WEBVTT 00:00:00.800 --> 00:00:06.640 So, I have a confession to make, you know, just between you and me and the whole internet. 00:00:08.080 --> 00:00:14.640 I preached a month ago and what I said left me feeling a little uneasy. Now don't get me wrong, 00:00:14.640 --> 00:00:20.400 I believe what I said was true and I hope that God used it to speak to you, but it may have been 00:00:20.960 --> 00:00:27.839 incomplete. For those of you who didn't hear it or have just forgotten, I was speaking about 00:00:27.839 --> 00:00:33.280 the sufferings of Christ and how we as Christians are called to share in those same sufferings. 00:00:34.560 --> 00:00:40.640 I wanted to challenge those of us who are comfortable and safe Christians to remind us 00:00:41.200 --> 00:00:43.600 of the realities of following Jesus. 00:00:45.679 --> 00:00:55.280 But here's the thing, not everyone is comfortable, not everyone is safe. And so as I uploaded that 00:00:55.280 --> 00:01:04.400 video a month ago, I was left with this nagging doubt about what it says to people who are living 00:01:05.040 --> 00:01:16.480 with poverty, neglect, abuse and injustice. And as I looked over today's reading, I was immensely 00:01:16.480 --> 00:01:22.799 challenged yet again, as I read these words of enduring under suffering. 00:01:22.799 --> 00:01:31.280 So the danger would be that if I carry on as I had last month, it would seem that if you are 00:01:31.280 --> 00:01:39.920 suffering, God just wants you to sit down, shut up and deal with it. And that can't be true, can it? 00:01:41.679 --> 00:01:47.759 So as I tried to figure out what Paul is saying here, I did what we should always do when reading the 00:01:47.760 --> 00:01:55.600 Bible, I took it back to the cross. But in particular, I thought back to my own childhood. 00:01:55.600 --> 00:02:03.200 And the first time I remember really understanding what it meant that Jesus had died. 00:02:04.640 --> 00:02:12.240 I guess I was around seven, maybe eight years old. I was in church on Good Friday, hearing everything 00:02:12.240 --> 00:02:22.240 that Jesus went through. And all I could think was how horribly unfair it was that someone as amazing 00:02:22.240 --> 00:02:29.520 as Jesus would die this lonely, painful and humiliating death. 00:02:29.520 --> 00:02:39.439 Jesus died for our sins. He died so that we can have forgiveness and new life. And we will be 00:02:39.439 --> 00:02:52.000 celebrating that in full on Easter Day. But Jesus didn't just die for our sins. He also died because of 00:02:52.000 --> 00:03:02.240 sin. He died because powerful men could make it so that an innocent man would die a criminal's death. 00:03:04.800 --> 00:03:16.159 Jesus stepped into a broken, sinful world. And he became his victim. He died a sinner's death that saved 00:03:16.159 --> 00:03:26.879 sinners. A victim's death that saves victims. And that victim status is clearly on Paul's mind as he's 00:03:26.879 --> 00:03:32.079 talking about his own ministry in 2 Corinthians, where he's saying here we are hard pressed on every 00:03:32.079 --> 00:03:39.599 side, perplexed, persecuted, struck down. In verse 11 he says this, for we who are alive are always being 00:03:39.599 --> 00:03:48.479 given over to death for Jesus' sake, so that his life may be revealed in our mortal body. 00:03:50.479 --> 00:03:57.519 Paul sees himself and his fellow Christians as revealing Jesus and who he is by suffering in the 00:03:57.519 --> 00:04:03.439 way that he suffered. If they're suffering in the same way Jesus suffered, they must be 00:04:03.439 --> 00:04:12.240 doing what Jesus did. They are suffering for coming face to face with the sinfulness and injustice of our 00:04:12.240 --> 00:04:17.600 world. I think Esau Macaulay puts it better than I ever could. 00:04:17.600 --> 00:04:28.960 Herod did not see Jesus as a danger because he was a compassionate healer who spoke of justice, 00:04:28.960 --> 00:04:35.439 repentance and transformation. Herod saw Jesus as a threat because his ministry of healing 00:04:36.320 --> 00:04:42.800 was a sign of the in-breaking reign of God. Anyone familiar with the Jewish scriptures knew that when 00:04:42.800 --> 00:04:51.360 God did act, he would not leave the rulers of this world unthreatened. This is what frightened Herod, 00:04:51.360 --> 00:04:57.199 the possibility that the advent of God's reign through Jesus might upset his own. 00:04:57.199 --> 00:05:15.120 So, we may be called to suffer, but we're not called to suffer in silence. Rather, we point to our 00:05:15.120 --> 00:05:20.319 suffering and the suffering of others to expose the injustice of the world, to point our finger at 00:05:20.319 --> 00:05:25.199 those who use corruption, violence and fear to get what they want and to say, 00:05:25.199 --> 00:05:31.439 you are not in charge here anymore. The kingdom of God is coming. 00:05:33.759 --> 00:05:40.719 And that is why Paul, in his weakness, in his victimhood, still sees the power of God at work. 00:05:40.719 --> 00:05:47.360 But I say we are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed, perplexed, but not in despair, 00:05:47.360 --> 00:05:58.160 persecuted, but not abandoned, struck down, but not destroyed. We show the life of Christ every time 00:05:58.720 --> 00:06:09.040 we take the side of the weak and the broken, instead of the powerful. We have treasure in jars of clay. 00:06:09.040 --> 00:06:14.480 The glory of God is shown in broken human bodies. 00:06:17.120 --> 00:06:22.640 And out of that brokenness, God brings hope. Verse 13. 00:06:22.639 --> 00:06:29.519 It is written, I believed, and therefore I have spoken. With that same spirit of faith, we also 00:06:29.519 --> 00:06:35.360 believe and therefore speak. Because we know that the one who raised the Lord Jesus from the dead 00:06:35.919 --> 00:06:41.199 will also raise us with Jesus and present us with you in his presence. 00:06:41.199 --> 00:06:50.000 The kingdom of God is coming. And that kingdom will bring justice and restoration. 00:06:51.519 --> 00:06:55.199 When Jesus was raised from the dead, it showed what God's end goal was. 00:06:56.159 --> 00:07:02.480 Jesus, the victim of the injustice and violence of the powerful, 00:07:02.480 --> 00:07:07.840 overcame that power when God raised him from the dead. 00:07:11.040 --> 00:07:18.319 And Paul here reminds us that we too will be raised with Jesus. Death will be no more. Justice 00:07:18.319 --> 00:07:25.280 will finally be done. And we see that we're still waiting for that. And we read Revelation. This is 00:07:25.280 --> 00:07:30.400 chapter six. I saw under the altar, the souls of those who have been slain because of the word of God 00:07:30.399 --> 00:07:35.279 and the testimony they had maintained. They called out in a loud voice, how long, 00:07:35.279 --> 00:07:40.959 sovereign Lord, holy and true, until you judge the inhabitants of the earth and avenge our blood. 00:07:44.719 --> 00:07:49.359 It's not the most comfortable reading, I know. It's not very friendly, not very Christian. 00:07:51.039 --> 00:07:54.000 And yet, if God's kingdom is truly going to come, 00:07:54.000 --> 00:08:00.319 He must do right by those who cry out for justice. 00:08:02.480 --> 00:08:09.600 Another confession for you. I sometimes find it hard to cry out for God's kingdom to come. 00:08:11.519 --> 00:08:17.279 You see, I know in my head that the eternal life that God is going to give us will be 00:08:17.279 --> 00:08:20.959 far, far better than anything this world has to offer right now. 00:08:23.039 --> 00:08:28.799 But I've got plans. You know, I've got career plans, I've got family plans, there's stuff I want 00:08:28.799 --> 00:08:33.120 to do, there's stuff I want to see. In fact, there's just enough stuff that 00:08:35.039 --> 00:08:40.559 I kind of want Jesus to hold off a few more decades before he comes in glory. 00:08:40.559 --> 00:08:48.719 Which is why I need to keep watching the news. I need to keep looking out at the world and the 00:08:48.719 --> 00:08:54.319 suffering and injustice that goes on there because sure, sure, I've got plans and they're very nice. 00:08:56.399 --> 00:09:00.399 But you know what? I bet Sarah Everard had plans. 00:09:02.559 --> 00:09:06.399 Stephen Lawrence, George Floyd, they probably have plans. 00:09:06.399 --> 00:09:10.480 And those plans were snatched away. 00:09:13.279 --> 00:09:20.799 Every person who has died an unjust death, in fact, every person who lives under oppression and fear 00:09:22.720 --> 00:09:27.120 does not have the luxury of asking God to operate on their terms. 00:09:27.679 --> 00:09:32.960 All they have left is that cry, how long, Lord, how long are you going to leave us like this? 00:09:32.960 --> 00:09:42.960 And so if we're not going to be crying out for ourselves, we must add our voices to that cry 00:09:43.519 --> 00:09:50.800 on behalf of the oppressed. We show the life of Christ in our longing for God's kingdom to come and 00:09:50.800 --> 00:10:00.639 put an end to suffering and death once and for all. We have treasure in jars of clay. Broken human bodies 00:10:00.639 --> 00:10:03.919 will be raised to new life. 00:10:03.919 --> 00:10:15.599 But that's new life is not just for the future. Rather, that future hope strengthens us to act now. 00:10:15.599 --> 00:10:22.479 Verse 16, therefore, we do not lose heart, though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are 00:10:22.479 --> 00:10:31.919 being renewed day by day. For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. 00:10:31.919 --> 00:10:33.919 For our light and momentary we are not. 00:10:35.279 --> 00:10:40.799 Well, the things I've been talking about are not light and momentary. In fact, the things Paul went through 00:10:41.360 --> 00:10:50.399 for Jesus are not light and momentary either. This world has seen lifetimes of injustice. 00:10:50.399 --> 00:11:03.039 But Jesus gives us hope. God himself entered our world and suffered the same injustice that his people did. 00:11:03.039 --> 00:11:07.120 And he has promised to bring it to an end. 00:11:10.000 --> 00:11:17.360 In his letter to the Philippians, Paul reminds us that we are already citizens of heaven, even as we wait for Jesus to come and rescue us. 00:11:17.360 --> 00:11:25.680 And what that means is that we don't have to wait to start acting like God's kingdom has come. 00:11:27.039 --> 00:11:32.879 Outwardly, we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. 00:11:32.879 --> 00:11:35.679 It may look like there is no hope left. 00:11:35.679 --> 00:11:41.519 But in reality, we have the power of God within us to change the world. 00:11:42.240 --> 00:11:45.279 This is the same power that raised Jesus from the dead. 00:11:45.279 --> 00:11:53.279 And it has driven Christians throughout history to stand against poverty, slavery and hatred because we are citizens of heaven. 00:11:53.279 --> 00:11:59.199 And where we are from, that sort of thing is just not acceptable. 00:12:00.639 --> 00:12:06.879 We show the life of Christ in our actions that make the world look more like the kingdom of God, 00:12:08.000 --> 00:12:09.439 even as we wait for it to come. 00:12:10.720 --> 00:12:13.039 We have treasure in jars of clay. 00:12:14.559 --> 00:12:19.679 New life is promised by a transforming world. 00:12:19.679 --> 00:12:22.639 New life is promised by a transforming world. 00:12:22.639 --> 00:12:28.079 So we fix our eyes, not on what is seen, but what is unseen. 00:12:29.439 --> 00:12:34.399 For what is seen, the pain and injustice of this world is temporary. 00:12:35.359 --> 00:12:42.239 For what is unseen, the glorious life of the kingdom of God, is eternal. 00:12:44.240 --> 00:12:45.679 Come, Lord Jesus. 00:12:47.279 --> 00:12:47.679 Amen.