Finding Purpose In Pain
Sermon Audio
Sermon Notes
Intro:
Hey everybody my name’s Louis, I’m the lead teaching pastor here at City Awakening, glad you’re able to join us for today’s online gathering. I was out of town last week, but was still in contact with our Executive Pastor Zack throughout the week, and I’m thankful for all the hard work Zack, our staff, our elders, and so many others are putting in to make this online gathering a reality. The church continuing to move forward despite the situation we’re in reminds me of a 19th Century quote by H.L. Hastings, where he quotes a French Soldier persuading his French King, to rescind orders that were given to persecute Christians. The soldier said this to his King, “Sire, the Church of God is an anvil, that has worn out many hammers.” He said the church is an anvil, it’s the flat iron block blacksmiths hammer metal on. He said the church is like that, it’s like an anvil that’s worn out many hammers, meaning you can try to persecute and destroy it, but history’s proven it can’t be destroyed!...The church can’t be destroyed!...It’s still standing, still gathering, still moving forward even if we have to do it online, sitting in our homes wearing our pajamas...I can’t see you, but I know it’s happening...So shout out to all the pajama people...
Now the current teaching series we’re in is called Visible God, and it’s about seeing God through the life of Jesus. We’re studying a book of the bible called the Gospel of John which records the life and words of Jesus, as it was written by an original source, an original follower of Jesus, and in today’s text Jesus is being asked a question so many of us have asked before. It’s a question some of us might even be asking now regarding the Coronavirus. It’s the question Why?...If God’s so good, then why?...If God’s so powerful, then why?...If God’s so loving, then why?...Why do we have to go through pain in this life, and is there any purpose to our past and present pains?...Let’s turn to John 9:1-7, and hear what Jesus says about this. If you open your bible to the middle, turn a few books to the right, you’ll find John there, and we’ll also have the words on the screen for you. It’s John 9:1-7. The title of today’s message is Finding Purpose In Pain, and here’s the big idea. You can choose to sit in your pain, or use your pain for a purpose...You can choose to sit in your pain, or use your pain for a purpose.
Context:
Here’s your context. John the author of this book of the bible records 7 major miracles Jesus does, and ch 9 records the 6th of those 7 miracles. It’s where Jesus heals a man who was born blind, and back then a blind person didn’t have the support they’d have in today’s society. They were viewed as outcasts, as homeless beggars who were at the mercy of others, and so this blind man has experienced suffering and darkness his entire life. But Jesus is about to heal him, about to allow him to see light for the first time, proving Jesus really is the light of the world like he claims in ch 8. Now as we study this text I want you to notice 3 different responses to pain. I’ll dive much deeper into why God allows suffering and evil to exist in a post Easter series we’ll be doing called Starting Point: Reasons for faith, not skepticism. But for now I want you notice 3 different responses, 3 different ways we tend to process and respond to pain. Let’s check it out.
The Word:
John 9:1-7 states this, “As he passed by, he saw a man blind from birth. 2 And his disciples asked him, ‘Rabbi, who sinned, this man...’” There’s the why question. Jesus’ disciples, his followers notice this man was born blind, and they’re asking why this happened to him, why he had to live his entire life blind? But notice they already have an answer to their question. They
say it’s because this man sinned. It’s the 1st of the 3 ways people tend to respond to pain. It’s...
#1 A Guilty Response = Some people have a guilty response to pain and suffering. We sometimes do what the disciples are doing with this blind man. We think our pain and suffering is the result of our own personal sin, of something we said or did. It’s a western view of karma where we think good things happen to good people, bad things happen to bad people, and since something bad is happening to me, I must’ve done something bad. But that isn’t a Christian view of suffering, it isn’t even a realistic view of suffering, because bad things happen to people doing good things all the time. I mean look at what happened to Jesus! Jesus was certainly good, he did a lot of good things, he didn’t sin, yet he still suffered excruciating pain on the cross. Jesus didn’t live his life reclined in a lounge chair, disconnected from suffering. He was crucified on a cross and can relate with your suffering. He can relate with those of you feeling like you’ve been doing everything right, yet you’re still getting hit with wrong, still getting hit with suffering. A karmic guilty response to suffering doesn’t help make sense of your suffering, because there’s times you might be doing everything right, yet you still facing suffering like Jesus. The disciples are correct that some suffering is the result of personal sin and bad decisions we make, but not all suffering is. In this case the guy was born blind, so it’s not like he sinned in his mother’s womb and that’s why he’s suffering...which means there has to be a 2nd response to his suffering, and there is.
Again vs. 2, “And his disciples asked him, ‘Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?’” There’s the 2nd of the 3 ways people tend to respond to pain. It’s...
#2 A Blaming Response = The 1st response is a guilty response, and the 2nd response is a blaming response. First they say his suffering is because he sinned, now they’re saying it might be because his parents sinned, and just like the disciples we’ll sometimes blame others for our suffering too. We’re like “If I didn’t do anything to deserve this, then it must be somebody else’s fault. There has to be somebody to blame.” We’re seeing this happening with the Coronavirus. We’re seeing people blaming China, the president, the news media, CDC, all kinds of blaming going on right now for our suffering. It’s because our response to suffering is “If we didn’t cause it, somebody else has to be blamed for it.” And sometimes it’s true! Sometimes there is somebody to blame for the suffering we experience, but again that isn’t always the case. In fact some of you listening right now might need to take your finger off the blaming trigger in your marriages, your family, your friendships, other relationships you have including your relationship with God. I’ve met a lot of atheists who say they became atheists because of suffering they’ve experienced in life. They’re blaming the God they don’t believe in...But Christians will sometimes blame God too! It might even get worse after you become a Christian, because we sometimes feel a sense of entitlement since we have a relationship with God. We sometimes act like spoiled little children who are entitled to a comfortable life that’s free from suffering, and we blame God when that life isn’t happening. We might even find ourselves going back to a karmic guilty response thinking God’s punishing us for something we did wrong. So neither the guilty response or the blaming response are helpful to us in our suffering, but Jesus is about to give us a 3rd response in vs 3.
Vs. 3 states, “Jesus answered, ‘It was not that this man sinned, or his parents, but that the works of God might be displayed in him.’” Jesus says in this case, in this man’s situation, the suffering isn’t because of his sin or his parents sin. It’s so the works of God might be displayed, and that gives us our 3rd response to suffering. It’s...
#3 A Purpose Response = A purpose response is where we seek to use our suffering for a purpose. Instead of asking “Why am I suffering, or who can I blame for my suffering?” We ask “How can I use my suffering for a purpose?” For the Christian it’s “How can I use my suffering for the purpose of God’s work being displayed?” The Greek word hina is used in this verse, and it’s better translated as so that or in order that. It’s a purpose clause, meaning this happened, so that something else could happen. This happened, for the purpose of something else happening. This should really affect how you view your suffering, because it means your suffering isn’t for nothing...Your suffering isn’t for nothing...It’s so that, something else could happen. It’s for a purpose. People who respond to suffering this way seek to use their pain for a purpose, because they know God’s working to use their suffering for something, use their suffering for our good and His glory. Romans 8:28 states, “We know that all things work together for the good of those who love God, who are called according to his purpose.” Our suffering is never wasteful, it’s never for nothing, when we align our lives with the purposes of God.
It reminds me of the story of Joseph and his brothers. You may know it from the musical Joseph and The Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat. Joseph suffered a lot in his life. He suffered family betrayal, physical harm, being sold into slavery, was even put in prison for being falsely accused of raping Pharaoh’s wife. Joseph had a life filled with suffering, and it all seemed pointless while he was in the suffering. But many years later he’s appointed to a high ranking position in the Egyptian government and saves thousands of lives during a severe famine. His brothers who sold him into slavery come to him for food and he says this in Genesis 50:20, “You planned evil against me. But God planned it for good to bring about the present result. The survival of many people”...Purpose...Joseph says what Jesus says. He says his suffering wasn’t for nothing, it was for a purpose...It was so that, many people’s lives would be saved. It was so that, God’s work would be displayed in and through him, and that’s the Christian view of suffering. It’s that suffering stinks, it hurts, it’s painful, but it’s never wasteful. The Christian view has a purpose, it has a so that, and a good outcome in the end for those who love God. It’ll always turn out for our good and God’s glory, like it did for Joseph and is about to do for this blind man. Listen to vs 4.
Vs. 4, “‘We must work the works of him who sent me while it is day; night is coming, when no one can work. 5 As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world.’ 6 Having said these things, he spit on the ground and made mud with the saliva. Then he anointed the man’s eyes with the mud 7 and said to him, ‘Go, wash in the pool of Siloam’ (which means Sent). So he went and washed and came back seeing.’” He was healed. He had seen darkness his entire life, but the light of the world has given him light to see the world. God’s plan was to heal this man from his suffering, and bring glory to Jesus in the process. But notice how Jesus does it, he puts a wet mud pie in his face. You don’t throw a mud pie in somebody’s eyes if you want them see! So what’s he doing here? Why’s he using a mud pie to heal this guy? It’s to echo the creation account of Genesis 1-2. In Genesis 1 God said “Let there be light,” and Jesus is saying “Let there be light and sight.” In Genesis 2 God created man out of the dust of the earth, and Jesus is now recreating this man’s eyes out of the dust of the earth. Simply put, Jesus is showing he’s the God of Genesis 1-2 who’s come to restore the sin suffering world of Genesis 3. Suffering didn’t exist in our world until Genesis 3, meaning it wasn’t a part of God’s original creation. God didn’t originally create a world of suffering, but when the human race turned away from God that’s when everything went wrong. That’s when suffering, sin, and death entered our world. But Jesus entered our world to restore us back to the life of Genesis 1-2, back to what it was supposed to be like before everything went wrong. Restoring this blind man’s sight is a glimpse of the greater restoration Jesus is doing in our world right now, and our souls are longing for this restoration!
I mean this entire Coronavirus is screaming something’s not right with our world, and we want it fixed. It’s also screaming we’re not as in control of our lives as we think. Within a matter of days we’ve had nearly every comfort and security blanket stripped from us. Our stocks, jobs, health, sports, human socialization, food, toilet paper. I’m having to freak out about toilet paper now!...In a matter of days we’ve had nearly every comfort and security blanket stripped away, and you know what I’m seeing it reveal? The idols in our hearts...It’s revealing a lot of the idols, a lot of the things we’ve been placing our comfort and security in over Jesus. You can really tell what a person’s placed their comfort and security in, by how badly they freak out when it’s taken away. It’s all revealing there’s something not right with our world, and just like our hearts are longing for things to be restored back to normal, our hearts should long for all of creation to be restored back to normal. The good news is Jesus is working in both seen and unseen ways, to eternally restore things back to the way they were before sin entered our world. The question is, how will you respond to the suffering your facing, until his restorative work is done? Will you respond with karmic guilt, with blaming, or with a purpose?...It’s been encouraging to hear some of the ways the people in our church are serving our city during this time.
I was encouraged by a young lady in our church who doesn’t have kids, but is helping to watch other people’s kids since the daycares are closed but the parents have to work.
I was encouraged by a retired woman in our church who’s making masks for people in the medical field, who are having to use the same masks over again.
I was encouraged by some people in our church helped me make a few gift baskets filled with drinks, snacks, and double shot espressos to take to medical workers in our city.
I was encouraged by others in our church who are helping to grocery shop for those who have dietary restrictions and can’t find certain foods.
I was encouraged by many others in our church who are helping feed kids who were dependent on the free lunches they were getting in the public school system.
I was encouraged by how many people in our church are calling to check in on people to see how they’re doing, or if they need anything.
All this is a great reminder that the church isn’t a building, it’s a people. It’s a reminder the church isn’t restricted by 4 walls, it’s unleased beyond 4 walls. It’s a reminder that although we’re quarantined, the gospel can’t ever be quarantined. It’s a reminder that the church is an anvil that’s worn out many hammers, and it’ll wear out this hammer too...It’ll wear out this hammer too.
The Big Idea:
So here’s the big idea. You can choose to sit in your pain, or use your pain for a purpose. And if you’re like me you might wonder why Jesus doesn’t restore things sooner, but maybe it’s because he’s waiting to restore you...Maybe it’s because he’s waiting to restore your friends and family through you...So if you’re not a Christian respond by accepting Jesus as your Lord and Savior, who came to die for your sins on the cross, and restore you to a right relationship with him. If you’re a Christian, respond by thinking of ways your household can use this quarantine time with a purpose, for the good of our city and the glory of Jesus...It’s a tragic waste, if you view everything going on right now as having no meaning, purpose, or plan to be used for future redemptive good. It’s a tragic waste, if there’s no hina, no so that, for your suffering soul. The Christian view offers you not a tragic waste, but good news. It’s the good news that there’s always a hina, always a so that for your suffering, when you trust Jesus with your suffering soul.