Sermon
St. Stephen's Anglican Church
Twenty-fifth Sunday after Pentecost
The Rev. Jeffrey O. Cerar, November 10, 2013
God Protects His Children
Text: 2 Thessalonians 3:3
Between All Saints Day and the First Sunday of Advent, our church year is in its last days. That is reflected in the readings, which, beginning on All Saints Day, talk about the last days of human history leading up to the Judgment Day. There are a number of books in the Bible that talk about these matters. One of those is the Second Letter to the Thessalonians. The reason it speaks of such things in particular is that the people in the young church in Thessalonica had some misunderstandings about Christ's promise to come again, and how that promise fit into what was happening to them. They were expecting Jesus to come right away and bring to a speedy conclusion His work of redeeming the world. They thought this would happen before any of them died. And, not only were they dying, but they were living through difficult times as Christians. The longer the Judgment was delayed, the harder this life was to accept.
Paul, Silas and Timothy had founded the church in Thessalonica. And when Paul received word of their distress, he sent them two letters of encouragement, and helped them better understand what to expect in light of God's promises. This passage we have read today is near the end of the second letter. I want to focus on a single verse in this letter. In Chapter 3 verse 3, it says, "But the Lord is faithful, and he will strengthen and protect you from the evil one." The message is an important one. God's promises are reliable. Jesus will come again. The final fulfillment of His work will one day be manifested in this world. But until that day comes, the evil one is going to continue to make the life of the Christian difficult and painful. So Paul is reminding the Thessalonians that Jesus, who promised to come again, also promised that there would be difficult times. And He also promised to protect us from the evil one.
Let's take a look at three things this morning.
1. What did Jesus say about the difficulties we would encounter?
2. How does He promise to protect us?
3. Why does He allow us to suffer?
First of all, Jesus was very clear with us about what to expect. It may be that the Thessalonians had not read all of Jesus' words in the Gospels at this early date. But He did not leave us with a misconception that the life of His followers was going to be easy or comfortable or problem free.
- Jesus told us in the Sermon on the Mount that people would insult us, persecute us and falsely say all kinds of evil against us because of Him. (Matthew 5:11)
- On another occasion, He said, "All men will hate you because of me." (Matthew 10:22)
- Another time, Jesus said, "In this world, you will have trouble." (John 16:33)
- And yet again, Jesus told us, "You will be handed over to be prosecuted and put to death, and you will be hated by all nations because of me. At that time many will turn away from the faith and will betray and hate each other, and many false prophets will appear and deceive many people." (Matthew 24:9-11)
We should not be surprised that being a Christian is difficult. Jesus told us to prepare for people's love to grow cold, and to prepare to be betrayed even by our family members. He told us to expect to see false prophets and lawlessness and abominations in places of worship. And in fact,
- We are seeing His prophecies played out today in the widespread martyrdoms that are happening in the world.
- We are seeing it played out when we proclaim God's Word, and people call it "hate speech."
- We are seeing lawsuits trying to shut down public prayer.
- We are seeing false prophets call evil good and good evil.
- We are seeing our culture plunging headlong plunge into pagan values.
The Judgment Day is taking a lot longer to come than Christians expected. But we should not be surprised that the days leading up to Judgment Day are not a walk in the park.
- All of this helps us grasp what Jesus was saying in His prayer on the night of the Last Supper. "My prayer," He said, "is not that you take them out of the world, but that you will protect them from the evil one." (John 17:15) If He did not take us out of the world, we are going to be in here, mixing it up with the suffering—our own suffering, and the suffering of the world. But suffering is not what we have to fear. For those who have ears, let them hear: suffering is not what we have to fear. What we have to fear is being consumed by Satan; for if that happens, then when Satan is destroyed by a righteous God, we will be destroyed with Him. Jesus prayed against that on our behalf. Second Thessalonians reassures us that God will protect us from the evil one. Every time Jesus told us of the bad things, the hard things, the painful things we should expect in life, He also gave us a promise of God's protection.
- "In this world you will have trouble, [Jesus said.] But take heart! I have overcome the world." (John 16:33)
- "All men will hate you because of me, but he who stands firm to the end will be saved." (Matthew 10:22)
- "Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. Rejoice and be glad, [He said,] because great is your reward in heaven..." (Matthew 5:11-12)
- "But before all this, [the final judgment] they will seize you and persecute you. They will hand you over to synagogues and put you in prison, and you will be brought before kings and governors, and all on account of my name. And so you will bear testimony to me. But make up your mind not to worry beforehand how you will defend yourselves. For I will give you words and wisdom that none of your adversaries will be able to resist or contradict." (Luke 21:14-15)
- "You will be betrayed even by parents, brothers and sisters, relatives and friends, and they will put some of you to death. Everyone will hate you because of me. But not a hair of your head will perish." (Luke 21:16-18)
God is faithful; He will strengthen you and will protect you from the evil one. Do you know why that is? It is because we are His children. The Bible says that to all who receive Jesus, to those who believe in His name, He gives the right to become children of God. (John 1:12)
Think of all those people out there who are not God's children. They are unprotected. They easily fall into the hands of the evil one who prowls around the world seeking souls to devour. (1Peter 5:8) They are out there in the cold and dark, vulnerable and unarmed. They don't know who their enemy really is. They don't know what he is capable of. They don't know how to recognize him.
- Satan is the Father of Lies. They don't have God's Word of truth to protect them against his lies.
- Satan is the Accuser. They don't have the self-image of one who is loved by their Father that would enable them to overcome Satan's accusations.
- Satan is the destroyer. They don't have the power and strength of the Holy Spirit to call upon in fighting him.
But the children of God have all this and more. We have God's hand to hold when He goes with us to confront that which threatens us.
We serve, we worship, we love a God who protects His children. He is a good Father to us. He is far beyond us in His ways and His wisdom, so we don't always understand what He is doing, and we sometimes wish He would do something else. But we can trust Him. He is as good as His promises. And He has promised to strengthen and protect us from the evil one.
But there is a question we can't help but ask: why does God make us go through all this horror? This question was on the minds of the Thessalonians. And it is on the minds of Christians today. Indeed, this question is on the minds of non-believers who want to know, if this God we worship is a good God, and if He is all-powerful, why does He allow people to suffer? It is a big subject, and these questions deserve to be more than a single point in a three-point sermon. But let me make a few observations.
Right out of the box, I want to note that when we ask why God allows suffering, we ask it from our human vantage point. We are making the mistake Job made, when he dared to stand before God and question Him. And when we do that, we do that as human beings who see the world, the universe, life, from our limited perspective. What we do is to attempt to remake God in our image. We would prefer life to be painless and easy. And so we ask, in essence, "God, why don't you act like I would if I were in charge? I would give everyone everything they want, and they would never have to suffer, and the flowers would always be in bloom, and I wouldn't have to wear deodorant, and I could eat anything I want without gaining weight, and accidents would never happen."
God has a much bigger perspective than this. He knows two things that are difficult for us to accept. One: suffering is inevitable. And two: suffering has redemptive value.
The reason suffering is inevitable is that it is the consequence of something that happened long ago, which the Bible tells us about in the Book of Genesis. It was when God created us to love Him, and to choose to love Him out of the free will He gave us. But instead, we chose to disobey Him and try to live not as He made us to live, but for ourselves. And from that time on, suffering has been unavoidably present in this world. "Take it away," we cry. And God has answered that prayer through the life, death, resurrection and ascension of Jesus Christ. For all who believe in Him will live forever. And the victory Jesus won over evil will result in a perfect world. The world that awaits us when God's redemption has come to its full-blown completion will be the answer to our prayer. His Word tells us that when those final days have been fulfilled, "There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain." (Revelation 21:4) He is a good God. And He is all-powerful. And what He has waiting for us is wonderful beyond our comprehension.
But until that great day, God cannot remove the consequences of sin that have corrupted and infected this world. God said in the beginning that our disobedience would have deadly consequences. (Genesis 2:17) God cannot be untrue to Himself, or to His Word. He says, "My counsel shall stand, and I will accomplish all my purpose... I have spoken and it will come to pass." (Isaiah 46:10-11)
So, instead of eliminating suffering, God has done something only He can do. He has redeemed suffering. He introduced the concept of the suffering servant early in the Bible. And He gave the concept flesh when He sent His only Son into the world to live and die as one of us. And as His disciples, we Christians down through the ages, have shared God's sorrow over the suffering of the world.
- We have found that the easy life makes us fat and lazy, but the life of challenge hones us for better things.
- We have found that when we reach out to those in distress and join them in their suffering, not only are they blessed, but we are as well.
- We have found that in order to reach people with the Gospel and give them the bread of life that Jesus offers, we can't sit at home and think good thoughts about them. We have to go to them. We have to get into their messes with them. We have to give up our comfort. And what we discover is that nothing is more satisfying than being an agent for someone to come to know Jesus as Lord and Savior.
- We have found that the blood of the martyrs is the seed of the Church. Everywhere that Christians have clung to their faith in the face of threats, people have witnessed this and said, "If something is worth dying for, it must also be worth living for." And in country after country, the martyrs have been the catalyst for people to be saved.
A few years back I met Joni Eareckson-Tada. Many of you have heard of this great Christian. When Joni was 17 years old, she broke her neck in a diving accident. She was permanently paralyzed from the neck down. She went into a deep depression. She thought her life was over, and wanted to commit suicide. But with the love and help of her Christian friends, Joni survived those early days. She has gone on to live an amazingly productive life for the glory of God. She ministers to disabled people all over the world. Her inspirational speaking and demonstrable Godly love have given hope to thousands and have brought many people to Christ. In a recent testimony, she said, "God takes no pleasure in my spinal cord injury. But He loves the way He is changing me in it and encouraging others through it." She says she wouldn't trade her life with Christ for any amount of walking.
God hears the cry of the afflicted. (Psalm 10:17) God redeems suffering. And through our lives as His disciples, His suffering servants, He brings blessing out of pain. And that is where we are at this point in human history.
Yes, it is hard. But think about what Jesus suffered on your behalf. He was mocked. He was shamed. He was whipped to within an inch of His life. A crown of thorns was pressed down upon His head. He had to drag His own heavy cross up the road to Calvary. Nails were driven through His hands and feet. And as He hung there on the cross, the Bible tells us He became sin. This perfect God-man became sin! He bore upon Him the burden of every unimaginable evil that was ever committed. And then it tells us that He cried out, "My God, My God, why have you forsaken me?" He suffered separation from the Father, something that is against His very nature.
And the thing is, He did it for you. He did it for me. He did it to redeem us. He did it so that we can escape the eternity of suffering and separation from God that otherwise awaits us.
So if the hard things in your life have you wondering if God loves you, just think about all that. If you are hurting and it's causing you to ask if He is good after all, just think about the cross of Christ. He is good. He is all-powerful. And He is our Father. And He will protect you. For Jesus and what He has done for you and for me is our ultimate protecting against the evil one. And it is His ultimate act of love.
© The Rev. Jeffrey O. Cerar, 2013