What I m Thankful For, Joshua Harris January 26, 2014 Main Idea: In moments of tragedy and death, where do we find comfort, hope, and even gratefulness? We can find them in God's nearness to the brokenhearted, his goodness, and his unfailing promises of eternal life. Introduction: Doesn t it sometimes seem that trouble comes in waves? You ve heard the old proverb, When it rains it pours. When tragedy comes, it often seems to pile up in succession. Of course, tragedy is around us all the time. Death is all around us. It is estimated that worldwide over a 140,000 people die every day. We all know we re going to die. Theoretically, we all know how fleeting life is. But most of the time I think we manage to avoid really facing that reality. We distract ourselves. We just go about our lives. But there are times when we can t avoid it. These are moments in which loss and grief intersect in such a way that we feel acutely the brokenness of the world. And I think that s what this week has been for our church family and our broader community. Yesterday there was a shooting at Columbia Mall and three people died. Earlier this week a clerk at the 7-11 by the Goshen Safeway, which is very near my house, was attacked and murdered. I met a woman yesterday who told me the man who died was a friend of her husband. Her husband had helped him get the job at the 7-11. I could hear in the anguish in her voice. Our church and school has faced devastating loss this past week. A long-time member of Covenant Life named Suzanne Snyder, a dearly loved wife and mother of seven, went home to be with the Lord after a 10-year battle with cancer. She was only 56. And we were just absorbing the reality of her passing when there was a tragic accident on Friday in front of our campus. Two cars collided on Muncaster Mill and slid off the road hitting two students from our school who were on the sidewalk. One of those students, a sophomore named Teressa French, died almost instantly. The second student, an 8 th grader named Emma Lowe, was seriously injured but is in stable condition. She was in surgery yesterday and has a long, difficult road to recovery ahead of her. This is one of those moments in which we can t avoid the reality of death and tragedy. We can t pretend it away. It s touched people that we know and love. It s come to our doorstep. So what do we do in moment like this? How do we pray? Where do we find comfort and hope?
I want to share with you some of the truths from God s word that I ve been personally reflecting on and finding encouragement in. I want to frame this is in a way that might seem odd or even misplaced, but I pray that it will honor the Lord and serve you as it has served my own soul. I want to share seven reasons I m thankful in the midst of the pain and loss of this past week: 1. I m thankful that our God has suffered. In a time like this when the brokenness of our world seems overwhelming I find so much comfort in knowing that the God in whom I ve have set my hope is not immune to or indifferent to our pain. God became one of us in the person of Jesus Christ. He took on our humanity. Listen to how the prophet Isaiah spoke of Jesus. He called him, a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief (Isaiah 53:3). Jesus is the one who has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows (Isaiah 53:4). Think about how stunning that is. Our creator and judge doesn t callously hold himself at a distance. He comes close. He makes our grief his own. In Jesus, God joins us in our pain. When this world breaks your heart, remember who Jesus is. He is the God who came into our broken, sin-scarred world to redeem it. And this is more than mere sympathy. He suffered to save us. Isaiah writes of Jesus, But he was pierced for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his wounds we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all. (Isaiah 53:5-6, ESV) On the cross, Jesus took all our guilt. He absorbed all our punishment. Through suffering, he brought about our forgiveness and healing and right relationship with God. 1 Peter 3:18 says, For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring us to God.
2. I m thankful that God doesn t push us away when we re confused and struggling with doubt. I m so grateful for the Psalms. They teach us how to pray; they teach us how to talk to God. And they teach us that we can be honest with God about our confusion and doubts. Listen to some of these raw prayers in the Psalms: - Give ear to my words, O LORD, consider my groaning. (Psalm 5:1) - Why, O LORD, do you stand afar off? Why do you hide yourself in times of trouble? (Psalm 10:1) - How long, O LORD? Will you forget me forever? How long will you hide your face from me? (Psalm 13:1) - O Lord, rebuke me not in your anger, nor discipline me in your wrath! For your arrows have sunk into me, and your hand has come down on me. (Psalm 38:1-2) This is real prayer. It s an expression of authentic real-time faith and relationship with God. It s struggling. It s dealing with feeling like God is distant or like he doesn t care. Sometimes we wrongly think that real faith is always having answers. Always being chipper and confident. To be a good Christian means never being down, never feeling weak, and never doubting. But the Bible shows us great men and women of faith who wanted to give up. Who despaired at times. And yet, in their weakness, in the midst of their doubts, in the middle of unanswered questions, God sustained them. That s what you see in the Psalms. They might sometimes start with struggle, but they always turn to a statement and reminder of who God is. Yesterday, many of you came to Suzanne Snyder s memorial. I thought one of the most powerful moments of that service was when her husband Allan stood up and so humbly and honestly shared that he fell apart when she died. He said he couldn t get out of bed or talk for several days. He felt like his faith that his wife was going to be in a better place was gone. All he could see was her suffering. It took a great deal of courage for Allan to share that story. And I m so grateful that he did. Because we all need examples of what real Christian life looks like. We need to see that God meets people who are weak and have nothing left. God meets people who feel like all their faith is gone. In other words, he meets people like us in the real world. That s what he did for Allan. He spoke to him from Revelation 21 and the detailed description of heaven written there. He used the truth of his word to lift him out of despair. The Psalms and honest stories like Allan s teach us that God can handle our questions. They teach us that real faith involves both groaning and praise.
3. I m thankful that God calls death the enemy. There are some religions and philosophies that treat death as a good and natural part of the world. It s all part of the circle of life. Look, I like The Lion King as much as the next guy, but I am so grateful that s not what the Bible teaches about the world. The Bible teaches that death is not good. Death is the result of man s rebellion and sin. In that sense, it is not natural. And God, in his unstoppable love, refused to accept it. At the moment that man rejected him and ushered death into the world, God promised that he would send a deliverer to overthrow death. That is why Jesus came. God sent his Son to be the second Adam, to reverse the effects of the fall. Listen to God s word in 1 Cor. 15:21-26 For as by a man came death, by a man has come also the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive. But each in his own order: Christ the firstfruits, then at his coming those who belong to Christ. Then comes the end, when he delivers the kingdom to God the Father after destroying every rule and every authority and power. For he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet. The last enemy to be destroyed is death. (1 Corinthians 15:21-26, ESV) Death is the enemy. One day, Jesus, who was raised to life and conquered death, will once and for all destroy the last enemy. In the words of Revelation 21:4, and death shall be no more. 4. I m thankful that God draws near to the brokenhearted. I m so thankful that Jesus doesn t only conquer death but he brings healing to the real pain and separation that death brings into our lives. He doesn t say to us, Get over it since one day you ll be in heaven. No he s gentle with us. He knows how life in this world scars us. Listen to this descriptions of the tender, healing work of our Lord. The LORD is near to the brokenhearted and saves the crushed in spirit. (Psalm 34:18, ESV) a bruised reed he will not break, and a faintly burning wick he will not quench; (Isaiah 42:3, ESV) He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds. (Psalm 147:3, ESV)
He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away. (Revelation 21:4, ESV) 5. I m thankful that God has given us each other. In the midst of great suffering, we all face the temptation to ask, Where is God? Let s ask the Holy Spirit to give us eyes to see all the ways that God is working around us. How is he working? He s working through his people. He s working through his church. Ephesians compares the church to a family and to a human body with Jesus being our head. We re connected to each other. We belong to one another. Have you seen God working through his people this week? I hope that encourages you. He s with us. He s with us by his Spirit, and he s ministering to us through each other. You know I felt overwhelmed preparing the message for this morning. And I prayed, Lord how can I possibly give your people what they need in a time like this? And I felt so clearly the Lord impress on my heart, It s not up to you, Josh. I m already at work through my church. You re just a small part of what I m already doing. Praise God! This past week I ve seen people ministering to each other in the power of the Holy Spirit. They feel weak, yet God is using them. I ve seen mourning alongside those who mourn not having answers just being present. I ve seen students gathering to pray together. I ve witnessed people using Facebook to remind each other of truths from God s word. I ve seen people quoting Scripture and pointing each other to his faithfulness. Aren t you grateful that he s given us each other? No one person has all the compassion, grace or gifts that are needed. Thank God we re not alone. Thank God that, in the midst of trouble, he ministers to us through the love and kindness of brothers and sisters in Christ. Church, thank you for the way you re caring for each other and praying for each other. Can I just encourage all of us to extend this love and compassion beyond the walls of this building? We re part of a broader community here in greater Gaithersburg. Let s pray for the families of the students who were driving the cars that collided. I can t imagine the anguish these parents are facing. Shannon and I were talking on Friday and I said, Our kids could have been walking on that sidewalk. It s also true that, in a few years, our kids could have been driving one of those cars. Let s pray for the grace of God to be with those students and their families.
6. I m thankful that God s goodness isn t limited by my ability to understand. God s word says in Romans 8:28 that he works all things together for the good of those who are called according to his purposes. That s a wonderful promise. That s an awesome promise. Sometimes, though, we act as if it says God will explain to us how he s working things together for our good. But it doesn't say that, does it? God is good even when I can t see his goodness. God is good even when I don t see how he s working something for good. His goodness isn t limited by my understanding. There s a hymn of praise that the Apostle Paul quotes in Romans 11 that we need to remind ourselves of in times like this. This is the kind of worship that says, You are God, and I am not. Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments and how inscrutable his ways! For who has known the mind of the Lord, or who has been his counselor? Or who has given a gift to him that he might be repaid? For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be glory forever. Amen. (Romans 11:33-36, ESV) Who has been his counselor? God does not invite us to be his counselors. Aren t you grateful that he doesn t need your counsel? He does not make us his equals and explain his reasons for how he numbers each of our days. God rarely offers us explanations. Instead he invites us to trust him and to believe his word that he is a God of steadfast love. 7. I m thankful that what God promises me is better than what he doesn t promise me. There are many things that we assume in this life that we shouldn t take for granted. We assume each day will unfold basically the same way. We can assume that we ll stay healthy. We can assume we ll have a certain standard of living. We assume that our plans will be fulfilled. But God doesn't promise us any of this. Let me state this very bluntly: - God doesn t promise me that I ll always have a good job. - He doesn t promise me that my body will be strong. - He doesn t promise me that I won t have cancer. - God doesn t promise that I be injured in an accident. - He doesn t promise that I will escape persecution and injustice. - God doesn t promise me that I will be alive tomorrow.
- God doesn t promise me that I my children and my wife will outlive me. - God doesn t promise that I won t face great heartache and difficulty in this life. We need to be honest about this with ourselves and with fellow believers. Part of the disillusionment many Christians face comes because they wrongly assume that being a follower of Jesus means God promises them wealth, health and happiness in this world. No, God hasn t promised any of this to his people. In fact Jesus promises that in this world you will have tribulation. (John 16:33). So why should we have any hope or follow Jesus? Here s why: Because what he does promise us is better by far than what he doesn t promise us! - He s promised that he has overcome the world (John 16:33) - He s promised to never leave you nor forsake you (Hebrews 13:5) - He s promised to save anyone who calls on the name of the Lord (Rom. 10:13) - He s promised to give you the free gift of eternal life (Rom. 6:23) - He s promised to raise you up on the last day (John 6:40) - He s promised to wipe away every tear from your eye (Rev. 21:4) - He s promised to make all things new (Rev. 21:5) - He s promised to restore what the locust has eaten (Joel 2:25-32) - He s promised to give a hundredfold back whatever we lose in this life for the sake of the gospel (Mark 10:29-31) - He s promised to go and prepare a place for you (John 14:1-2) - He s promised to remove your sin from you as far as the east is from the west (Ps. 103:2) - He s promised to give you the right to be a child of God (John 1:12) God s promises to us are all fulfilled through Jesus Christ. And what he s promised us is so much better than what he doesn t promise. He doesn t promise us that we won t die. Psalm 89:48 asks, What man can live and never see death? We have a better promise in Christ. Because Jesus bore the wrath of God and died in our place, we will never face God s judgment. We will never face what Scriptures call the second death eternal death. All who believe in Jesus Christ are given the gift of eternal life. This is why we mourn but not as those without hope. Because we have Jesus, we have hope beyond the grave. Death does not have the last word. Jesus, who has died and been raised for us, has the last word.
And so we can say with Paul, Death is swallowed up in victory. O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting? The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore, my beloved brothers, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord your labor is not in vain. (1 Corinthians 15:54-58, ESV) Fellowship Starters: 1. What comfort do you derive knowing that Jesus has also suffered as a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief (Isaiah 53:3)? 2. In this recent tragedy or in the trials of your life, how has the Lord sustained and loved you in times of doubt and confusion? 3. What comfort and hope does God s nearness bring when you heart is broken over the tragedies and dark valleys of life in a fallen world? 4. How have you seen the Lord working through the community of believers to serve, love and carry one another in times of sadness and adversity? 5. Why is Romans 8:28 such a faith-sustaining promise And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good? 6. What promises in Scripture do you hold on to during difficult and dark days? Why are God s promises better than what he has not promised us?