To listen to the sermon, click the play button: http://www.lifetogetherchurches.com/media/sermons/Lament/lam3.mp3

For some people, the player above may not work. If that happens to you, use the link below to either download, or open a player in a new page to listen. You can also find us on Spotify at https://open.spotify.com/show/6KKzSHPFT466aXfNT2r9OD

To download, right click on the link (or do whatever you do on a Mac) and save it to your computer: Download Lament Part 3

This week, I’ll start with some thoughts from Pastor Kevin McClure, but most of the message is my own, since I have wrestled a great deal with the main point he raises.

Lamenters, as you will see from a study of the psalms which are known as the psalms of lament (there is some lament in Psalm 12, 13, 22, 44, 86), eventually get to three questions: “Why?” “How Long?” “Where are You:” Today, I begin to explore the “Why?” question.

When we are suffering, even though we live in a world that is “fallen” and is actually a spiritual war zone, we wonder if there is a particular reason for our  suffering. In a moment we will turn our attention to some possible reasons for your individual suffering.

Though we wonder about a specific reason, it is good to remind oneself of the ramifications of living in a world where everything is fallen, meaning, everything has been influenced by the power of sin and Satan. Everything. Though redemption has been brought about through the Person, life, teaching, ministry, death and resurrection of Jesus of Nazareth, that redemption is  both “now and not yet fully.”

For example, God has given us infallible truth, and yet we are told by the Apostle Paul that even so, we know only in part and look at truth as if through a smudged window. Later, in the new age, we’ll see perfectly (1 Corinthians 13:9,12). Also, God provides miracles of healing and yet not even Paul the apostle was able to help all of his friends and ministry associates receive healing (1 Timothy 5:23; 2 Timothy 4:20). God has revealed Himself as the Provider for our every practical need and yet Jesus acknowledged, “…the poor you will always have with you” (Matthew 26:11). 

If you were living in Ukraine right now, the likelihood of suffering injury or premature death would be greatly increased. Flying bullets, buildings being bombed and falling down around you, and shrapnel, all pose a threat. Similarly, we live in a world where there are sickness-inducing chemicals in the air, water and ground, where frustrated  people behave impatiently, people drive drunk and children are exploited. We do our best to make life work in the midst of such challenges, but we can’t control everything.  With God’s help we aim to experience God’s promises for health, deliverance, provision and joy while living in this fallen world. Yet disappointment and hardship remain part of this life.  Some of the suffering we experience is simply due to living and breathing on this planet. 

But, sometimes even in a war zone like the world we live in, there are additional reasons for suffering. It may be that I am suffering consequences for my sin. Maybe I’ve been sexually permissive and have contracted a STD. Maybe I’ve stolen and gotten myself arrested and have landed in jail. Maybe the reason for my suffering is that God is pruning me or perhaps I’ve entered a dark night of the soul. Each of these is very, very difficult. Asking God “why?” is okay, especially if you are truly confused about why you are suffering your particular hardship. It is good to ask God if He’d like to bring some clarity into your suffering that will lessen your confusion about it. When you ask, ask in the company of your faith community. Don’t try to figure this out by yourself. Yes, God can and often does speak to us personally, but sometimes He wants us to learn to lean into our brothers and sisters so they can not only pray for us in our suffering, but so they can walk alongside us in it. 

This is Tom, here, now, and it will be my own thoughts for the rest of this message. I want to add some things about the “why” question. In my own struggle with physical suffering, I’ve grappled with this in a very personal way. As Kevin says, it can be helpful to ask the Lord about your suffering. Is the Lord trying to teach you something, or trying to address something in your life? At times, that is indeed the case. At times, the Lord allows suffering because he wants to root out something in your life: a lack of faith, or a persistent sin, an attitude that completely unbiblical, a way of relating that hurts others, and so on. It is good to ask “Why?” and then listen for the answer.

But as Kevin also mentioned, there is a whole lot of suffering that simply defies explanation.

One of our most distressing and puzzling questions concerning suffering is the question of why we or our loved ones suffer, when there is no obvious answer along the lines that Kevin offered. My own suffering does not have any easy answers to the “why” question.

I’ll be honest with you: In all of my fifty-five years, with half of those as a pastor, I have never seen any real good come from this question when the answer isn’t already obvious. It is the question that often leads people to reject the God of the Bible. It leads to angst and anger and frustration. I’m not saying it is wrong to question God. The Judeo-Christian tradition has a very healthy attitude toward expressing all feelings – including anger and frustration – toward God. It is neither wrong or bad to question God. He is patient, and he can take it. However, I happen to believe that the question: “Why is this happening?” is not a particularly helpful question to ask, and I’ve rarely seen it lead people to greater peace. Other questions are more constructive.

I think we might find it more useful if we step back and consider why we ask why. I think that what most people are really looking for when they ask the “why” question is to find some reason to believe that their suffering has meaning and purpose, and will ultimately result in something good.

Human beings have a tremendous capacity to suffer when we know that it is for a worthwhile cause. Billions of women each year go through intense pain in order to deliver a child into the world. Many of them have done so multiple times. Soldiers will endure hardship, terror, anguish and pain if they believe in what they are fighting for, if they believe that what they endure is necessary, ultimately, to benefit others. Many soldiers say that what they are most willing to suffer for is each other. There is enough value in knowing that to sustain many.

So, it is natural to want to have a reason, some solid explanation we can cling to, so we can say, “I can endure this terrible thing, because it will result in something good or worthwhile. I can endure, as long as I know that this suffering is not meaningless.”

Some people are blessed to see why they suffer. But many people never find out why they, or their loved ones, have to suffer. Their struggles, pain and hardship all seem so pointless. This is often why people reject the Bible. The Bible reveals God as all-powerful, and all-good. If he has the power, why, then won’t he use it for good? Often times, we want him to do something that, as far as we can tell, God himself tells us is good, right in the Bible. Why then won’t he act? The “logic” continues: either God must not be good (not even by his own definition, as given in the Bible) or he must not be strong enough to make sure good happens instead of evil. Therefore the God of the Bible doesn’t exist.

But there is something missing in this reasoning. The Bible does indeed tell us God is good. It tells us that he is powerful and loving. But it also tells us that we will never be able to fully understand him, or his ways. There is no logical reason for us to suppose that we will always be able to comprehend how God is making our suffering meaningful.

For my thoughts are not your thoughts,
neither are your ways my ways, declares the LORD.
For as the heavens are higher than the earth,
so are my ways higher than your ways
and my thoughts than your thoughts. (ESV, Isaiah 55:8-9)

The Bible also reveals God as infinite in all ways. His power is infinite, his goodness is infinite, and his knowledge, wisdom and intelligence are infinite. He has no beginning, no end, no limit beyond those he sets for himself. It doesn’t take a Bible to realize that human beings are not infinite. As a race we had a beginning. As individuals we have beginnings, and so far, every human being that has ever lived, save one, also had an end, at least to this life. Our brains are finite both in physical size and in mental capacity, and in how long they last.

The finite cannot hold the infinite. It’s like turning on a garden hose and trying to contain all the water in a small shot glass. The shot glass can hold some of the water, but the water never stops coming. It is ridiculous to compare the capacity of a shot glass to that which comes endlessly out of a hose.

In the same way, logic compels us to conclude that if God is infinite, we will never be able to understand everything he does, nor why he does it. He has told us some of it, the most important parts, in the scriptures. But He is infinite. There is no book, no library, no collection of libraries, that can tell us everything about an infinite being.

If I believe in an infinite God, then it is not only likely, but probable, that something that looks like terrible suffering to me could actually be something that God is doing that will be better for me than anything I can imagine.

A few years ago a friend of ours brought her baby to stay with us while she went to the dentist. The baby was about nine months old. He was at that stage that most babies experience, where he was realizing that he was a separate being from his mother. Babies at that point tend to be very clingy, and they become very upset when separated from family members.

When his mother left, he was heartbroken. He sobbed – well, he sobbed like a baby. As far as he knew, he would never see his mother again. We took care of him, and tried to comfort him, but there was really no way we could make him understand that in reality, everything was perfectly all right. We spoke to him, and explained, but of course, he really was too little to understand our words, let alone the concept. We knew that his mother was going to come back, and neither he, nor she, would come to any harm.

This little baby boy was entirely safe. With our fully developed brains and much greater experience, we could clearly see that there was nothing whatsoever for him to cry about. But his still-developing brain did not have the capacity to understand our explanations and reassurances.

The truth is, it was entirely appropriate for the baby to cry. He thought he had lost his mother. He had no way of understanding that he hadn’t. Crying, based on his developmental level, was perfectly normal. We weren’t upset with him for crying; we understood that he couldn’t understand. To tie this with our current series, it was perfectly appropriate for this baby to lament.

At the same time, while his grief was entirely appropriate, in the big picture, there was nothing actually wrong.

Sometimes I think we are like that little baby. The grief that we experience is real and appropriate. It would be cruel to make light of our pain and suffering. It makes perfect sense, and it is even good, for us to lament. At the same time, I believe that we simply do not have the capacity to see the bigger picture. If God is infinite, it is entirely possible, even probable, that there is a deeply satisfying answer to why we suffer, but we simply cannot comprehend it.

This is exactly what the Bible tells us about pain and suffering.

18 For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us. (Romans 8:18, ESV)

16 So we do not lose heart. Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day. 17 For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, 18 as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal. (2 Corinthians 4:16-18, ESV)

We can’t see it. We can’t quite grasp it in the here and now. But the promise is that when we stand face to face with Jesus, we will be more than satisfied with what we receive in return for our sufferings.

We may or may not ever know the reason why. But the All-Good, All-Powerful, All-Wise, Infinite God invites us not to understand, but to trust Him.

Abraham walked with God for many years, decades in fact. God made promises to him, and those promises were delayed for years and years. Abraham and his wife Sarah made many false moves and missteps during all this time. Finally, Abraham’s son Isaac was born. Isaac was the fulfillment of all of Abraham’s lifelong hopes and dreams. Thirteen years passed, years in which Abraham grew not only to love him, but feel for him the overwhelming combination of pride and gratitude that only a father can fully appreciate. On top of all of this, Isaac was God’s own answer to Abraham’s many prayers. I don’t think it would be too much to say that Isaac meant the whole world to his father.

One night God came to Abraham. He commanded Abraham to take his son, this object of fatherly-pride, and love and joy and promises, and kill him as a sacrifice to God.

Now, God is always God. He can always give whatever he wants, take whatever he wants. But the question for Abraham was this: “Do you agree that God has the right to do that in your own life? Will you trust that God is good and right and loving even while he takes away your lifelong dreams, your hopes of a future, you pride and joy, your fiercely beloved son?” It wasn’t just about whether or not God was capable of it. It was about whether Abraham would trust God while he destroyed Abraham’s life in front of his eyes.

Abraham answered the question with a resounding “yes.”

As it turns out, God did not make Abraham go through with it. The question of God’s right to ask everything of Abraham was settled for once and all.

Instead, God was the one who offered up his one and only Son, his fiercely, eternally-beloved son. It was Jesus who trusted even while God abandoned him, and withdrew the eternal sense of presence that had been the wellspring of his eternal joy. God turned his back while his Son was condemned, covered in sin and shame that were not his own, and sent to hell to pay a price he did not owe.

No matter what God asks of us, it will never be as much as what he himself has already done for us. No matter what we or our loved-ones suffer it will never be as unjust as the suffering of Jesus.

We can trust God, even when we don’t understand, because he has shown that he is trustworthy. He is not a God who sits distant in heaven and demands that we perform. He himself suffered on our behalf. He promises to be present with us in absolutely everything we encounter, including suffering. In my own experience, he is present in suffering in a particularly powerful way. Author Tim Keller puts it like this:

“So suffering is at the very heart of the Christian faith. It is not only the way Christ became like and redeemed us, but it is one of the main ways we become like him and experience his redemption. And that means that our suffering, despite its painfulness, is also filled with purpose and usefulness.” (Tim Keller, Walking With God through Pain and Suffering)