Trusting that God is Good as Suffering Rises
Sermon Recording
Sermon Outline
Speaker: Rev. Charles Drew
Sermon Series: Suffering
Genesis 1:1-5, 26-31, John 1:1-5 (ESV)
1 In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. 2 The earth was without form and void, and darkness was over the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters. 3 And God said, "Let there be light," and there was light. 4 And God saw that the light was good. And God separated the light from the darkness. 5 God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And there was evening and there was morning, the first day…
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. 28 And God blessed them. And God said to them, "Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves on the earth." 29 And God said, "Behold, I have given you every plant yielding seed that is on the face of all the earth, and every tree with seed in its fruit. You shall have them for food. 30 And to every beast of the earth and to every bird of the heavens and to everything that creeps on the earth, everything that has the breath of life, I have given every green plant for food." And it was so. 31 And God saw everything that he had made, and behold, it was very good. And there was evening and there was morning, the sixth day.
John 1:1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was in the beginning with God. 3 All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made. 4 In him was life, and the life was the light of men. 5 The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.
Sermon Outline
Introduction: Suffering is woven into everything. How are we supposed to understand and cope with it?
I) We tell ourselves that God is good.
God made a “very good” cosmos because he himself is good.
• Psalm 100:4-5: Enter his gates with thanksgiving, and his courts with praise! Give thanks to him; bless his name! 5 For the LORD is good; his steadfast love endures forever, and his faithfulness to all generations.
Why should we believe it, especially at a time like this?
A) God’s goodness, though real, is not always easily discernible.
“Were you there when I laid the foundations of the earth?...Have you commanded the morning since your days began?...Can you bind the cluster of the Pleiades, or loose the belt of Orion?...Who has put wisdom in the mind? Or who has given understanding to the heart” (Job 38:4, 12, 31, 36)
God moves in a mysterious way, his wonders to perform;
He plants his footsteps in the sea and rides upon the storm.
Dark in unfathomable mines of never failing skill
He treasures up his bright designs, and works his sovereign will.
Blind unbelief is sure to err, and scan his work in vain.
God is his own interpreter, and he will make it plain. (William Cowper)
Embrace our limits.
Don’t be glib.
B) God’s goodness is committed to our long-term transformation.
Genesis 1.26: Then God said, "Let us make man in our image, after our likeness.”
Made for him, we tend to “worship the creature rather than the Creator” (Romans 1)
What the corona virus teaches us:
C) God’s goodness is always richly present.
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. 28 And God blessed them. And God said to them, "Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves on the earth. 29 And God said, "Behold, I have given you every plant yielding seed that is on the face of all the earth, and every tree with seed in its fruit. You shall have them for food."
“Why hasn’t it fallen out before—or for such a long time?”
The earth is filled with the steadfast love of the Lord (Psalm 33:5)
Deliberately itemize God’s love.
• Learn from Jeremiah:
“The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases. His mercies they never come to an end. They are new every morning. Great is your faithfulness, O Lord.” (Lamentations 3:23).
• Note God’s steadfast love to us in the gift of his Son.
He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things? (Romans 8:32)
II) We deal with suffering by fighting it
“Let there be light!” means more than, “Let’s have some photons so that we can see what is going on.” “The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.” (John 1:5)
When God walked among us he assaulted and threw down evil and suffering wherever he encountered them. God invites us to join him in the assault.
We get to applaud health care workers…wave at bus drivers…support vaccine research…wear masks…champion efforts to insure that the poor, hungry, and jobless find relief…because God has come “to wipe every tear from our eyes”. We get to protest police brutality…looting…and destruction because…
How good it is to have something legitimately to hate!
How good to rejoice that God hates it too: “Behold, I am making all things new!”
Prayer of Confession
Almighty God, our heavenly Father, you tell us that you are good and that our lives and world are full of your steadfast love. You have shown us your love vividly in the gift of your Son and have guaranteed in him that it will triumph. But we are more apt to believe our circumstances and our feelings than your word. We are more apt to dwell on our sufferings than on yours. We are more apt to want happiness than goodness. We are more apt to blame you for our broken world than to ask ourselves what we have done or failed to do that has contributed to the brokenness. Forgive us. By your Spirit fill us with your goodness: increase our zeal for fighting against all that is wrong and untrue in ourselves and in our world. We pray in the name of Jesus, who lived and died to put all things right. Amen.
Questions for Reflection
Suffering is woven into the fabric of our lives. Sometimes we cause it for others (as when we infect someone with the corona virus because we don’t wear a mask), sometimes others bring it upon us (as with police brutality), sometimes we bring it on ourselves (as when career obsession isolates us), and sometimes it just happens without reason (as when covid-19 infection is deadly for one person and unnoticeable for someone else). Recall one instance in the past month when suffering has been woven into your experience. How have you dealt with it?
Some argue that suffering proves either that God does not exist, or that he does not care, or that he is weak. How do you respond to this problem?
The Bible asserts that God is good but that the way he works out his goodness is not always discernable to us. Reflect on the questions he puts to Job when he comes to him towards the end of the book. How would you respond to these questions: “Were you there when I laid the foundations of the earth?...Have you commanded the morning since your days began?...Can you bind the cluster of the Pleiades, or loose the belt of Orion?...Who has put wisdom in the mind? Or who has given understanding to the heart” (Job 38:4, 12, 31, 36)
Paul writes that God “causes all things to work together for good” and then goes on to say that that “good” is that we should be “conformed to the image of his Son” (Romans 8:28, 29) How might this definition of “good” differ from yours and how might it help you understand why God permits certain difficulties to come your way or to come the way of those you love?
When the bottom falls out of our lives, or threatens to, it is very hard. But it is also potentially revealing. If we are spiritually attuned, we will ask, ‘Why hasn’t it fallen out before—or for such a long time?’ And this question can lead us to a sense of wonder and gratitude for the ways that God has quietly and consistently cared for us through long stretches of our lives. Take five minutes to write out a prayer of thanks to God in which you itemize the particular ways he has shown his kindness to you over the past week: start with meals, shelter, and zoom calls with friends, and move on from there.
It is the gift of Jesus (who is here to stay), and not the gifts of this life (which come and go), that proves God’s goodness and secures our future. He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things? (Romans 8:32). Thank God for the gift of Jesus.
When God walked among us in Jesus, he assaulted and threw down evil and suffering wherever he encountered them. God does not explain suffering; he attacks it. And he invites us to join him in that attack. What is one way that you can go on the offensive against covid-19 or injustice this week?