Last week we looked at Jesus' conversation with Peter and
how He restored him to ministry. But Jesus isn't done with Peter. He has more
to tell him. This time it isn't about his past. Having restored him, Jesus can
now talk about his future. Listen.
'Truly, truly, I say to you, when
you were young, you used to dress yourself and walk wherever you wanted, but
when you are old, you will stretch out your hands, and another will dress you
and carry you where you do not want to go.' (This he said to show by what kind
of death he was to glorify God.) (John 21:18-19)
So, what do we have here? Jesus is prophesying. He is
telling Peter some things about his death. And did you notice John's commentary
about what Jesus said.
This he said to show by what kind
of death he was to glorify God.
Peter was to glorify God by his death. He was to make God
look good by his dying.
I think that it's safe to say that that would sound weird to
most people these days. And if it’s ever true, it’s only true of special people.
You'd have to be a martyr or something like that to glorify God by your death.
So, there may well be this elite group, people like Peter, who will glorify God
by their death. But that’s not true for the rest of us.
I'm going to disagree with that. I actually think that this
is supposed to be normal for every Christian. Every Christian's death is to
glorify God. And just to pick one verse, here's why I think this.
So, whether you eat or drink, or
whatever you do, [including how you die] do all to the glory of God.
Just like Peter, you are called to die in such a way that it
brings glory to God. You are to make God look good by your dying.
Christians don't usually connect dying with glorifying God.
And here's why. Death is something to be avoided. We don't even discuss it all
that much. And that's because death is feared. I've heard Christians say that
they aren't afraid of death itself. It's just the process of dying that they
aren't so keen about. But I'm thinking that it's exactly the process of dying
that John is talking about. It's the process of dying - whether we are talking
about Peter or you - that can make God look good.
What's the problem with that idea? Why the fear? When people
think about the process of dying what takes center stage? The
pain. Dying just might mean lots of pain. And who wants that? Well, yes,
your death just might be really painful. But does that change what the
Scriptures call you to when it comes to making God look good? Aren't you still
called to glorify God in your dying?
So, let's deal with pain. Pain is just this thing to be
avoided. That’s what our culture teaches. Once you've
established that, there's nothing more to say. Right?
Well, actually no. Pain has a purpose. Understanding that little thought will
turn things around.
Now, where do I get this idea that pain has a purpose? I get
it from the Bible. So, consider what we looked at last week. Jesus asked Peter
His question, 'Do you love Me?’ Do you remember what
happened after the third time Jesus asked it?
Peter was grieved because he said
to him the third time, “Do you love me?”
Grieved. What's that but another
word for 'pained'? Jesus pained Peter by His questions. Was He being cruel? No.
The pain had a purpose. It was a means to an important goal: restoring Peter.
So, when you are in pain, whether it's emotional pain like what Peter
experienced or physical pain, you really should ask this question. What's this
pain for? What's Jesus' goal in this?
Consider some examples in the Scriptures. First, there's
Job. When you read the end of the book you find that it was God who sent all that evil Job's way. But after experiencing all that
pain, what did Job say?
I had heard of you by the hearing
of the ear, but now my eye sees you.
Job came to a place where he could admit that though he
thought he knew God he could see that he really didn't, not as well as he had
come to know him. The pain had a purpose. It was to lead Job into a deeper relationship
with his God.
There are other examples of this same sort of thing. There's
Joseph, taken from home and sent away to a foreign land to become a slave.
There's the other Joseph, the one engaged to Mary, whose dreams of married life
were shattered. Consider the pain Paul experienced with those beatings and
such. Because of what he learned by that pain that he could say, 'When I am
weak then I am strong'. You can add to these names. There's Abraham sacrificing
Isaac, Israel in the wilderness, David being chased by Saul. God has used pain
throughout the history of His dealings with His people.
Here's a verse that captures the point.
For the moment all discipline seems
painful rather than pleasant, but later it yields the peaceful fruit of
righteousness to those who have been trained by it.
God has used pain to bring about good, things like 'the
peaceful fruit of righteousness'. And He has done that to bring about good.
The best example of this is, of course, Jesus. His pain
resulted in good. It resulted in good for Him. So, there's this.
Although he was a son, he learned
obedience through what he suffered.
As odd as it might sound, Jesus had to learn to obey. And He
learned it through suffering pain. So, here, the benefit of the pain was for His own sake. The pain God sends your way likewise results
in good for your own sake.
It was a different matter when He was pained on that Cross.
There the benefit of His pain, the good that came from it, was for you.
It makes a big difference when you realize that the pain
that you are enduring can bring good to others. Suffering pain becomes a way of
serving the people around you. That was true for Jesus and it's true for you.
So, if you are going to glorify God in your dying you need
to understand pain. It is a tool that God uses to bring about good. Suffering
pain - physical pain, emotional pain - is a large part of life in a fallen
world. It doesn't have to be overwhelming pain, but pain is a large part of
your life. And it just might be a large part of your death. And in all of this,
the pain has a purpose. It's one way that God brings about good.
Now for the 'What am I supposed to do?'
question. How can you respond well to pain? One common response to pain
is to hate it and, in one way or another, say something like, 'Why is this
happening to me?' Here's a better response: crying out to God. When the pain
isn't all that great it might be labelled calling out to God. But when the pain
is great it really is crying out. That's when prayer gets very
focused and very serious. And what do you tell Him in this crying out? One
thing to say is that it hurts. Nothing that I've said should make you think
that you're supposed to like being pained. The Psalms are filled with people
crying out to God telling Him that it hurts. So, it must be okay for you to do
that, too. But along with that it seems right to say something about wanting to
trust Him through all the pain. To trust Him that His
intentions for all this pain is for good. To trust Him
so that you don't bail on Him and opt for some foolish way of responding to the
pain. And part of this trusting shows as asking Him for the ability to
deal well with the pain. Without that it all falls apart because you can't do
this on your own.
So, these are the kinds of things you tell God.
It hurts.
I want to trust You.
Help me.
And the goal in responding like this?
To make God look good, as good as He really is.
All of this is something that you learn in the context of
normal daily living. It's as you learn how to do this as you live that you will
be able to do this as you die. You learn how to glorify God in your death by
learning how to glorify Him in your life.
So, consider the things that pain you in life. And respond
to them with this kind of prayer
It hurts.
I want to trust You.
Help me.
And one goal in this is to prepare to deal well with the
pain of dying so that you can make God look good then.
Now, why should all of this be important to you? Why should
you work on understanding and responding well to pain now with an eye to your
death? The answer is simple. It's love. Jesus said that all the instructions of
God are captured by two commands. Love God and love others. So, why work at
being able to die well? You want to make God look good. Okay. But why do you
want to do that? You want to do it not because it's what you're supposed to do.
It's not an act of obedience or duty. You do it because you love Him. Any
reason other than that just won't work. If He is the love of your life, then
making Him look good in life and in death only makes sense. And consider that
in Jesus He loved you enough to endure the kind of pain that you will never
have to experience. Glorifying God in your death is an act of love for Him.
And it is also an act of love for others around you. Dying
well can become such a blessing for them. There are things that are best
learned by seeing an example, things like dying well. The nature of real love
is revealed when it costs the one doing the loving. So, out of love for these
around you, endure the pain in order to die well. Out of love for them, show
them how a faithful Christian lives and dies. For those of you who are parents
consider this in light of your children. They will see you grow old. They may
witness how you die. Leave them a good example.
Last thought. As you consider the
sobering thought of dying don't neglect to connect it with what happens after
that. To quote Paul,
For I consider that the sufferings of this
present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to
us.
Your death will be a doorway into unimaginable glory.