"PAIN? NO WAY!"

9.00am and 10.30am Sunday 27 April 2003

Rev Des Botting

Readings: Matthew 6:19-34; 1 Peter 1:13-25

(This message is the second in a series of messages on Modern Day idolatries. Much of the material for this series is gleaned from the second part of Marva Dawns book, Is It A Lost Cause? Having the Heart of God of the Churchs Children (Grand Rapid, MI: Eerdmans, 1997).

When youre in a hurry, have you ever had that feeling of frustration when the person in front of you in the queue decides to look through their purse for the right change to pay for their purchases, or maybe then decides to get out their cheque book to pay for the goods, and you have to wait until they write it out? Or youre at the traffic lights and the person in front of the queue takes a long time to move when the light turns green so that when you approach them they turn to orange and you have to stop. You look at your watch and realise youre not going to make it in time, and let out a sigh of exasperation What a pain that person is! Sometimes I wonder how much of our lifetime is spent sitting at traffic lights. We do appreciate it when we get a clear run, but it doesnt happen very often. Life is like that.

There are many sources of pain and frustration in our lives. People will try anything to avoid discomfort in life. One of the obvious characteristics of our contemporary culture is the insistence that life be comfortable, easy, and entirely without any kind of suffering. Marva Dawn says that many of the major social controversies issues such as abortion, euthanasia, or the ready availability of divorce are argued on the basis of a false compassion that eases suffering in the short run, but causes long-term consequences that are only beginning to be recognized. Social analysts are now saying that these three issues have far-reaching public consequences, affecting peoples attitude toward children and illness, their reservations about the competency of the medical profession to alleviate suffering, and the crime, violence, abuse and poor character formation that result from fatherless homes. Some solo parents do an amazing job at bringing up their children, but across the nation there is an increasing concern that the health of the nation is being undermined by this growing social phenomena. When parents put their own comfort as the primary goal of their existence, it can have disastrous results on the raising of their children. What are some of

I. The EFFECTS of the idolatry of Ease or Happiness. The first of several destructive effects is

1. An unwillingness to SUFFER for our children. The Bible reminds us that, "Children are a blessing and a gift from the LORD." As such they are precious, and Jesus reinforced this many times through both his words and his actions. The fact that God has assigned an angel to each child speaks volumes of His love and care. When parents are unwilling to suffer for the sake of their children, it deprives their children of the sense of being loved, that they are worthy of care, and that they are precious to the family. It takes an enormous amount of energy to nurture a child. Raising children is anything but easy. The problem is that if parents take the easy way out and are not willing to put the time and energy into their children that good parenting requires the difficulties are multiplied. Children pick up the parents attitude and can develop a selfishness of their own that makes it many times harder to steer family life back in the direction of genuine care.

One of the ways in which as a church perhaps suffer for our children is putting up with the noise and distractions that they bring when we have a family service. This is very important for them, because even if they dont understand all thats going on, they still sense in their spirits the atmosphere of worship. Faith for them is caught, rather than taught, and when they see the most important people in their lives loving and worshipping God wholeheartedly, it is modeling for them what worship and the life of faith is all about. These young ones will one day be fully devoted followers of Christ, and many of them leaders in tomorrows church. We must pass on our faith to them, and one way in which we can do this is by showing them how to worship God.

The second effect of the Idolatry of Ease or Happiness is

2. A failure to teach that Discipleship involves a CROSS, as Jesus tells us in Luke. (Show verse on screen) Following Jesus takes work. It will not always be a cozy or comfortable experience. If, as our Churchs motto says, we are "Following Jesus, the Christ", we will let God deal with us, and bring to completion the good work He begun when we responded the Christ as Saviour. That, at times, can be a painful process. The encouraging aspect is that we know that all that He does is done out of love, that every trial and trouble that comes our way He can use for our good, and that the end result will bring glory to Him.

The third effect is

3. A failure to understand the SOURCES of suffering. We often experience difficulties as the natural consequence of our wrong choices. As Peter says, "You dont gain anything by being punished for some wrong you have done." Except that hopefully we learn not to make the same mistake again. But many of our troubles are undeserved, due to the thoughtlessness and cruelties of others. Being aware of the source of these can help us respond in a positive way, learn how to avoid them, or make us more sensitive to the pain of others who go through the same kind of experience. These are times when we value the support and encouragement of Gods people. Another source of pain is simply that our bodies suffer from the ravages of time, that is, age eventually catches up with us, and also the presence of sickness in the world both are because our sin brought death. Sometimes our bodies are trying to tell us something that we dont want to hear, and we take medication to try and hide it, so we put off having to face up to the fact that there are priorities and practices in our lives that need re-examining. The fallenness of the world guarantees that we will never escape suffering on earth, even although people go to great lengths to try, and, as a result, fail to appreciate the gifts of wisdom and the character-building that sickness and sorrow can bring.

And its especially important that we teach our children these things. They need to know that there are consequences to the wrong choices they make for which they must take responsibility. When their suffering is undeserved or through the sin of others, we can help them to handle it positively, show them how to avoid it, overcome it, or endure it, and build in them a resolve to never want to cause similar harm to someone else. Most importantly, we must support and stand with them in their suffering so that they dont become bitter.

Not understanding the sources of pain, leads people to wrong ways to deal with it. Seeking to avoid struggle and suffering can result in more problems. Sometimes in situations of conflict we try and smooth things over without getting to get to the root of the issue that would enable the matter to be resolved permanently. Similarly, can children waste time and energy trying to evade doing their homework, and then fall further and further behind at school, when the same amount of time and effort spent on doing the work would bring the satisfaction of completing it and learning the lessons intended.

The fourth effect of the idolatry of Ease or happiness is

4. A failure to value the PRECIOUSNESS of life. One of the ways in which this can be done, is, when an appropriate situation arises, for young people to contemplate death. This can bring an appreciation, as John reminds us (show verse on screen), that all life is a gift from God, and is, therefore, sacred. No matter what our parents thought, we were no afterthought to God. The Bible says of God, "You are the one who put me together inside my mothers body you saw my body being formed. Even before I was born, you had written in your book everything I would do." This brings to life a deep sense of meaning, purpose, and of responsibility to use what years we have well. Many young people do not have this awareness, and get involved in devastating habits that lead some to think that the only way out through suicide.

This naturally leads on to the final effect, that of

5. A failure to recognize the source of TRUE SATISFACTION. This is the most dangerous dimension of the idolatry of ease. So many people turn to alcohol or drugs to avoid pain and, as we know, this only leads to much greater suffering in the end. This is particularly prevalent among young people. They have bought, hook, line and sinker, the lie, that if you want to have a good time, drugs and alcohol are essential ingredients. Those of you who attended the Breakfast with Garth George last year may remember him saying of the heavy drinking he engaged in, in his youth, that he didnt know that alcohol, and today we can add drugs, are a dead end road, and that there is a better way. The most urgent need is to recognize the spiritual roots of such addictions. Remember what Jesus said, "Happy are those whose greatest desire is to do what God requires; God will satisfy them fully!" Our society will never solve the problem of drugs and alcohol as long as it neglects the underlying spiritual longings that lead so many to use them their cravings for comfort and "freedom". These at root are hopeless attempts to satisfy or repress their longing for God, even if they have not identified it as such.

What does the Christian community offer in the light of all this? As the hymn we sang a few moments ago reminded us, Jesus Himself suffered in every way imaginable not only the pain and shame of the cross, but also homelessness, foreign oppression, persecution and life as a refugee. Because He identified with those who suffered the evils and oppressions of this world, it brings home the reality that when we, as His disciples, serve the hungry, the thirsty, the stranger, the naked, the sick and those in prison, we are, in fact, serving Him. And so in contrast to our societys attempt to avoid discomfort or suffering, we can participate, and invite our children to participate with us, in finding ways to serve Jesus through those who suffer and to stand with them in their suffering. This is to follow

II. The EXAMPLE of Jesus, which is one of SERVANTHOOD. He said, "But I have been with you as a servant." Just as Jesus ministered to the less advantaged, so, too, we can encourage every child in the Christian community to be involved in some sort of compassionate care for the needy of our world. When we are asked to take a food parcel to a needy family, take the children, too, and encourage the children to see this as giving it to Jesus Himself. Many congregations are now involving their youth groups in activities of genuine care for the marginalized of our world.

Another way to nurture compassionate care in our children is through their reading. There are many excellent childrens books that help them understand human suffering and offer possibilities for service. Marva Dawn lists a whole host of suitable books for children to read, books that help them to recognize the evils of prejudice, the importance of family, and the gift of faith.

Did you notice the words of the third verse we sang a few moments ago.

Lord, who lived secure and settled, safe within the Fathers plan,

When we think of Jesus earthly life, the opposition and criticism he faced, and the fact that He had no where to lay His head, it is challenging to discover that his security and safety lay in being in the centre of His Fathers will. In a world in which we are besieged by troubles of every sort, what a blessing it is to discover in

III. The Call to HOLINESS, a sanctuary that promises our children and us the safety of Gods eternal care, and the security that one day we will be with Him forever. The goal of our society is happiness. The main goal of the Christian is holiness. We read in 1 Peter, "Always live as Gods holy people should, because God is the one who chose you, and he is holy." It then goes on to say, and this is a literal translation from the Greek, "Because it has been written, You shall be holy, because I am holy." Did you notice that this verse is really a promise. God said, "You shall be holy, because I am holy." Through what Christ has done for us we are counted as saints and our genuine safety lies in living a holy life.

In the midst of the worlds anguish because no one can find permanent happiness or ease, when they look to the Church, what shall we offer them? Do they see in our lives a better goal? Do our children see that to aim for holiness is much more fulfilling than to be ceaselessly chasing after an elusive happiness? Becoming a Christian doesnt signal the end to suffering in this life. The Scriptures and the Church help us to see that the sufferings of this world have their source in human sinfulness, but Gods grace can enable us to endure it. In fact, we can rejoice in it. As Paul says in Romans, "But thats not all! We gladly suffer, because we know that suffering helps us to endure. And endurance builds character, which gives us a hope that will never disappoint us. All of this happens because God has given us the Holy Spirit, who fills our hearts with his love." What our children need is not the illusion that they can escape from suffering, but purpose to endure it. Our children and we must resist our societys idolatry of ease and choose instead the goals of holiness and fellowship with those who suffer as our response to Gods kindness to us in Christ.

This leads to our fourth point

IV. The Call to SACRIFICE for Righteousness sake. Jesus was the perfect sacrifice so that we might be covered with a righteousness that is alien to our sinful nature, but conforms perfectly to the kingdom of God. Do we really grasp these truths: that God has declared us holy, that Christ has made us righteous, and that the Holy Spirit empowers us to actually live out that holiness and righteousness.

Another verse of the hymn we just sang, invites our children and us to follow, as Jesus did, where duty leads in order that we, too, might sacrifice foe the sake of righteousness in the world.

All of family life is a sacrificing for the sake of righteousness. Each member gives up some of our leisure time to do the chores that have to be done to keep the house clean, to feed ourselves nutritiously, to care for each others physical and emotional, intellectual and spiritual needs. We must help our children to see that their contribution is just as important as anyone elses. Mums and Dads need their hugs as much as the children need to experience real affection and care. Parents benefit from the spiritual lessons that come from the mouths of babes and infants, and our children need careful nurturing in the faith.

The third verse of the hymn especially encourages us to think of others in the midst of our own sufferings.

God wants to use us as agents of that grace and mercy. It is as Paul says, "He comforts us when we are in trouble, so that we can share that same comfort with others in trouble." He also wants us to be willing to work towards seeing His justice and righteousness established in the world. It is important to model for our children a willingness to turn toward the needs of others instead of just focusing on our own pains. When we lose ourselves in service to others, one of the joys is that our pain feels less and our worries not so burdensome.

Finally, when we respond to

V. The Call to GLORY, it is to affirm that Someday no more TEARS. There will be an end to pain and frustration. The Bible doesnt tell us much about heaven; if it did, it might be that we would be so keen to get there that we wouldnt be able to fulfill Gods purposes here. But Gods Revelation does make it clear (Show verse on screen) that all sorrow and sighing will be gone, that evil will be forever annihilated, that God promises us eternal life with Him and, as the Bible absolutely demonstrates from cover to cover, God always keeps His promises.

Heaven is not an escape to help us ignore our suffering now. It is not a reward for getting through these present pains. Rather, it is a gift, already received, that enables us to know the reality of Gods loving presence in this life. As the final verse of the hymn states (Put up words), we can know that the Lord will bring His children home at last because Christ rose, ascended, fulfilled His Fathers purposes entirely, triumphed over the principalities and powers, and completed our salvation. That well someday experience Gods presence face to face makes us not less involved with this world now, but more so, for salvation invites us to be agents of Gods purposes, too. Furthermore, living in the light of eternity gives us a freedom for that service that the world cannot give. We dont have to justify our existence, prove our worth, make a name for ourselves, or accumulate wealth. With our deep spiritual longing genuinely stilled by our present possession of eternity, we can devote our energies for others instead of chasing after our own happiness. Heaven and its holiness, sacrifice and its righteousness are the perfect antidote to our societys fruitless pursuit of comfort and ease.

What greater gift can we give our children than knowledge of heaven, assurance of the promise that the Lord will bring His children home at last? What greater life can we nurture them in than that of the kingdom of God? What greater purpose can we inspire them with than making heaven known to the world by the way we live now?