Religion & Spirituality
reTHINK #4 Suffering By Louie Marsh, 9-26-2021 Big vs. Small Picture: Today I’ll be talking about the big picture of suffering not the smaller more personal one. The Bible gives us a framework to understand how a good and loving God can allow suffering in this world. It does not explain why certain things happen to certain people. No one can answer that question, and if someone says they can – run away!! The Big Picture One day, in the middle of a small but hard-fought ground war, there is a small squad of soldiers sitting on a hill. A radio message comes in, and is taken by the communications officer, a sergeant. He says, "Right, men! We have to take that hill over there!"And so they start fighting to take the hill. They fight all day and all night, and most of the next day, and eventually they take the hill. Just as soon as they've taken it, they receive another message on the radio. The sergeant takes the message, and then says, "Right men! Retreat back to that hill!" And so they retreat back to the hill that they came from. When they're safely dug back in on their original hill, one of the men goes to his sergeant, and says, "Excuse me, sir, but why did we fight all day and all night to take that hill, only to have to retreat again immediately? It seems bloody idiotic, if you ask me." The sergeant frowns, and says, "Well, you see, you don't get to see the big picture. If you saw the big picture, you'd understand." The soldier starts thinking, and works hard, and after a while he eventually gets promoted to corporal, and then to sergeant. On his first day as a new sergeant, he asks one of his fellow NCOs, "So, what is the big picture, then?" The other sergeant looks at him, and says, "Well, you don't really get to see the big picture at this level. It's only the captain that gets to see this big picture." So the soldier decides that he's going to find out what the big picture is. He works his way up the ranks and finally becomes a General. He asks the other Generals what the big picture is and they say, "Well, of course we don't see the big picture. We get our orders from the politicians. They're the ones who really see the big picture." So, the soldier looks for opportunities to enter politics. He joins a political party, and becomes active in his local branch of the party. He gets elected to Parliament. On his first day, he's sitting in the Commons' Bar, and asks a fellow MP, "In the military, they said that Parliament gets to see the big picture. So -- what is the big picture?" The MP looks at him, and says, "Well, as a backbencher, you don't get to see much, really. It's only the cabinet that really see the big picture. You'll have to ask them." So our (now retired) soldier starts working to become a cabinet minister. At his first cabinet meeting, he sits through the meeting quietly, and afterwards he asks one of the more senior ministers, "So, what was the big picture? I didn't get it from that meeting." The minister replies, "Well, it's not that easy to see from here. You see, we only handle the political side of things. There's all the economic stuff as well -- and you only really get that in industry. You'll have to ask the economists in industry." At this point, he announces his retirement from politics, and, as a result of the contacts that he's made from being in politics, he manages to get himself a place on the board of one of the big city corporations. At the first full board meeting, he puts his hand up, and says, "So, what is the big picture?" And the treasurer of the company looks at him in horror, and says, "Oh, NO! Don't tell me you were on that bloody hill, too!" The Small Picture But there are two scriptures we must rely to help us as we deal with the smaller picture and they are not on your outline so please write them down: 1 There were some present at that very time who told him about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mingled with their sacrifices. 2 And he answered them, “Do you think that these Galileans were worse sinners than all the other Galileans, because they suffered in this way? 3 No, I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish. 4 Or those eighteen on whom the tower in Siloam fell and killed them: do you think that they were worse offenders than all the others who lived in Jerusalem? 5 No, I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish.” Luke 13:1-5 (ESV) 45 so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven. For he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust. Matthew 5:45 (ESV) God allows suffering because … GOD IS LOVE 1) God made humans in His IMAGE. 26 Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.” 27 So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them. Genesis 1:26-27 (ESV) Us = trinity Image - Human life was created in (lit., “as,” meaning “in essence as”) the image of God ( 27). This image was imparted only to humans (2:7). “Image” (ṣelem) is used figuratively here, for God does not have a human form. Being in God’s image means that humans share, though imperfectly and finitely, in God’s nature, that is, in His communicable attributes (life, personality, truth, wisdom, love, holiness, justice), and so have the capacity for spiritual fellowship with Him The Bible Knowledge Commentary: An Exposition of the Scriptures by Dallas Seminary Faculty. 2) God made us to LOVE HIM. 34 Hearing that Jesus had silenced the Sadducees, the Pharisees got together. 35 One of them, an expert in the law, tested him with this question: 36 "Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?" 37 Jesus replied: "'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.' 38 This is the first and greatest commandment. 39 And the second is like it: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.' 40 All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments." Matthew 22:34-40 (NIV) 3) Love cannot be forced but only FREELY CHOSEN. 20 Noah, a man of the soil, proceeded to plant a vineyard. 21 When he drank some of its wine, he became drunk and lay uncovered inside his tent. Genesis 9:20-21 (NIV) God gave us real choices in a real universe. Therefore he had to allow us to choose evil over good. Adam & Eve did, and so has everyone of their off spring save one – Jesus! 4) But God will hold us accountable on JUDGMENT DAY. 34 You brood of vipers! How can you speak good, when you are evil? For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks. 35 The good person out of his good treasure brings forth good, and the evil person out of his evil treasure brings forth evil. 36 I tell you, on the day of judgment people will give account for every careless word they speak, 37 for by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned.” Matthew 12:34-37 (ESV) So, eternal love – God – allows evil to exist now to honor our sovereign free will and so that we can, if we choose, freely love Him and others. However, because He is just, there will be a judgment day where all wrongs will be righted. How Then Should I Respond to Suffering? 1) I need to ACCEPT that suffering will happen to me and mine. 18 “If the world hates you, know that it has hated me before it hated you. 19 If you were of the world, the world would love you as its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you. John 15:18-19 (ESV) 2) I need to REMEMBER that God is active in my suffering. 20 As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good, to bring it about that many people should be kept alive, as they are today. Genesis 50:20 (ESV) 3) I need to EMBRACE suffering as part of my spiritual growth. 8 For we do not want you to be unaware, brothers, of the affliction we experienced in Asia. For we were so utterly burdened beyond our strength that we despaired of life itself. 9 Indeed, we felt that we had received the sentence of death. But that was to make us rely not on ourselves but on God who raises the dead. 2 Corinthians 1:8-9 (ESV) 8 Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ …10 that I may know him and the power of his resurrection, and may share his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, Philippians 3:8, 10 (ESV)