WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:06.440 Good afternoon, everybody. Glad to be here. And I'm going to try not to take this personally. 00:00:10.060 --> 00:00:13.900 If you come up here, there's just a semicircle of empty pews. 00:00:15.759 --> 00:00:19.320 This isn't a Gallagher show. I don't know what. Y'all don't know who Gallagher is. 00:00:20.160 --> 00:00:23.000 He used to smash fruit. We're not going to do that. 00:00:23.820 --> 00:00:29.260 But anybody who would like to is welcome to come sit in these, the center pews up here, up front. 00:00:30.620 --> 00:00:34.600 My name's Tommy. I'm a pastor here. Happy to be together. 00:00:34.920 --> 00:00:39.600 This is a great, great Sunday. We get to celebrate a baptism in just a little while. 00:00:39.659 --> 00:00:42.439 Of all the things we do as a church, that's one of the greatest things we get to do. 00:00:42.980 --> 00:00:44.420 So we're so excited about that. 00:00:45.079 --> 00:00:50.760 And before we celebrate that baptism, we're going to spend a few minutes opening God's Word together. 00:00:50.760 --> 00:00:55.060 We do this every week. You can think of everything that's happening here as like this dinner party. 00:00:55.159 --> 00:00:59.100 We've been invited in by Jesus. We're here at His invitation. 00:00:59.100 --> 00:01:04.219 And now's the part of the evening when we gather around Him and listen to Him speak. 00:01:04.700 --> 00:01:06.299 And that's what we're hoping to do right now. 00:01:07.120 --> 00:01:10.820 We've been in a series looking at Paul's letter to the Colossians. 00:01:10.819 --> 00:01:15.839 And appropriately, since this is the Easter season, we've been asking this question. 00:01:16.199 --> 00:01:26.099 If the resurrection happened, how does that affect our lives here in Washington, D.C. in 2017? 00:01:26.099 --> 00:01:35.699 To put it simply, if the resurrection did not actually happen, I would strongly suggest you find another religion. 00:01:36.739 --> 00:01:38.599 Another worldview. Another philosophy. 00:01:39.140 --> 00:01:42.319 There are many out there that are far easier, far more practical. 00:01:42.859 --> 00:01:44.359 Do not waste your time with this religion. 00:01:44.359 --> 00:01:51.959 On the other hand, if it did actually happen, which I believe it did, then it changes everything. 00:01:52.140 --> 00:01:55.260 And so the question we're asking now is, what does it change? 00:01:55.319 --> 00:01:57.719 How does that actually affect our lives? 00:01:58.379 --> 00:02:04.299 And so this week, in this study, we're coming to the end of chapter 1, verses 24 through 29. 00:02:04.299 --> 00:02:08.199 But what I want to do is draw your attention simply to that first verse. 00:02:08.420 --> 00:02:11.539 Colossians 1, verse 24. Let me read it. 00:02:11.539 --> 00:02:17.280 Now I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake, that is the church. 00:02:17.859 --> 00:02:26.699 And in my flesh, I'm filling up what is lacking in Christ's afflictions for the sake of his body, that is the church. 00:02:28.019 --> 00:02:32.500 If you were following along, you probably realized this is a very difficult verse to understand. 00:02:32.680 --> 00:02:36.359 I think it's actually one of the most difficult verses to understand in the New Testament. 00:02:36.360 --> 00:02:42.040 And it's also one of the most important for understanding our larger question. 00:02:42.740 --> 00:02:47.020 What difference does the resurrection make for how we live in the world? 00:02:47.540 --> 00:02:52.320 So what I want to do is to spend this time really looking at this verse in particular. 00:02:52.540 --> 00:02:57.580 We'll mention the other verses, but this is the time, this is the verse that we're going to spend time on. 00:02:58.000 --> 00:02:59.560 And we're going to ask two questions. 00:02:59.700 --> 00:03:01.420 First of all, what is this saying? 00:03:01.540 --> 00:03:02.860 What is Paul saying here? 00:03:02.960 --> 00:03:03.720 What does that mean? 00:03:03.719 --> 00:03:08.060 And then the next question we'll ask is, what difference does it make for us? 00:03:08.359 --> 00:03:09.379 So what is he saying? 00:03:09.539 --> 00:03:13.680 And then what does it mean for us here in 2017 and how we live? 00:03:13.840 --> 00:03:14.300 Let's pray. 00:03:16.120 --> 00:03:21.360 Our Father, as we just said, we're here at your invitation to hear from you. 00:03:21.360 --> 00:03:32.120 Were these simply reflections of human wisdom and human philosophies, they would, as your word says, be empty ultimately, powerless. 00:03:33.020 --> 00:03:35.540 But we actually believe that you have promised to speak. 00:03:36.400 --> 00:03:39.900 And that when you speak, worlds come into being. 00:03:40.260 --> 00:03:44.340 Suns and moons and stars and time itself springs to life. 00:03:44.340 --> 00:03:51.539 So we pray that as you speak now, that same voice, that same word would recreate us. 00:03:52.240 --> 00:03:54.599 That our souls would spring to life. 00:03:55.460 --> 00:03:57.120 That the chaos would be ordered. 00:03:58.400 --> 00:04:01.620 That you would give us a vision for what it means to follow you in this world. 00:04:01.920 --> 00:04:03.280 We pray this in your son's holy name. 00:04:03.460 --> 00:04:03.659 Amen. 00:04:03.659 --> 00:04:07.659 So first of all, what does this verse say? 00:04:08.400 --> 00:04:12.479 Let me give you a little context so you understand where we are in the passage. 00:04:12.699 --> 00:04:15.060 Paul is writing to a church not unlike ours. 00:04:15.199 --> 00:04:17.219 These are people that he's never personally met. 00:04:17.740 --> 00:04:20.399 The church in Colossal was planted by other people. 00:04:20.920 --> 00:04:21.939 Paul's heard about them. 00:04:22.219 --> 00:04:25.939 He's likely in prison right now, but he's writing a letter to these Christians. 00:04:26.560 --> 00:04:30.180 And he says, I've heard on the one hand that the gospel is bearing fruit. 00:04:31.300 --> 00:04:32.480 It's bearing fruit. 00:04:32.480 --> 00:04:35.259 People are genuinely coming to faith in Jesus. 00:04:36.120 --> 00:04:37.640 This community is being built. 00:04:37.780 --> 00:04:38.879 People are loving each other. 00:04:39.000 --> 00:04:39.780 People are generous. 00:04:39.960 --> 00:04:40.620 They're kind. 00:04:40.980 --> 00:04:41.740 They're faithful. 00:04:42.120 --> 00:04:42.939 They're serving. 00:04:44.160 --> 00:04:45.939 And he says, there's genuine fruit here. 00:04:46.920 --> 00:04:55.400 But he says, on the other hand, there are, I hear, multiple versions of Christianity floating around the community. 00:04:55.400 --> 00:05:01.540 There are other teachers who have come in who are propagating alternative versions of Christianity. 00:05:02.480 --> 00:05:10.080 Now, that may seem like a small issue, but in Paul's mind, it's a pretty big deal because there's a problem. 00:05:10.680 --> 00:05:13.379 There's no such thing as multiple versions of Christianity. 00:05:13.379 --> 00:05:17.839 So these are actually false gospels. 00:05:17.839 --> 00:05:20.800 They're counterfeit versions of Christianity. 00:05:20.920 --> 00:05:24.079 They look a lot like the real thing, but they're not. 00:05:25.300 --> 00:05:26.560 And so Paul's very concerned. 00:05:26.680 --> 00:05:29.579 And so he's writing this letter in just in the previous verses. 00:05:29.579 --> 00:05:32.359 Josh preached a great sermon on these last week. 00:05:32.359 --> 00:05:44.079 But in verses 22 and 23, Paul is saying, and you who were once alienated from God, Jesus has now reconciled to himself. 00:05:44.079 --> 00:05:52.740 If, indeed, you continue in the faith, stable and steadfast, not shifting from the hope of the gospel that you heard. 00:05:52.819 --> 00:05:54.839 So this is his warning, right? 00:05:54.959 --> 00:05:58.979 And as I read that verse, it brings to mind teaching my boys how to ride bikes. 00:05:59.459 --> 00:06:04.799 And, you know, the training wheels are off and you get on the road and you start running down the road. 00:06:05.000 --> 00:06:07.620 And they're kind of wobbling and running and running and running. 00:06:07.680 --> 00:06:09.120 And then I let them go, right? 00:06:09.120 --> 00:06:11.439 And they start going down the road all by themselves. 00:06:11.439 --> 00:06:15.699 And I see on the right there's a ditch and on the left there's trees, right? 00:06:15.800 --> 00:06:17.079 But the road is straight. 00:06:17.220 --> 00:06:19.720 And so, you know, he's kind of wobbling to the left and to the right. 00:06:19.780 --> 00:06:22.100 And I'm standing there and I'm saying, just stay the course. 00:06:22.319 --> 00:06:22.959 Just go straight. 00:06:23.160 --> 00:06:24.639 And I say, don't, no, no, don't go that way. 00:06:25.120 --> 00:06:25.860 Don't go that way. 00:06:26.120 --> 00:06:27.259 Just keep going straight. 00:06:28.060 --> 00:06:31.379 And I can imagine Paul saying that to this church. 00:06:31.959 --> 00:06:33.100 You got off to this great start. 00:06:33.160 --> 00:06:33.879 Now just keep going. 00:06:34.019 --> 00:06:34.240 Keep going. 00:06:34.399 --> 00:06:35.139 Don't veer to the left. 00:06:35.220 --> 00:06:35.879 Don't veer to the right. 00:06:36.600 --> 00:06:37.579 There's danger there. 00:06:37.780 --> 00:06:38.480 There's danger there. 00:06:38.480 --> 00:06:39.280 Stay the course. 00:06:40.280 --> 00:06:42.220 You know, Paul, first and foremost, is a pastor. 00:06:43.340 --> 00:06:44.120 He's a father. 00:06:45.560 --> 00:06:49.120 And like a father watching his children, he's saying, I don't want you to get hurt. 00:06:50.439 --> 00:06:51.319 Just stay the course. 00:06:53.400 --> 00:06:57.500 So then Paul comes to this passage that we encounter today. 00:06:58.160 --> 00:07:04.640 And he begins to commend himself as a genuine apostle, teaching a genuine gospel. 00:07:04.639 --> 00:07:08.740 See, these other teachers were very impressive. 00:07:09.079 --> 00:07:09.919 They were good looking. 00:07:10.099 --> 00:07:12.240 They were very effective speakers. 00:07:12.419 --> 00:07:13.419 They were very compelling. 00:07:14.240 --> 00:07:16.919 Paul, from what we know, was not a particularly effective speaker. 00:07:17.159 --> 00:07:18.599 He was not particularly good looking. 00:07:18.600 --> 00:07:27.360 And so we can surmise that people heard these very impressive teachings and they said, well, wow, this guy's really good. 00:07:27.520 --> 00:07:28.680 He makes a great case. 00:07:28.760 --> 00:07:30.080 Maybe we should start listening to him. 00:07:31.040 --> 00:07:33.860 And Paul says, don't swerve from the gospel that was first preached to you. 00:07:33.860 --> 00:07:34.860 Right? 00:07:35.980 --> 00:07:40.240 So how do we then distinguish the true Christian way from these counterfeit ones? 00:07:40.280 --> 00:07:41.759 And that's what brings us to verse 24. 00:07:41.900 --> 00:07:43.480 Let me read it again in that context. 00:07:43.939 --> 00:07:47.379 Paul says, now I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake. 00:07:47.460 --> 00:07:50.360 He's saying, I suffer for your sake. 00:07:50.759 --> 00:07:56.939 And in my flesh, I'm filling up what is lacking in Christ's afflictions for the sake of his body. 00:07:57.020 --> 00:07:57.900 That is the church. 00:07:57.980 --> 00:07:59.240 It's getting mysterious. 00:07:59.439 --> 00:08:00.220 What's happening here? 00:08:00.220 --> 00:08:04.020 Well, on the one hand, Paul says, I'm suffering on your behalf. 00:08:04.140 --> 00:08:05.540 Well, that's not a new idea. 00:08:05.640 --> 00:08:07.300 We've seen that in other places in Scripture. 00:08:07.680 --> 00:08:12.200 Paul says something like that in 2 Corinthians 1, Ephesians 3, 2 Timothy 2. 00:08:12.580 --> 00:08:13.820 I suffer for your sake. 00:08:13.920 --> 00:08:14.140 Okay. 00:08:15.180 --> 00:08:15.560 Okay. 00:08:15.980 --> 00:08:17.160 But that's not all. 00:08:17.420 --> 00:08:17.560 Right? 00:08:17.820 --> 00:08:18.660 Then it goes on. 00:08:18.880 --> 00:08:23.920 He seems to be drawing a connection between his sufferings and the sufferings of Christ. 00:08:25.720 --> 00:08:27.860 Well, that starts getting a little weird. 00:08:27.860 --> 00:08:31.319 And then he says something truly bizarre. 00:08:31.960 --> 00:08:33.879 And here's really the rub of this passage. 00:08:34.500 --> 00:08:43.840 He goes on to say that in his sufferings, he's able to fill up what is lacking in the afflictions of Christ. 00:08:43.840 --> 00:08:48.680 Now, that should strike you as bizarre. 00:08:49.860 --> 00:08:51.840 It surely struck me that way. 00:08:53.080 --> 00:08:54.300 So what does that mean? 00:08:54.379 --> 00:08:56.019 What in the world is he talking about? 00:08:56.080 --> 00:08:58.259 Because at face value, what does it sound like he's saying? 00:08:58.680 --> 00:09:06.800 I mean, if you just read this first pass, it sounds like he's saying that Jesus suffered, but not quite enough. 00:09:07.399 --> 00:09:07.579 You know? 00:09:08.039 --> 00:09:10.139 Jesus got 90% of the way there. 00:09:11.059 --> 00:09:13.959 But he didn't quite top it off. 00:09:14.899 --> 00:09:19.279 And so it sounds like Paul is coming along and saying, I'm going to finish what Jesus started. 00:09:20.279 --> 00:09:23.459 Jesus had a good thing going, but he didn't quite get there. 00:09:23.939 --> 00:09:26.599 So I'm just going to take it the rest of the way. 00:09:26.699 --> 00:09:28.039 That's what it sounds like it's saying. 00:09:28.159 --> 00:09:29.879 And some people take it this way. 00:09:29.879 --> 00:09:34.960 So how do we know that that's not what Paul's saying? 00:09:35.039 --> 00:09:40.320 Well, there's a couple of really important clues that show us that can't possibly be what he means. 00:09:41.179 --> 00:09:44.799 The first clue is simply to look at the context around this verse. 00:09:44.799 --> 00:09:51.659 Paul makes it abundantly clear just before and just after this verse that the cross is a finished work. 00:09:52.399 --> 00:09:54.019 That Jesus suffered once and for all. 00:09:54.139 --> 00:09:59.559 We see this in verse 22 where he says, he has reconciled us in his flesh. 00:10:00.039 --> 00:10:03.019 Once and for all, done, in the past, finished. 00:10:03.939 --> 00:10:05.259 You've been reconciled. 00:10:05.340 --> 00:10:05.840 It's done. 00:10:05.939 --> 00:10:06.460 It's over. 00:10:07.139 --> 00:10:11.840 And then in the next chapter, chapter 2, verse 14, he says, he has canceled our debt. 00:10:12.439 --> 00:10:14.179 Once and for all, past tense, finished. 00:10:14.939 --> 00:10:18.259 So here's a place just before and just after that say, he has done it. 00:10:18.320 --> 00:10:18.899 It is done. 00:10:18.960 --> 00:10:20.419 There is nothing more that needs to be done. 00:10:20.480 --> 00:10:21.580 He's finished it, right? 00:10:22.679 --> 00:10:24.639 By the way, very important, helpful tip. 00:10:24.740 --> 00:10:27.659 If you ever come across something in scripture and you don't understand it, 00:10:27.659 --> 00:10:30.559 the first thing you can do is simply look at the broader context. 00:10:31.759 --> 00:10:35.620 Context will often help you make sense of hard to understand passages, right? 00:10:35.759 --> 00:10:36.519 So that's the first thing. 00:10:36.600 --> 00:10:42.159 Paul has made it clear and he makes it clear all through his writings that Jesus' work, his suffering was complete. 00:10:42.259 --> 00:10:42.740 It was enough. 00:10:43.019 --> 00:10:45.279 Jesus himself says from the cross, it is finished. 00:10:46.000 --> 00:10:47.079 Nothing more needs to be done. 00:10:48.339 --> 00:10:51.159 And then there's another clue and that's the word that he uses. 00:10:51.360 --> 00:10:54.199 He talks about the afflictions of Christ. 00:10:54.200 --> 00:11:00.759 What's interesting is that word afflictions is never used to describe the sufferings on the cross. 00:11:01.580 --> 00:11:04.980 This is a different word and it refers to a different kind of suffering. 00:11:06.379 --> 00:11:08.440 So this really brings us to the point. 00:11:09.840 --> 00:11:13.580 On the one hand, Paul makes it clear throughout his writings, including in Colossians, 00:11:13.960 --> 00:11:19.500 that Jesus suffered once and for all on the cross, ultimately, to achieve our salvation. 00:11:20.060 --> 00:11:23.780 And that is done and that is finished and nothing more needs to be added to that. 00:11:24.200 --> 00:11:27.259 But here's the thing that this verse is getting at. 00:11:28.180 --> 00:11:34.440 Anyone who believes that, anyone who believes in the sacrifice of Jesus, 00:11:34.560 --> 00:11:40.000 and anyone who begins to try to align their lives with the kingdom of Jesus, 00:11:40.360 --> 00:11:43.140 to live out their salvation in the world, 00:11:44.420 --> 00:11:47.759 that there is a kind of suffering that those people will encounter. 00:11:47.759 --> 00:11:56.340 The cross founded the final note in history, once and for all. 00:11:58.019 --> 00:11:59.340 But there are echoes. 00:12:01.220 --> 00:12:02.679 And so what Paul's talking about, 00:12:04.360 --> 00:12:06.819 our suffering, the suffering of the church, 00:12:08.100 --> 00:12:09.159 echoes of the cross, 00:12:10.179 --> 00:12:12.080 reverberations throughout history. 00:12:12.080 --> 00:12:14.300 Right? 00:12:14.379 --> 00:12:16.540 So if we identify ourselves with Christ, 00:12:16.639 --> 00:12:18.259 which is what it means to be a Christian. 00:12:18.379 --> 00:12:19.680 I want his identity. 00:12:19.920 --> 00:12:21.300 He takes on my identity. 00:12:21.420 --> 00:12:23.020 We become the same person. 00:12:23.200 --> 00:12:25.220 If you identify with someone, 00:12:25.300 --> 00:12:27.259 and that someone is called to suffer, 00:12:27.540 --> 00:12:28.860 then you're going to suffer. 00:12:30.440 --> 00:12:32.460 So Paul knows that as he, 00:12:32.520 --> 00:12:33.379 as he goes on to say, 00:12:33.460 --> 00:12:35.300 as he makes the word of God fully known, 00:12:35.580 --> 00:12:37.020 as he proclaims Christ, 00:12:37.019 --> 00:12:41.059 as he pours his life into seeing Christians grow and mature, 00:12:41.360 --> 00:12:42.039 in all this, 00:12:42.139 --> 00:12:43.199 he's going to suffer. 00:12:43.519 --> 00:12:45.199 That all Christians are going to suffer, 00:12:45.399 --> 00:12:46.899 if we do those things. 00:12:48.100 --> 00:12:49.899 But do you notice what he says about that? 00:12:51.139 --> 00:12:52.019 He says, 00:12:52.899 --> 00:12:53.659 I rejoice. 00:12:54.579 --> 00:12:55.360 I rejoice. 00:12:56.079 --> 00:12:57.860 Because this kind of suffering, 00:12:58.000 --> 00:13:01.000 these echoes of the cross in my life, 00:13:01.419 --> 00:13:03.259 they draw me ever deeper, 00:13:03.860 --> 00:13:05.139 into the heart of Jesus. 00:13:05.139 --> 00:13:08.240 Which is my greatest source of joy. 00:13:08.379 --> 00:13:09.000 And because of that, 00:13:09.059 --> 00:13:09.500 I rejoice. 00:13:09.980 --> 00:13:12.000 So that's what this verse is saying. 00:13:12.120 --> 00:13:12.799 I rejoice, 00:13:13.100 --> 00:13:15.840 because I am sharing and having fellowship with, 00:13:15.960 --> 00:13:17.179 the sufferings of Jesus. 00:13:17.439 --> 00:13:19.059 I'm suffering like he did, 00:13:19.259 --> 00:13:20.840 and it helps me to understand him, 00:13:21.039 --> 00:13:22.679 and draws me closer to his heart. 00:13:24.360 --> 00:13:25.340 So that's what it's saying. 00:13:25.519 --> 00:13:26.259 What does it mean? 00:13:26.340 --> 00:13:28.199 We're going to spend the rest of our time asking, 00:13:28.439 --> 00:13:30.059 what does this actually mean for us? 00:13:30.819 --> 00:13:32.259 And I don't know how this strikes you. 00:13:33.580 --> 00:13:34.960 I'll tell you what it means for me. 00:13:35.139 --> 00:13:38.199 Do you want to hear a confession? 00:13:40.399 --> 00:13:42.220 You want to know my greatest faith struggle? 00:13:43.720 --> 00:13:44.860 People sometimes ask me this. 00:13:44.919 --> 00:13:45.539 What's your greatest, 00:13:45.659 --> 00:13:46.819 what's the hardest question for you? 00:13:46.879 --> 00:13:48.960 What's the thing that is most threatening to your faith? 00:13:50.259 --> 00:13:50.779 And you know, 00:13:50.899 --> 00:13:52.120 I struggle with doubt. 00:13:52.419 --> 00:13:54.080 I struggle with uncertainty at times. 00:13:54.199 --> 00:13:56.299 I have periods of drought in my life. 00:13:56.939 --> 00:13:59.319 I have certain theological questions 00:13:59.319 --> 00:14:02.740 that constantly kind of nag at me, 00:14:02.840 --> 00:14:04.259 and things that I'm wrestling with. 00:14:04.259 --> 00:14:06.039 just like most of you. 00:14:08.340 --> 00:14:09.860 But those aren't the real threats. 00:14:11.000 --> 00:14:12.379 I mean, I'm never really at a place 00:14:12.379 --> 00:14:14.500 where I'm ready to just abandon my convictions. 00:14:16.620 --> 00:14:17.879 That's not the greatest threat. 00:14:17.879 --> 00:14:24.019 The greatest threat to my faith is that every single day, 00:14:24.860 --> 00:14:30.419 I want a version of Christianity that is utterly devoid of suffering. 00:14:30.419 --> 00:14:35.240 I want a version of Christianity that is easy, 00:14:35.939 --> 00:14:36.919 that is convenient. 00:14:37.719 --> 00:14:38.379 And man, 00:14:38.479 --> 00:14:40.620 have I got excuses to justify that. 00:14:41.039 --> 00:14:41.259 You know, 00:14:41.279 --> 00:14:44.099 the more you know about the Bible and theology and biblical languages, 00:14:44.199 --> 00:14:46.279 the more justification you can come up with 00:14:46.279 --> 00:14:48.559 for never actually doing anything with your faith. 00:14:49.099 --> 00:14:49.419 Right? 00:14:49.419 --> 00:14:50.779 Because you can come up with all kinds, 00:14:50.779 --> 00:14:52.259 you can see both sides of every argument. 00:14:52.379 --> 00:14:53.839 And what I want to do is to, 00:14:54.000 --> 00:14:55.620 I don't want to abandon my convictions, 00:14:55.740 --> 00:14:56.899 I want to massage them. 00:14:57.759 --> 00:14:58.879 I want to nuance them. 00:14:59.179 --> 00:15:00.479 I want to manicure them. 00:15:01.179 --> 00:15:03.139 I want to understand all the perspectives 00:15:03.139 --> 00:15:05.519 and have all voices represented equally. 00:15:05.659 --> 00:15:08.299 I want to pit the commentators against one another. 00:15:08.299 --> 00:15:08.879 I want to say, 00:15:09.099 --> 00:15:10.539 this is most likely what this means, 00:15:10.620 --> 00:15:11.879 but there are all these other perspectives. 00:15:12.039 --> 00:15:14.399 And who really knows what this means? 00:15:14.459 --> 00:15:16.719 And you can see this from so many different perspectives. 00:15:16.859 --> 00:15:19.339 And I want to hold it in an intellectual arm's length 00:15:19.339 --> 00:15:21.559 and contemplate it and talk about it and read on it 00:15:21.559 --> 00:15:23.959 and write about it and get published and reflect on it 00:15:23.959 --> 00:15:26.099 and pontificate on it and preach on it. 00:15:27.219 --> 00:15:28.859 But not actually have to do it. 00:15:29.879 --> 00:15:31.259 That's my greatest temptation. 00:15:32.179 --> 00:15:34.679 I can fill libraries with books about this stuff 00:15:34.679 --> 00:15:36.759 as long as I don't ever actually have to do it. 00:15:36.759 --> 00:15:39.319 That's my greatest temptation. 00:15:41.360 --> 00:15:42.799 And I don't think I'm alone. 00:15:43.679 --> 00:15:47.179 I'm wondering if people here can identify with this at all. 00:15:48.480 --> 00:15:49.720 How many people like baby carrots? 00:15:52.080 --> 00:15:52.919 A lot of people. 00:15:53.059 --> 00:15:54.120 I love baby carrots. 00:15:55.179 --> 00:15:56.559 Greatest snack food, right? 00:15:56.679 --> 00:15:57.480 Greatest snack food. 00:15:58.620 --> 00:16:00.100 Where do baby carrots come from? 00:16:06.759 --> 00:16:08.779 They're baby carrots. 00:16:09.039 --> 00:16:10.179 They're not grown-up carrots. 00:16:12.379 --> 00:16:13.639 They're not baby carrots. 00:16:14.600 --> 00:16:16.139 There's no such thing as a baby carrot. 00:16:16.759 --> 00:16:17.740 At least the way we think of it. 00:16:18.620 --> 00:16:19.700 Do you know what a baby carrot is? 00:16:20.740 --> 00:16:21.860 Baby carrots were invented. 00:16:22.399 --> 00:16:23.139 They were engineered. 00:16:24.159 --> 00:16:27.620 In the late 1980s, there was a California farmer named Mike Urasek. 00:16:27.679 --> 00:16:29.439 And Mike grew tons of carrots. 00:16:29.440 --> 00:16:33.120 And then he began to realize that there was an enormous amount of waste in the carrot industry. 00:16:33.760 --> 00:16:39.440 He looked at his numbers and he realized he's throwing away 400 tons of carrots every single day. 00:16:39.580 --> 00:16:41.080 400 tons of carrots. 00:16:41.200 --> 00:16:41.460 Why? 00:16:44.000 --> 00:16:46.780 Well, most carrots, when they come out of the ground, are ugly. 00:16:47.860 --> 00:16:48.660 They're unsightly. 00:16:48.740 --> 00:16:50.460 They've got this thick, gnarly skin. 00:16:50.740 --> 00:16:51.680 They're kind of twisted. 00:16:52.420 --> 00:16:54.520 And they're roots, right? 00:16:55.079 --> 00:16:56.000 And they look like it. 00:16:56.559 --> 00:16:58.199 And so you pull them off onto the ground and they look kind of gross. 00:16:58.259 --> 00:17:01.740 And every now and then you get a nice, sleek, straight, pretty carrot, right? 00:17:02.220 --> 00:17:03.039 Most of the time not. 00:17:03.500 --> 00:17:04.579 What do you think people buy? 00:17:05.440 --> 00:17:06.680 Well, they buy the pretty carrots. 00:17:07.379 --> 00:17:09.319 They don't buy the gnarly, twisted, ugly carrots. 00:17:10.460 --> 00:17:13.259 And so he was throwing away all these gnarly, twisted, ugly carrots. 00:17:14.240 --> 00:17:15.220 And then he got an idea. 00:17:16.099 --> 00:17:17.900 And he got an industrial green bean cutter. 00:17:18.639 --> 00:17:20.200 And an industrial potato peeler. 00:17:20.759 --> 00:17:23.000 He started running these ugly carrots through his machines. 00:17:23.559 --> 00:17:24.359 And guess what came out? 00:17:25.319 --> 00:17:31.740 These perfectly peeled, two-inch long, perfected carrot segments. 00:17:32.480 --> 00:17:34.740 That he branded baby carrots. 00:17:35.039 --> 00:17:38.000 And he put it in a bag and sent it to his store. 00:17:38.079 --> 00:17:39.460 And the store calls a week later and says, 00:17:39.740 --> 00:17:42.299 We only ever want baby carrots from now on. 00:17:42.400 --> 00:17:44.319 Send us as many as you possibly can. 00:17:44.519 --> 00:17:46.740 And boom, it transforms the carrot industry. 00:17:47.639 --> 00:17:48.720 So here's my question. 00:17:48.720 --> 00:17:48.799 Imagine. 00:17:50.519 --> 00:17:54.559 We're the kind of culture that would give birth to something like the baby carrot. 00:17:55.380 --> 00:17:57.519 This is the kind of culture we live in. 00:17:57.980 --> 00:17:58.380 Right? 00:17:58.559 --> 00:17:59.860 How do we feel about that? 00:18:00.940 --> 00:18:01.240 Right? 00:18:01.940 --> 00:18:09.559 So if we're the kind of culture that would do that to a carrot, imagine what we would do to something like Christianity. 00:18:09.559 --> 00:18:13.039 And that's exactly what we've done. 00:18:13.039 --> 00:18:17.480 Friends, we live in a culture of baby carrot Christianity. 00:18:18.619 --> 00:18:19.679 Baby carrot Christianity. 00:18:19.779 --> 00:18:27.259 Where we take all of the ugly, unsightly, inconvenient, unpleasant parts and we just cut it away. 00:18:28.139 --> 00:18:28.539 Right? 00:18:28.539 --> 00:18:31.839 People don't want to go to the trouble to trim and to cut and to shape their. 00:18:31.899 --> 00:18:33.899 They just want something they can pull out and eat. 00:18:33.980 --> 00:18:36.440 And that's the same way we treat our faith. 00:18:38.299 --> 00:18:38.700 Right? 00:18:38.779 --> 00:18:49.940 We have this kind of version of Christianity that is utterly sanitized and convenient and uncontroversial in every way. 00:18:50.659 --> 00:18:50.759 Right? 00:18:50.920 --> 00:18:52.899 Dietrich Bonhoeffer put it this way. 00:18:52.899 --> 00:18:54.279 He didn't use the phrase baby carrots. 00:18:54.279 --> 00:18:59.619 But he says, the preaching of forgiveness without requiring repentance. 00:19:00.359 --> 00:19:02.339 Baptism without church discipline. 00:19:02.740 --> 00:19:04.440 Communion without confession. 00:19:04.980 --> 00:19:06.680 Grace without discipleship. 00:19:06.759 --> 00:19:08.279 This is baby carrot Christianity. 00:19:09.160 --> 00:19:19.460 Richard Niebuhr describes it as, quote, a God without wrath brought men without sin into a kingdom without judgment through the ministrations of Christ without a cross. 00:19:20.500 --> 00:19:21.960 Baby carrot Christianity. 00:19:21.960 --> 00:19:24.880 All the ugly, unsightly parts trimmed away. 00:19:25.000 --> 00:19:26.279 And so what do you have as a result? 00:19:27.660 --> 00:19:32.779 That allows me to take my Christian faith and just pack a little in a little Ziploc bag. 00:19:33.319 --> 00:19:36.240 And I just close the bag and I just drop it in my pocket. 00:19:36.819 --> 00:19:38.319 And I'm just going along in life. 00:19:38.980 --> 00:19:45.460 And then I start to feel kind of lonely or insecure or anxious or sad. 00:19:45.460 --> 00:19:47.460 Or I hate my job. 00:19:47.779 --> 00:19:49.759 I'm wondering about the meaning of my life. 00:19:50.420 --> 00:19:51.759 My relationships stink. 00:19:51.840 --> 00:19:52.799 I don't have any friends. 00:19:53.240 --> 00:19:56.559 And then I can just pull the little bag out and get a little spiritual snack. 00:19:57.140 --> 00:19:58.220 And feel a little better. 00:19:58.620 --> 00:19:59.259 A little prayer. 00:19:59.420 --> 00:20:00.180 A little Bible verse. 00:20:00.559 --> 00:20:02.279 And then just put it back and just keep right on going. 00:20:03.259 --> 00:20:03.819 That's it. 00:20:04.360 --> 00:20:05.120 Purely convenient. 00:20:05.119 --> 00:20:12.339 And the best part is it doesn't get in the way of me wanting to do exactly what I want, exactly when I want. 00:20:12.919 --> 00:20:13.959 It's there when I need it. 00:20:14.659 --> 00:20:16.639 And this is my greatest faith struggle. 00:20:16.799 --> 00:20:20.259 I want all the benefits of Christianity with none of the cost. 00:20:20.359 --> 00:20:22.500 And I'm wondering, can you identify with this? 00:20:24.079 --> 00:20:26.199 And see, here's the problem with this way of thinking. 00:20:26.279 --> 00:20:29.479 And this is where the verse begins to kind of push into this. 00:20:29.480 --> 00:20:36.860 Paul's saying one of the marks of genuine discipleship is suffering for the sake of Christ and his church. 00:20:38.500 --> 00:20:42.880 You know, there's a lot of suffering that results from the fact that we have disobeyed God. 00:20:43.599 --> 00:20:47.860 But Paul's saying there's this whole other kind of suffering that comes from following God. 00:20:48.819 --> 00:20:49.799 Following Christ. 00:20:51.120 --> 00:20:54.220 And he's saying a mark of genuine discipleship is that you're encountering that. 00:20:54.559 --> 00:20:56.220 The road is marked with it. 00:20:56.819 --> 00:20:59.339 The only way to avoid it is to go off the road. 00:20:59.339 --> 00:21:01.959 But if you're on the road, you're going to have to face that stuff. 00:21:03.539 --> 00:21:08.179 And even Jesus was clear that following him is going to bring suffering. 00:21:08.279 --> 00:21:09.699 He says, it's so hard. 00:21:09.899 --> 00:21:12.139 You need to count the cost before you do this. 00:21:12.399 --> 00:21:14.659 Before you make the commitment, you need to know what you're getting into. 00:21:15.059 --> 00:21:17.980 This is why he uses parables about the kingdom. 00:21:19.359 --> 00:21:20.799 Like the pearl of great price. 00:21:20.899 --> 00:21:23.839 The kingdom is like a pearl of great price. 00:21:24.459 --> 00:21:28.039 And when a pearl merchant who knows everything about pearls and knows the value of pearls, 00:21:28.099 --> 00:21:32.519 when he sees this pearl, he's willing to sell everything else in order to have that one pearl. 00:21:33.000 --> 00:21:36.879 The kingdom is like a treasure in a field. 00:21:37.740 --> 00:21:39.659 And a guy comes along and he sees the treasure. 00:21:40.000 --> 00:21:44.439 And it's so valuable that he's willing to sell everything and buy the field just so he can have that treasure. 00:21:44.440 --> 00:21:46.080 Why does he tell parables like that? 00:21:46.200 --> 00:21:48.019 Because he's saying, this is a hard road. 00:21:48.559 --> 00:21:50.019 But let me tell you, it is worth it. 00:21:50.440 --> 00:21:51.279 It's worth it. 00:21:51.700 --> 00:21:53.539 It's worth whatever it asks of you. 00:21:54.259 --> 00:21:55.259 But it's hard. 00:21:55.680 --> 00:21:58.440 So you need to know that there's a pearl. 00:21:59.340 --> 00:22:00.460 That there's a treasure. 00:22:01.000 --> 00:22:01.960 And that it's worth it. 00:22:01.960 --> 00:22:09.440 So if we identify ourselves with Jesus and we seek to bring our lives in line with the ways of his kingdom, 00:22:10.180 --> 00:22:18.940 this means that we're going to have to endure some, not all, but some of the suffering that Jesus endured. 00:22:19.079 --> 00:22:21.400 Some of it will affect us. 00:22:21.400 --> 00:22:25.559 The echoes of the cross will reverberate through our lives. 00:22:25.559 --> 00:22:36.220 So you may not have to spend 40 days in a desert totally alone being personally tempted by Satan, right, every day. 00:22:36.399 --> 00:22:38.059 Hopefully you don't have to do that. 00:22:40.599 --> 00:22:42.980 But some of you right now are lonely. 00:22:44.759 --> 00:22:46.000 And you're single. 00:22:47.279 --> 00:22:49.819 And you're single because you want to marry a Christian. 00:22:50.960 --> 00:22:52.700 And no one has come along. 00:22:52.700 --> 00:22:56.240 And so you're just alone. 00:22:58.420 --> 00:22:58.840 Right? 00:22:59.720 --> 00:23:13.039 Some of you are lonely because you're attracted to people of the same sex or other issues have meant that for the most likely outcome is that if you're committed to chastity, 00:23:14.259 --> 00:23:18.279 in other words, using your sexuality in ways that reflect the kingdom, 00:23:18.940 --> 00:23:21.259 that you're probably going to have to go without a family, 00:23:21.259 --> 00:23:24.879 that you're probably going to live most of your life without a nuclear family, 00:23:25.079 --> 00:23:27.500 and you're facing that prospect right now, 00:23:28.279 --> 00:23:32.559 you're sharing in the sufferings of Christ. 00:23:34.420 --> 00:23:35.740 Those are the sufferings of Christ. 00:23:35.819 --> 00:23:37.119 Not all suffering is the same. 00:23:38.599 --> 00:23:41.559 There's a kind of suffering that draws you into the heart of Jesus. 00:23:41.660 --> 00:23:42.200 You want to know why? 00:23:42.200 --> 00:23:45.840 Have you ever been through something really challenging, traumatic? 00:23:46.720 --> 00:23:49.960 You've faced something that nobody's been attacked or through some kind of trauma. 00:23:50.519 --> 00:23:57.200 And all of a sudden, all of your friends, all the people who are closest to you, they feel like they're distant because nobody really gets it because they've never really been through it. 00:23:57.200 --> 00:24:04.580 But then you meet somebody, maybe in a support group, or maybe chance brings you into somebody else's life, 00:24:04.620 --> 00:24:08.319 and you meet somebody, and you find out they've been through what you've been through. 00:24:08.819 --> 00:24:18.480 And you have that bizarre experience where all of a sudden you feel closer to this stranger than to all of your friends and family because on some deep level, you get it. 00:24:18.480 --> 00:24:22.700 And there's these moments that you can have where you don't even have to say a word. 00:24:22.799 --> 00:24:28.400 You just look at that person, and you just feel known because they've suffered the way you've suffered. 00:24:30.240 --> 00:24:38.240 That's what this is talking about, that you suffer like this, and that's the kind of special relationship that you have with Jesus, 00:24:39.240 --> 00:24:41.640 where you just look at each other, and you don't have to say a word. 00:24:41.980 --> 00:24:44.019 Jesus says, I get that. 00:24:44.860 --> 00:24:46.799 I know exactly what that feels like. 00:24:46.799 --> 00:24:50.440 And you look at Jesus, and you say, he knows. 00:24:50.819 --> 00:24:51.519 He's been there. 00:24:51.720 --> 00:24:53.299 I have some sense of what he's been through. 00:24:53.859 --> 00:24:55.299 He's actually had it worse than me. 00:24:56.759 --> 00:24:58.279 And not a word has to be spoken. 00:25:00.119 --> 00:25:01.519 Fellowship in the sufferings of Christ. 00:25:01.740 --> 00:25:04.039 You may not have to face the rejection of everyone. 00:25:04.440 --> 00:25:11.419 You may not have to face the pain of having even your closest friends turn their backs on you and the whole world reject you like Jesus did. 00:25:11.480 --> 00:25:13.000 Hopefully you will not have to face that. 00:25:13.000 --> 00:25:19.319 But there are some people here who, because of your faith, you feel estranged from your friends and from your family. 00:25:19.400 --> 00:25:25.319 There are people in our church who don't feel like they can go home for the holidays because they're not sure their families want them there because of their faith. 00:25:27.099 --> 00:25:27.420 Right? 00:25:27.519 --> 00:25:37.599 There are people in this room who you have to hide your faith at work because you know that you will lose the respect of your colleagues if they find out what you believe. 00:25:37.599 --> 00:25:41.480 Fellowship in the sufferings of Christ. 00:25:41.559 --> 00:25:43.459 Jesus looks at you and says, I get that. 00:25:43.959 --> 00:25:44.259 Yeah. 00:25:44.439 --> 00:25:46.439 I know exactly what that feels like. 00:25:46.500 --> 00:25:47.279 You don't have to say a word. 00:25:47.539 --> 00:25:48.259 I know that. 00:25:48.299 --> 00:25:48.859 I've been there. 00:25:50.000 --> 00:25:50.099 Right? 00:25:50.159 --> 00:25:56.319 None of us are ever going to have to face the unimaginable suffering of the cross as Jesus did. 00:25:56.319 --> 00:26:05.500 But maybe you're taking time to listen to someone and invite them into your life even though you have no margins. 00:26:06.579 --> 00:26:10.819 You have no energy, no time to give, and yet you're willing to open your heart to somebody. 00:26:12.399 --> 00:26:14.939 Maybe you're dealing with chronic pain. 00:26:16.279 --> 00:26:18.579 Maybe you're facing terminal illness. 00:26:18.579 --> 00:26:25.159 Maybe you're dealing with conditions or struggles in your life that you've tried everything. 00:26:26.379 --> 00:26:29.379 You know, maybe you're hanging on by your fingernails fighting addiction. 00:26:31.059 --> 00:26:33.119 And every moment feels like a battle. 00:26:33.259 --> 00:26:36.519 And in all of it, you're seriously tempted to doubt the goodness of God. 00:26:36.519 --> 00:26:40.139 How could a God who is good allow me to go through this? 00:26:40.980 --> 00:26:44.059 Jesus says, I know what that's like. 00:26:45.399 --> 00:26:48.159 Yeah, yeah, when I was feeling that, I was sweating blood. 00:26:49.059 --> 00:26:49.899 I was weeping. 00:26:50.539 --> 00:26:51.480 My friends were asleep. 00:26:53.019 --> 00:26:55.779 I was weeping my guts out all by myself. 00:26:55.939 --> 00:26:56.539 I've been there. 00:26:58.039 --> 00:27:02.139 You know, maybe you're struggling to forgive someone even though they never really apologized. 00:27:02.139 --> 00:27:05.119 Even though they have no idea how badly they hurt you. 00:27:05.199 --> 00:27:06.099 They don't even care. 00:27:07.619 --> 00:27:08.839 But you're struggling. 00:27:09.199 --> 00:27:11.839 You're saying, they know not what they've done. 00:27:13.079 --> 00:27:14.019 Jesus says, I've been there. 00:27:14.019 --> 00:27:20.819 You know, maybe you're staying in your marriage even though your spouse has hurt you so deeply. 00:27:21.379 --> 00:27:22.819 And so much of you wants out of it. 00:27:22.859 --> 00:27:24.099 But you're fighting for it. 00:27:24.759 --> 00:27:26.960 Because you believe in the covenant. 00:27:27.940 --> 00:27:28.940 Jesus says, I've been there. 00:27:29.980 --> 00:27:31.980 I know what it's like to hold on to a covenant. 00:27:32.700 --> 00:27:35.559 Even when the other person has broken it again and again and again. 00:27:35.660 --> 00:27:36.299 I've been there. 00:27:36.299 --> 00:27:44.639 In these and a thousand other ways, every single day, we die little deaths to self. 00:27:44.639 --> 00:27:49.339 Because in our guts, we believe in and long to follow Jesus. 00:27:49.480 --> 00:27:51.839 We believe the resurrection actually happened. 00:27:51.940 --> 00:27:53.779 We believe it changes everything. 00:27:53.779 --> 00:28:04.160 And what this is saying is, every single time we suffer for the sake of our faith, for the sake of following Jesus, we are sharing koinonia, having fellowship with his sufferings. 00:28:04.200 --> 00:28:06.339 Jesus is saying, yes, I know exactly what you feel. 00:28:07.119 --> 00:28:08.139 I feel it too. 00:28:08.420 --> 00:28:10.779 And Paul says, if that's true about you, then rejoice. 00:28:12.299 --> 00:28:12.759 Celebrate. 00:28:13.079 --> 00:28:13.960 Praise God. 00:28:14.759 --> 00:28:16.119 Rejoice in that suffering. 00:28:16.299 --> 00:28:16.619 Why? 00:28:16.859 --> 00:28:18.059 Because we're masochists? 00:28:18.299 --> 00:28:18.759 No. 00:28:18.759 --> 00:28:24.779 Because it is drawing us closer to the heart of Jesus Christ. 00:28:26.299 --> 00:28:29.119 So this is what Paul is saying in verse 24. 00:28:29.420 --> 00:28:32.740 The true Christian life is a road marked with suffering. 00:28:33.980 --> 00:28:40.160 And that suffering enables us, or this truth enables us, to rethink our whole perspective on suffering. 00:28:40.160 --> 00:28:49.340 You know, Viktor Frankl wrote that great book, Man's Search for Meaning, because he spent a good portion of his life facing the horrors of concentration camps. 00:28:49.800 --> 00:29:03.600 And he saw in his, these brutal experiences, the difference between people who were able to survive, endure those horrors with their humanity intact, and people who simply decompensated. 00:29:03.599 --> 00:29:12.419 And he said, the difference is that these people, the people who were able to preserve their humanity, these were people who were able to make meaning out of their suffering. 00:29:12.519 --> 00:29:14.719 They saw a greater meaning in it. 00:29:14.759 --> 00:29:18.699 And this is what Christians see in our suffering. 00:29:20.319 --> 00:29:23.899 We see suffering that is a reflection of. 00:29:24.199 --> 00:29:26.279 These are echoes of the cross. 00:29:26.379 --> 00:29:30.219 And they're drawing us deeper and deeper into the heart of Jesus Christ. 00:29:30.220 --> 00:29:38.160 So this is what Paul is saying with this profound verse, and I think why it's worth spending a Sunday on it. 00:29:39.059 --> 00:29:41.259 So now I just want to talk about a few implications. 00:29:41.440 --> 00:29:42.640 What does this actually mean for us? 00:29:43.839 --> 00:29:47.860 As we leave and go into our lives and go to Monday morning, what does this actually mean? 00:29:49.420 --> 00:29:58.559 First, this is an invitation to embrace the reality of suffering in your life. 00:29:58.559 --> 00:30:00.099 If you're a Christian. 00:30:00.539 --> 00:30:05.799 If you're not a Christian, this is a kind of suffering that you're not going to have to face in the same way. 00:30:06.899 --> 00:30:11.440 But for those of us who are Christians, this is a kind of suffering that we will encounter because we are Christians. 00:30:12.399 --> 00:30:14.480 And this is an invitation to embrace that. 00:30:16.000 --> 00:30:18.799 Some of us want to feel closer to Jesus, and I know some of you do. 00:30:18.919 --> 00:30:23.859 You feel distant from Jesus, and you wonder, why do I not feel anything in my faith, and why do I feel like God is so far away? 00:30:23.859 --> 00:30:28.639 And for not all of you, but for some of you, it may be. 00:30:30.579 --> 00:30:33.139 It may not have to do with how much you're reading the Bible. 00:30:33.240 --> 00:30:38.299 It may not have to do with how much you're praying, or how much you're coming to church, or how much you're doing any of those things. 00:30:38.299 --> 00:30:48.299 It may be because you are spending so much time and energy insulating yourself from discomfort, which is profoundly easy to do in our culture. 00:30:50.819 --> 00:30:57.480 That you've lost sight of the fact that when you insulate yourself from all of that, you're also insulating yourself from the presence of God. 00:30:58.339 --> 00:31:01.460 Because God is defined as being the God who enters into suffering. 00:31:01.579 --> 00:31:02.039 Where is he? 00:31:02.200 --> 00:31:03.019 He's not in the camp. 00:31:03.079 --> 00:31:05.879 As Hebrews 13 says, he's the one who's outside the camp. 00:31:06.079 --> 00:31:08.000 He's bearing the reproach of the world. 00:31:08.660 --> 00:31:15.640 And the author of Hebrews says, therefore, should we not go out to him and bear the same reproach, endure the same suffering? 00:31:15.720 --> 00:31:17.880 You cannot live comfortably within the city walls. 00:31:17.960 --> 00:31:20.319 You have to go outside the walls to that place of suffering. 00:31:20.599 --> 00:31:21.759 That's where Jesus is. 00:31:24.779 --> 00:31:28.400 So the first thing is, we need to embrace the reality of suffering. 00:31:28.559 --> 00:31:30.779 And the second one goes right out of the first. 00:31:30.779 --> 00:31:37.700 For those of you in this room who are suffering right now, you're hearing this and you're thinking, I am in this right now as I'm sitting here. 00:31:37.700 --> 00:31:48.700 I think our tendency in this culture is to immediately when we face any kind of suffering, whether it's physical or emotional or psychological, our gut instinct is to run as fast as we can away. 00:31:48.920 --> 00:31:49.700 It is a problem. 00:31:49.819 --> 00:31:50.680 It needs to be fixed. 00:31:51.180 --> 00:31:52.220 Any suffering is bad. 00:31:52.279 --> 00:31:52.940 It's all bad. 00:31:53.180 --> 00:31:54.700 We need to get rid of it as soon as possible. 00:31:54.700 --> 00:32:01.660 So whether it's a counselor or a pill or lots of pills and multiple counselors and solutions and books and whatever we need to do, we need to end it. 00:32:01.759 --> 00:32:05.559 And until we do that, we need to numb ourselves from it and avoid it as much as possible. 00:32:06.680 --> 00:32:08.460 Now, I'm not saying that suffering is good. 00:32:08.539 --> 00:32:09.860 I'm not saying this justifies suffering. 00:32:09.960 --> 00:32:12.600 I'm not saying that it's not right for us to want suffering to end. 00:32:12.599 --> 00:32:22.679 But I am saying, and this is a hard truth, God often uses pain as a means of change. 00:32:25.199 --> 00:32:30.379 It is often the struggle, the suffering, the pain. 00:32:30.719 --> 00:32:34.699 Those are often the things that God most uses to change us. 00:32:35.419 --> 00:32:38.719 I think back on my life, I had a blessed life of many great experience. 00:32:38.839 --> 00:32:40.079 Hashtag blessed all the way. 00:32:40.199 --> 00:32:41.299 Many, many great experiences. 00:32:41.299 --> 00:32:43.399 But I remember very few of them. 00:32:44.299 --> 00:32:44.960 You know what I remember? 00:32:45.839 --> 00:32:46.359 The pain. 00:32:48.879 --> 00:32:52.879 Whatever of me is of any value, it's probably a result of the pain. 00:32:56.299 --> 00:33:05.220 So the invitation here is before you instinctively run from whatever pain you're facing, don't just run from it. 00:33:06.599 --> 00:33:07.619 Listen to it. 00:33:07.619 --> 00:33:11.419 Listen to God in it. 00:33:13.000 --> 00:33:13.859 Sit in it. 00:33:15.359 --> 00:33:18.979 Ask the Lord, what are you telling me in this? 00:33:20.379 --> 00:33:24.059 What are you doing in me through this experience? 00:33:24.059 --> 00:33:27.720 I love the words from C.S. Lewis. 00:33:27.720 --> 00:33:32.599 God whispers to us in our pleasures, but he shouts to us in our pain. 00:33:33.000 --> 00:33:34.279 It's God shouting at you. 00:33:35.179 --> 00:33:36.299 Don't miss that opportunity. 00:33:36.299 --> 00:33:40.639 And then lastly, the third and final implication. 00:33:40.839 --> 00:33:43.539 And this is what Paul alludes to in verse 27. 00:33:44.839 --> 00:33:50.240 Ultimately, though we suffer now, in Christ, we actually share the hope of a final glory. 00:33:50.240 --> 00:33:57.460 That one day, all of our tears, all of our brokenness, it's all going to give way to a glorious renewal. 00:33:57.940 --> 00:33:58.859 And here's the thing. 00:33:59.099 --> 00:34:03.000 I actually think our suffering is going to be a part of that glory. 00:34:03.120 --> 00:34:05.980 It's going to be wrapped up in that glory. 00:34:05.980 --> 00:34:13.199 There's a kind of Japanese art called kinsakuroi, which is not a great pronunciation. 00:34:14.199 --> 00:34:16.519 But the translation is golden mend. 00:34:17.480 --> 00:34:23.079 And this is a kind of art where the artist takes a broken earthenware vessel, like a pot or a plate, 00:34:23.079 --> 00:34:29.099 and they take this shattered piece and they rebuild it. 00:34:29.559 --> 00:34:36.239 But they use liquid gold in all of the cracks and creases to bind the pieces together. 00:34:36.360 --> 00:34:42.840 So the finished work is the vessel restored, but has all of these veins of gold running through it. 00:34:42.900 --> 00:34:48.239 And hands down, hands down, an order of magnitude more beautiful than the original piece. 00:34:49.360 --> 00:34:50.460 What makes it beautiful? 00:34:50.980 --> 00:34:51.860 It's the gold. 00:34:53.079 --> 00:34:56.239 And I think the same will be true of us. 00:34:57.480 --> 00:35:02.579 I think that as God mends and restores and renews this world and us, 00:35:02.900 --> 00:35:07.779 as he redeems our lives and as he ushers us into what we believe, new creation, 00:35:07.920 --> 00:35:09.219 when all has been made new, 00:35:09.940 --> 00:35:15.159 I do not think that all of our suffering and all of our struggle is simply going to be tossed into the scrap heap, 00:35:15.900 --> 00:35:20.059 forgotten by time, as though it never happened, as though it meant nothing. 00:35:20.059 --> 00:35:23.639 Because I don't think a single tear is meaningless in God's economy. 00:35:23.639 --> 00:35:28.460 I think that we're going to be renewed a lot like these pots. 00:35:28.460 --> 00:35:34.099 And in some mysterious way, those tears, the struggle, the suffering that you're enduring right now, 00:35:34.360 --> 00:35:37.539 that that's actually going to be a part of your glory. 00:35:37.539 --> 00:35:46.239 Those are going to be the places where the golden light of God's redeeming power and love shines most clearly through. 00:35:47.340 --> 00:35:50.480 Those are going to be the things that make us radiant. 00:35:50.480 --> 00:35:55.380 And you say, well, how could we possibly know something like that? 00:35:56.880 --> 00:36:00.820 Well, that's exactly what happened with Jesus when he came out of the tomb. 00:36:01.539 --> 00:36:06.320 And his glorified body, the body that at this very moment sits in the throne of heaven itself, 00:36:06.579 --> 00:36:09.900 has scars on it, wounds in the hand and feet, 00:36:10.260 --> 00:36:14.460 inside places of glory, pain that has been transformed, 00:36:14.460 --> 00:36:17.639 no longer symbols of weakness and defeat, 00:36:17.960 --> 00:36:23.019 but now symbols of victory and freedom and renewal and sacrificial love. 00:36:24.019 --> 00:36:25.960 And the same will be true of us. 00:36:26.059 --> 00:36:30.539 Our wounds will become no longer symbols of weakness and defeat, 00:36:30.639 --> 00:36:33.280 but your wounds will one day cry out, 00:36:34.460 --> 00:36:35.360 praise be, 00:36:36.159 --> 00:36:37.500 to the God of victory, 00:36:38.119 --> 00:36:39.099 the God of renewal, 00:36:39.519 --> 00:36:40.559 the God of freedom, 00:36:40.559 --> 00:36:45.039 the God who's willing to enter in and to suffer more than we ever will, 00:36:46.139 --> 00:36:49.440 to bring an end to all suffering once and for all. 00:36:51.360 --> 00:36:51.840 Amen? 00:36:53.179 --> 00:36:53.699 Amen. 00:36:53.920 --> 00:36:54.360 Let's pray. 00:36:55.500 --> 00:36:57.340 Our Father in heaven, we thank you. 00:36:58.019 --> 00:36:59.779 We thank you for your word. 00:36:59.940 --> 00:37:02.539 We thank you that it can break into our lives 00:37:02.539 --> 00:37:04.619 and reorient our perspective 00:37:04.619 --> 00:37:08.579 and give us a way of seeing things that seem impossible to look at. 00:37:08.579 --> 00:37:12.079 We thank you that we're not talking about a God 00:37:12.079 --> 00:37:14.579 who is distant and remote and disinterested, 00:37:14.699 --> 00:37:19.380 but rather with every description of suffering we share. 00:37:20.239 --> 00:37:23.519 We are saying this in the presence of a God who knows that suffering. 00:37:24.340 --> 00:37:25.519 You know it in your flesh. 00:37:26.759 --> 00:37:29.179 We thank you for the hope that that brings us. 00:37:30.360 --> 00:37:32.719 We thank you that as we move forward and come to your table together 00:37:32.719 --> 00:37:35.559 that we are simply receiving a foretaste 00:37:35.559 --> 00:37:38.199 of the glory that will one day be revealed. 00:37:38.819 --> 00:37:40.539 We pray this in your son's holy name. 00:37:40.799 --> 00:37:41.000 Amen.