WEBVTT 00:00:01.360 --> 00:00:02.080 Well, good morning. 00:00:02.080 --> 00:00:04.240 Please turn with me to Romans chapter eight. 00:00:04.240 --> 00:00:06.160 We'll be starting there today. 00:00:06.160 --> 00:00:11.919 And as you do that, let me just share with you this perhaps common experience. 00:00:11.919 --> 00:00:17.440 If you've ever been in a hospital late at night, you know the sound. 00:00:17.440 --> 00:00:20.480 It's not loud, it's not dramatic. 00:00:20.480 --> 00:00:30.239 It's the sound of groaning, machines humming, footsteps in the hall, somebody coughing behind a curtain. 00:00:30.239 --> 00:00:34.399 No one is pretending everything is fine. 00:00:34.399 --> 00:00:48.880 My daughter Felicity is working as a certified nursing assistant while she's in college on the weekends, and she'll come home on Saturdays and tell me about the suffering that she sees there and the groaning that she hears during the day. 00:00:48.880 --> 00:00:51.439 I've been in those rooms many times myself. 00:00:51.439 --> 00:00:55.520 I find it difficult to see that level of suffering. 00:00:55.520 --> 00:01:01.200 If I visit someone, the Lord has wired me in such a way that I'd like to be helpful. 00:01:01.200 --> 00:01:03.679 I'd like to be useful. 00:01:03.679 --> 00:01:09.439 And those scenarios remind me of how helpless I really am. 00:01:09.439 --> 00:01:16.319 And so I have to sit back and allow the Lord to just be present there in the discomfort. 00:01:16.319 --> 00:01:17.840 The groaning. 00:01:17.840 --> 00:01:22.640 The Bible tells us that all of creation is groaning. 00:01:22.640 --> 00:01:24.959 The church is groaning as well. 00:01:24.959 --> 00:01:31.680 Not because we lack faith, but because we are a people in waiting and we are waiting for something. 00:01:31.680 --> 00:01:37.280 We groan and we suffer, and this is especially true for those who may have a disability. 00:01:37.280 --> 00:01:44.000 This morning I assert that the problem isn't just that we suffer, it's that we suffer alone. 00:01:44.000 --> 00:01:49.439 And so the title of my message for today is The Body That Suffers Together. 00:01:49.439 --> 00:01:56.319 And I want to talk to you about three things in this message this morning, starting in Romans 8 and then landing over in 1 Corinthians. 00:01:56.319 --> 00:02:06.719 First, we'll talk about the reality we share, and then secondly, we'll talk about the hope that sustains us, and then we will finally finish up talking about the way God cares. 00:02:06.719 --> 00:02:13.599 We're in our series on upside down glory talking about disability and the church, and we've talked about a lot of different topics. 00:02:13.599 --> 00:02:19.360 We've talked about the topic of identity, the topic of advocacy, the topic of theology. 00:02:19.360 --> 00:02:26.080 Today we're talking about the topic of suffering, specifically tied to the role of the local church. 00:02:26.080 --> 00:02:28.159 And so that's our plan for this morning. 00:02:28.159 --> 00:02:30.879 Let's pray and then we'll dive into God's word together. 00:02:30.879 --> 00:02:35.360 Heavenly Father, we come before you as your people gathered, but not all the same. 00:02:35.360 --> 00:02:39.120 We're united, yet each of us carry our own burdens in here today. 00:02:39.120 --> 00:02:41.520 And you know every story in the room. 00:02:41.520 --> 00:02:49.840 You hear every quiet grief, you know every hidden fear, you know every weary heart that's come into this place today, longing to hear from you. 00:02:49.840 --> 00:02:52.000 Thank you that you are not distant. 00:02:52.000 --> 00:02:57.840 You see all suffering, you hear it all, you enter into it, and through your spirit you meet us. 00:02:57.840 --> 00:03:01.039 You meet us in your word, you meet us through your people. 00:03:01.039 --> 00:03:04.800 Even when we don't have words, you meet us in our prayers. 00:03:04.800 --> 00:03:11.680 Today we pause for a second to pray for our dear sister in Christ Palma, who lost her husband Fred last week. 00:03:11.680 --> 00:03:13.280 We ask for a peace. 00:03:13.280 --> 00:03:18.159 We pray for our brother Steve Gunderson, who continues to fight multiple myeloma. 00:03:18.159 --> 00:03:19.599 We would ask for healing. 00:03:19.599 --> 00:03:23.120 We pray for our sister Betty Gallagher, who's recovering from hip surgery. 00:03:23.120 --> 00:03:24.639 Would you grant her strength? 00:03:24.639 --> 00:03:26.800 Open our hearts now to your word. 00:03:26.800 --> 00:03:33.520 Help us to hear, not just with our minds and uh but hear with our truest souls. 00:03:33.520 --> 00:03:35.439 Give us humility before your word. 00:03:35.439 --> 00:03:38.879 Give us faith, give us tenderness toward what you have to say here. 00:03:38.879 --> 00:03:41.680 And Lord, where there is groaning, would you plant hope? 00:03:41.680 --> 00:03:44.960 And where there is isolation, would you build some connections? 00:03:44.960 --> 00:03:48.400 And then when there's weariness, would you renew our strength? 00:03:48.400 --> 00:03:50.080 We offer our time to you. 00:03:50.080 --> 00:03:51.280 Uh we're here to listen. 00:03:51.280 --> 00:03:55.520 Shape us and comfort us and renew our minds, draw us closer to you and to each other. 00:03:55.520 --> 00:03:56.800 We pray it all in Jesus' name. 00:03:56.800 --> 00:03:58.479 And everyone said, Amen. 00:03:58.479 --> 00:04:01.680 So the first thing we want to talk about is the reality that we share. 00:04:01.680 --> 00:04:03.360 Um suffering. 00:04:03.360 --> 00:04:04.479 It's inevitable. 00:04:04.479 --> 00:04:07.599 Romans chapter 8, uh, picking it up with verse 18. 00:04:07.599 --> 00:04:09.280 If you're there with me, say amen. 00:04:09.280 --> 00:04:17.279 Paul says this I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us. 00:04:17.279 --> 00:04:18.079 Pause right there. 00:04:18.079 --> 00:04:22.319 Notice, Paul does not minimize suffering, he normalizes suffering. 00:04:22.319 --> 00:04:26.000 We know from history, Paul himself is not a stranger to suffering. 00:04:26.000 --> 00:04:31.040 He was shipwrecked, he was persecuted, he was stoned, he was even left for dead at one point. 00:04:31.040 --> 00:04:35.920 But here in verse 18, this is Paul talking, and he says, I consider something. 00:04:35.920 --> 00:04:38.399 Notice those words, I consider. 00:04:38.399 --> 00:04:44.959 What that means is he's been thinking about something and thinking over something very carefully and weighing the evidence. 00:04:44.959 --> 00:04:46.800 And this is his conclusion. 00:04:46.800 --> 00:04:57.839 As I consider, no matter what I go through, I consider that the sum total of all this suffering is not even worth comparing to the glory that awaits me one day. 00:04:57.839 --> 00:05:02.639 This is the great Christian hope that one day this universe will be transformed. 00:05:02.639 --> 00:05:07.040 One day, even our bodies will be made new, and we will be like Christ. 00:05:07.040 --> 00:05:11.199 We will feast with him and reign with him and shine like the sun. 00:05:11.199 --> 00:05:32.160 When we lift our eyes toward that hope, toward that future glory, when we set our minds on things above, where Christ is, when we think about feasting with him and reigning with him, then we will find that there's simply no comparison with our pain that we experience now compared to the glory that will be revealed in the future. 00:05:32.160 --> 00:05:34.160 Verse 19 continues. 00:05:34.160 --> 00:05:49.680 Here, Paul is poetically describing inanimate creation as if it can wait eagerly. 00:05:49.680 --> 00:05:58.240 The term eager expectation is the idea of someone craning their neck and looking to see what's coming around the corner. 00:05:58.240 --> 00:06:12.000 What Paul is saying here in sort of a word picture, if you will, is that this whole world is like up on its tiptoes, waiting to see the wonderful sight of the sons of God coming into our own. 00:06:12.000 --> 00:06:12.800 Why? 00:06:12.800 --> 00:06:13.680 Why is that? 00:06:13.680 --> 00:06:16.480 Verse 20 tells us the problem. 00:06:16.480 --> 00:06:32.639 For the creation was subjected to frustration, not by its own choice, but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the freedom and glory of the children of God. 00:06:32.639 --> 00:06:37.680 Right here, Paul is saying that creation itself is waiting. 00:06:37.680 --> 00:06:43.360 It has been subjected to something, and he calls it here, it's been subjected to frustration. 00:06:43.360 --> 00:06:44.399 Now, why is that? 00:06:44.399 --> 00:06:51.759 It was subjected because God subjected it, and the reason God subjected it to frustration is because of something called the curse. 00:06:51.759 --> 00:07:09.199 In Genesis chapter 3, we're told that humanity broke away from God, we fell into sin, we rebelled against our Creator, and then at that point, creation itself began to experience this groaning, things like deadly diseases and decay and even death. 00:07:09.199 --> 00:07:12.000 All of creation knows this, Paul says. 00:07:12.000 --> 00:07:16.399 All of creation is waiting eagerly for the future. 00:07:16.399 --> 00:07:23.120 All of creation also knows that the reason why they're waiting is because of us. 00:07:23.120 --> 00:07:36.959 George Whitfield, the great Puritan preacher, used to say, haven't you ever noticed that when you come near to the animals, they growl at us, they bark at us, the birds screech at us and fly away. 00:07:36.959 --> 00:07:38.560 Do you know why? 00:07:38.560 --> 00:07:42.639 They know that we have a quarrel with their master. 00:07:42.639 --> 00:07:48.560 Just think of that the next time you're chased by your neighbor's dog or a bird messes on your car. 00:07:48.560 --> 00:07:51.360 Creation is frustrated with you. 00:07:51.360 --> 00:08:00.319 Even the loveliest scenes of nature will still witness the fury of the elements, floods and hurricanes and tornadoes and droughts and earthquakes. 00:08:00.319 --> 00:08:04.959 We see at times the forces of nature are almost fighting against themselves. 00:08:04.959 --> 00:08:09.920 Can you feel the gears of this world grinding? 00:08:09.920 --> 00:08:12.959 Do you hear the sound of the groaning? 00:08:12.959 --> 00:08:15.120 Verse 22. 00:08:15.120 --> 00:08:23.360 We know that the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time. 00:08:23.360 --> 00:08:29.839 The illustration that he chose to use here is the illustration of childbirth. 00:08:29.839 --> 00:08:36.080 In case you don't know this, the moms in the room will tell you, childbirth hurts. 00:08:36.080 --> 00:08:47.120 I do not know about this firsthand, but secondhand, I have seen this pain not once, not twice, but three different times in my life with my three daughters. 00:08:47.120 --> 00:08:54.799 Paul says, when you see pain like that, that is an echo of the larger story. 00:08:54.799 --> 00:09:03.679 Now, as I said, though I've never experienced that kind of pain firsthand, I have had three kidney stones in my life. 00:09:03.679 --> 00:09:07.279 Just please raise your hand if you can relate to me on this. 00:09:07.279 --> 00:09:08.399 A couple of you. 00:09:08.399 --> 00:09:09.919 I am so sorry. 00:09:09.919 --> 00:09:10.960 I am so sorry. 00:09:10.960 --> 00:09:13.279 I feel you guys, it's rough. 00:09:13.279 --> 00:09:14.159 It's rough. 00:09:14.159 --> 00:09:18.240 My body likes to create these stones like every seven years or so. 00:09:18.240 --> 00:09:19.360 I don't know why. 00:09:19.360 --> 00:09:20.559 It's horrible. 00:09:20.559 --> 00:09:26.720 But one of the things I know about kidney stones is it's very different from the pain of childbirth. 00:09:26.720 --> 00:09:28.000 There is no comparison. 00:09:28.000 --> 00:09:28.720 You know why? 00:09:28.720 --> 00:09:34.080 Because I never hear people sitting around going, you should see that kidney stone, man. 00:09:34.080 --> 00:09:35.600 It was all worth it. 00:09:35.600 --> 00:09:39.840 Now that I got to see this stone, I forgot about all the pain. 00:09:39.840 --> 00:09:42.159 No, we don't talk about it like that. 00:09:42.159 --> 00:09:44.559 We only sit around and talk about the pain. 00:09:44.559 --> 00:09:46.720 We only sit around and talk about the suffering. 00:09:46.720 --> 00:09:51.440 We only sit around and talk about the excruciating tragedy of it all. 00:09:51.440 --> 00:09:51.840 Why? 00:09:51.840 --> 00:09:54.399 Because there's no glory afterwards. 00:09:54.399 --> 00:09:58.879 There is no glory like there's glory after the birth of a child. 00:09:58.879 --> 00:10:03.279 Paul says the groaning of this world is not like the groaning of the kidney stone. 00:10:03.279 --> 00:10:09.279 The groaning of this world, rather, is more like the pain of a woman who's bearing a beautiful child. 00:10:09.279 --> 00:10:16.559 The groaning of this world is more like the kind of groaning that's followed by beauty and joy for the people of God. 00:10:16.559 --> 00:10:20.320 One day there's this great hope in front of us after the groaning. 00:10:20.320 --> 00:10:24.240 Until then, creation is groaning. 00:10:24.240 --> 00:10:30.240 Almost as if it could speak, saying, This is not the way it's supposed to be. 00:10:30.240 --> 00:10:32.720 The whole creation groans. 00:10:32.720 --> 00:10:35.120 Suffering, Paul says, is cosmic. 00:10:35.120 --> 00:10:38.159 And suffering is quite personal. 00:10:38.159 --> 00:10:39.919 Let me give you an example. 00:10:39.919 --> 00:10:47.279 In 1982, Nick Voyczych was born in Brisbane, Australia, with Tetraamilia syndrome. 00:10:47.279 --> 00:10:52.240 It's a rare genetic disorder where Nick was born with no arms and no legs. 00:10:52.240 --> 00:10:56.080 Although he has two small feet attached to the bottom of his torso. 00:10:56.080 --> 00:11:01.679 Growing up, Nick understandably struggled emotionally and physically to accept his condition. 00:11:01.679 --> 00:11:07.200 When he was ten years old, Nick actually attempted to drown himself. 00:11:07.200 --> 00:11:08.799 He tried to commit suicide. 00:11:08.799 --> 00:11:09.679 He gave up. 00:11:09.679 --> 00:11:12.159 He did not see any hope. 00:11:12.159 --> 00:11:19.360 You know, one of the reasons I like the Bible is because it deals with the hardest issues of life. 00:11:19.360 --> 00:11:28.000 It does not sweep the painful things under the rug, or the complex things, or the confusing things, or the provoking things, or the shocking things, or the controversial things. 00:11:28.000 --> 00:11:35.679 And one of the hardest things in life is suffering, and one of the hardest kinds of suffering is the suffering experienced by a child. 00:11:35.679 --> 00:11:42.639 Especially when that early suffering turns into a lifetime of living with a profound loss. 00:11:42.639 --> 00:11:46.000 But the Bible is not silent on these things at all. 00:11:46.000 --> 00:11:47.679 In fact, I found the opposite. 00:11:47.679 --> 00:11:53.759 Rather, that the scriptures are permeated with stories of suffering and sorrow. 00:11:53.759 --> 00:11:59.919 And I'm so thankful that we have more than just a human opinion on these matters. 00:11:59.919 --> 00:12:03.120 Left to ourselves, where would we go? 00:12:03.120 --> 00:12:04.799 Where would we turn? 00:12:04.799 --> 00:12:08.399 Left to ourselves, we would be completely lost. 00:12:08.399 --> 00:12:15.360 Left to ourselves, we would be like this piece of graffiti that I saw one time that just said this: life is hard and then you die. 00:12:15.360 --> 00:12:18.720 Now, in some ways, that's true. 00:12:18.720 --> 00:12:21.360 But that's way too cynical. 00:12:21.360 --> 00:12:24.000 The Bible's much more complicated than that. 00:12:24.000 --> 00:12:27.840 And it's much more nuanced than that, and it's much more hopeful than that. 00:12:27.840 --> 00:12:33.600 May I ask you, do you hear the groan of creation around you? 00:12:33.600 --> 00:12:37.120 It's not just creation that groans. 00:12:37.120 --> 00:12:54.399 Verse 23 continues, where Paul says, it's not only so, but we ourselves who have the first fruits of the Spirit groan inwardly, as we wait eagerly for our adoption to sonship, the redemption of our bodies. 00:12:54.399 --> 00:12:56.159 What do we groan for? 00:12:56.159 --> 00:12:58.399 I want to draw your attention to that phrase. 00:12:58.399 --> 00:13:01.440 We groan for the redemption of our bodies. 00:13:01.440 --> 00:13:15.120 Meaning we will one day trade in our old vessels for a body that will not decay, will not age, will not ache, will not have kidney stones, will not break, and will not sin. 00:13:15.120 --> 00:13:16.720 This is good news. 00:13:16.720 --> 00:13:22.879 We're going to talk much more about this good news in an elaborate way next week and next Sunday's sermon. 00:13:22.879 --> 00:13:25.279 There is good news for our bodies coming. 00:13:25.279 --> 00:13:27.679 Until then, we groan. 00:13:27.679 --> 00:13:46.960 You may remember the Lord Jesus, when he took on flesh and walked in ministry on this earth, approached the grave of his dear friend Lazarus, and at that grave, even Jesus groaned in sorrow because he knows this is not the way he created things to be. 00:13:46.960 --> 00:13:50.240 We groan for a positive reason, also. 00:13:50.240 --> 00:13:54.240 Paul says, we groan because we have the first fruits of the Spirit. 00:13:54.240 --> 00:13:58.960 That word first fruits referred to the first batch of an incoming harvest. 00:13:58.960 --> 00:14:02.000 It's a first installment of what's going to come later. 00:14:02.000 --> 00:14:03.840 It's a down payment, if you will. 00:14:03.840 --> 00:14:08.960 Have you ever wanted to buy something and you had to put a deposit on it to reserve it for yourself later? 00:14:08.960 --> 00:14:10.080 That's the idea here. 00:14:10.080 --> 00:14:13.120 This is what God has done for us as a deposit. 00:14:13.120 --> 00:14:21.919 He's given us his very Holy Spirit to live on the inside, telling us we have a wonderful inheritance that we look forward to. 00:14:21.919 --> 00:14:25.360 And so we are a people that are waiting eagerly. 00:14:25.360 --> 00:14:27.679 Here's the point of this first section. 00:14:27.679 --> 00:14:39.039 You and I have an inconsolable longing for our heart's deepest desire that will not be satisfied by anything in this world. 00:14:39.039 --> 00:14:55.120 We have a desire for our greater joy, and that joy is not going to be found in this creation because God has subjected this creation to frustration on purpose, so that you will not be able to find your joy here. 00:14:55.120 --> 00:15:00.559 You will have to wait for your greatest joy in the world to come. 00:15:00.559 --> 00:15:06.480 The faith of Christianity doesn't deny pain, it gives it context. 00:15:06.480 --> 00:15:13.919 Christianity both explains best the pain and the beauty that we find in this fallen world. 00:15:13.919 --> 00:15:16.000 There is real suffering in the world. 00:15:16.000 --> 00:15:18.399 There's real suffering in this room. 00:15:18.399 --> 00:15:25.600 Chronic illness, disabilities, grief, caregiver fatigue, loneliness. 00:15:25.600 --> 00:15:27.519 This isn't to be minimized. 00:15:27.519 --> 00:15:30.559 We need to hear the groaning. 00:15:30.559 --> 00:15:37.440 So if you're groaning today, the scripture says you're not weak, you're human. 00:15:37.440 --> 00:15:39.840 And you're not alone. 00:15:39.840 --> 00:15:46.879 But remember this believers always groan with hope, not despair. 00:15:46.879 --> 00:15:49.120 That leads us to our second section today. 00:15:49.120 --> 00:15:50.960 The hope that sustains us. 00:15:50.960 --> 00:15:53.279 God is actively redeeming. 00:15:53.279 --> 00:16:03.840 We have to look forward and wait patiently for what God has for us, because when we see what He has for us, it puts the pain in a different kind of perspective, if you will. 00:16:03.840 --> 00:16:05.840 Paul continues in verse 24. 00:16:05.840 --> 00:16:11.759 Paul says, For in this hope we were saved, but hope that is seen is no hope at all. 00:16:11.759 --> 00:16:14.080 Who hopes for what they already have? 00:16:14.080 --> 00:16:19.039 But if we hope for what we do not yet have, we wait for it patiently. 00:16:19.039 --> 00:16:25.679 So here, Paul is saying, Yes, I know you are suffering, but hang on, it will one day come to an end. 00:16:25.679 --> 00:16:28.559 That's why our great hope is important. 00:16:28.559 --> 00:16:31.519 This world is not your home. 00:16:31.519 --> 00:16:34.159 Your best days are still ahead of you. 00:16:34.159 --> 00:16:41.039 Yes, in this life, our experiences will be tainted by pain and sorrow and suffering, but none of that is the last word. 00:16:41.039 --> 00:16:45.919 Friends, we can't even comprehend how good it is going to be. 00:16:45.919 --> 00:16:53.919 Eye has not seen, ear has not heard, nor has it even entered into the heart of man what God has prepared for those who love him. 00:16:53.919 --> 00:16:59.519 Therefore, we can suffer now with patience and dignity and hope. 00:16:59.519 --> 00:17:00.080 Why? 00:17:00.080 --> 00:17:01.840 Because we know what's coming. 00:17:01.840 --> 00:17:03.440 Verse 26. 00:17:03.440 --> 00:17:08.400 In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. 00:17:08.400 --> 00:17:14.880 We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit Himself intercedes for us through wordless what? 00:17:14.880 --> 00:17:16.000 Groans. 00:17:16.000 --> 00:17:18.960 Notice that word weakness there. 00:17:18.960 --> 00:17:21.440 There is weakness in our lives. 00:17:21.440 --> 00:17:26.400 And when that weakness occurs, we feel our flesh is weak and our spirit is weak. 00:17:26.400 --> 00:17:27.920 Our faith can even be weak. 00:17:27.920 --> 00:17:33.359 And if we're honest with ourselves, there are moments where we're so weak it's difficult to even pray. 00:17:33.359 --> 00:17:34.880 I can attest to that. 00:17:34.880 --> 00:17:38.400 Even as a pastor, I find it sometimes it's difficult to pray. 00:17:38.400 --> 00:17:45.279 Thankfully, in those moments, Paul says the Spirit Himself intercedes for you. 00:17:45.279 --> 00:17:51.279 So as Christians, we suffer and we groan and we look forward, but we also can look inward. 00:17:51.279 --> 00:17:57.440 I'm so thankful that we have a God who doesn't sit back and just tell us what to do. 00:17:57.440 --> 00:18:01.440 I'm so thankful we have a God that just doesn't sit back and give us some good advice. 00:18:01.440 --> 00:18:13.519 I'm so thankful that instead we have a God that enters into our suffering with us and groans alongside of us and has sent his spirit to live in our very hearts to help us to bear this sorrow. 00:18:13.519 --> 00:18:16.240 He is God Himself. 00:18:16.240 --> 00:18:18.559 He is the one who has created you. 00:18:18.559 --> 00:18:20.559 He is the one who loves you. 00:18:20.559 --> 00:18:27.440 And there is no pit so deep, Corey Temboon used to say, whereas God's love is not deeper still. 00:18:27.440 --> 00:18:30.559 God is on the inside to help us. 00:18:30.559 --> 00:18:31.920 And this is the help we need. 00:18:31.920 --> 00:18:33.920 Verse 27 continues the same thought. 00:18:33.920 --> 00:18:42.079 Paul continues saying, And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for God's people. 00:18:42.079 --> 00:18:44.799 That's us, in accordance with the will of God. 00:18:44.799 --> 00:18:55.440 So here he's saying that the Holy Spirit intercedes for you, meaning he says those things that you want to say, but you can't quite articulate those things in the moment. 00:18:55.440 --> 00:18:58.000 He comes alongside of you, like your lawyer. 00:18:58.000 --> 00:19:02.400 He's advocating for you, he's speaking for you, he's interceding on your behalf. 00:19:02.400 --> 00:19:03.920 You and I are not alone. 00:19:03.920 --> 00:19:08.400 We're surrounded on the outside by our loving brothers and sisters in Christ. 00:19:08.400 --> 00:19:15.920 And we also have God the Holy Spirit living on the inside who is comforting us even in our suffering and groaning within. 00:19:15.920 --> 00:19:28.880 In the meantime, while we groan, while we wait, we are also given one of the most amazing promises in the whole Bible. 00:19:28.880 --> 00:19:30.480 Romans 8, 28. 00:19:30.480 --> 00:19:31.279 Look at this. 00:19:31.279 --> 00:19:41.359 And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who may who have been called according to his purpose. 00:19:41.359 --> 00:19:54.880 This is such, I know you know this verse, this is such a powerful promise from God to you, who's always working in difficult circumstances for your good if you love God. 00:19:54.880 --> 00:20:08.000 This is a promise that God will literally, somehow, providentially, sovereignly, work out all everything, our circumstances, our failures, our victories, our desires, even suffering, for your good. 00:20:08.000 --> 00:20:13.119 All things, Chuck Swindah used to say to us, the promise is not partial, it's total. 00:20:13.119 --> 00:20:14.160 All things. 00:20:14.160 --> 00:20:16.720 Notice, Paul is very confident here. 00:20:16.720 --> 00:20:19.200 He says, we know, circle that. 00:20:19.200 --> 00:20:19.839 We know. 00:20:19.839 --> 00:20:21.440 He doesn't say we suppose. 00:20:21.440 --> 00:20:22.799 He doesn't say we hope. 00:20:22.799 --> 00:20:24.319 He doesn't say we wish. 00:20:24.319 --> 00:20:28.559 He says we know God is working all things together for the good. 00:20:28.559 --> 00:20:29.200 Amen? 00:20:29.200 --> 00:20:30.799 It's like that song that we sing. 00:20:30.799 --> 00:20:33.359 Even when we don't see it, he's working. 00:20:33.359 --> 00:20:35.920 Even when we don't feel it, he's working. 00:20:35.920 --> 00:20:37.200 He never stops. 00:20:37.200 --> 00:20:39.279 He never stops working. 00:20:39.279 --> 00:20:47.359 We the reason we gather and sing those kinds of songs is because we need to be reminded of the promises that are right here in God's word. 00:20:47.359 --> 00:20:53.680 And so we come week after week to reinforce the promises of God's word into our hearts. 00:20:53.680 --> 00:20:55.039 All things. 00:20:55.039 --> 00:20:59.599 Notice this verse doesn't mean that we won't experience pain. 00:20:59.599 --> 00:21:02.079 It doesn't mean that we won't experience difficulty. 00:21:02.079 --> 00:21:07.359 Rather, what it means is that even in our pain, there's a purpose. 00:21:07.359 --> 00:21:11.920 So yeah, it's hard, but it is never senseless. 00:21:11.920 --> 00:21:13.680 Never senseless. 00:21:13.680 --> 00:21:16.240 There is always a purpose. 00:21:16.240 --> 00:21:24.400 And it is all under the control of a sovereign, perfect, wise, omnipotent, omniscient God. 00:21:24.400 --> 00:21:32.160 And in the meantime, what is the main thing that this God is doing in my life and in yours? 00:21:32.160 --> 00:21:33.519 What's the main thing? 00:21:33.519 --> 00:21:38.799 Because I'm pretty sure he's not as concerned about alleviating my suffering as I am. 00:21:38.799 --> 00:21:41.519 What is the main thing that God is doing in this world? 00:21:41.519 --> 00:21:43.279 It tells us in verse 29. 00:21:43.279 --> 00:21:56.240 For those God foreknew, he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters. 00:21:56.240 --> 00:21:59.519 This is what God is doing, He's making us. 00:21:59.519 --> 00:22:04.240 More into the image of the Lord Jesus Christ, the perfect one. 00:22:04.240 --> 00:22:12.240 So when Romans 8.28 says God is working all things together for the good, this is the primary good that he has in mind here. 00:22:12.240 --> 00:22:18.960 Meaning God is working all things together for the good in order to conform you to the image of the Lord Jesus Christ. 00:22:18.960 --> 00:22:20.240 This is good. 00:22:20.240 --> 00:22:23.119 And this requires some remodeling. 00:22:23.119 --> 00:22:25.279 Have you ever seen a home remodel? 00:22:25.279 --> 00:22:26.799 Sometimes it's messy. 00:22:26.799 --> 00:22:29.440 Sometimes you got to tear that thing down to the studs. 00:22:29.440 --> 00:22:36.880 It doesn't look comfortable or good at the time, but God is working to remodel us into something beautiful. 00:22:36.880 --> 00:22:38.799 We are all a work in progress. 00:22:38.799 --> 00:22:41.119 And sometimes that work involves groaning. 00:22:41.119 --> 00:22:41.920 Amen? 00:22:41.920 --> 00:22:46.480 But Chuck Swindah used to tell us the greater the groan, the greater the glory. 00:22:46.480 --> 00:22:47.599 Amen. 00:22:47.599 --> 00:22:50.960 Going back to Nick Vojacich. 00:22:50.960 --> 00:22:54.079 On the inside, he was wrestling with all this. 00:22:54.079 --> 00:22:57.599 He was wrestling with this crushing question. 00:22:57.599 --> 00:23:01.519 And the question that he couldn't figure out was, why would God make me like this? 00:23:01.519 --> 00:23:10.640 By age eight, he believed God intellectually, but emotionally he felt totally abandoned by God. 00:23:10.640 --> 00:23:15.680 As a child in an early teen, he started to battle depression. 00:23:15.680 --> 00:23:19.519 As I mentioned, he once contemplated ending his life. 00:23:19.519 --> 00:23:26.480 The theology he knew in his head had not yet become the hope that he trusted with his heart. 00:23:26.480 --> 00:23:37.920 The turning point came when he was 15 years old and heard a sermon on John chapter 9, the same text that we looked at last Sunday. 00:23:37.920 --> 00:23:41.200 The story of the man born blind. 00:23:41.200 --> 00:23:43.119 You remember that story, right? 00:23:43.119 --> 00:23:53.759 Nick hears this story for the first time, and there's a verse in that story that lands on him and like is like a key that unlocks a door in his heart. 00:23:53.759 --> 00:24:02.720 And the verse was John 9 3 that says, Oh, this happened so that the works of God might be displayed in this man. 00:24:02.720 --> 00:24:07.599 That verse changed Nick's life. 00:24:07.599 --> 00:24:11.200 In that moment, all of his perspective pivoted. 00:24:11.200 --> 00:24:16.400 He realized his disability was not a cosmic mistake. 00:24:16.400 --> 00:24:23.119 Rather, he could be a canvas that God could use to paint something meaningful. 00:24:23.119 --> 00:24:28.160 So in that moment, instead of asking why me, he started asking a different question. 00:24:28.160 --> 00:24:31.920 And the new question was, how could God use me? 00:24:31.920 --> 00:24:40.000 That shift didn't immediately erase the hardship, but it ignited something inside of his faith. 00:24:40.000 --> 00:24:47.119 He surrendered his life to Christ in a deeper and personal way, choosing to trust that God had a purpose even in his limitations. 00:24:47.119 --> 00:24:54.160 And there, the boy who once felt disqualified started to feel commissioned. 00:24:54.160 --> 00:25:00.079 From there, this guy's life became a living sermon. 00:25:00.079 --> 00:25:07.759 He starts speaking in small settings, in school settings, in small churches. 00:25:07.759 --> 00:25:11.680 Then they move him up to larger settings. 00:25:11.680 --> 00:25:15.119 And now he's in Colosseums and stadiums. 00:25:15.119 --> 00:25:24.640 The very body he once viewed as a barrier became the pulpit that God uses to preach hope. 00:25:24.640 --> 00:25:28.079 This guy doesn't stand before hundreds or thousands. 00:25:28.079 --> 00:25:33.680 He stands before a hundred thousand people and preaches the message of Jesus. 00:25:33.680 --> 00:25:39.119 Huge crowds, millions of people have been impacted by Nick Voychic. 00:25:39.119 --> 00:25:40.240 Why? 00:25:40.240 --> 00:25:44.000 Because he surrendered his life to God. 00:25:44.000 --> 00:25:58.640 Romans 8, 30 concludes this particular section with a great word of hope, as Paul says, and those he predestined, he also called, and those who called, he also justified, and those he justified, he also glorified. 00:25:58.640 --> 00:26:09.119 The hope that's being seen here in Romans 8 is on the one hand future-oriented, on the other hand, it's present-tense sustaining. 00:26:09.119 --> 00:26:22.480 God is not reacting, he's purposefully at work, and our hope does not escape suffering, rather, it finds God redeeming through it. 00:26:22.480 --> 00:26:30.000 And sometimes our God does his deepest work through the groaning and through the waiting. 00:26:30.000 --> 00:26:35.519 But God never intends us to endure that kind of waiting alone. 00:26:35.519 --> 00:26:41.119 He has sent his son who can empathize with our every weakness. 00:26:41.119 --> 00:26:46.960 And then his son sent his spirit and lit the flame of the church of Jesus Christ. 00:26:46.960 --> 00:26:52.960 And the body is designed to come around those who suffer to care well. 00:26:52.960 --> 00:26:56.720 And that's the third section I want to talk to you about today. 00:26:56.720 --> 00:26:59.920 The way God cares, it's through his body. 00:26:59.920 --> 00:27:07.359 Flip over with me now to 1 Corinthians chapter 12 as I shift gears without a clutch, and I look at a different text, same author. 00:27:07.359 --> 00:27:09.039 Paul is speaking again. 00:27:09.039 --> 00:27:11.440 This time he's using a different metaphor. 00:27:11.440 --> 00:27:15.039 This time he's using the metaphor of a human body. 00:27:15.039 --> 00:27:27.279 1 Corinthians 12, 12 says this just as a body, though one, has many parts, but all its many parts form one body, so it is with Christ. 00:27:27.279 --> 00:27:31.839 So here we are, this image of the church that Jesus Christ has founded. 00:27:31.839 --> 00:27:37.200 And the image Paul chooses to get into our minds is the image of a body. 00:27:37.200 --> 00:27:45.200 And so right here, I think there's a couple of wrong attitudes that can happen when it comes to being part of the body. 00:27:45.200 --> 00:27:50.559 And this applies to maybe somebody who has a disability, but also it could apply to somebody who doesn't have a disability. 00:27:50.559 --> 00:27:53.920 There are two wrong attitudes when it comes to relating to the body of Christ. 00:27:53.920 --> 00:27:57.200 The first one is this the church doesn't need me. 00:27:57.200 --> 00:28:00.559 Sometimes people won't say this out loud, but they will think this in their heart. 00:28:00.559 --> 00:28:02.319 The church really doesn't need me. 00:28:02.319 --> 00:28:05.119 If that's you, if that's your thought, that is a lie. 00:28:05.119 --> 00:28:06.480 That is not true. 00:28:06.480 --> 00:28:15.279 If you have somehow felt that the church doesn't value you, or the church has no need for you, or hey, it's all taken care of by those professional people up there, that is not true at all. 00:28:15.279 --> 00:28:18.960 If we've given you that impression, may I ask for your forgiveness, please. 00:28:18.960 --> 00:28:21.599 That is not the way God has set up his church to function. 00:28:21.599 --> 00:28:28.319 God has set up his church in such a way to function as it needs you to be a functioning, healthy body. 00:28:28.319 --> 00:28:32.960 So if we have communicated somehow that you're not important, that is not a message from God. 00:28:32.960 --> 00:28:37.759 God specifically designs his church with a body, and the parts function together. 00:28:37.759 --> 00:28:42.160 So if Millington Baptist Church is your church home, we desperately need you here. 00:28:42.160 --> 00:28:43.599 That's not true at all. 00:28:43.599 --> 00:28:48.400 Paul continues to draw this out in the next paragraph. 00:28:48.400 --> 00:28:49.839 Bear with me as I read. 00:28:49.839 --> 00:28:55.599 Now, if the foot should say, Because I'm not a hand, I do not belong to the body, it would not for that reason stop being part of the body. 00:28:55.599 --> 00:29:00.960 And if the ear should say, because I'm not an eye, I do not belong to the body, it would not for that reason stop being part of the body. 00:29:00.960 --> 00:29:03.440 If the whole body were an eye, where would the sense of hearing be? 00:29:03.440 --> 00:29:05.920 If the whole body were an ear, where would the sense of smell be? 00:29:05.920 --> 00:29:10.240 But in fact, God has placed the parts in the body, every one of them, just as he wanted them to be. 00:29:10.240 --> 00:29:12.480 If they were all one part, where would the body be? 00:29:12.480 --> 00:29:16.160 As it is, there are many parts but one body. 00:29:16.160 --> 00:29:25.680 So what he's talking about with this body image is that each of us, after we accept the Lord Jesus Christ, have been given gifts to serve the body, spiritual gifts. 00:29:25.680 --> 00:29:33.039 A spiritual gift is a supernatural ability given by the Holy Spirit to a believer to empower them to serve the body of Christ with effectiveness. 00:29:33.039 --> 00:29:35.599 And can I say that gifts are wonderful? 00:29:35.599 --> 00:29:42.240 But if you think that that gift is given for you, you mistake the understanding and the meaning of God's spiritual gifts. 00:29:42.240 --> 00:29:47.279 One of my prophets, Michael Spiegel, used to say it this way: spiritual gifts are not what the Spirit gives to you. 00:29:47.279 --> 00:29:50.640 They are what the Spirit gives to the church through you. 00:29:50.640 --> 00:29:55.839 Spiritual gifts are not what God has given to you, they are what the Spirit has given to the church through you. 00:29:55.839 --> 00:29:57.920 That's what a spiritual gift is. 00:29:57.920 --> 00:30:00.480 I saw this troubling statistic this week. 00:30:00.480 --> 00:30:06.799 And the statistics showed that only a small percentage of church members feel like they have opportunities to use their giftings at church. 00:30:06.799 --> 00:30:08.640 The lowest percentage was Gen Z. 00:30:08.640 --> 00:30:15.119 Now let me share with you something with you that was a revelation to me as a young Christian, might be a revelation for you today. 00:30:15.119 --> 00:30:15.759 I don't know. 00:30:15.759 --> 00:30:16.799 Here it is. 00:30:16.799 --> 00:30:20.240 You are the ministers of the church. 00:30:20.240 --> 00:30:29.599 You may have never thought of yourself as that word minister before, but the Bible very clearly teaches that God gives pastors and teachers to equip the saints for the work of the ministry. 00:30:29.599 --> 00:30:32.240 You are the ministers of the church. 00:30:32.240 --> 00:30:38.400 It can never be done by a couple professional people who are somehow going to figure out how to do all. 00:30:38.400 --> 00:30:47.039 Listen, somewhere, like I don't know, 80 years ago or something, we got this idea that we would hire a minister and the minister would do the ministry. 00:30:47.039 --> 00:30:50.720 Now that would, first of all, be totally impossible. 00:30:50.720 --> 00:30:51.599 Impossible. 00:30:51.599 --> 00:31:00.160 Even if I could do all of that, which I can't, even if I could do all that, it wouldn't be good for me to do all that because you would miss out on the opportunity to serve using the gifts that God has given you. 00:31:00.160 --> 00:31:02.559 So that is the incorrect model of the church. 00:31:02.559 --> 00:31:09.200 Everyone has a gift, and everyone is to serve the church to have an effective body. 00:31:09.200 --> 00:31:15.200 It's kind of like if you've been turning on the TV after work this week, it's like Team USA. 00:31:15.200 --> 00:31:19.680 We have this Olympic team, and there's all kinds of different athletes on this team. 00:31:19.680 --> 00:31:25.200 The country's team needs all these different types of athletes to compete as a country together in the Olympics. 00:31:25.200 --> 00:31:26.240