When Terrible Things Happen, How Do We Survive? What the Bible Says About Suffering, Part 2 Preached by Mike Pulsifer on Sunday, June 8, 2008 Among all of the Books of the Bible, the Book of Psalms is unique. In essence, it s the prayer book and the hymnbook of the ancient Hebrews. It s filled not with God s words to them, but with their words to God, with their prayers and hymns to God. This prayer book contains 150 psalms, half of which are hymns and prayers of thanksgiving and praise, and half of which are pleas and supplications, laments and complaints to God. Today s psalm is one of lament and complaint. Something is terribly wrong and the author of Psalm 13 doesn t hesitate a second to tell God about it. Listen. (Please read Psalm 13) The Monday before Thanksgiving a teacher asked his third grade students to write on a card those things for which they were most thankful. Most of the children wrote down the usual, predictable things, but one little boy said that he was most thankful for his glasses. The teacher was impressed. Most children at that age resented wearing glasses, but here was a young man who was obviously mature enough to appreciate how his glasses helped him. Johnny, the teacher said, you wrote that the one thing you were most thankful for was your glasses. Is there any special reason? Johnny replied, I like my glasses because they keep the boys from hitting me and the girls from kissing me! (You Can Get Bitter or Better! by James W. Moore, page 62) Even though Johnny s answer wasn t what the teacher expected, it still showed maturity because already Johnny was aware that life is tough, and we need to be grateful for any help we can get. Notice, today s sermon title isn t If Terrible Things Happen, but rather When Terrible Things Happen, and that s because there is no if about it. If they haven t happened already, I can guarantee you that tough, terrible things are going to happen to you and to me and to those we love. Now certainly there are people who seem to get more than their share of tough, terrible things, but all of us, no matter who we are, are sometime, somewhere going to experience some tough, terrible things. People we love are going to disappoint us and hurt us. They re going to get sick, get hurt, and die. Each of us is also going to fail, get sick, get hurt, and die. Last Sunday in worship we asked the Bible Why? Why do these terrible things happen? If you weren t here and are interested in an answer to that question, copies of that sermon are available at the back of the sanctuary on a table in the narthex.
Today we are not going to ask the Bible this question why question, but rather the how question. When terrible things happen, how do we survive? When the doctor tells us our son has leukemia. When our wife says, I want a divorce When our husband has a stroke When our alcoholism is bringing out the worst in us and destroying the best in us, how do we cope, endure, survive? In response to this question the Bible gives us at least three practical suggestions. The first suggestion is: CRY OUT TO GOD. Tell God about the tough and terrible things that are happening to you and to those you love. Pour out your heart. Shout! Weep! Argue! Beg! Plead! Grab hold of all those God given promises you ve heard since Sunday School and ask God to live up to them. The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want. (Psalm 23:1) The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? (Psalm 27:1) Ask, and it will given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and the door will be open for you. (Matthew 7:7) Come unto me all you who are weary and heavy laden, and I will give you rest. (Matthew 11:28) This is exactly what the author of Psalm 13 does. How long, O Lord? Will you forget me forever? How long will you hide your face from me? How long must I bear pain in my soul, and have sorrow in my heart? (Psalm 13:1-2) The other day I passed a worried, distressed family standing in the hall outside of the Intensive Care Unit at the University of Pennsylvania Hospital. One person was saying to the others, The first thing we ve got to do is to stop crying. Jesus recommends the exact opposite. Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted. (Matthew 5:4) Notice, in his own life Jesus does exactly what he teaches. Just before he is arrested in the Garden of Gethsemane, Jesus is on his knees, sweating blood, and praying, If it is possible, let this cup pass from me. (Matthew 26:39) From the cross Jesus cries out, My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? (Matthew 27:46) When we share with God our feelings and our fears, we stand in a great, faithful tradition from Moses to Job to Jeremiah to Ruth to Jesus. God can take our disappointments, complaints, hostilities, and fears. In fact, God invites them, because God would much rather we say something to him, anything, than nothing at all.
A psychologist who works at a state mental hospital reports this frequent experience. When a new patient is admitted to the hospital, the patient always is interviewed for preliminary information by another doctor, usually an intern. However, when the patient sees the psychologist for the first time, often the patient is upset and wants to see the original doctor who interviewed him, instead of the psychologist, explaining, Just talking to that other doctor has helped me so much. Expressing our problems, pains, fears, and hostilities to God and to others helps. This is the Bible s first suggestion when terrible things happen to us. Tell God about them. Cry! Scream! Moan! Complain! Do whatever is necessary to let God know how you feel and where you hurt. After we ve shared our problems and our feelings with God, the Bible s second suggestion is: WAIT. Wait for the Lord, says Isaiah. Those who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength. They shall mount up with wings like eagles. They shall run and not be weary. They shall walk and not faint. (Isaiah 40:31) A recent newspaper cartoon shows Ziggy at the beach just after high tide has destroyed his sand castle. Ziggy shrugs his shoulders and says philosophically, Oh well! Nothing lasts forever.not even our problems. Surely you ve heard this saying, Suicide is a permanent solution to a temporary problem. If only Judas would have waited just three days, he too would have met the risen Christ, been forgiven, and welcomed back just like Peter and the others. Wait! God and time forgives and heals wounds. Wait! God and time changes our moods and circumstances. Wait! God and time renews our strength to meet and to master whatever comes our way. When terrible things happen to us, if we will take them to God and wait for God to act, then the Bible tells us a third thing happens. GOD HEARS. GOD CARES. GOD COMES TO US AND GIVES US WHATEVER WE NEED TO SURVIVE THAT TERRIBLE THING. How can I say this? How do I know that this is true? First, God promises to do this. When Moses says to God, Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh and bring the Israelites out of Egypt? God simply answers, I will be with you. (Exodus 3:11-12) The author of the 23 rd Psalm knows and believes this same promise. Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil; for thou art with me. (Psalm 23:4) Jesus makes this same promise to his disciples then and now. I am with you always. (Matthew 28:20)
Jesus own life also tells us that God knows what it is like to suffer. Jesus says, Whoever has seen me has seen the Father. (John 14:9) This means that God has been misjudged; gossiped and lied about; betrayed; and rejected. This means that God has had thorns in his head; nails in his hand; a spear in his side. This means God knows firsthand what it s like to suffer, is beside us when we suffer, and is inside us to help us to endure and to survive our suffering. It s no accident that some of the people who have suffered the most people like Peter and Paul, Joan of Arc and Helen Keller, Mother Theresa and Martin Luther King, Jr. are some of the people who have believed and trusted God the most. That s because some how, some way, God has come to them in their suffering and has given them the strength to endure and to survive. Jesus cross is a symbol of the worst life and the world can do to us. Notice: Jesus cross does not destroy his love. From it he prays, Father, forgive them for they know not what they do. (Luke 24:34) Notice: Jesus cross does not destroy his hope. To the repentant thief on the cross next to him Jesus says, Today you will be with me in paradise. (Luke 24:43) Notice: Jesus cross does not destroy his faith and trust in God. Moments after he screams, My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Jesus prays, Father, into your hands I commend my spirit. (Luke 23:46) Notice: Jesus cross does not even destroy Jesus. Three days later he defeats evil and death, is raised and lives again, then and forever. God does not always explain why terrible things happen. Neither does God promise that terrible things won t happen. (see Matthew 5:45 and John 16:33) What God does do is promise to be with us when those terrible things happen, and to help us to endure and to survive them.
So the next time something bad happens to you or me or to those we love if we will cry out to God; if we will wait and trust God s promise to be with us; then, like with Jesus, some how, some way, God will come to us and will give us the strength to endure, to survive, to defeat whatever bad thing is happening to us. That s a promise not an answer but a promise you and I can count on. Benediction In whatever happens to you this week, remember that God is with you to support you with the gifts of faith, hope, and love; to guide you with the gifts of wisdom and insight; to strengthen you with the power to overcome worry, temptation, tragedy, and sorrow; to befriend you with the gift of God s Spirit. Go now in peace, love, and courage knowing that you do not go alone. Amen.