Trust in Suffering

INTRODUCTION

(Series Intro)

Good morning! My name is David Sorn, and I’m the Lead Pastor of Renovation Church.

We are in week 2 of our teaching series through the letter of 2 Timothy.

2 Timothy was written by one of the leaders of the early Christian Church, the Apostle Paul…

…and it was written to a pastor he mentored named Timothy

And Paul is writing from his imprisonment in a Roman dungeon.

(Mamertine Prison).

Most scholars believe Paul was imprisoned in Mamertine Prison, which you can go and visit today.

There was a street-level entrance, and then prisoners would be lowered through a hole into the cold dungeon

In fact, later in chapter 4, Paul is going to ask Timothy to bring his cloak to him.

And I wanted you to see this image of where Paul is writing this letter from...before his execution

Because when we get to the point where he talks about trusting God in suffering, I want you to know that this is a man who knew suffering, and in fact, wrote in the midst of his own suffering.

CHRISTIANS CAN BE ASHAMED OF SUFFERING

All right, let’s jump in

2 Timothy 1:8

Page 813

Last week, we taught through verse 7, so we’ll be rejoining the passage on verse 8.

(2 Timothy 1:8) – NIV

So do not be ashamed of the testimony about our Lord or of me his prisoner. Rather, join with me in suffering for the gospel, by the power of God.

(Title slide)

So Paul tells Pastor Timothy to not be ashamed of his Christian faith.

In fact, 3 times in our overall passage today Paul is going to mention shame.

Why?

Because that’s what many Christians were feeling at the time…they were feeling shame in suffering.

(Chart #1)

We’re going to draw a chart today together in our notes, so you can start with this in the upper left-hand corner.

But think about this.

Paul, who is one of the most influential names in the entire Christian movement keeps getting beaten, stoned, arrested, and now is imprisoned…again…all for being a Christian.

And he’s suffering…mightily.

And to the Greek and Roman cultures that surrounded Paul & Timothy at the time, suffering was not something to trust in…or to join in (as Paul asks Timothy to do in verse 8)

In fact, culturally, suffering was something to be ashamed of.

See, to Ancient Greco-Roman cultures, suffering was a sign of weakness…it was something to escape, not embrace.

So to, a lot of the new Christians of those days, because of their Greco-Roman background, they would’ve felt kind of embarrassed (or ashamed) that their leader (Paul) was suffering so much.

They would’ve been asking:

Should that really happen?

Should godly people suffer?

And in part, they asked that because their pagan Greek gods (that they grew up with) didn’t suffer…not willingly anyway.

Unlike Jesus, in the fictional stories of the Greek gods, they never willingly entered into human suffering, or laid down their lives in sacrificial love.

But Jesus did.

Christians worship a suffering Messiah.

That’s why, did you see in verse 8, Paul even says ”do not be ashamed of the testimony about our Lord (Jesus)”

Some Greco-Roman Christians were even a little embarrassed that Jesus (God) had suffered.

And what’s fascinating is that many of these same lingering questions are still around today, 2,000 years later.

So many today also still wonder, “If God is good and all-powerful and all-loving, why would he allow any of us to suffer?”

And it’s okay and good to ask questions…to explore tough things.

But for many people, when the suffering comes, the cancer comes, the marriage ends, depression or addiction takes over, you name it…

Our first instinct is not to reflect on the purpose of our suffering (or to seek God on it)…often our first instinct is to judge God.

And often, we feel even ashamed that we are a Christian (we’re pointing others to this “good God,” and yet this “good God” is somehow allowing us to suffer.

OUT OF SHAME, PEOPLE PURSUE FALSE TEACHING

Let’s keep reading so we can see what Paul, who, remember, is suffering in the dungeon, has to say about what Christ followers should believe about suffering.

2 Timothy 1:9-15

Page 813

(2 Timothy 1:9-15) - NIV

9 He has saved us and called us to a holy life—not because of anything we have done but because of his own purpose and grace. This grace was given us in Christ Jesus before the beginning of time, 10 but it has now been revealed through the appearing of our Savior, Christ Jesus, who has destroyed death and has brought life and immortality to light through the gospel. 11 And of this gospel I was appointed a herald and an apostle and a teacher. 12 That is why I am suffering as I am. Yet this is no cause for shame, because I know whom I have believed, and am convinced that he is able to guard what I have entrusted to him until that day.

13 What you heard from me, keep as the pattern of sound teaching, with faith and love in Christ Jesus. 14 Guard the good deposit that was entrusted to you—guard it with the help of the Holy Spirit who lives in us.

15 You know that everyone in the province of Asia has deserted me, including Phygelus and Hermogenes.

(Chart 1)

Okay, so we read at the end there that some Christians are deserting Paul because of the shame and embarrassment they feel about his suffering.

(Chart 2).

And we see in our chart that this “shame in suffering” that Paul keeps talking about leads to false teaching.

I’ll talk about two different types of false teaching it can lead to

Firstly, some Christians just cannot believe that God would ever allow suffering in their lives, and so they embrace the false teaching of the prosperity gospel

(Chart 3)

And followers of the Prosperity Gospel believe that God has a plan for them, to prosper them by making them healthy & wealthy

You don’t see the OVERT version of the “health & wealth” movement as much you did with all of the televangelists 40 years ago, but the “Prosperity Gospel Lite” movement is still incredibly prevalent

A good chunk of famous preachers teach this today: That God is just there to help you with your finances, relationships, and anxiety…and make life better for you.

And SO many American Christians believe that is God’s main purpose in their life…to help them improve their circumstances.

And if you believe that, what are you then going to believe about God when your circumstances get hard?

See, this is a very dangerous false doctrine to believe, and it’s not going to lead you anywhere good.

Look at verse 11 again:

And of this gospel I was appointed a herald and an apostle and a teacher. 12 That is why I am suffering as I am. Yet this is no cause for shame

This is Paul, the leader of the Christian movement (if anyone was gonna get blessed & rich…should’ve been this guy)

…But this Paul is saying, persecution and suffering are a byproduct of following Christ.

There’s nothing seeker-sensitive about that.

But listen, this is no cause for shame.

Which we’ll explain more later on

But you need to understand that the false teaching of the prosperity gospel sounds great at first.

“If I obey God, and give a ton of money, He’ll bless me and keep me from suffering.”

But then what happens to people who believe this, but then they suffer just like the rest of us?

For many people this leads to disorientation

(Chart 4)

They’re now not sure what to believe about God because they were told that God would only bless them!

And so now, in their suffering, they’re incredibly confused and hurt.

Plenty of other Christians, when they experience shame in suffering, end up falling into a second false teaching, and that is agnosticism (or perhaps even a deconstruction of their faith that almost leads to agnosticism).

(Chart 5)

Now, if the definitions of atheist & agnostic are a little hazy in your memory, no worries!

Atheists say, “There is no God.”

And Agnostics say, “No one can no for sure, but there probably is not a God”

I’m not on social media much these days, but the other week, I popped on for a second, and it was kind of heartbreaking for me.

I saw several people that I know once followed Jesus, trying to tell others that Jesus was no longer worth following.

And being in ministry for over 20 years now, I’ve seen this story more than I’d care to

And while I find that each of their stories are different, but what’s similar in almost every story is that those who left the faith encountered some sort of suffering.

Some encountered unexpected sickness or deaths in their family

Some were let down by their church or other Christians (which is part of why Paul is pointing out to Timothy that that happened to him too!)

Others were even involved in ministry, but God didn’t move like they thought He should, so they became bitterly disappointed.

And they felt ashamed that they were pointing to a God that would allow that to happen.

They began to feel embarrassed to claim the title of Christian.

And so they began to question: “Who am I to say this is even true? How can we really know for sure?”

And gradually, they decided that God wasn’t real.

I’m reading an excellent book by Timothy Keller…

(Timothy Keller – Making Sense of God cover)

…(which you can find in our library) called Making Sense of God.

It serves as a prequel to his classic book Reasons for God, and it’s a deep, but profound book on why believing in God makes significantly more sense than not believing in God.

And there’s a part where he uses his classic continuum illustration to get readers to think more deeply about suffering.

Here’s the illustration: Imagine that this end of the stage represents that you know that Christianity is 100% true. Without a doubt. You’ve seen video evidence of the resurrection. You’ve gone to heaven. You know it. 100%.

And imagine the other end of the stage represents that you know, without a doubt, that it’s not true. You saw video evidence of it being faked…you have all the receipts. You know God is not real. 100%

The reality is no one can be 100% to either side. It’s not possible.

And truthfully, a lot of us get right here (walk most of the way to faith), and at some point, we have a leap of faith.

You’re not 100% sure, you didn’t see it, but based on what makes sense to you, what you’ve experienced, you leap…you believe.

But here’s what happens to some people…they see/feel this gap, and their doubts creep up and say, “But what about this tricky verse…what about those hypocritical Christians…and why don’t I see God to this…and why………”

And so they eventually say, “I don’t believe”

But Keller says, “If you’re going to be intellectually honest/consistent, you also have to doubt your doubts.”

You have to turn around and see that the leap of faith to believe in nothing, to believe that God doesn’t exist, is a massive leap.

It’s actually a significantly larger leap than believing in God.

And see, applying this concept to the topic of suffering is particularly helpful.

And so if someone is over there on the continuum and says, “I’m a frustrated or ashamed that God would bring suffering into my life, I can’t believe in a God like that,” then the question is: “Well what’s the alternative?”

In fact, if you want to be intellectually consistent, there is no scenario in which you just get to “unbelieve Christianity,” and then that’s it.

But a lot of people think there is!

They say, “I lost my faith. I’m just gonna stick with science and the facts.”

Whoa, hold up. That’s not how it works.

It’s not faith vs facts.

It’s faith vs faith.

It’s a leap either way.

See, many people feel it’s too much of a leap of faith to say, “I believe there is a God that allows suffering, and I won’t always know why He allowed it.”

But doubt your doubts.

Have you thought and cross-examined just as deeply what the alternative says about suffering?

What does an agnostic or atheistic worldview say about WHY suffering exists? Let’s talk about it

Well, it says that you…are an accident.

And you have to believe that…somehow the universe just accidentally (magically?) came into being out of nothing and no one can explain how.

And you have to believe that our earth just accidentally has the perfect conditions for life

And you have to believe that humans just evolved from nothing…into complex organisms with unbelievably complex and efficient DNA programming.

That’s like lightning striking a rock and making a computer

There’s a lot of FAITH involved here

And you have to believe that not only is that all an accident, but also that then, therefore, there is no such thing as purpose or meaning.

Because, in a secular worldview, there is no real, definitive meaning. There can’t be.

In a worldview without God, we’re just accidental lives on an accidental planet.

The atheist has to say, “We’re on a planet that will eventually cool and cease to support life as our sun dies out.

And we’re all going to just die…never to live again…never to be remembered.

And so think with me (doubt your doubts), in that worldview, what then is the point of suffering? Where can you find meaning in cancer, or depression, or heartbreak?

There is no answer. There’s no point…no meaning…no anything.

And so what does this false teaching lead to?

(Chart 6)

It leads to despair. To hopelessness.

I’ve watched too many people that I know…relatives, people I grew up with that aren’t Christians, you name it, who, in their suffering…

…start to think deeply about purpose and meaning in an agnostic or atheistic worldview, and when they do, they take their life.

They think, “What’s the point? There is no point, so why endure this painful life any longer?”

DESPAIR

But lots of people, say, “NO! NO! There can still be meaning without God!”

You can fight for justice, human rights, and serve the poor! There’s meaning in that”

Not from the secular worldview there isn’t.

An agnostic/secular worldview is a worldview of survival of the fittest.

There is no binding meaning that says we should treat each person with dignity.

That comes from Christianity, not Charles Darwin.

In fact, one of the things that Keller points out is that most non-Christians have to purposefully & intentionally force themselves to not think deeply about suffering, meaning, or purpose…because if they do, they won’t like what they find.

But for the Christian, the more deeply we think about the deep and hard things, the more beauty we find.

GUARD THE GOOD DEPOSIT & KEEP SOUND TEACHING

Let’s read the rest of the passage and then dig deeper into what we’ve already seen

2 Timothy 1:16-18

Page 813

(2 Timothy 1:16-18) - NIV

16 May the Lord show mercy to the household of Onesiphorus, because he often refreshed me and was not ashamed of my chains. 17 On the contrary, when he was in Rome, he searched hard for me until he found me. 18 May the Lord grant that he will find mercy from the Lord on that day! You know very well in how many ways he helped me in Ephesus.

So Onesiphorus is not ashamed of the Gospel or Paul’s suffering in prison, and so he comes and refreshes and encourages Paul.

(Title slide)

He’s walking out the truth of what Paul discussed earlier.

Let’s go back to verse 10 again

but it has now been revealed through the appearing of our Savior, Christ Jesus, who has destroyed death and has brought life and immortality to light through the gospel.

See, because there IS a God who has a plan…even in suffering

A God who sent His son Jesus to die for me…

Because Jesus destroyed death and brought the promise of eternal life…

As a believer in Jesus, I can trust in suffering

(Chart 7)

I can trust that there is meaning and purpose…in my suffering…even if I don’t understand it right away…or this side of heaven

I can trust that Jesus endured more suffering than I ever will, and that He understands my pain.

I can trust that He is with me, and holding me through my suffering.

I can trust that even if I succumb to illness and death in my suffering, death is not the end!

…and that one day, my suffering WILL end!

Are you seeing this?

In Christianity, the more deeply I think about suffering, I don’t find disorientation or despair….

(chart 8)

…but I actually find comfort, beauty, meaning, and hope.

And that doesn’t mean that suffering is easy or pleasurable or anything of the sort.

But my friend, in your pain, if you search for Him, you will find God…and you will find comfort & hope.

And this is why Paul speaks so strongly to Timothy about this teaching about suffering.

Look at verse 13 again.

13 What you heard from me (that is about suffering), keep as the pattern of sound teaching, with faith and love in Christ Jesus. 14 Guard the good deposit that was entrusted to you—guard it with the help of the Holy Spirit who lives in us.

Paul is saying guard this teaching…do not let go of it!

Don’t be influenced by the world on it.

If someone handed you a briefcase with 10 million dollars and said, “Guard this with your life,” you wouldn’t just set it down and forget about it!”

So Paul is saying to us, “As Christians, we have to teach on suffering often (which we try and do here)…we have to teach doctrine…often.

Because wrong ideas on suffering…is in fact, what causes so many to fall away…and into pain.

If we’re not in the Word, growing in true knowledge, we’re all at risk of being pulled away on this.

I think of some of my former youth group kids back when I was a youth pastor, who’ve tragically drifted from the faith.

If you would have sat down with them at 17 and told them that they were gonna walk away at 22 or 30, they would’ve said, “NO way! Zero chance!”

But some of them did.

And that’s why Paul says to Timothy, “Keep this sound teaching, Guard the deposit”

Keep these truths in front of you…keep thinking deeply about them…

…otherwise the hollow lies of the world will draw you away from God and into despair.

So no matter what comes, do not walk in shame.

Doubt your doubts!

And press deeper into Jesus who has suffered for us…

And you will indeed find comfort, and beauty, meaning, and hope.

Amen.