Lent Midweek April 10, 2019 Surprised by the Joy of Suffering

Lent Midweek
Romans 5:1-5
April 10, 2019

In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.  Amen.

This lesson tonight is very counterintuitive. Doesn’t make sense. Why would there be joy in suffering? Isn’t that the whole deal about suffering—it’s not enjoyable? Yes, but that’s exactly why it’s so surprising. We wouldn’t expect to find joy in suffering and so most of us try to avoid suffering at all costs. But when we do suffer as Christians, we discover the surprise that there’s joy hidden in there. Like a piece of candy hidden in an Easter egg. Like a sunny day hidden in the middle of winter. Like a call from a friend you haven’t heard from in a long time. In suffering, joy can jump out and surprise you.

You can sense the surprise in Paul’s words in Romans 5. He’s talking about how great God’s grace is, how we’re justified by faith in Christ, and how we rejoice in hope of God’s glory. All great stuff! And then he says, “Surprise! More than that, we even rejoice in our sufferings!” Who would’ve thought?!

I’ve mentioned this before but when my friend’s wife was dying from cancer a year and a half ago I was very surprised by joy in suffering. I was surprised by her joy and by the joy of her husband and her sisters. That was one of the clearest times for me of joy in suffering. She would smile with the joy of Christ even in her pain. And her husband and sisters radiated with joy as they took care of her. Their suffering produced endurance which produced character which produced hope and that hope was given to many people around her including me and my wife Valerie.

This is how suffering surprises us. It all comes from Jesus. He’s the One who brings suffering out of joy. You heard tonight in our reading of the Passion. You heard His suffering. His pain and misery. His thirst. His bleeding. His dying. But there must be something good about that suffering for us to put a big statue of it right here in the center of our church (even though it’s veiled tonight). The surprise found in all that suffering is joy. The joy of life, forgiveness, and salvation.

The verse is Hebrews 12:2, “looking to Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before Him, endured the cross, despising its shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.” Now catch what Hebrews is saying there—Jesus went through His suffering for you and me with joy before Him. And we then, in our suffering, look to Him who is the author of our own faith and we persevere in our suffering, just as He did, for the joy that’s set before us.

In other words, follow Jesus. He suffered and brought joy. You will suffer and find His joy also.

There are so many examples of joy in suffering. Dietrich Bonhoeffer and Corrie ten Boom finding joy in their suffering during Nazi Germany. Polycarp, an early Christian bishop, who found joy in his suffering even while being burned at the stake. He said, “I bless you Father for judging me worthy of this hour…” All the apostles who suffered and went to their deaths with joy. You might remember this little account from Acts chapter 5 when the disciples had been taken before the Council. “When they had called in the apostles, they beat them and charged them not to speak in the name of Jesus, and let them go. Then they left the presence of the council, rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer dishonor for the name.” So they get arrested and beaten—and what do they do? They rejoice! What a strange people these Christians are…

And the example of Daniel, the picture I put in the bulletin. Daniel was persecuted for his faith. Here he was trying to be a Christian in Babylon. It wasn’t easy. And he has to suffer for it. Most especially he suffers when he’s caught praying to God instead of to King Darius and has to be thrown in with the lions. I’ve seen the tiger at Miller Park Zoo. The thought of going in the cage with him doesn’t sound enjoyable. But the big surprise is the joy that it brings to King Darius. He’s overjoyed the next morning to find Daniel alive and pronounces that Daniel’s God is the living God and all people should bow before Him.”

Now this lesson is counterintuitive and it’s hard. But it’s right and true. There’s joy in suffering. All of you have suffered and will suffer. No one’s exempt. Because the whole world is full of sin. And you yourself are full of sin. And the devil prowls around like a lion, like Daniel’s lions, looking to devour you. Some of us suffer more than others. Some Christians are killed for their faith. But suffering is part of the Christian life for all of us.

So what do you do about it? Many times we’re inclined to whine about it. “Woe is me! I don’t deserve this!” Maybe you don’t deserve it. Or maybe you do. Either way, it doesn’t matter. God has given it to you. That means it’s for your good. Polycarp thanked God for giving him the honor of being burned at the stake. Did he deserve it? No. But God gave it. So he rejoiced in it. The apostles thanked God for being counted worthy to suffer. Did they deserve it? No, they didn’t. But God gave it and they thanked Him for it.

Instead of being so worried about the “why” question (Why is this happening? Why would God allow it?), we’d be much better served by simply thanking God that it’s happened in the first place. And then looking for what good God will bring out of it—including our joy.

Are you growing weary? Exhausted by the challenges of this sinful world? Hebrews says, “Look to Jesus! Consider Him who endured from sinners such hostility against himself, so that you may not grow weary or fainthearted. In your struggle against sin you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding your blood.” This is the verse to read to us whenever we whine about our troubles. “Hey, you still haven’t resisted to the point of death. It hasn’t killed you!” Some comfort there, huh? But it’s comforting because it’s the truth. None of us has suffered to the point of death. When we do, then we’ll be in heaven with Jesus. But for now, God continues to give us life. Which means He continues to has a purpose for us. Which means all His discipline is still a sign of His great love for us.

Finally, I leave you with James’ words about it. He says, “Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness.” What a great word—steadfastness. Standing steady. Nothing can knock you over. Come hell or high water. Come high winds. Come suffering and persecution. As Luther says in A Mighty Fortress, “take they our life, goods, fame, child, and wife.” Take they anything. Give us anything. We count it joy. Because the testing of our faith produces steadfastness. And that’s what we want. Because ultimately we want nothing to take us away from Jesus. He’s our ultimate joy. Now and in heaven. So bring on suffering. Bring on trials. We’ll count it joy. To keep us steadfast in Jesus. Amen.