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The Radically Normal Christian:
Part IX: Joy and Suffering
November 13, 2011
Prep:
~* 058
Prayer
Scripture reading: Rom 8:18-21
Gout
I went to the doctor last week for a rather embarrassing problem.
No it’s not that, whatever you were thinking.
It’s gout.
Do you know what gout is?
We all have uric acid in our blood, but a person with gout has more than the blood can hold.
Have you put a string in a cup of water over-saturated with sugar, and it develops crystals?
Imagine that happening, but in your joints.
It is just as pleasant as it sounds.
It’s like someone shoving a knife in your foot and having to walk on that.
~* It’s kind of embarrassing because we associate it with old fat guys, and I am only one of those.
The good news is that it turns out that there is some treatment I didn’t know about (the internet let me down), and I should be able to avoid flare-ups.
Thinking about pain
But the flare-ups have given me a chance to think a lot about pain.
What does this pain have to do with everything I have been saying about God wanting to enjoy this life as much as possible?
It is one thing to be here in church and talk about joy, it is another to be out in the world and see the immense suffering:
~* Children starving in Ethiopia, or abused in this city.
~* People losing family members to cancer.
~* Suffering with physical pain worse than mine.
~* People suffering intense agony in their relationships.
Q Doesn’t all this pain, suffering, and sorrow show up everything I have said about happiness as hollow and thin?
Long view
My goal isn’t to ask “why do bad things happen?”
That’s answered elsewhere.
Suffering is not simple; some is good, some is bad.
Some is self-inflicted; some is inflicted on the innocent.
I am assuming that somehow God in his goodness allows suffering.
~* Instead, I want to ask “what now?”
The most important, yet most misused passage about suffering is in Romans 8.
It starts by saying:
Romans 8:18, 28-30 I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us...
28 And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.
29 For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the likeness of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers.
30 And those he predestined, he also called; those he called, he also justified; those he justified, he also glorified.
~* Misused, because this is quoted to people in the middle of suffering; I know because I have done it.
It is also misused to say that everything is good.
No, a lot of bad things happen, they are not good.
Rather God is able to work these things for a good purpose.
~* He is a master weaver, working both the bright and dark threads together to make an amazing picture.
That is why Paul, a man who knew great suffering, bases his whole statement on the long view.
The idea is not “suffering is good” but “God can redeem your suffering.”
~* I want to understand how to make sure God gets the best possible use of my suffering; I don’t want it wasted.
So that means finding a way to even redeem my gout flare-ups, when it hurts so badly to walk that I want to say unpleasant words with every step.
With every step, I want to see how God can use it to his glory and my joy, eventually.
Songs to a heavy heart
Speaking about suffering is a tricky subject.
In this room there are people who are doing great and who are absolutely miserable, and everything in between.
There are those who have had a reasonably good life and those who have face great hardships.
~* I speak as someone who suffered less than many of you, but hasn’t had an easy life either.
I also talk as someone who has watched, who thinks deeply about what he has seen and experienced and tries to make sense of it.
If you are in the midst of suffering, I really don’t know how useful this sermon will be.
There is a proverb that says:
Proverbs 25:20 NIV Like one who takes away a garment on a cold day, or like vinegar poured on soda, is one who sings songs to a heavy heart.
One of those times of misery for me was when my grandmother passed away unexpectedly.
At the reception, one slightly hyper-spiritual lady was trying to comfort my uncle by leading a little worship time in the corner.
~* My thought towards her were un-pastoral to say the least.
Grandma’s death was a painful, awful mess; that was all there was to it at that time.
Later there would be time for healing and trust, and all that, but that was the time for mourning.
All that to say, if you are in the midst of suffering, I am truly sorry if this feels like singing to a heavy heart.
You may not be able to listen now; tuck it away for latter.
~* My goal is to help all of us (who have, are, or will suffer) make the best use of our suffering.
N~/R~/RNX
To frame it under the “Normal~/Radical~/Radically Normal” framework:
1.
It is normal to avoid and numb suffering at all costs.
Which makes sense.
Who wants to suffer?
When I have a gout flare, it’s not like I decide it’s time run a couple of miles.
No, I take painkillers, walk as little as possible, and try to get as much sympathy as I can!
~* But if we are too quick to numb it, we can end up hurting even worse, as we will see.
There is a Christian variation on this pain avoidance – the Health and Wealth Theology, which basically says that if you are righteous you will never suffer, which is deeply unbiblical.
2. It is radical to seek suffering.
This used to be a thing – like the albino in “The Di Vinci Code,” wearing hair-shirts, becoming an ascetic and avoiding happiness to stay focused on God.
This doesn’t really happen anymore, but instead there is a tendency to glamorize suffering, as if suffering alone gives you moral superiority.
3.
But is it racially normal to view suffering as one of God’s tool for brining joy.
Suffering brings joy?
No, but God can use suffering to bring joy.
There are things God can only do through suffering, lessons that only be learned in trials.
When preached on Ecclesiastes, I was puzzled by one passage:
Ecclesiastes 7:2-4 2 It is better to go to a house of mourning than to go to a house of feasting, for death is the destiny of every man; the living should take this to heart.
3 Sorrow is better than laughter, because a sad face is good for the heart.
4 The heart of the wise is in the house of mourning, but the heart of fools is in the house of pleasure.
This passage seems to be out of step with the rest of the Bible, which emphasizes joy.
Was this just the ramblings of a crank?
But then I had this backed up by personal experience.
I wish could remember the specifics, because I am sure it was an amusing act of stupidity on my part.
But what I clearly remember was that I learned something from it that I couldn’t else wise.
Q When have you grown the most, when have you learned the most about yourself?
Was it in good times or bad?
Suffering is not the whole story, but it is part of the story.
God uses it to do things that he cannot do through happiness:
1. Suffering brings us perspective that smooth sailing cannot.
Earlier this year I read “Onward,” written by Howard Schultz, Founder and CEO of Starbucks.
One of his big points is that success hides the crack.
They were expanding too fast, 100’s of stores were losing money, the supply chain was bloated and wasteful.
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