“God Uses Our Difficulties to advance His Gospel”
In the name of the Father and of the X Son and of the Holy Spirit.
[Amen.]
Dear fellow saints who daily struggle with difficulties, grace,
mercy, and peace to you from God our Father, and from our Lord and Savior,
Jesus Christ. [Amen.]
“In God, my faithful God, I trust when dark my road;
Great woes may overtake me, Yet He will not forsake me.
My troubles He can alter; His hand lets nothing falter.”
(Lutheran Service Book, © 2006 Concordia Publishing House, St. Louis, MO.
745:1)
Epistle
Reading....................................................................................
Philippians 1:12-14
“12I want you to know, brothers, that what has happened to me has really
served to advance the gospel, 13so that it has become known throughout the
whole imperial guard and to all the rest that my imprisonment is for Christ.
14And most of the brothers, having become confident in the Lord by my
imprisonment, are much more bold to speak the word without fear … .”
Prologue: “Why, God, why!?” cries the young man in the prime of his life who
just suffered a crippling heart attack. “Why, God, why!?” screams the
mother of three young children after being told that she has stage four
pancreatic cancer and her life-expectancy is six months at most. “Why, God,
why!?” mourns the parents of their child who went off to war and whose
lifeless body returns in a flag-draped coffin. “Why, God, why!?” agonizes
the children of their much-loved parent who is slowly sliding into the abyss
of dementia. “Why, God, why!?” asks the parents of a child who drove off
safely less than an hour earlier and are now hearing the law enforcement
officer tell them that their child was tragically killed in an automobile
accident. “Why, God, why!” stumbles off the quivering lips of one who is
suffering excruciating pain that just won’t ease up. “Why, God, why!?”
questions the families whose houses filled with all their earthly
possessions have been destroyed by Hurricanes Harvey and Irma, the raging
fires in our western states, and the recent major earthquake in Mexico City.
“Why, God, why!?” laments the new college graduate for whom multiple job
possibilities are given to other applicants. “Why, God, why!?” rolled off
the lips of untold numbers of people following the tragic terrorist attacks
on our nation 16 years ago. “Why, God, why!?” grieved Joseph after his
brothers betrayed him by selling him into slavery. “Why, God, why!” cried
Saint Paul whose body was attacked by an unidentified “thorn in the flesh.”
“Why, God, why!?” cried our Savior, Jesus Christ, when His heavenly Father
abandoned Him on Calvary’s cross.
Those are only twelve of the countless situations and conditions
that cause people to address the ever-popular “Why” question to God. In
fact, they sometimes … often … do so in a manner that accuses Him of being
unfair. Certainly we all can add our own “Why, God, why!?” questions to
that list. In light of life’s many difficulties, today’s Gradual offers
comforting reassurance, “Many are the afflictions of the righteous, but the
Lord delivers him out of them all.” (Ps 34:19 ESV)
In his “Denison Forum: Thoughtfully Engaging Today’s Issues” for
this past Thursday, September 21, 2017, Dr. Jim Denison wrote: “When
disasters strike, it’s human nature to ask why God allowed them and to
wonder how he is relevant to our suffering. We know that some suffering
results from misused freedom (Genesis 3:17-19) and that natural disasters
are a consequence of the Fall (Romans 8:22). We know that future good can
come from present pain (Romans 8:18).
“But there's another biblical fact worth remembering today: God hurts
as we hurt. [In addition,]
“His revelation promises his compassion.
“His relationship with us requires his compassion.
“We are never alone. [And,]
“We always have what we need.”
Last Sunday the Epistle Readings completed a twelve-week
overview of St. Paul’s Letter to the Romans, in which he purposed “To defend
an essential teaching of Christianity and its mission: justification through
God’s righteousness in Christ.” (The Lutheran Study Bible, English Standard
Version. Copyright © 2009 Concordia Publishing House, St. Louis, MO. Page
1905.) Today’s Epistle Reading begins a four-week overview of his letter to
the Philippians, in which “Paul describes a life worthy of the Gospel.” In
it, “He illustrated the paradox of human responsibility in view of God’s
work in us and the paradox of joy during suffering. Paul presented Jesus
and himself as examples of living worthy of the Gospel.”
And one final comment before I take us directly into today’s
sermon text. “Paul’s intensely personal reflections on suffering and God’s
will (1:19-26; 3:10-11) illustrate his maturity in the faith as well as his
human weaknesses. It is not always clear how his reflections apply to us
personally.” (Ibid. Pages 2029f.)
So it was that after his opening words of salutation,
thanksgiving, and prayer, St. Paul answered the “Why, God, why!?” question
by informing his readers then and us today that …
“God Uses Our Difficulties to advance HIs Gospel.”
In doing so, He demonstrated the reality of what Isaiah recorded in today’s
Old Testament Reading, “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.” (Is 55:8-9 ESV) Jesus Himself pointed out the mysterious nature
of that reality when He declared in today’s Gospel Reading, “So the last
will be first, and the first last.” (Matt 20:16 ESV) Yes, we often don’t
and can’t comprehend God’s ways. In the case of today’s sermon text, what
sense does it make that God uses our difficulties to advance His Gospel?
On the one hand, it makes no sense at all to those who deny and
reject Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. Their I-me-my attitude of
self-centered pride blinds them to the awesome mercy and grace of the
almighty Triune God. They wrongly conclude that life’s difficulties are the
punishment that we experience because of wrong things we say, think, and do.
That wrong conclusion often drives people farther away from God.
On the other hand, it makes absolutely wonderful sense for all who
trust Jesus with faith that the Holy Spirit gave us in the Blessed Sacrament
of Holy Baptism and nourishes with God’s Holy Word, His declaration of
Absolution, and the Blessed Sacrament of Holy Communion. St. Paul declared
when he wrote to the Christians in Rome: “The Spirit himself bears witness
with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then
heirs—heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with him
in order that we may also be glorified with him.” (Rom 8:16-17 ESV)
We know, believe, confess, and teach that we receive our Savior’s
mercy and grace only by believing in Him alone for forgiveness, salvation,
and eternal life. After all, He gained those precious gifts for us with His
holy life, innocent suffering, crucifixion death, and majestic resurrection
from the dead in victory over sin, Satan, and death itself. Because of
that, life’s difficulties drive Christians closer to Jesus for comfort and
security as we rely on His promises to never leave us nor forsake us and to
remain with us always even to the end of time … and God’s Gospel is thereby
advanced.
So it is that “In this very personal letter Paul tells [that] he
is bound, but the Gospel is being preached by others who became eager to
work when they heard of [his] imprisonment.” (Theodore Huggenvik in Your Key
to the Bible. Copyright © 1944 Augsburg Publishing House, Minneapolis, MN.
Page 158.) After all, “The whole tone of the letter is one of cordial
intimacy and devoted attachment. ‘Joy’ is its key-note; the words ‘joy’ and
‘rejoice’ occur no less than 16 times.” (Christopher F. Drewes in
Introduction to the Books of the Bible. Copyright © 1929 Concordia
Publishing House, St. Louis, MO. Page 173.) That message is joy-filled
because ...
I. The Gospel Is All About Jesus Christ. (19-26)
19for I know that through your prayers and the help of the Spirit of Jesus
Christ this will turn out for my deliverance, 20as it is my eager
expectation and hope that I will not be at all ashamed, but that with full
courage now as always Christ will be honored in my body, whether by life or
by death. 21For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain. 22If I am to
live in the flesh, that means fruitful labor for me. Yet which I shall
choose I cannot tell. 23I am hard pressed between the two. My desire is to
depart and be with Christ, for that is far better. 24But to remain in the
flesh is more necessary on your account. 25Convinced of this, I know that I
will remain and continue with you all, for your progress and joy in the
faith, 26so that in me you may have ample cause to glory in Christ Jesus,
because of my coming to you again.
The names “Jesus” and “Christ” have overwhelming importance. “The
name Jesus means ‘the Lord saves.’ Jesus is His personal name.” (Luther’s
Small Catechism with Explanation. Copyright © 1986, 1991 Concordia
Publishing House, St. Louis, MO. Page 117.) One of God’s angelic
messengers testified to that when he told Joseph that Mary would birth a son
“and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their
sins.” (Matt 1:21 ESV) When the rulers, elders, scribes, and high-priestly
family members who were gathered in Jerusalem after Jesus’ ascension asked
the apostle Peter about the source of his miraculous healing ability he told
them, “let it be known to all of you and to all the people of Israel that by
the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified, whom God raised
from the dead—by him this man is standing before you well. This Jesus is
the stone that was rejected by you, the builders, which has become the
cornerstone. And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other
name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.” (Acts 4:10-12
ESV) With that in mind we realize that “Savior” is a synonym for “Jesus.”
At the same time, “The title Christ ([in the] Greek [language]) or
Messiah ([in the] Hebrew [language]) means ‘the Anointed.’ Jesus has been
anointed with the Holy Spirit without limit to be our Prophet, Priest, and
King.” You see, in Old Testament times “Anointing was the way prophets,
priests, and kings were set apart for special work.” (Luther’s Small
Catechism with Explanation. Pages 117f.) On another occasion St. Peter
proclaimed that “God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and
with power.” (Acts 10:38 ESV)
On the basis of revealed Biblical truth we declare along with
Martin Luther using words from his explanation of the Apostles’ Creed Second
Article that “Jesus Christ is ‘true God, begotten of the Father from
eternity, and also true man, born of the Virgin Mary.” The evidence for
confessing that fact is simply that “the Scriptures clearly call Him God,
teaching [that] Jesus has divine names [and] possesses divine attributes
([that is,] qualities or characteristics).” Simultaneously, the evidence
for confessing the fact that Jesus is true man is that “the Scriptures call
Him man; say that He has a human body and soul; [and] speak of His human,
but sinless, feelings and action.”
The present and eternal significance for His human and divine
natures is simply that “Christ had to be true man in order to act in our
place under the Law and fulfill it for us ([we call that] active obedience)
[and] be able to suffer and die for our guilt because we failed to keep the
Law ([something we call] passive obedience).” In addition, “Christ had to
be true God in order that His fulfilling of the Law, His life, suffering,
and death might be a sufficient ransom for all people; [and] He might be
able to overcome death and the devil for us.” Our faith-filled response is
that, by the power of the Holy Spirit, “I believe that Jesus Christ is my
Lord and my Redeemer, whom I love and serve with my whole life.” (Luther’s
Small Catechism with Explanation. Pages 119-124.)
Our Baptism-connection with Jesus Christ is that “we have been
made to share in Christ’s death and resurrection. As He has buried our sin,
so we too can and must daily overcome and bury it. And as He is risen from
the dead and lives, so we too can and must daily live a new life in Him.”
(Ibid. Page 211.) With that in mind we come to more fully realize and
appreciate that …
II. Faith In Christ and Suffering For Christ Go Hand-In-Hand. (27-30)
27Only let your manner of life be worthy of the gospel of Christ, so that
whether I come and see you or am absent, I may hear of you that you are
standing firm in one spirit, with one mind striving side by side for the
faith of the gospel, 28and not frightened in anything by your opponents.
This is a clear sign to them of their destruction, but of your salvation,
and that from God. 29For it has been granted to you that for the sake of
Christ you should not only believe in him but also suffer for his sake,
30engaged in the same conflict that you saw I had and now hear that I still
have.
Now, let’s immediately come to grips with the vital understanding
that “Believing in Christ is more than just knowing and liking what He did
for [us]. Believing in Christ means devotion to His purpose, which will
always include suffering at the hands of those who would oppose Him. God
[Himself] enables such devotion.” (The Lutheran Study Bible, English
Standard Version. Page 2034.) How we deal with and respond to
persecution-suffering in particular as well as all other suffering in
general will serve to either deny God’s Gospel or advance it. In view of
that, let’s make today’s Collect our constant prayer, “since we cannot stand
before You relying on anything we have done, help us trust in Your abiding
grace and live according to Your Word.”
You see, “The root meaning of the verb Paul uses here is ‘exercise
citizenship.’ To exercise citizenship ‘in a manner worthy of the gospel’
means to live in a manner that will truly give evidence of the new spiritual
life that the gospel has produced in [our hearts]. When the gospel enters
human hearts and joins sinful human beings to Christ by faith, it changes
people’s lives. It moves and empowers human beings, who previously had
lived only for themselves, to live in love to God and to their fellow men.
“Believers who exercise citizenship worthy of the gospel will take a
firm stand on the gospel. They will hold fast to the gospel teachings they
have received and will not compromise with error. They will live in harmony
with one another, struggling side by side to defend and promote the gospel
in a hostile world.
“… believers who stand firm in the gospel need not be frightened by any
of their enemies, no matter how fierce or how powerful [they] may appear.
Rather, they can confidently and courageously carry out their struggle
against those enemies, knowing that the Lord is on their side. When enemies
see the fearless courage with which the little band of believers stands up
for Jesus and the gospel, they will have to concede that the believers have
working for them a power far greater than any human power, a power that they
simply cannot overcome.
“Our constant aim … is to exercise our citizenship in a manner worthy
of the gospel, to reflect in our lives the gracious work that the Holy
Spirit, through the gospel, has accomplished in us. As we fight the
battle, … we can rejoice in the promise that the Lord will also provide to
us [through Word and Sacrament] the spiritual gifts we need to overcome [the
devil, the world, and our sinful flesh] and win the ultimate victory: the
gifts of steadfastness, harmony, and fearlessness, all of which signify our
enemies’ ultimate defeat and our final victory.” (Harlyn J. Kuschel in
People’s Bible Commentary: Philippians, Colossians, Philemon. Copyright ©
1992 Concordia Publishing House, St. Louis, MO. Pages 34-37.)
In conclusion, therefore, we return to where we began, namely, …
“God Uses Our Difficulties to advance HIs Gospel.”
He accomplishes that when, following St. Paul’s example, Christians
cultivate “A mind, 1. that in devotion to Christ suppresses every personal
complaint in suffering; 2. that sees in all affliction … the furtherance of
God’s gracious and eternal purposes; 3. that can observe the sinister
purposes of false brethren or friends without animosity and as means which
must ultimately also contribute to the advance of Christ’s Gospel; [and] 4.
that seeks [only] one purpose in life as well as in death: To glorify
Christ.” (Dr. George Stoeckhardt in Lectures on The Epistle To the
Philippians. Copyright © 1967 H. W. Degner, Fairmont, MN. Page 20.) That
is, regardless of whether the difficulties are ridicule, mockery, or
persecutions of other forms for our faith in Jesus; or physical, emotional,
or relational difficulties that result from illness, injury, natural
disasters, economic decline, death of a loved one, divorce, or whatever, God
uses them to advance His Gospel. He does so by us showing the people around
us through our God-pleasing and God-praising reactions the reality of His
presence with us. That will then serve as a living testimony to all by
showing that “we know [and truly believe] that God causes all things to work
together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according
to His purpose.” (Rom 8:28 NASU)
So let’s take to heart and put into action what we spoke in the
antiphon of today’s Introit, “I will offer to you the sacrifice of
thanksgiving and call on the name of the Lord.” (Ps 116:17 ESV) knowing
that …
I. The Gospel Is All About Jesus Christ. (19-26)
and …
II. Faith In Christ and Suffering For Christ Go Hand-In-Hand. (27-30)
God grant it all for the sake of Jesus Christ, His humble Son, our
holy Savior. [Amen.]
In the name of the Father and of the X Son and of the Holy Spirit.
[Amen.]
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