MELVIN M. NEWLAND, MINISTER
RIDGE CHAPEL, KANSAS, OK
(REVISED: 2017)
(The Powerpoints used with this sermon are available for free. Just e-mail me at mnewland@sstelco.com and ask for PP #313.)
TEXT: 2 Corinthians 1:4; Genesis 50:20; Rev. 15:3-4; Isaiah 43:6-7
ILL. John was 31 years old - a new father, & a dedicated Christian. He seemed to have everything going for him. One day on his way to work his car was struck head-on by a drunk driver who had swerved into John's lane. John died instantly, leaving his family devastated.
Amy was newly married, & soon became pregnant. She was the type of person everybody loved to be around - funny, sweet, & so excited about having a child. The doctors assured Amy that the baby appeared to be developing normally. The time came & Amy went into labor. She gave birth to a beautiful daughter, but it was stillborn.
Ronny was a young preacher with a wife & 2 children. He had a lot of promise, & a real passion for the Lord. He was in great health - in fact, he worked out almost every day. But one day Ronny just collapsed & died. No one knows why his heart just stopped beating.
A. We have all heard stories like these - stories of bad things happening to good people. And no matter how spiritual, or how in tune with God we may be, we are left wondering, "Why?"
ILL. We remember Sept. 11, 2001. On that day thousands of people left their homes to go to work like on any other day. They expected to come home to their families when they left. But many of them never got the chance.
We remember the scenes of planes flying into the Twin Towers & the Pentagon, & of the grief of people who lost husbands, wives, children & parents. Our nation was devastated & asking, "Why?"
Most of us have experienced enough burdens & heartaches to find ourselves crying out, "Why, Lord? Why did this happen?"
We have been told that "What we sow is what we reap" that if we sow seeds of sin, bitterness, hatred, or disobedience, eventually we'll reap that kind of a harvest. But what if we haven't sown those kinds of seeds, & yet some tragedy enters our life & we find ourselves bearing burdens that we don't think we deserve?
In such moments we may ask questions like, "Why, God? Why do bad things happen to me? Are you really there? Do you care about me?" These & other questions arise as we come face to face with tragedy in our lives.
B. "Why?" Well, there are some who would give you a quick & simple answer.
ILL. Go to the religions of the East, & they will say that you are in a cycle of rein-carnation, & you're being punished in this life for some sin in a previous existence.
But if you can find out which one of the thousands of gods you have angered, you may be able to appease his wrath & lessen your punishment.
Muslims would give a different answer, "Allah has willed it, & you must learn to accept his will without question."
Some will even respond by shouting toward heaven & saying, "God, if you allow such things to happen, then I curse you, & I don't want to have anything to do with you!"
ILL. Have you heard of Rabbi Harold Kushner's book titled, "Why Do Bad Things Happen to Good People?" It became a best-seller, & he gives a different answer.
He says that "God is limited in His power, & therefore He is not a participant in our lives. Instead, He is a spectator watching us with interest. God wants to see good things happen to His people, but He is not always able to arrange it."
His conclusion is that we ought to understand that God is not all-powerful, & we should love Him anyway, & forgive Him for His shortcomings. He's saying that it is our turn now to forgive God for His failures.
C. Obviously, I don't agree with that. In Revelation 15:3-4 are these words: "Great & marvelous are your deeds, Lord God Almighty. Just & true are Your ways, King of the Ages. Who will not fear You, O Lord, & bring glory to Your name?
"For You alone are holy. All nations will come & worship before You, for Your righteous acts have been revealed."
God is holy & marvelous & just & all-knowing & all-powerful. I trust you believe that, too. And as we look at Him we begin to realize that we don't know it all, & that we can't always tell what is best.
For example, "What would be a good world to you?" If you were going to create a perfect world, what would it be like? If you could give God a list of positives & negatives, things you want in the world & things you don't want, what would you list?
"No pain, no death, no sorrow, no handicapped children, no debts, a perfect temperature." But after getting past these first few things on which most of us would easily agree, there would probably come some areas of disagreement.
It is obvious that North Korea's Kim Jong-un's perfect world would not be our idea of a perfect world. Nor would Vladimir Putin's. We would not all agree on what is best.
Have you ever gotten a family of 5 or 6 together to plan a vacation? Then you know what I'm talking about. Not everybody agrees, & we don't always know what is good or what is best.
D. The story of Joseph in the O.T. is a perfect example of that. Beginning in Genesis, chapter 37, we find the story of Joseph.
He is sold into slavery by his brothers. That's bad. He finds himself in Egypt working as a slave. That's bad. He is falsely accused of attempting to rape his master's wife. That's bad. He is cast into prison, & that's bad.
Meanwhile, his father is grieving over his death as it was reported to him by Joseph's brothers. That's bad. It's all bad.
Until suddenly Joseph finds himself second in command over the whole country of Egypt, dishing out grain to the starving multitudes who have come to that land for something to eat.
Listen to the words of Joseph years later as he speaks to his brothers in Genesis 50:20, "You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good."
SUM. Now that is an important point. If you & I don't really know what is best, who does? If there really are values in our world, who decides what is good & what's bad? If life is worth living, then who put value on life, & decided that it really is worth living?
If there really are answers, if there really are solutions, where do we go to find the answers & the solutions?
PROP. As we heap all these questions together we suddenly realize that the real question is not, "Why do bad things happen to God's people?" The crucial question is, "What is the purpose of my life?"
I. WHAT IS THE PURPOSE OF MY LIFE?
A. "Why am I here? Why do I get up every morning? Why do I go to work? Why do I care about my family? What is the purpose of my life?"
You see, if you can determine what your life is all about; if you can decide your goals & where you want to go, then you have purpose & direction for your life.
But if you have no goals, no purpose, if you don't know where you're trying to go, then life to you may seem virtually meaningless.
ILL. An old Roman proverb says, "When the pilot does not know for what port he is headed, no wind is the right wind." But if you know where you're going, & you can catch the wind in your sails, then not even the storms can deter you.
B. Now if you were to tell me your goal, your purpose for living, what would it be? I'm afraid that many would answer "more money" or "fame" or "popularity."
ILL. A prime example of one who had all these things was the late Princess Diana of England. At first, her marriage seemed to be a storybook marriage. But she soon found that she was not married to Prince Charming. That led to bouts with bulimia, attempted suicide, & affairs as their marriage crumbled around them.
Her closest friends have said that "all she really wanted out of life was to be happy." But despite the fact that she had beauty, fame, popularity, & wealth, happiness eluded her. She desperately sought it, but her life was not a happy one, & it ended tragically.
C. Maybe we ought to ask again, "What are my goals? What is the purpose of my life?" Or, more importantly, "What purpose does God have for my life?"
In Isaiah 43:6-7 God speaks about this, "Bring my sons from afar, & my daughters from the ends of the earth - everyone who is called by my name, whom I created for my glory."
This is a picture of God calling His family together. And if we're a part of His family we were created to glorify God by reflecting His presence, & representing Him in our lives.
II. GOD'S PURPOSE FOR ME IS TO GLORIFY GOD
A. Now realizing what God is saying in that Scripture should change our atti¬tude & our actions.
1. First of all, if He created us, & we are His sons & daughters, part of His family, called by His name, then our life is precious. It is a gift from God, & we need to live it as best we can to His glory.
2. Secondly, if our purpose is to glorify Him, then we need to be of service to others. Jesus told us that the greatest commandment of all is to love God with all my heart, soul, mind, & strength. And the 2nd greatest commandment is to love my neighbor as myself. I am to be concerned about my neighbors.
Paul writes in 2 Corinthians 1:4 about "the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves have received from God."
He is saying, "You have received comfort & strength from God. Now take what you have received & pass it on to others. Comfort them. Stand beside them when they need you the most."
III. WE ARE NOT ALWAYS TOLD WHY WE SUFFER
The Word of God, to the best of my knowledge, never tries to explain the "why" of suffering. But God does tell us He will "work all things out for the good of those who love Him, who have been called according to His purpose." (Romans 8:28)
In response to Paul's pleading to have his "thorn in the flesh" removed, all you hear is the promise of God, "My grace is sufficient for you, for My power is made perfect in weakness." (2 Corinthians 12:9)
God's promises are always there to help us overcome, not to become victims, but victors; not to become slaves of suffering & pain, but to become masters over them.
ILL. Max Lucado in his book, "The Applause of Heaven," tells about a young man, Robert Reed, who has cerebral palsy.
He can't brush his teeth or comb his hair or bathe himself. He can't dress himself, or button his shirt. He has to depend upon other people to do that for him. He can't take a walk. He can't go from one place to another by his own power.
But his handicaps did not rob him of graduating from high school, & finally earning a degree from Abilene Christian College.
Max Lucado says that Robert Reed decided that he would study to be a mis¬sionary. So he taught a couple of years in a Junior College in St. Louis. And then took 5 trips to different mission fields. Finally he settled in Lis¬bon, Portugal.
Robert Reed found a hotel owner who would rent him a ground-floor room. He found a restaurant owner who would feed him after hours each day. He found a tutor who would teach him the language. And every day he wheeled out to the city park & passed out Christian
literature to people who walked by.
He spoke to them in his voice that sounded like a record player whose bat¬teries are about to run down. He told them about the love of God through Jesus Christ. In 6 years Robert Reed won more than 70 people to Jesus. One of them was a young girl by the name of Rosa, who later became his wife.
Lucado recalls, "I sat in an audience of thousands & watched as strong men grabbed his wheelchair, with him sitting in it, & lifted him to the platform so that he could speak to this vast audience of people."
"I watched him as he took his stiff fingers & tried to turn the pages of his Bible. And along with thousands of others, I wiped away tears of admiration. Here is one who could have complained, one who could have been bitter, one who could have asked 'Why me?' One who could have asked, 'Why do bad things happen to God's people?'"
"But instead," he said, "Robert Reed read in his drawn out way the Words of God & gave his testimony. And when he came to the end of it, he lifted up his bent hand & arm & said, 'I have everything I need.'"
Lucado adds, "His shirts are held together with velcro. But his life is held together with the joy of God."
INVITATION: Do you want that joy? If you have not yet accepted Jesus as your Savior we extend His invitation & pray that you'll come to accept Him, & to be faithful to Him in Christian baptism. If that is your decision, will you come?
