supersized her meal because even after she is full she still has food left over. And then he gives his men special instructions. Instructions that are absolutely unheard of for any woman, much less for a foreigner of such low status. He tells them to take some of the stalks of grain that they cut and allow her to follow behind and collect them. Again, we see that in Naomi’s suffering God’s hand is working for her and not against her.

And perhaps even Naomi is starting to see some glimmers of hope. Because when Ruth returns home with this ridiculous amount of food Naomi is shocked. She is even more shocked to hear that of all the fields Ruth could have been noticed in she was noticed by Boaz – a close relative. A close relative that, in fact, would be the perfect man to marry Ruth, give her a home, and carry on the family line. So Naomi quickly transforms from Naomi into Chuck Woolery and starts working on making a love connection. She tells Ruth to put on her best clothes, splash herself with perfume, and then gives her very detailed instructions on exactly what to do and exactly when to do it in order to propose marriage to Boaz and to receive the desirable result. And it works. Again, we see that in Naomi’s suffering God’s hand is working for her and not against her.

But there is one obstacle remaining. Boaz informs Ruth that there is another man in town who is more closely related to Naomi than he is. It is this man’s right to redeem her. If he is willing to do so then Boaz will have to step aside. But he is not. And this brings us to our text for today. Let’s conclude Naomi’s story by reading from Ruth 4:13-22,

So Boaz took Ruth and she became his wife. When he made love to her, the LORD enabled her to conceive, and she gave birth to a son. The women said to Naomi: “Praise be to the LORD, who this day has not left you without a family guardian. May he become famous throughout Israel! He will renew your life and sustain you in your old age. For your daughter–in–law, who loves you and who is better to you than seven sons, has given him birth.”

Then Naomi took the child in her arms and cared for him. The women living there said, “Naomi has a son!” And they named him Obed. He was the father of Jesse, the father of David.

This, then, is the family line of Perez: Perez was the father of Hezron, Hezron the father of Ram, Ram the father of Amminadab, Amminadab the father of Nahshon, Nahshon the father of Salmon, Salmon the father of Boaz, Boaz the father of Obed, Obed the father of Jesse, and Jesse the father of David.

Explain

This is Naomi’s story. But as we said in the beginning God has placed her story in the Scriptures because her story speaks to your story. And what does it say? It says two things. Two things that are slowly uncovered as her story unfolds and are that are finally and firmly punctuated in the closing text we just read.

The first is this: in the midst of your suffering God is great. By that I mean that God is sovereign: he does what he wants, when he wants, how he wants, with whomever he wants. God is great. God is firmly in control. That is just as true in the midst of your suffering as it is at any other time. Now, to some, this fact alone may not be all that comforting. It certainly wasn’t for Naomi. To know that God is great and that God has all power is one thing. But your question is how is he going to use his greatness? And that’s the second thing Naomi’s story says to your story. Her story not only tells you that God is great in the midst of your suffering. It also tells you that in the midst of your suffering God is good. What Naomi’s story says to your story is that God is great and in his greatness God is good. He has all power and authority and he uses his power and authority to redeem the unredeemable.

From the very beginning of Naomi’s story this is what we see. But nowhere is God’s greatness and goodness more evident than in this closing passage. First we have this phrase in verse 13, “The Lord enabled her to conceive and she gave birth to a son.” Ruth had been barren for 10 years before Naomi’s son died. But now, almost immediately, she lay with Boaz and “The Lord enabled her to conceive.” Naomi’s story opens with a funeral. It ends with a baby shower. It opens with Naomi childless and heirless. It ends with Naomi holding her grandchild in her arms. It opens with Naomi penniless. It ends with her well provided for through her new son and daughter. It opens with Naomi filled with bitterness. It ends with Naomi at the center of a joyous celebration. God has used his greatness for goodness. He has all power and authority and he has used his power and authority to redeem what appeared, to us, to be unredeemable.

If the story ended there you would have reason enough to be encouraged in your suffering. But it doesn’t end there. There is more. And it is found in verse 17, “The women living there said, “Naomi has a son!” And they named him Obed. He was the father of Jesse, the father of David.” In Naomi’s story God does not merely use his greatness for the good of Naomi and Ruth. He uses his greatness for the good of the world. From Naomi’s grandson would come Jesse, from Jesse would come King David, and from King David would come the King of all kings, Jesus Christ.

Conclude

Naomi’s story speaks to your story by reminding you of the story. It reminds you that God doesn’t just work in history he personally entered into history to live the life of perfection that you have failed to live, to die the death of judgment that you deserve to die, and to rise from the dead to defeat the enemies that you could never defeat. Naomi’s story speaks to your story by reminding you of the story. It reminds you that God doesn’t just work in your suffering he personally enters into your suffering. If you, like Naomi, find yourself penniless you must remember that though Jesus had all of the riches of heaven he willingly made himself penniless so that you could be forever rich in him. If you, like Naomi, find yourself feeling abandoned you must remember that though Jesus deserved to be worshiped by his friends he allowed himself to be abandoned by them for your sake. If you, like Naomi, are overwhelmed with suffering to the point that you feel afflicted by God you must remember that though Jesus was innocent in every way he willingly allowed himself to be afflicted by God so that you would never have to be.

Because of this even when death or the threat of death surround you you don’t have to respond with bitterness. Even when poverty or the threat of poverty encompass you to don’t have to respond with bitterness. Even when your children are not obeying, even when those you love are not loving, even when the job you need is not coming you don’t have to respond with bitterness. Instead, you can respond with gratitude. You can respond with gratitude because while you don’t know why God has sent this suffering you do know that he has not sent this suffering to punish you, humiliate you, or destroy you. No. He has already sent his Son to be punished, humiliated, and destroyed for you so that you could one day be free from all suffering – forever. And God was already laying the groundwork for this redemption of yours 3,000 years ago when he gave a little baby boy to a bitter old widow named Naomi. This is a God who uses his greatness for goodness. Even in your suffering.

Wanna Be Like Jesus?

June 18th, 2009 | Posted in articles | Comments Off
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The following article is an excerpt from a 2009 sermon given by Cole Brown.

I know it’s customary for Christians to say that we want to follow Jesus and we want to be like Jesus. But do we really want to follow Jesus? Do we really want to be like Jesus? Honestly? I don’t think we do. If we really wanted to be like Jesus our lives would look a lot different. Our lives would look less like the lives of our co-workers and more like the life of someone like Stephen, whose story is found in Acts 6:8-7:60.

Verses 8-10 introduce us to the conflict that will follow, “Now Stephen, a man full of God’s grace and power, performed great wonders and signs among the people. Opposition arose, however, from members of the Synagogue of the Freedmen (as it was called)—Jews of Cyrene and Alexandria as well as the provinces of Cilicia and Asia—who began to argue with Stephen. But they could not stand up against the wisdom the Spirit gave him as he spoke.”

Stephen was just your ordinary, everyday, church-going cat. He was no different from you. He was an Average Joe. But, by God’s grace, this Average Joe had earned quite the reputation with the people. They knew him to be a man full of the Spirit, and full of wisdom, a man full of God’s grace and power. Verse 8 tells us he worked signs and wonders among the people. We know from the rest of Scripture that these signs and wonders were always accompanied by an explanation of the gospel. It was because Jesus lived, and died, and rose again that these things were happening. Well, this message about Jesus being Lord and God was terribly offensive to the Jewish leadership. So a number of them, from a certain synagogue, rose up to oppose Stephen. They argued with him, and argued with him, and argued with him. But they could not refute him. No matter how much they tried to trip him up the Holy Spirit continued to give him wisdom as he spoke. They could not out-argue him. Sound familiar? This is the same thing that happened when the Jewish leaders repeatedly challenged Jesus. Again and again they tried to argue with him and again and again he responded with wisdom, putting his challengers to shame.

Stephen is learning what it means to be like Jesus.

You may remember what happened to Jesus when they could not out-argue him. They made up lies about him and had him arrested for crimes he did not commit. And they did precisely the same thing to Stephen. Read verses 11-14, “Then they secretly persuaded some men to say, ’We have heard Stephen speak words of blasphemy against Moses and against God.’ So they stirred up the people and the elders and the teachers of the law. They seized Stephen and brought him before the Sanhedrin. They produced false witnesses, who testified, ’This fellow never stops speaking against this holy place and against the law. For we have heard him say that this Jesus of Nazareth will destroy this place and change the customs Moses handed down to us.’” They brought Stephen before the Sanhedrin, the governing council of Israel, just as they had brought Jesus before the Sanhedrin in Mark 14. They accused Stephen of denying Moses and the Temple, just as they accused Jesus of the same things in Mark 14. They produced false witnesses to lie and testify that Stephen had committed blasphemy, just as they produced false witnesses to lie about Jesus in Mark 14. The most powerful men in the entire nation are unjustly trying Stephen for crimes he did not commit.

Stephen is learning what it means to be like Jesus.

There’s no doubt that Stephen knows where this could be heading. He knows what happened when his Lord stood before these same men. He was beaten and he was murdered. Given the circumstances you might expect Stephen to get defensive. You might expect him to answer the charges and show that they are false. But he doesn’t. In fact, he says nothing at all to defend himself. Instead, he corrects their theology and promises God’s coming judgment. It’s no coincidence that when Jesus stood before this same council he did the same thing. He was asked to explain himself and answer the charges against him but he said nothing. When they asked him again he still did not defend himself. Instead, he corrected their theology and promised God’s coming judgment. If survival was your ultimate goal you could never say this. But if being like Jesus was your highest goal then you could.

Stephen is learning what it means to be like Jesus.

Stephen’s answer to the charges is a sermon and it’s the longest sermon recorded in Acts. As you read the sermon in Acts 6:15-7:53 you will see that Stephen does not defend himself. Instead, he defends a true view of who God is. And he does this by reminding the Jews of their own history and their own Scriptures. His sermon has three main points. First, Stephen shows that God is not limited to a certain geographical region. He is not just God of Israel, he is God of all. Second, Stephen shows that God is not limited to a certain man made temple. He does not dwell in religious buildings. He dwells in the heavens and all of the earth is his footstool. Third, Stephen accuses the Jews of being a rebellious and stiff-necked people. They always resist the Holy Spirit…even to the point of rejecting every prophet he has sent…even to the point of rejecting, betraying, and killing the Messiah who was sent to save them. As you can probably imagine, that didn’t go over very well. Verse 54 says that when they heard this they were furious and gnashed their teeth at him. Stephen had to know this wasn’t a good sign. But he saw another sign. He saw something that they did not see. Look at verses 55, 56, “But Stephen, full of the Holy Spirit, looked up to heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God. ‘Look,’ he said, ‘I see heaven open and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God.’” In what the world would call a moment of great shame, Stephen experienced a moment of great glory. The fury of his opponents paled in comparison to the greatness of Jesus whom Stephen saw with clarity. “Look,” he said, “I see heaven open and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God.” It’s interesting that the Bible usually presents Jesus as seated at the right hand of God. But here he is standing at the right hand of God. This is a picture of Jesus rising up as judge to vindicate Stephen and to condemn those who oppose him. And the Jews know that this is what Stephen is saying. Just as they knew that Jesus was saying the same thing when he described a similar vision. When the high priest asked him if he was the Christ, the Son of the Blessed One, Jesus replied, “I am. And you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of the Mighty One and coming on the clouds of heaven.” The point of both visions is that Jesus is Lord and judge. He is even Lord and judge of the Sanhedrin who have set themselves up as judges over both Jesus and Stephen. By explaining this vision Stephen is guaranteeing his death just as Jesus did when he explained a similar vision.

Stephen is learning what it means to be like Jesus.

When Jesus said he would be seated at the right hand of God the high priest tore his clothes, labeled him a blasphemer, and condemned him to death. Hours later they would drag him outside of the city to symbolize he had been cut off from his people and they would put him to death. When Stephen said he saw Jesus at God’s right hand they all covered their ears, yelled at the top of their voices, rushed at him, and drug him out of the city to symbolize that he had been cut off from his people. Then they began to stone him to death.

Stephen is learning what it means to be like Jesus.

As he was dying at the hands of his own people Stephen prayed to Jesus, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.” Does that sound familiar? As Jesus was being put to death by his own people he prayed, “Father, into your hands I commit my spirit.”

Stephen is learning what it means to be like Jesus.

As the stones continued to assault his body he dropped to his knees, knowing death was moments away, and he cried out, “Lord, do not hold this sin against them.” Again, we are reminded of Jesus who moments from his death prayed, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.” This goes against every fiber of our being. We struggle to forgive people for hurting our feelings and here’s Stephen forgiving his enemies even as they kill him for a crime they did not commit. It is so far from who we are.

But Stephen is learning what it means to be like Jesus.

We Say We Want to Be Like Jesus

The question for you is this: do you want to be like Jesus? I know that if you go to church you’ve been trained to answer “yes” to that question. But I don’t want you to answer without first thinking very carefully about what I’m asking you. Do you want to be like Jesus? We have just read about a man who wanted to be like Jesus and we have seen what that cost him. So in light of that I ask you again, do you want to be like Jesus?

Those of us who are Christians call ourselves Christ-followers, we call ourselves followers of Christ. But have you noticed that we spend most of our time pursuing what Jesus avoided and avoiding what Jesus pursued?

Jesus pursued God. Because Jesus chose to live his entire life in pursuit of knowing God and pleasing God he avoided the things that would hinder that pursuit. He avoided the pursuit of comfort for comforts sake, he avoided the pursuit of fitting in for the sake of fitting in, he avoided the pursuit of worldly success, he avoided the pursuit of worldly pleasures. We do the exact opposite. We say we want to pursue God and, yes, we will pursue God but only to the point that pursuing God allows us to continue our pursuit of comfort, continue our pursuit of fitting in, continue our pursuit of worldly success, continue our pursuit of worldly pleasures. We say we want to know and please God and part of us does. But more than that we want to avoid discomfort, we want to avoid being rejected, we want to avoid failure, we want to avoid suffering. And, because of that, we can’t really follow Jesus. We can’t really be like Jesus until we’re willing to be like Jesus in his discomfort, and be like Jesus in his rejection, and be like Jesus in his failure, and be like Jesus in his suffering. If this is part of what it means to be like Jesus do you want to be like Jesus?

Stephen did. And Stephen was. And why? Is it because Stephen was a super-Christian? No. Is it because the first-century Christians had something that we don’t have? No. Stephen was an Average Joe. He was just a guy who volunteered in his local church. He was just a guy who loved Jesus and used whatever gifts he had to serve Jesus’ people. In these ways he really was no different from most of you. And that should encourage you. You can do what Stephen did. You can be like Jesus. Because God has given to you the same thing he gave to Stephen. If you are a Christian God has given you the faith to believe in who Jesus is and what Jesus has done, just as he did for Stephen. And if you believe in who Jesus is and what Jesus has done God has also filled you with his Holy Spirit, just as he did for Stephen. This means that if you worship Jesus you have both the motivation and the power to do what Stephen did.

Stephen did what Stephen did because Stephen believed what Stephen believed. Stephen believed the gospel. Stephen believed that the God who he rejected nonetheless chose him. Stephen believed that the God who should have hated him and judged him instead hated and judged his own son, Jesus, in Stephen’s place. Stephen believed that the God who should have been eternally separated from him instead chose to dwell in him by his Holy Spirit. Stephen believed that through the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ he had been made righteous in God’s eyes, he had been made acceptable to the God of the universe, he had been united to the Creator of all things, he had been made alive in Christ though he was previously dead in his sins. Because Stephen believed these things he rightly believed that God is the Ultimate Good, the Ultimate Love, the Ultimate Pleasure. And he gave his life to the pursuit of this pleasure.

Contrary to popular belief, Christianity is not a religion that places restrictions on pleasure. To the contrary, Christianity opens the door to the greatest of all pleasures. Christianity invites us to know and pursue pleasure by knowing and pursuing Jesus Christ, the creator of all pleasure. You could even say that Christianity is a hedonistic religion. If you’re not familiar with hedonism it is the philosophy that pleasure is the highest good and highest aim of human life. If you need further clarification about the philosophy of hedonism just turn on BET for an hour. On BET, and on most American television, the pursuit of pleasure is presented as the greatest good we can experience and as the greatest goal we can aim for. And you know what? They’re right. The problem is that they misidentify the source of that pleasure. They tell us that if we want to pursue pleasure we should pursue sex, and money, and jewelry, and clothes, and possessions, and success, and achievement, and marriage, and singleness, and freedom, and comfort, and so on. They’ve got the pursuit of pleasure right. But they’ve got the source of pleasure wrong. If we chase pleasure by chasing these things we will miss the very thing we’re chasing. We will miss out on true pleasure. Because we’re chasing pleasure in created things instead of finding pleasure in the creator of those things.

Christianity does not place restrictions on pleasure. Christianity opens the door to the greatest pleasures of all by opening the door to knowing and pleasing God through Jesus Christ. The greatest pleasure in all of the universe is found in knowing and pleasing the creator of all pleasure. This is what enabled Stephen to face what he faced. Though they took away his comfort, and they took away his acceptance, and they even took away his life they could not take away his pleasure. Because his pleasure was not found in created things. His pleasure was found in the creator of all things. This is what the gospel assures us. Which means that if we truly believe the gospel we, too, can do what Stephen did. We can be like Jesus. And we can answer, “Yes, I do want to be like Jesus.” And we can say that knowing that being like Jesus means we must and will suffer. Because through our suffering we actually find pleasure.

I know it sounds ridiculous but it is true. When we suffer as Christians – as our earthly pleasures, and even our lives, are taken away from us – we are actually receiving greater and more lasting pleasures because we are becoming more intimately united to Jesus, the source of all pleasure. Philippians 3:10 says that when we suffer we suffer with Jesus and we come to know him better as a result. Acts 9:4 says that when we suffer Jesus suffers with us and we come to know him better as a result. When we suffer we suffer with Jesus and Jesus suffers with us and we find the greatest of all pleasures in knowing him and pleasing him in life and in death.

This is the one pleasure that cannot be taken away. Do you really want your pleasure to be found in comfort, and the approval of other people, and in worldly success, and in worldly possessions? If you find your pleasure in those things you can lose your pleasure in an instant. The moment you encounter discomfort, or disapproval, or failure, or poverty your pleasure is gone. But if you find your pleasure in knowing and pleasing God your pleasure can never be taken away from you. Not because you have done or will do all the right things. But because Jesus has and Jesus does.