"The Christian response to a world of tragedy: the strawberry plant."
2 Corinthians 1:3-11
Robert Warren
September 23rd, 2001
2 Corinthians 1:3-11
Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and 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. For just as the sufferings of Christ flow over into our lives, so also through Christ our comfort overflows. If we are distressed, it is for your comfort and salvation; if we are comforted, it is for your comfort, which produces in you patient endurance of the same sufferings we suffer. And our hope for you is firm, because we know that just as you share in our sufferings, so also you share in our comfort. We do not want you to be uninformed, brothers, about the hardships we suffered in the province of Asia. We were under great pressure, far beyond our ability to endure, so that we despaired even of life. Indeed, in our hearts we felt the sentence of death. But this happened that we might not rely on ourselves but on God, who raises the dead. He has delivered us from such a deadly peril, and he will deliver us. On him we have set our hope that he will continue to deliver us, as you help us by your prayers. Then many will give thanks on our behalf for the gracious favor granted us in answer to the prayers of many.
There is a Zen Buddhist story of a monk who was fleeing from a hungry tiger. The monk was running for his life when he came to the edge of a cliff cutting off any hope of escape from the hungry tiger. Fortunately for the monk, a vine happens to be growing over the edge. He grabs hold of it and begins to climb down the cliff, out of the tiger’s reach, who is by now glaring at him from above. But alas, as the monk is climbing down, he spies another tiger waiting for him below; circling impatiently at the bottom of the cliff. Then, to make matters worse, out of the corner of his eye he notices a mouse on a ledge above him beginning to gnaw through the vine. Then, out of the corner of his eye he sees a strawberry plant growing from a crack in the cliff face.
Not a very good situation to be in, is it? Instead of being between a rock and a hard place, our monk friend is between a tiger and a tiger. Well, I think that it is safe to say that a lot of us are feeling a lot like that here lately. There is trouble above us, trouble below, trouble all around. We feel like we can’t go forward, we can’t go back, and we can’t stay where we are. Suddenly, we have a sense of how vulnerable we are as a nation and how helpless we are as individuals. We may have suspected it all along, but now we know beyond a shadow of a doubt that our world is a dangerous, violent, brutish place. We are living in fear. We are filled with despair.
The current generation, born since 1980, has never known this kind of fear. They have never known a major war with a large loss of American life. My generation has memories of the Cold War and the possibility of a nuclear disaster, but that was always a remote fear. So, for nearly 30 years we have been living with peace, prosperity, and plenty. But now all of that has come crashing to the earth like the planes piloted by terrorists.
We have seen a lot of heroism and a lot of determination. We have seen a nation uniting together in ways that we have not witnessed in the last 60 years. We have seen a willingness to stand up to the evil people who are willing to cause this level of pain and grief. But we have also seen fear and uncertainty.
The stock market has shown the fear of investors. Many stocks are suffering, though stocks in companies which sell guns and ammunition are up.
Military personnel are afraid that their lives are going to be disrupted as they prepare for war. Who knows whether or not they will be shipped out to face our national enemies? How do you make plans as a family for the future when you’re not sure if you’re going to be separated for a time in the near future.
Companies are afraid to relocate to high rises. It used to be a status symbol to be headquartered in the biggest building in a city; now it seems like a senseless risk.
Cities are now places of fear. People just don’t want to be in high-profile world cities where there are a lot of people and public places. A lot of people were nervous about going to college games yesterday, and the NFL games will be watched with great scrutiny today. Boston was told to be especially aware of suspicious behavior this week. I was talking with a friend who was going to Atlanta and we discussed the fear of being in a city that large this week.
But to be honest, our world has always been a place of fear. The first pair of brothers included a murderer. With the introduction of sin into the world came fear and violence. Whether we wanted to admit it or not, we have lived in a world of senseless destruction long before September 11th, 2001 brought it home to us. Our world is dangerous, our lives are uncertain, our future is far from being assured. If the World Trade Center had not been attacked it would still be dangerous to drive to Atlanta. If there were no terrorists targeting Atlanta, we would still have to fear thugs who are willing to kill for the money in our pockets. We fear accidents, crime, diseases, natural disasters and all sorts of bogey-men.
The question for us today as a church is this: How do we as Christians handle the fear and troubles of our world?
We should have some sort of answer to give to the world when faced with the uncertainty and peril that we live in. After all, we claim that there is some sort of order to this world; we state that there is a God in heaven who cares for us and intervenes in the world. We claim to have found the meaning of life. We claim to have in our possession God’s very Word. To be honest, the world is looking to us for some kind of answer. They may not believe in our God or bow to our Lord, but they are looking to us in a new way to see what kind of response we have to this latest tragedy. One result of the violence of September 11th is that a flood of people have been flocking to churches to look up to the pulpit and to look around to the pews around them for some kind of rational explanation for our faith. Ken Garfield, the religion writer for the Charlotte Observer wrote yesterday about the traffic jam that he encountered the other day. That’s not unusual for Charlotte. What was unusual was the day: it was a Sunday and the mob of cars were on their way to church.
Our nation is turning to God in a way that would be exciting if it were not for the reason behind it: the death of over 6,000 innocent lives. As a nation, we are starting to realize that we need to rely on a higher power. Our military is not always going to be able to get us out of every jam; it was helpless as the Pentagon smoldered. Our financial security is not going to save us; it crumbled to the ground in the collapse of the twin towers and the collapse of the stock market the next week. Our government is not all-powerful; all the wonderful speeches and legislation will not put an end to evil. Our borders are not impenetrable; the distance between us and the world suddenly got a lot shorter. Who is our refuge? Who is our safety? Is there any hope for a nation hanging on a vine between two tigers? With nowhere left to go, the nation has turned momentarily to God.
Abraham Lincoln said, "I have been driven many times to my knees by the overwhelming conviction that I had nowhere else to go. My own wisdom, and that of all about me seemed insufficient for the day." That quote might be the theme of America right now: we are on our knees because there is nowhere else to go.
But the attention span of the nation is short and the question of the day is: How do we as Christians handle the fear and troubles of our world? The world is listening, how are we going to answer? What hope will we give to the world? What example will we give? How will we defend the God who for whatever reason allowed this to happen (though He did not cause it to happen)? And more personally, how will you as a Christian respond to this tragedy... and indeed, all of the tragedies of life? How do you deal with terrorists who cause you fear? How do you deal with cancer which lays you low? How do you deal with marital difficulties which cut out your heart? How do you deal with the death of a loved one? How do you deal with the tigers of life?
How do we Christians deal with the fear and troubles of our world? The answer is found in the book of 2 Corinthians, especially in chapter 1 verses 3 through 11.
First, we learn in this passage that God really cares about our concerns in this world of sin and that He looks upon us with compassion. Verse 3 describes God as the "Father of compassion and the God of all comfort." We can not say that God caused this world to be full of sin and sorrow: He created it perfectly and declared it good. We can not say that tragedies such as this are God’s will, or else we would not be taught to pray, "Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven." The fact is, God’s will is not seen in the death of innocent people. We can not even say that God promised us that things would always be easy for us on earth, even for those of us who call upon His name. Jesus warned us that in this world we would have trouble. But most importantly, we can never say that God does not care.
Here this, if you hear nothing else this morning: God is the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort. Just stop and think for a minute what this means. God is the Father of compassion: He feels our pain. He hurts when we do. His heart is broken when He sees the tears and the heartache of His children. Compassion is a feeling of pity that makes one want to help or show mercy. That’s something that is hard for me to wrap my brain around. God is not just in heaven looking down with the same kind of nonchalance that you would feel when looking down on an anthill. No, he is feeling the same grief that we are feeling. He is enraged at the sin and injustice which is all around us. He is wanting to comfort us in our troubles.
Our first response to the world as Christians in this time of trouble is to show that we really do believe that our God is concerned with our suffering and feels it more deeply than we could ever know: He is the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort. He longs to soothe our pain and dry the tears in our eyes. Our God really cares; His heart was broken much more than we could ever understand as He watched the destruction of human life. Jesus did not promise that we would be free from pain, but he did promise that we would have the Holy Spirit as a comforter for times such as this. Through the Holy Spirit we have the Father of all compassion and comfort living within us.
Second, God has a method of transmitting that care and compassion to His world. We Christians are comforted by God so that we can share that comfort with the world. You, the Christian, are God’s method of showing the world that there is a God in heaven who has heard their cries. Unlike the rest of the world, we Christians have a living God to turn to in times such as this. I think this is why so much of the world has turned to the church during this time; we have a prayer, we have a savior to turn to for comfort. The world wants to know what comfort we receive during this time as a result of having intimate contact with the living God.
Therefore, through Christ, we are God’s chosen vessels to transmit His compassion to the world. We do not just turn to God for comfort and hoard that Good News for ourselves. Instead, we are strengthened so that we can be a blessing to the rest of the world. Verses 4-7 "[God] comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves have received from God. For just as the sufferings of Christ flow over into our lives, so also through Christ our comfort overflows. If we are distressed, it is for your comfort and salvation; if we are comforted, it is for your comfort, which produces in you patient endurance of the same sufferings we suffer. And our hope for you is firm, because we know that just as you share in our sufferings, so also you share in our comfort.
Our concern as Christians is to be strengthened by the comfort and compassion of God so that we can share that comfort and compassion with the rest of the world. In such a time as this, we should be a shining light of peace for the world to look to. Radio Shack has an ad campaign which says, "You have questions, we have answers." This should be the motto of Christians during times of suffering. The world has questions, we have the answer. Yes, this is a time of distress, but the world’s distress is different than that of the church. The world is concerned about their life and their security. We should be concerned for the comfort and salvation of the lost, as verse 6 states. The world is turning to our military and government for answers, we should be pointing them to the security and might of our all-powerful God. We may not have answers to why people are willing to cause so much pain, but we have answers concerning the future, eternal life, and the judgement of those who reject God. God comforts us so that we can be a comfort to the world.
Finally, our witness to the world in times of trouble brings glory to God. Hear me carefully: I’m not saying that God caused this tragedy in order to receive glory. God’s glory is seen in His beauty, grace and compassion; not in sin and evil. Yet, it is the response of the church to our evil world that brings glory to God. How do we respond when the world is looking to us? Do we show anger, fear, dread and panic? Or do we show faith, grace, love and hope? Paul says that the way we respond to hardships as Christians will be a witness to the world in verses 9-11: "Indeed, in our hearts we felt the sentence of death. But this happened that we might not rely on ourselves but on God, who raises the dead. He has delivered us from such a deadly peril, and he will deliver us. On him we have set our hope that he will continue to deliver us, as you help us by your prayers. Then many will give thanks on our behalf for the gracious favor granted us in answer to the prayers of many."
A lot is riding on our response as Christians to this tragedy. I’m sure that for a while this nation is going to be seeking answers. People will reevaluate their lives. People will value their families more. People will spend their time differently. People will look at the priorities in their life. People will reexamine their relationship with God. During this time of soul-seeking we in the church have an opportunity to point to God as the source of our strength.
How we respond will say a lot about what we really believe. Will we declare to the world that we rely not on ourselves but God? Will we declare that we believe that God can raise the dead? Will we declare that God can deliver us and will continue to deliver us, no matter what happens? If we do, "Then many will give thanks on our behalf for the gracious favor granted us in answer to the prayers of many."
