Opener: There’s always talk of needing to get out of our Comfort zones….And often it is thought of as noble or daring but in the end, don’t we all just long for comfort??? At the end of the day are we a people who long to have a miserable night or are we thinking “once I get home, I’m gonna put my feet up, watch the tube and just veg out…” I don’t know how the COMFORT zone thing plays itself out in your life but here’s a snapshot of life in my world….As a parent of a 3 yr. Old and a 1 yr. Old, when I think of comfort zone, I think of being able to actually….someday…..in the future….being able to sleep in again and not be woken up by the LOVELY pitter-patter of footsteps calling me out of bed at 5:45 am. Wondering if I would like to play with the hockey men or to pretend I am a boulder, a crab, a turtle that is supposed to chase him around as he acts like CRASH BANDICOOT from Sony Playstation folklore. Parenting, I am learning, often calls you out of your comfort zone and asks you to do what you may not otherwise do….
But what if I told you that I want you to consider how you can stay in your comfort zone? Nice huh? Uhhhhhhhhh….nice until you discover what the comfort zone of the Christian life looks like….It ain’t just chillin’ out on a beach with a drink on your side (ie: Corona beer commercials; SOUTHERN comfort liqueur)…..it’s a comfort zone that’s loaded with other stuff…but it’s a comfort zone that is more in touch with reality…
· it’s in touch with human need
· it’s in touch with the things that are on God’s heart
COMFORT: (translated as CONSOLATION in some texts)….
Ø The comfort which God bestows upon his children
Ø GRK: The sense of standing beside a person to encourage him/her while going under severe testing in certain circumstances/events
Ø A deeper, different comfort….not cushy or easy!
And it’s a comfort zone where we will be able to be the people of God who live out a “COMFORT-able” Christian faith…. A faith that is able to comfort ‘cuz it’s grounded in reality of the ups and downs of life. (Don’t ya hate it when someone is trying to comfort you and they’re not in touch with reality….or there not even connecting with you cuz they’re just waiting to give you their latest news???)
SO…..What is Christianity that is able to comfort???? Let me suggest that it involves 3 aspects….THE FIRST ONE IS THIS….
1) COMFORT-able Christianity…. knows pain and suffering (it knows WHAT?????….I don’t know if I like this kind of comfort???!!!!????)
READ verses 3-7
(Talk of 2 Cor. Background… Paul’s defense of character and ministry and in this section he’s outlining his dependance on God and the fact that Life is not so CUSHY…it’s not easy street but he’s willing to live down there for the sake of Christ)
Are you having a bad week???? Welcome to comfort-able christianity. I don’t know what got you through the door into kingdom living, but I doubt that you came to Christ because you thought it was going to be the pyramid marketing approach to successful religious living. What I mean by that is we are often drawn to the feet of Jesus because that’s where life circumstances have taken us….down on our bellies or our faces….with no place to look but UP….and were humbled….and that’s why we end up at the FEET of Christ….. perhaps we’ve come through a tough time, or a challenging situation that turns our world upside-down or maybe we’ve lost it all and finally have a need that can’t be filled by our selves or in our own strength. If you have come to Christ because you think you were going to be an added bonus to the people of God (like, what is God going to do without me???) then perhaps you need to rethink your Christian journey. Now don’t get me wrong, I’m not downplaying the Christian life….but I’m saying the Christian life is like marriage in some ways….do you REALLY know what you’re getting into???? When I talk to people about being married or single, I try to give them the impression that it is better to be single than to marry the wrong person……don’t get married just cuz you feel like you have to or need to….cuz marriage IS A BIG DEAL…..and it can be a gloriously FUN and FULFILLING deal but reality is that it has it’s stresses….it has its disappointments…..it has its conflicts….and if you’re not aware about that before you go in then you’ve only been sold half the story.
It’s the same with our Christian faith. Yes, life with Jesus is the only way to true life….true fulfillment….true peace, joy and love…..but IT’s not easy street. The Christian life is filled with pain and suffering. It’s filled with bad stuff….bad news…heartbreak….broken relationships….sickness…..frustration….dissension…grief. Jesus Christ….who is the one we follow and pray and give our lives to…..he did not have a cakewalk calling. He had a tough life….especially at the end…..He suffered and died on a cruel cross….betrayed by his friends….abandoned…..
BUT IT HAD A PURPOSE!! The death of Jesus was the way to eternal life for all of humankind. SO…..There IS a purpose to our pain!!!!! Let’s read again…..verse 4….”God comforts us….so that we can comfort others…with the comfort that we received from God.” And in verse 5 we read that “just as the sufferings of Christ flow OVER into our lives, so also through Christ, our COMFORT overFLOWS!” So Paul, is saying that the more SUFFERING that is flowing, the more COMFORT there will be to flow as well….(and perhaps your saying…that perhaps it would be nice if the flow could at least be turned back a little???). Now, I’m not sure I’m too excited about the pre-requisites for comfort either….but at the heart of it….there’s a satisfaction or an assurance in knowing that the pain in our lives (which is inevitable) has a purpose….and the purpose is so that we can use hard times in order to find comfort in God and thus be able to comfort others (cuz look around you…..there’s no shortage of pain in this world….or in this city….or bring it closer to this community…or even your inner circle of friends and family! Let’s not be surprised at all the pain but be amazed at the fact that we have someone to go to with our pain….Henri Nouwen talks of pain and purpose in his book called “Wounded Healer”….He writes: (see Nouwen attachment)
Having a horrible week???? Don’t try to run away from it….don’t try to get away from the pain….(I’m not a masochist here) but embrace the hard times and look to see the lessons that Jesus is teaching you…..and maybe there isn’t a profound lesson to be learned….but Jesus will be present in the midst of your pain and suffering
Read Isaiah 53:3-5
He’s familiar with it and he’ll show up in the midst of your dark valley so that you will be carried through and be able to share the story of salvation and restoration with others.
Look at verse 7….” As you share in suffering, you share in comfort.” Looking for REAL comfort????? It’s found in suffering. You never know how good healing feels until you get hurt….if you have comfort without suffering….you’ve got a fantasy island idea of what comfort is…..
COMFORT-able Christianity knows pain and suffering…but it’s not a futile effort…it’s not a dead-end pain….for the Lord…the God of comfort….will (as in the Living Bible)…”He will give you the strength to endure.” (v. 7b).
2) COMFORT-able Christianity…. knows a hope beyond the here and now (it’s not trusting in its own resources/strength)
READ verses 8-10
So, I’ve talked about this CHRISTIAN comfort that is only found in the midst of suffering…now, again, I don’t want you to get caught up in a masochist framework ( I had a friend once, who thought he was an amazing Christian because he lived in a rotting basement suite with a tyrannical landlord….”I must be a Christian…’cuz I’m in this pest-infested basement and I’m still so happy…).
The only reason that we can truly have this perspective of pain & comfort is that we have a hope that is beyond the here and the now. The Christian FAITH that is able to comfort is not done in it’s own strength…it’s done in the strength of the ONE who is able to conquer sin and death….in verses 8-9, Paul is readily admitting that he was in deeper than he could handle. He was caught up in pain and hardship that was “beyond what he was able to endure.” He admits this!! Paul was in despair!! (Why can’t we admit this sometime, eh?) But in the same breath, he also reveals where his strength came from. It wasn’t from his own grin and bear it attitude….it wasn’t from his own resources. He looked to a hope that had already raised others to life….a power that could wipe out the forces of death…..He looked to God and the power of HIS holy Spirit that resurrected Jesus and thus had the power to resurrect Paul who felt as good as dead in the midst of his hardships (what were these hardships??? Some commentators say they were physical…some say they were emotional or personal….there is more leanings towards the latter…..Paul had a hard gig…proclaiming the gospel as radically as he did…there was bound to be some hardship!!). BUT PAUL… knew of a God who resurrected Jesus from the dead so he knew darn well that this same God could resurrect him from feeling like death warmed over.
So for us to live out a comfort-ABLE christianity, we are called to do the same. Not to try and plug away in our own strength to solve the problems of the world but to truly rely on HOPE in the power of God to do what he needs to do. (we’re bad at this! I’m bad at this! But we need to simply put ourselves in positions where were in deeper than we can get out on our own and then we see God can move). This year’s ministry team has been a live lesson in being in something deeper than what we can do ourselves…let me give you a little example….by faith, I collected a bunch of phone #’s from the yellow pages from a Gas station in Pocatello, Idaho, hoping to find a church that would put us up for a night as we travelled to and from LA…and I made calls and I got rejected (as soon as the Pastor found out who we were, he recommended his friend?!?)…and people prayed….and then churches started to open up and now we have three places that are willing to take us in….AND I KNOW IT’S NOT ME….’cuz only God could place the vision in my heart and then actually pull it off…ONLY GOD.
· THAT’s why the Ministry team verse this year is so important!! “Brothers & sisters, think of what you were when you were called….”
God has answered many a prayer for this year’s ministry team…..he has answered in ways that were above and beyond my limited ideas [look at the benefit concert idea….that was Alycia!! I didn’t see it coming….but MAN….was that a pheonomenal idea!!!!! And it’s not just the money idea, it was a holy celebration for the churched and the non-churched to be blessed with an incredible night of God-gifted talent ] (share some examples here…ie: Leaders, lodging, the right kids, fundraising…etc) “LET HIM WHO BOASTS…BOAST IN THE LORD!!!!!!”
And this is the second component of COMFORT-able Christianity. It’s a faith adventure that knows a hope that is beyond the here and now…and doesn’t rely on its own strength or resources to get the job done…..the 3rd point goes hand in hand…..and we’ve already hit on it a bit…..there’s a DEPENDENCE component to Comfort-able Chrisitianity….
3) COMFORT-able CHRISTIANITY… knows the partnership of prayer (it leans on the prayers of others) [ministry team is going to lean on you in the weeks to come!!]
READ verses 10b-11b “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.”
Paul continues to push this NON-lone ranger attitude…this community-of-faith idea. He writes….”were gonna hope…AS YOU HELP US by your prayers.” I love that line!! I am sometimes distraught when I hear of someone who actually turns down the offer of a prayer. Their response may be…”No, don’t worry about it, you don’t need to pray for me.” Or “there’s no need to pray….there’s not much that prayer can do now…” I don’t know if these people are trying to be humble or what….but I just can’t agree with the attitude of NOT wanting prayer. Paul writes that his HOPE is linked to the PRAYERS OF OTHERS!! We must be reminded of the same….
WHY do we pray for one another???? Not so we magically feel better or as a good luck charm….but because we rely on each other in order to feed our hope with prayers!! It’s a partnership….that’s why you should ask someone to pray for you, so that it’s truly a partnership….like I said, it’s not magical….it’s just a fact of community! If you are praying with me for something….you get in on the GLORY of answered prayer! Isn’t that cool???? You get to share in on the blessings…cuz you prayed. This is not a quantity issue either…..if you’ve prayed once for us, you can have as much glory as if you prayed 24-7 for us…..don’t you want to get in on the blessing???? Partner in prayer and take some credit for God’s blessings that he’s spreading worldwide! Hallelu-YAH!
· Let’s look at the prayer Card TRS-LA! Here is your opportunity to partner with us in prayer….
BUT let’s not just leave partnering in prayer to the Ministry Team focus….this should be a WAY of LIFE for us! Always partnering in prayer (formal like prayer meeting or prayer chain…..informal like sharing in prayer with others)……so that you can share in the glory and honor of answered prayer and seeing how God responds to us in prayer…and ultimately learning more in your relationship with Christ….
* Insert an Oswald quote here…”Pray so that you may KNOW HIM better”
CONCLUSION:
So, I am convinced that God is calling us, as his people, to comfort. But we’ve gotta break away from our worldly definition of cushy, lotto 649 comfort. Is there really such a thing as easy comfort???? Not in God’s economy….comfort comes with a price….not cold hard cash, but cold hardship…….but it’s not necessarily hardship that leaves you high and dry…abandoned and depressed….it’s hard times that lead to PATIENT ENDURANCE (v. 6)…..a patient endurance that holds fiercely to the HOPE that Jesus is alive, and powerful enough to work in the midst of our crises. And a comfort that is shared with each other for the GLORY of God….and a comfort that is accessed and received through the community of Faith as we pray for one another and make our prayer partnerships a significant component of our Christian lives.
May we at First Baptist, be known as a people who (in a GOOD AND HOLY WAY…) live in the Comfort-zone of Christianity…..allowing our lives to be humble and sometimes cracked and broken vessels who find comfort in THE GOD OF ALL COMFORT and then with brim overflowing, use that comfort to offer COMFORT and COMPASSION to our friends, our family, our church community and to those that God calls in our lives this day and this week that lays ahead.
LET US PRAY…..
· use a comfort prayer here…..
CLOSING HYMN: OH JESUS, I have Promised
