“WHEN LIFE IS HARD JESUS IS THERE”
John 11
Greenmount and O’Leary Churches of Christ
July 25, 2021
VIDEO LINK: https://youtu.be/fGe6WlCL8dY
INTRODUCTION:
This morning, we come to a passage of Scripture which deals with death, a matter which is truly one of those hard things we must deal with in life.
As we all know that is a matter that brings great pain to those of us who are still alive.
aa.) This is a passage that naturally came up for today as we have been going through the Gospel of John.
ab.) With both of our congregations right now dealing with death, and mourning, and pain, I have wondered if this is the right time to speak on this passage, but over the years I have found that the Spirit of God will move me to a passage even months before hand, and perhaps that is the way with today’s text.
ac.) While I have chosen to go ahead with that text, and theme I have also decided to expand this message beyond merely death, and our grief and look at the hard times we must deal with in life.
bca.) This message will be more of a topical sermon rather than in my usual approach of expository preaching.
I) LIFE HAS SOME REALLY HARD TIMES.
Some people have been raised in families that are not the ideal family, and rather than the home being a place of refuge, it has been a place of dread.
Some have had to deal with an absent, neglectful, or uncaring parents.
aa.) If a child grows up in that type of home, it is a hard thing to get over.
aaa.) The home, after all provides the background for every part of life.
aab.) But even there God can do great things.
ab.) Isaiah 49:15
ac.) Psalm 27:10
Some have had to deal with physical abuse.
ba.) We do not like to think on this, or to consider it, but there are children, and spouses who regularly deal with the physical abuse or over-control from one who is supposedly a loved one.
baa.) While this can be true of either partner, it is most common that the man is more likely to be physically abusive than the woman.
.01) The Apostle Paul challenged men to have a sacrificial love for their families, and to not be harsh with children to bring them to discouragement.
.02) Certainly when this does not happen it is always contrary to the Word and will of God.
In our churches people have had to deal with a spouse who has been unfaithful in one way or another.
ca.) Some have had to deal with a spouse who went after other partners.
caa.) Victims of that tends to be very traumatized because next to our relationship with God, there is no relationship more special or intimate than the relationship between a man and his wife.
cb.) Some have had partners who may not have committed adultery but have just forsaken his or her marriage vows and walked away from those sacred and life-long vows.
cba.) As one who has experienced that first-hand, I can tell you there are few things in life that are harder or if I can use the term more hellish to deal with than that.
Some have had to deal with sexual abuse.
da.) Statistics suggest that one of six females, and one out of ten males have experienced sexual abuse in their lives.
db.) There was a time I was naïve enough to think this only happened in larger towns, and cities, and that it certainly would never happen in our small communities, much less in our churches.
dba.) But over the years I have had a few women share with me of being sexually abused, and sometimes from people and even leaders in the church.
dca.) In saying this I can honestly say I am not aware of such incidents in these two churches but having seen it in other churches where I have ministered, I realize it is a very real possibility.
.01) It is possible some in this church may even have experienced this.
dcb.) Certainly, when it does happen it is a truly hard time of life.
Daily there are people in our community who must deal with issues of poverty.
A.) Sometimes we do not realize people in this community have a daily struggle for survival.
aa.) Our donations to the caring Cupboard give us a bit more of an awareness of this reality.
ab.) A few years ago when I worked as a cook in the Fredericton Community Kitchen, my eyes were opened to the greatness of that need.
aba.) We had several people coming into that soup kitchen who worked full-time jobs but earned only minimum wage.
abb.) Even though they had full-time jobs, they had to choose to use their income for either housing or food.
.01) It wasn’t always a matter of laziness, alcohol, or drug addiction but just circumstances of life particularly in single families.
abc.) Most of us cannot comprehend doing the best we can do and still having to make a choice between food and housing.
Another hard thing many deal with is loneliness.
The pain of loneliness can be as great as physical pain.
ba.) This is something that can attack a person at any age, rather married or single, even in a crowd of people.
bb.) I remember visiting with a lady in a nursing home probably ten to fifteen years ago and being told it was better to be in the hospital than in a nursing home.
bba.) I asked her what she meant, and she told me that in the hospital people keep you on a prayer list, and people would call, visit and send flowers or cards. She went on to say that in the nursing home you are just forgotten and alone.
.01) I have never forgotten the sadness or loneliness of that statement.
.02) This past several months many in nursing homes and their families have had to deal with the loneliness of being cut off from family members because of Covid.
.021) This has led to deterioration of health, and in many cases even death.
Given sufficient time on this earth we all will have to deal with aging, sickness, and ill health.
The first half of Ecclesiastes 12 is a commentary on the woes of aging and growing old.
aaa.) For many, growing old is one of the great hard times of life.
Ecclesiastes 12:1
ba.) We are told to remember our creator and turn to him in our youth.
bb.) The reason we are told to seek God in our youth is that “days of trouble will come in our life” “and the years approach when you will say I find no pleasure in them.”
bba.) That may be a very negative viewpoint, but for many it is the reality that happens as we grow old.
.01) For many (or perhaps all of us), the aging process is a very difficult part of life.
.02) I remember one lady who was about 102 years of age make the statement “You have heard the first hundred years are the hardest.” She smiled and said: “Don’t believe it!”
.011) While said in a joking manner, growing old can be a very difficult time of life.
.021) Solomon said to remember our creator in the days of youth.
.022) When aging makes life difficult, we may come to the place of never acknowledging our creator in the harder times of life.
.023) Solomon goes on to describe some of the hard things of growing old.
C.) Ecclesiastes 12:2
ca.) Solomon is speaking of failing eyesight, and possibly cataracts.
caa.) Life truly becomes hard when you cannot see.
cb.) The clouds return after the rain.
cba.) In other words, for many old age brings with it a great deal of depression.
.01) Many have lost their spouse, and many of their friends and family.
.02) Health is often gone, they no longer can work or to get out.
.03) The things which brought joy in younger years they can no longer do.
.04) As a result many have deep depression.
D.) Ecclesiastes 12:3
da.) The keepers of the house tremble.
daa.) Those strong legs of youth eventually grow weak, shaky, and unstable in supporting us.
dab.) “And the Strong men stoop.”
.01) With age our backs deteriorate, and we are hunched over unable to stand erect and straight.
E.) Ecclesiastes 12:4
ea.) “The grinders cease because they are few”.
eb.) Solomon is speaking of our teeth falling out.
eaa.) Modern dental care has cut down on much of this, and dentures help considerably.
eab.) Just the same if you wear dentures next time you have a piece of beef steak take them out and try your luck at gumming down on that piece of beef steak.
.01) That exercise alone would quickly point out how difficult that part of life could be.
ec.) “the doors to the street are closed.”
eca.) Many times, with age people no longer go out in the streets.
ecb.) Sometimes there is fear, or perhaps just no desire to leave your home, or that you are no longer able to go outside.
ed.) “the sound of grinding fades.”
eda.) We start growing deaf.
ee.) “Men rise up at the sound of birds, but all their songs grow faint.”
eea.) Again, the mention of deafness.
eeb.) Not only deafness but sleeping poorly and not feeling rested after your sleep and the slightest sound waking you.
F.) Ecclesiastes 12:5
fa.) “Men are afraid of heights”
faa.) In youth a man can be brave, and even a daredevil.
fab.) As age sets in, and balance might not be as good, men become afraid of the heights.
fb.) He becomes afraid of dangers in the street.
fba) Many times the world itself becomes a scary place, and your mind begins to imagine every danger that can happen to you.
fc.) “When the almond tree blossoms.”
fca.) This is a reference to the white flowers that grow on the almond tree.
fcb.) As we grow old, that brown, or red, or black hair we once had fades away to white (If we are blessed to still have hair).
fd.) “and the grasshopper drags himself along.”
fda.) The grasshopper is the young child full of life and vigour.
.01) That child probably won’t just walk. He will sprint, jump, hop, do summersaults, and many other things that take far more life.
.02) The second part of that picture is no longer a young child full of vigour but an old man who can barely drag his leg along.
fe.) “and desire no longer is stirred.”
fea.) That desire can be for food, sexual gratification, pleasure, etc, but those desires no longer have the hold they once held.
Going with health and life itself, we eventually are faced with sickness.
A.) That was the scene here in John 11.
aa.) Lazarus was sick.
aaa.) More times than we care to remember people close to us have been given that dreaded diagnosis of cancer or of some other disease from the doctor.
aab.) Those are some of the hardest words we could ever hear from our doctor.
ab.) Not only was Lazarus sick but his sickness led to death.
ac.) Throughout life we all are faced with sickness and with death.
aca.) No matter how many times we have experienced those things it is never an easy thing to lose a loved one to the grave.
acb.) A few weeks ago, the congregation at Greenmount had to say goodbye to a young man.
acc.) This past week the O’Leary congregation experienced the joy and excitement of birth as a new baby boy came into this world, and yet only a day later that joy turned to sorrow as that baby boy passed away.
.01) These are hard things for us to experience or to deal with.
There are many other hard things in life I have not even touched on today:
A.) Disability
B.) Divorce
C.) Infertility
D.) Depression
E.) Unresolved anger
F.) Alcohol and Drug issues.
G.) False accusations, or many other things that make life hard for people.
7.) The bottom line is that life is brutally hard, and those hard times come to all of us.
A.) We don’t all endure the same trials but each one must deal with some hard and heavy burdens in life.
B.) Those hard times in life can bring us to the very limits of our strength and ability to bear up under those burdens of life.
C.) We may even feel the burdens of others may be greater or lesser than what we could endure, but for each person the hard times are real, and often overwhelming to that person or family.
IN THE HARD TIMES WE NEED THE STRENGTH AND COMFORT OF OUR FRIENDS AND LOVED ONES.
When you are going through the hard times allow friends and loved ones to come along side you.
A.) John 11:17-19
B.) In our text there was love being shown to Mary and Martha.
ba.) Certainly, this passage is not unfamiliar to us as the same thing happens today when there is a death or hard times in our families.
bb.) When the hard times come in our lives it is a blessing when friends and family join with us in our struggle.
bba.) When life brings hard times sometimes there are no words that can bring comfort, but just being with a person in the hard times can give them strength and comfort to get through it.
.01) Perhaps sharing a meal, giving a hug, and giving our love is the greatest ministry we can give.
.02) As the body of Christ we need to continually be looking for ways to minister to each one in the church and outside of it because there is always a lot of hard times, and pain, even if we are not always aware of it.
.04) When I was in Bible College, I was taught that in any congregation at any given time that one out of every six people are hurting and going through hard times.
.05) A congregation the size of ours would therefore at any time have at least 4-6 people who are hurting and going through hard times.
.051) I personally think that maybe that number is lower now than it was forty years ago when I was preparing for the ministry.
.052) I have no recent statistics on this but might guess that number now to be one out of maybe 3 or 4 in the church are hurting.
2.) Accept love from the body of Christ.
A.) Church the hard times of life are times when we as the body of Christ can really shine the love of Jesus into the lives of others.
aa.) John 13:34-35
ab.) Galatians 6:2 tells us to “Bear each other’s burdens and in this way fulfil he law of Christ.”
IN LIFE, NO MATTER HOW GREAT THE ISSUE, JESUS IS ALWAYS THERE.
1.) In our text Jesus at first was not with them (or at least it seemed that way)
A.) Mary and Martha had sent for Jesus, but it seemed as though Jesus was preoccupied and just didn’t bother to come along side of that family.
B.) There are times when we go through the hard times, we feel that God has forgotten about us and is not there for us.
ba.) When we think that, we need to remember that feelings cannot be trusted or depended upon.
bb.) Instead, we must trust in the promises of God and of His Word.
bba.) Unlike our feelings which change, God and his word are the same yesterday, today, and forever.
.01) Matthew 28:20 “I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”
.02) John 14:16 “And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever.”
bc.) In John 11, when they had pretty much given up on Jesus coming to help in those hard times, Jesus appeared, and had already had control of the situation.
bca.) When it seems that our problems are so large, and there is no hope, remember Jesus is already at work, even though we may not see the working of his hand.
CONCLUSION:
1) As I bring this message to a close, I just want to give a few suggestions when we go through the hard times: (these are not original to myself)
A.) When we face the hard times remember that what we are experiencing is not unique to us.
aa.) Even our Lord Jesus went through many of the trials and hard times we must endure.
aaa.) Hebrews 4:15 “For we do not have a high priest who is unable to empathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are-yet he did not sin.”
B.) During the hard times, acknowledge your emotions.
ba.) Our first reaction is often to ignore or avoid the pain we are experiencing.
bb.) If you are angry at God, tell him; He is big enough to handle it.
C.) Face your reality gap.
ca.) Accept the difference between what we have, and what we wanted in life.
D.) Practice your acceptance.
da.) That doesn’t mean you like your situation, or those hard times, but acceptance of the situation will help us to move on and have healing.
E.) Always give gratitude.
ea.) I am the first one to acknowledge that when I am going through hard times in my life that the last thing, I want to do is to show gratitude, but even in the darkest hours gratitude helps to heal and strengthen us.
eaa.) I reminded of Corrie Ten Boone and her sister in that German compound for assisting the Jews -- They were thanking God for the lice in their hair when life seemed at its worst.
.01) They saw the lice as a blessing from God because it kept the guards from stripping them naked to do a body search.
F.) No matter how bad the situation, have an attitude of resilience.
G.) Ask others for their support and be willing to receive it.
H.) Practice spirituality. By that I mean stay in touch with God.
I.) Practice self-care.
J.) As strength and healing come give of yourself to others in similar hard times.
