Hope in the Age to Come and in Jesus as Conquering Lord

The world is filled with evil. Some of it is obvious to all: mass murders, epidemics, suicide, etc. But much of it exists unnoticed. And that is because good is not well understood. It is as good is seen and understood more clearly that evil is seen and understood more clearly. Thus it is the maturing Christian - someone who is growing in understanding good because he or she is growing in understanding God - who sees evil most clearly. Experiencing this deeper awareness of evil is part of the suffering that is necessarily a part of being a growing Christian. 

There are two things that help this maturing Christian to deal with the pain of seeing evil more and more clearly. The first is the knowledge that Jesus, as Lord over this world and its evil, is pursuing His plan to conquer that evil and ultimately obliterate it. The second is the promise of the age to come. That is when all evil in its every possible expression will be gone. So, Christians are to rejoice in what Jesus is doing and to wait until the promise of the age to come is fully kept. This takes faith in Jesus.

The Spirit Groans

We’re back to Romans 8 and back to learning about the ministry of the Holy Spirit among us. We’re going to work our way through a few more sentences of what Paul is teaching on His ministry, but we’ll do that just a bit at a time.

Let’s start with this.

Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness. Romans 8:26

It’s important to spend a little time on this notion of weakness. And I want to do that because we have all been taught not to be weak. One persistent message of the world in which we live is that we don’t have to be weak. If we try hard enough, we can accomplish anything. And if we are honest with ourselves, even when it comes to being a disciple of Jesus we believe that we will be able to do a good job of it if we try hard enough. But the fact of the matter is that, try as we may, we really can’t do a good job of it. We really are weak.

This is something that Paul, himself, had to learn and did learn.

Groaning in Hope

We’re back in Romans 8 to look at the next bit of what the Apostle taught. In doing this I have a goal, a goal that covers a lot of territory. My goal for this sermon, and actually for any sermon I preach, is not to teach you something about the religion that you profess. My goal is quite different from that. My goal is to explain reality, to explain how life works. And that is my goal because that’s the goal of the Bible; not to teach about religion, but to teach about life. The Gospel is the only explanation of life that is true, through and through.

Today, we’re going to look at one dynamic of life that we all experience. We all have times when we struggle with life. To use Paul’s words that we are going to be looking at in a moment, we groan because of the troubles we face. That’s not some religious doctrine. It’s a fact about life. As Paul will explain, the right response to this is a lively Christian hope. And that, also, is not some religious response. It’s a response that understands life. You’re here this morning not to learn about God or to have some doctrine explained or for some other religious reason. Religion, in that sense, is just one small part of a person’s life. That’s not what we’re about. You’re here so that you can hear from God about how to live in this world as it now exists.

Now, with all of that in mind, listen to what Paul taught.

A Quote

Therefore, in the midst of the bitterness of tribulations, we should recognize the kindness and mercy of our Father toward us. For even in such tribulations, He doesn't cease to promote our salvation. Indeed, He afflicts us not to ruin or destroy us, but instead to deliver us from the condemnation of the world. This awareness leads us to what Scripture teaches in another place: "My son, do not despise the Lord's discipline or be weary of his reproof, for the Lord reproves him whom he loves, as a father the son in whom he delights" (Prov. 3.11-12).

When we discern our Father's rod of discipline in our lives, shouldn't we present ourselves to Him as obedient and teachable sons rather than as obstinate and hopeless men who've become hardened in wrongdoing?

John Calvin

Rejoice in Sufferings?

Who brags about his troubles? Well, someone who wants some attention and especially some pity might do that. But Christians? And yet, that’s exactly what Paul writes to those saints in Rome. Listen.

Not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope…  Romans 5.3-4

And there it is. We rejoice in our sufferings. That could just as properly be translated - not paraphrased but translated - ‘We brag about our troubles’. Now, at first blush that doesn’t seem to make any sense. But, as you know, there are many things about following Jesus that, at first blush, don’t seem to make any sense. What I’m going to do this morning is show you how this actually does make sense. It makes good sense, something that will make life work better for you.

Quote

Paul fittingly describes the war that believers wage against natural feelings of anguish in their pursuit of endurance and perseverance: "We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not driven to despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed" (2 Cor. 4:8-9). We see that bearing the cross with endurance doesn't mean that a person is absolutely stupefied or robbed of every feeling of sorrow. The Stoics of old foolishly idealized such a person — one who, having stripped himself of all humanity, feels the same whether he encounters adversity or prosperity, sorrow or success; or rather one who feels nothing — like a stone. And what did the Stoics achieve by such sublime wisdom? They painted a portrait of endurance that has never been found, nor can exist, among men. Indeed, while they wished to represent endurance accurately and precisely, they deprived humankind of the power of genuine endurance.

John Calvin

Aphorism

The problem with much Christian worship in the contemporary world, Catholic and Protestant alike, is not that it is too entertaining but that it is not entertaining enough. Worship characterized by upbeat rock music, stand-up comedy, beautiful people taking center stage, and a certain amount of Hallmark Channel sentimentality neglects one classic form of entertainment, the one that tells us, to quote the Book of Common Prayer, that “in the midst of life we are in death.” It neglects tragedy.

Carl Trueman, “Tragic Worship”

Aphorism

Suffering gives us the opportunity to find out if the faith that we’ve given lip service to is the real thing.

Nancy Guthrie

Aphorism

We all have pain that we need to deal with. It is impossible to live in this fallen world without pain. The key issue, of course, is how you deal with that pain.

Suffering

We've been going through Peter's first letter at the Bible studies at church. In this letter Peter addresses the various groups that made up the church he was writing to. One group that has stood out to me was the slaves. They were owned by masters who could do anything to them. Anything. Life must have been incredibly difficult for them. This is what Peter says specifically to this group.

Servants, be subject to your masters with all respect, not only to the good and gentle but also to the unjust. For this is a gracious thing, when, mindful of God, one endures sorrows while suffering unjustly. For what credit is it if, when you sin and are beaten for it, you endure? But if when you do good and suffer for it you endure, this is a gracious thing in the sight of God. For to this you have been called, because Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example, so that you might follow in his steps. He committed no sin, neither was deceit found in his mouth. When he was reviled, he did not revile in return; when he suffered, he did not threaten, but continued entrusting himself to him who judges justly. (1 Peter 2:18-23)

Peter tells them to submit to their masters and to do that with complete respect. And it doesn't matter if any of those masters are unjust and cruel. He offers Jesus as a model to follow in their suffering. And he even tells them that they were called to their life of suffering, just as Jesus was called to His.

There is, however, one thing that he doesn't tell them. 'Hang in there. If you respond well to what's going on, life will soon get better for you. Just hang in there.' Peter would have written that if he had been a modern American. But he wasn't. He was a Christian who understood life better.

Now, this isn't to say that their lives would never get better. Peter was clear that they would. The question is, 'When?'

One important theme in his letter has to do with 'later'. More than once Peter tells them that 'later' will be so good. Here's one place where this theme shows up.

Therefore, preparing your minds for action, and being sober-minded, set your hope fully on the grace that will be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ. (1 Peter 1:13)

I hope that you see that by 'later' Peter didn't mean in a few months or anything like that. He meant when Jesus returns, at His visible revelation to all. That's why he writes that instead of hoping that life would get better now, these Christians are to place their hope fully[!] on how it would get better 'later'. The fact of the matter is that many (most? all?!?) of the Christian slaves that Peter wrote to would die as slaves. Their lives of suffering would continue for the rest of their days. Understanding 'later' for them was very important.

Some of us are in situations that make life very trying, to say the least. We may not have masters who beat us, but we are suffering nonetheless. And because of how God's plan is working itself out, there is nothing we can do to change what is going on. Like those slaves, we have been called to our lives of suffering. Telling us that it will get better soon if we just hang in there does not help. There are some situations that will not get better, not until Jesus comes back. And so, we suffer. But there is a way of suffering that that works. As Peter counsels, we are to suffer 'entrusting [ourselves] to him who judges justly', just like Jesus did and those slaves were urged to do. And when He returns the Father will remember our faithful suffering and reward us accordingly.

Jesus Can Be Rough

Recently, I have had a couple of occasions to mention an aspect of Jesus' character that I don't hear much about: Jesus can be rough. There are times when his words seem sharp and his actions harsh. 

Here's an example of some rather sharp words which, at the very least, would seem unfeeling. 'Let the children be fed first, for it is not right to take the children's bread and throw it to the dogs.' (Mark 7) To whom does Jesus say this? He speaks these words to a mother pleading for her afflicted daughter. Now, to be sure, it's one thing to say, 'I'm sorry but I can't help you' and quite another to apply the language of 'dogs'. 

Then there's this example of Jesus' actions that caused pain, avoidable actions that he knew would cause pain. Messengers are sent to him to tell him that his close friend, Lazarus, is ill. And how does Jesus respond? 'So, when he heard that Lazarus was ill, he stayed two days longer in the place where he was.' (John 11) After those two days' delay Jesus then decides to go. And why? It's because he knows that Lazarus has died. In fact, he knew that Lazarus would die if he did not go. So, didn't he realize the suffering this would cause Lazarus and the grief that would overcome his sisters, Mary and Martha? How could he not? And yet, he delayed going. (Bear in mind that he didn't have to go anywhere. To quote the centurion, 'Just say the word.' Jesus could have healed him from a distance.)

Now there are good reasons why Jesus said and acted as he did. A little study in the two passages of Scripture referred to will reveal those reasons and how they reflected his compassion. But the point that I want to make here is that on the way to being compassionate Jesus was rough. 

So, why do I write about this? It's because Jesus is still rough. He is, at times, rough with us. And that becomes a problem when we don't understand that he is being rough with us on the way to his being compassionate. There are things for us to experience, see more clearly, understand at a deeper level. These sorts of things need to happen if we are going to become the faithful disciples that he has called us to become. And sometimes the best way for us to get there is by Jesus being rough with us. 

So, the next time life gets hard - and that can run the gamut from a bad afternoon to hearing about the death of someone you love - thank Jesus for what he is in the process of doing. This will be a time when you will need to trust him. You will probably not know what, exactly, he is doing, and you may need to offer that thanks through tears. But it's still true that he is being rough with you because he wants to do you good and in so doing advance his kingdom.

Choose One

No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. 

Jesus

You cannot pursue the American Dream and the Kingdom of God at the same time. The American Dream is the pursuit of security and comfort. It's all about 'me'. The pursuit of the Kingdom of God is so very different. It's all about Jesus. And so, it calls for the willingness to sacrifice 'security and comfort'  (and anything else he requires) now - in the hope of fully enjoying everything later.

Permission?

God is not required to seek the sinner’s permission for doing with the sinner what he pleases.

R.C. Sproul

I bumped into this quote during my morning blog reading, and I found it quite striking. And it's quite striking because it's just wrong -  at least according to the prevailing attitude of our culture. Now, no one is going to come out and say, 'Hey, God! Did I say you could do that to me?!?' But how else shall we understand all the accusations against God these days? There's a tornado here and an earthquake there. Terrible things, evil things, to be sure. But does God have to run these things past us to make sure they're okay with us? 

Those who are still in their rebellion have no rights with God. They're rebels against the King! And those who have been reconciled through Jesus know that they can trust their Father when he uses evil. After all, they know that his goal in using that evil is ultimately for good. And the best example of that is the Cross. 

The Benefit of Suffering Evil

I was reading Exodus 5 the other day. This is after Moses is called by God at the burning bush and he goes to Egypt to deliver God's message to Pharaoh, 'Let My people go.' But delivering God's message makes things worse for Israel, not better. Now they have to gather their own straw and yet maintain the same quota of bricks as before. As a result, the response of Israel to Moses was not good. "Jehovah look on you and judge, because you have made us stink in the sight of Pharaoh and his servants, and have put a sword in their hand to kill us."

Moses responded by asking the question that popped into my head as I read. "O Lord, why have you done evil to this people? Why did you ever send me? For since I came to Pharaoh to speak in your name, he has done evil to this people, and you have not delivered your people at all." Why did God do it this way? Why the suffering? Why not just free them immediately?

Then I cheated and looked at the beginning of the next chapter. (There really shouldn't be a chapter division here.) 'But Jehovah said to Moses, "Now you shall see what I will do to Pharaoh; for with a strong hand he will send them out, and with a strong hand he will drive them out of his land."' Which impresses more, highlights God's power more, gives the most hope for the future, is more encouraging even to today: Moses saying, 'Let My people go' and Pharaoh responding, 'Oh, okay', or Pharaoh refusing and God sending plague after plague, taking a world power and utterly destroying it until it is thouroughly humiliated, and its leader begs Israel to leave?

What set Israel up to better appreciate the astonishing power of their God was the suffering they endured when Moses first proclaimed his message to Pharaoh. Things getting worse helped them to really 'get it' when things got better. Suffering evil, sent from God, is always for our ultimate benefit. We get to know Him better (And what's better than that?) when He causes us to drink more deeply of the cup of evil. Remembering this when in the midst of the evil makes all the difference. Something to pray about.

Delighted with Christ

By calling it 'great joy,' he shows us, not only that we ought, above all things, to rejoice in the salvation brought us by Christ, but that this blessing is so great and boundless, as fully to compensate for all the pains, distresses, and anxieties of the present life. Let us learn to be so delighted with Christ alone, that the perception of his grace may overcome, and at length remove from us, all the distresses of the flesh.

John Calvin
on Luke 2:10

Not Disappointed

Romans 5.1-5

During the last two weeks' sermons - the one on, 'Commit your way to the Lord' and the other on the rich, young ruler - I mentioned the possibility of someone becoming disappointed. I had not meant to make that a theme, but since I did it seemed good to look at that more closely. And the reason I decided that should be obvious. There are lots of people who are disappointed, not just with this or that particular, but with life. Being disappointed is something that is more common than we would like.

We are familiar with people who inhabit the two ends of the spectrum. There are those who, for whatever reason, always seem 'up'. They are enthusiastic about everything, or at least they seem to be. Then, there are those on the other end. These are people who are angry and bitter. We knows these two types because they stand out. But there is this large mass of people in the middle, neither excited about life nor angry at it. It's not that life has dealt them some crushing blow. It's just that life isn't turning out as they had expected. They are disappointed with life. They still get up each day and do what needs doing. But there are no expectations of anything especially good to change the tone of their lives. They look forward to enjoyable vacations and the like, and they do enjoy them. But they know that life will be the 'same old, same old' when vacation time is over. Christians are not immune to this. We can become disappointed too, disappointed with life, disappointed with the Gospel. Again, it's not a matter of being crushed. Things are just not turning out as expected.

There are answers to this disappointment, answers in the Gospel. There are truths that believers - and unbelievers - can embrace so that they would not be disappointed. That's what we're going to look at today.

We're going to start with a translation question. I realize that this may seem academic, but it will actually help you to get the point of the text and to see how it speaks to this thing, disappointment. Some translations of the Bible render verse five like this: '... and hope does not disappoint...' And others have it this way: '... and hope does not put us to shame...' The fact of the matter is that the original word that Paul used can be translated in either way. What that means is that these two English words, disappoint and shame, have something in common that we need to see. So, what is shame about? Here is one scenario. Someone has made some big claim to people. But after all the bragging he can't make it happen. So, imagine a veteran athlete who brags that he will win the tournament. But, instead of that happening, he is eliminated in the first round, crushed by some rookie. Shame is what he feels as others comment on his foolish boast. Disappointment is similar. A claim is made, a boast, that this person cannot make happen. This is just like the example of shame. But the difference is that disappointment is not a matter of what others say about you and your boast. It is, instead, what you say to yourself, having expected so much and yet, failing so badly. In both, a boast is made that is not realized. The difference has to do with who is doing the talking afterward. A disappointed person reminds himself about the failure. Now, here's the point. Is there a boast in our text, a boast that might set someone up for disappointment? Yes, there is. There is a big claim being made here, one that often leads to disappointment. '... we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God...'


Let's take that apart. The word translated 'rejoice' is not the word that Paul commonly uses when he writes about joy. In fact, that word is translated differently in 1 Corinthians 1. 'Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord.' In our text Paul is talking about a boast that the Gospel makes: the hope of the glory of God. The glory of God is whatever makes Him beautiful to us, whatever makes Him attractive, whatever it is that draws us to Him. Here, just think of Jesus. 'And we beheld His glory, glory as of the Father.' People were drawn to Jesus and that because of His glory, not some halo but what made Him beautiful. The Gospel's boast is that one day we will share in this beauty of God revealed to us in the life of Jesus. One day our lives will be completely transformed. We will be like Jesus. We will be beautiful like He is. In fact, according to the Gospel, we are in the process of being changed, of becoming beautiful right now. The Gospel makes many very large claims, large boasts. This is one of them. And it's exactly because of this very large claim that so many Christians are disappointed.

Imagine someone dramatically converted from a life of heinous sin. The focus of his life was completely on himself. He was given to the idolatry of his possessions. His sense of safety was directly tied to the size of his income. Personal success in his career was the driving force of his life. And then he becomes a Christian. His life is changed. The foolishness of his ways becomes clear to him. There is dramatic repentance. He embraces the boast of the Gospel that he will enjoy the glory of God. He lives in the hope of becoming more and more like Jesus. He feels God's love flooding his heart. Every day is like a revival. But after a while life seems to calm down. The excitement of the first days of his new life cools. The difficulties of daily life re-assert themselves. There are still the bills to pay, a job to do, people to deal with. And there is still his own sin that strangely hasn't disappeared. This lively hope of becoming more and more like Jesus fades a bit. And then it fades a bit more. And his sense of God's powerful love becomes more sporadic. And life feels ordinary. He isn't crushed. He isn't angry. He isn't tempted to jettison this whole Gospel thing. But he is disappointed. It isn't turning out as he had expected.

Now, if someone points him to our text, what does he tell himself? 'But I am disappointed. And I don't feel God's love poured out for me.' He might then say, 'Maybe my expectations were too high.' And he begins to settle for the same mundane existence that his neighbors endure.

What's the problem? It's a fact that the Gospel makes large claims, large boasts. Our text is only one example: the hope of sharing in the beauty of Jesus, starting now; the underlying assumption that God's love for us is a torrent flooding our lives, moving the whole process forward. These are large claims. Should we tone them down? Maybe opt for a bit more 'realism'? I really don't think so. There is a problem, but it's not with the Gospel. If it were, we should just dump it all and forget about this Jesus thing. There is a problem, and it's with our expectations - though not in a way that you might think. We take the first step toward a solution by looking at the whole of our text. Thus far, I've skipped over the middle verses. Listen again. 'More than that, we boast in our tribulations, knowing that tribulation produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope ...' 'Tribulations' is another church word, a fine word that we use without thinking about it. Some translations use the word 'sufferings', but I think that is best reserved for another use. So, let's use the word 'troubles'. So, Paul tells us that we brag about our troubles. I grant you that this seems 'counter-intuitive' - to use the language of an old sermon. And it is 'counter-intuitive' - unless you're a disciple of Jesus.

We have all been taught to avoid troubles. We do what we can to keep them at arm's length. And we can do a fair job of it if we are careful and play it safe. If it happens that troubles come our way, we then do our best to minimize it and to get past it as quickly as we can. One result of all of this is that troubles are viewed as our sworn enemies and not something that we brag about. Another result of all of this is that hope, the hope of the glory of God, does not mature. The blossoms form at conversion but they never quite make it to the promised ripe fruit. And so, instead of a life filled with hope and it's ever-present companion, joy, life is a disappointment. For hope to grow, to mature, to become robust, troubles need to be faced and dealt with as a faithful disciple of Jesus. You see, according to the Spirit speaking in our text, troubles that are dealt with as a Christian lead to endurance which in turn leads to proven character, which likewise leads to hope, the hope of the Gospel, a hope that does not disappoint. That is a very large boast of the Gospel, and if it isn't true everything falls to the ground. Facing troubles as a disciple of Jesus is crucial if a person is going to avoid disappointment and enjoy what it means to know Jesus.

Everything turns on this 'facing troubles as a disciple of Jesus'. What does that mean? How does someone do that? I have three thoughts that I would ask you to think about.

First, if you would face troubles as a disciple then work at not being afraid. Fear is the great enemy of a ripening hope, particularly the fear of troubles. 'The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? The Lord is the stronghold of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?' Good questions, no? The need of the day is for Christians who are fearless and that because of Jesus. We are all snared by some fear or other. If we do not challenge that fear our hope will not mature as well as it could. That fear will control us to one degree or other, and life may well become a disappointment. So, first work on not being afraid - not of anything. And the key to fearing nothing is fearing God.

Second, if you would face troubles as a disciple then heed the Spirit's command when He says, 'In all things give thanks.' And 'all things' includes troubles. Again, this is counter-intuitive. Yet, what a protection from Satan. He wants you to react to your troubles in fear, to see them as huge problems that block your way, and worse, threaten to destroy you. As far as he is concerned your best option is always panic. But the Gospel says: 'Jesus is the Lord over all, who is firmly committed to you. So, He will use even trouble for your good. All you need to do is trust Him.' One sign of trust: a heart that gives thanks. This doesn't mean that you need to be some stoic without feelings. Even as you give thanks, your heart might be racing, your palms sweaty and you're a little nervous about what is going to happen. But because you trust Jesus, you give Him thanks for what is going on because you know that He is doing something good. And, let me say incidentally, as you learn how to do this, your hope grows and your heart rate stays normal and you aren't nervous at all. You've learned by experience that the Gospel isn't lying.

Third, troubles can become and often are a weapon that Satan uses to attack your faith. He uses these situations to try to get you to entrust yourself to something other than Jesus, at least at the point of attack. So, you lose your job, or you get seriously ill, or your kid gets seriously ill. All of these, and many more, are situations that Satan will use to attack your faith at a specific point. You need to discern what specifically is being attacked and there assert to yourself and to Satan, 'I trust Jesus! At this specific point, when it comes to this specific issue, I trust Jesus.' So, what do you tell yourself if you lose your job? 'My family and I are going to be okay, at least for a while. I've saved up for this kind of situation.' Do you see the point of attack? Where is the trust being placed? Somewhere other than Jesus. Now, whether you have a lot in the bank or nothing there what you need to tell yourself - and Satan - is this. 'We're going to be okay because Jesus will take care of us. He made promises about situations like this one and I believe Him.' Be aware of the point of attack and right there respond wisely.

As you work on these things, you will develop endurance. That is, your faith will get stronger, better able to deal with greater troubles. From that you gain in character. Who you really are is put to the test. Passing the test proves that something of the beauty of Jesus is already in you. And from that comes hope, the hope of the glory of God, the hope of becoming more and more like Jesus, a hope that does not disappoint. And behind it all, moving the process forward, is the love of God flooding your life.

For some of you this sermon has been a reminder about things you are already doing, and, hopefully, an encouragement to continue in the same way. You are not disappointed. And that's really good. But some of you, I suspect, are disappointed. So, in light of what I've just preached, let me say this. I am not disappointed with life. And the reason for this is that Jesus has been good enough to send troubles my way. Because of His favor I have been able to face these troubles as His disciple. Through these troubles I have seen the endurance of my faith grow, my character purified, my hope become more solidly established. I believe our text, and it has changed my life. Things are turning out much better than I expected. If you are disappointed, let me encourage you to take some time to consider what the Spirit has said to you this morning. It's the Gospel. And it is so much better than what you can imagine.

Paul, The Minister

[I preached this sermon at the November 2008 meeting of the Presbytery of the Ascension.]

Colossians 1.21-26

One of my great desires over the years of my ministry was to have a mentor. I could have used an older, wiser Christian who could teach me how to minister to people's souls. I never enjoyed such a relationship, and that is something that I lament. On the job training, especially when it comes to ministry, is not the best way to go. I was not, however, left to my own resources. The Spirit used models of Godly men found in the Scriptures, and elsewhere, to make up for that lack. One obvious example of such a man was the Apostle Paul. In our text, Paul speaks of himself as a minister of the Gospel. So, particularly for those of us who are ministers, he becomes someone for us to imitate.

With this in mind, I want to focus your attention on one phrase of our text: 'I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake...' What a thing to say! And remember who is saying it. It's Paul. Now, remember what he suffered. He was shipwrecked, whipped, stoned and left for dead, imprisoned, hated. 'From now on let no one cause me trouble, for I bear on my body the brandmarks of Jesus.'It is this Paul who writes, 'I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake...' This was not the comment of Paul, the apostle. No, it is Paul, the minister, who writes these things. And that's where it gets challenging. We have before us a timely word from God. And while it is not just for ministers, it is a word that is especially for ministers. Paul is a model for us. With him we need to be able to tell our congregations, 'I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake'. Now, how do we get there?

The key to understanding Paul's attitude here is found in the next phrase of our text. '...and in my flesh I am filling up what is lacking in Christ's afflictions for the sake of his body, that is, the church...' This is such a difficult text but not an impossible one. Let's start with what is clear and easy. We know what Paul doesn't mean. Paul is not saying that Christ's suffering on the cross is somehow deficient in its power to save, and that his own suffering makes up for what is missing. That is simply impossible. Jesus' work on the cross is fully sufficient to atone for all of our sins. It is sufficient and more than sufficient. So, the lack that Paul contemplates is not the value of Christ's gift of salvation. Paul must be talking about something else.

What is helpful here is the fact that Paul uses almost identical language elsewhere. Listen to something from Philippians. 'I have thought it necessary to send to you Epaphroditus my brother and fellow worker and fellow soldier, and your messenger and minister to my need. ... So receive him in the Lord with all joy, and honor such men, for he nearly died for the work of Christ, risking his life to fill up what was lacking in your service to me.' Paul uses virtually the same vocabulary both in our text in Colossians and here in Philippians. We have something that will help us understand our text. Now, what was this 'service' of the Philippians that Paul refers to? It was a gift of money that was sent from the Philippians, by Epaphroditus, to Paul. When Paul comments on how Epaphroditus filled up what was lacking in this service, he is certainly not complaining about the amount of the gift. He is not saying that it was not enough, but that Epaphroditus added to the amount and thus made it acceptable. The lack has nothing to do with the monetary value of the gift. Here you need to remember the deep affection that Paul and the Philippian Christians had for each other. The saints in Philippi yearned to express their love to Paul, and they did it by sending that gift. But just sending some money would not do. Something would be missing. And what would that something be? It would be their deep affection for Paul. It's the affection that would be lacking if it were just a matter of some money. But Epaphroditus filled up this lack by his own expression of affection on the behalf of the Philippians. A check in an envelope is a cold gift unless the person giving it to you also conveys the love and affection tied to that gift. The heart of the Philippians was missing from the envelop. But Epaphroditus took care of that. He filled up what was lacking, not the amount of the gift but the affection intended by the gift.

This is the role that Paul took upon himself when it came to delivering Jesus' gift of redemption to the lost in Asia Minor. Handing someone an envelop with some truths that they are supposed to believe is cold - unless the person delivering it also expresses the heartfelt affection tied to those truths. So, just as the Philippians sent their gift of money to Paul by the hand of Epaphroditus who was able to convey their deep affection for Paul, Jesus sent His gift of redemption to the lost by the hand of Paul who was able to convey Jesus' deep affection for them. Handing someone truth is not enough. But how can anyone convey the deep love of Jesus? How can this lack be filled up? By suffering. This adds nothing to the value of Jesus' work on the cross. But it does make it more real to those people receiving the gift. What could anyone say once they saw the scars upon scars on Paul's back, scars that he bore because he was determined to bring the Gospel to them? But when these people were struck by Paul's suffering for their sake, what would he say in reply? 'You think this is suffering? Let me tell you about Jesus' and what He suffered for you.' Paul's suffering made Jesus' suffering more real. It filled up what was lacking. What people saw in Paul helped them to grasp what they could not have seen, a savior willing to suffering unimaginable torments on a cross, and that for their sake. Paul's suffering made Jesus' suffering more real.

Now, remember where we started, what I told you at the beginning of this sermon. I told you that Paul speaks of himself as a minister of the Gospel, and as such he becomes someone for those of us who are ministers to imitate. Paul is your example for ministry. And so, you need to fill up what is lacking in the afflictions of Christ for the sake of your congregation. It's all well and good to tell them of the love of the Savior. But you must also show them His love. You need to make it more real. And you do that by suffering for them, and then letting them see that suffering. Remember that Christian suffering is the result of the conflict of evil and righteousness in a believer's life. As a saint struggles against evil, striving to honor Jesus in the face of that evil, he suffers. Fighting evil hurts. The source of the evil might be from without, like the pressure to conform to this world, or it might be from within as in the many temptations of Satan to compromise. But whatever its source it must be fought. Scripture is clear: every Christian is called to suffer for Jesus because every Christian is call to fight evil. No suffering, no glory. And all of this is especially true of ministers. Your people need to see the Gospel in your life as well as hear it from your lips.

This sermon is very incomplete. One reason for this is that I'm still working on these things myself. So, you will need to take the ball and run with it from this point on. But let me close with some thoughts that you can ponder, thoughts which, I hope, will help you as you work on these things.

First, we have a goal set before us. We are to imitate Paul, the minister. We are to work to get to the point of saying, 'I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake...' That is not optional for a minister. It just isn't. The success of our ministries depends on it. And this is the kind of goal that we can achieve to a degree but never completely. It is a goal that we need to pursue continually.

Second, we will never rejoice in suffering like Paul unless Jesus is our chief treasure. We will suffer in our labors in the Gospel only when we are convinced that Jesus is worth suffering for. If something else is our chief treasure then we will suffer for that instead. And isn't that the battle we face every day?

Third, before we will be able to rejoice in our suffering for our people we must have a burning desire to see them thrive in the Gospel. Suffering is hard, and we need a very good reason for rejoicing in it. Merely seeing people become sufficiently religious is not nearly a good enough reason. Joy in suffering for them will require much more than that. But, as you know, sometimes it is so hard to keep at it, even to want to see them take great strides in the faith. And yet, what are we left with if that is not our desire?

Finally, none of this will happen unless we cry out to God for His favor. He must act to change us before we will able to bring about any change in anyone else. Paul's kind of ministry is impossible without a growing piety, a piety that shows. Piety - which is just another word for knowing Jesus well - only grows as the Spirit does His work. Fortunately for us, our God answers prayer. Prayer, especially prayer about these things, needs to be a priority in our lives.

So, let me encourage you to consider Paul, the minister, and to see in what ways the Spirit wants to change your life so that you might have a ministry that is filled with joy and with lives that are showing the power of the Gospel of Jesus.