Title: Where is God?
Invocation: Psalm 13
Responsive Reading: Romans 8:12-25
Text: Hebrews 11:23-28
3By faith Moses was hidden by his parents for three months after his birth, because they saw that the child was beautiful; and they were not afraid of the king’s edict. 24By faith Moses, when he was grown up, refused to be called a son of Pharaoh’s daughter, 25choosing rather to share ill-treatment with the people of God than to enjoy the fleeting pleasures of sin. 26He considered abuse suffered for the Christ to be greater wealth than the treasures of Egypt, for he was looking ahead to the reward. 27By faith he left Egypt, unafraid of the king’s anger; for he persevered as though he saw him who is invisible. 28By faith he kept the Passover and the sprinkling of blood, so that the destroyer of the firstborn would not touch the firstborn of Israel.
FCF: When, in hope, we choose to endure suffering with the people of God over the fleeting pleasures of sin, we choose well, because God is with those who suffer.
Let’s face it, when you think of Moses, you see Charleton Heston. You’ve all seen The Ten Commandments, and you know how forthright, how perfect he is – muscles rippling, every syllable a pronouncement from God, no thought of wavering when he knows what’s right. The problem with that, of course, is that the Ten Commandments is a movie, and Moses was a real live person. He wasn’t the perfect young Adonis – he was an older man who was afraid, who had faults, and one who talk back to God. So, if that’s who Moses really is, sometimes questions come to mind.
Remember, this was a guy who was born in the lap of luxury. But, for some reason that makes no sense to us mere mortals, he chose to give that up. Moses risked a whole lot by choosing to do what God told him, and frankly he suffered for the rest of his life because of it. Forty years of living as a shepherd; forty years wandering in the wilderness with a cantankerous, rebellious people; And, when it came time for Moses to die, God wouldn’t even let him into the Promised Land. He could only see it from a mountaintop over the valley. Moses suffered a long time, and from a purely human perspective, it doesn’t seem like he got a lot out of it.
As somebody who believes that you get what you deserve, that raises a lot of questions for me. Hebrews phrases it best, right here. What would compel anyone to choose suffering for Christ over enjoying the pleasures of the world? I mean, it doesn’t make sense. Given a choice between living in a palace or tent, I know which one I’d do. Given a choice between having servants and being one, I know what I’d do. But the eyes of faith show us that what seems perfectly rational to the hardened heart misses out on the way the world really works. It’s a perfectly valid question – Why not live in sin? Why would you choose suffering? Giving the right answer means a lot more than just getting some point of theology nicely and neatly tied up – it gets to the very nature of God.
So, this morning, I want to pose four questions to you. The first one is this:
I. Why do we choose sin in the first place?
a. I asked my Sunday School class this question once. Probably because it was Sunday school, nobody was willing to answer “Because sin is fun!”
b. In the extreme cases, like alcoholism & drugs, we are so quick to see the trap that its easy to forget, the thing that trapped the person in the first case was pleasure!
c. In Greek, sin is ha’amartia – missing the mark. Anything that falls short of God is sin.
d. Normally, we wouldn’t think of ‘working hard’ as a sin, but I have to tell you it can be. My job at PwC was something I enjoyed at the time – but it cost me a lot. It was a cutthroat place where money was the only motivation. When I wouldn’t overcharge clients, I was accused of not being a team player. But there was always that motivation – I could become partner someday. I finally quit / was fired, and that’s when my life got so much better. I had been suckered by a better than average wage, not seeing what it was doing to my overall life! When I finally escaped that trap, God blessed me so much more!
e. Problem: Sin always seems fun, but there’s usually a trap. “There is a way that seems right to a man, but the end thereof is death!” (Prov 14:12) Again, in the easy cases – alcoholism, drugs, anyone can see it. In the harder cases – working too hard, missing out on God’s grace, it’s a lot harder!
f. In Moses’ case, he had it pretty good. We gloss over the fact that he was royalty – Imagine you’re Princess Di or Camilla Parker-Bowles. It can pretty nice to be royalty. And what he gave it up for was never that great. But he had an eternal reward…
II. If sin is pleasurable, why choose suffering?
III. It’s what God commands
a. Contrast that with Jim Elliott, David Livingstone, Mother Teresa – anybody who ever gave it all up for the sake of the Gospel. To a strictly rational being seems like an irrational decision. But those who choose it always do so in a rational way, because they know that their hope is in a God whose character it is to embrace suffering. Like Moses, they know that God chooses to be with those who are suffering, and if that’s where God is, that’s where they want to be!
b. Paul says, “I do not consider my present sufferings worthy of comparison to the glories…” (Romans 8:18)
c. Jesus says the same thing in Matt 5
“Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
11“Blessed are you when people revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. 12Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.
IV. Where is God in suffering?
It’s where God is
a. Truth of the matter is, we won’t necessarily see justice or restitution for suffering here.
i. Proverbs points out the problem – Because justice doesn’t happen right away, people think it doesn’t come, but it will.
ii. Job & the Psalms are full of ranting – Where is God? How long will you hide?
b. Even if we have to wait, we also have a hope that he is here with us. We all know Philippians 2 – how God willing chose to suffer with us.
c. Germany liked the short-term gains Adolph Hitler gave them, but the end thereof was death. In the short-term, using the Jews as a scapegoat worked, but unsustainable consequences – V2 Rocket program… Most historians agree that Germany would have had the bomb if it weren’t for Hitler killing off the lead Jewish scientists whenever they got too close. Wonder why there is suffering? Not because of God (Lev ??:??) but because evil man creates it!
d. Ellie Wiesel – Where is God? Hanging there on the gallows…
e. Our hope is not in heaven, but in our Father, who is in heaven. We pray his will be done on earth, even as it is in heaven.
V. It’s where we need to be.
If God is here, then where should I be?
a. He’s there now, and he offers hope, if only we have the eyes to see him. It’s not some set of rose colored glasses. It’s not some form of rational suicide. It is simply the understanding that we have a hope. And hope is never fulfilled in the present. But our hope is sure, because our hope is Christ. Would you just praise him now with me?
RESPONSIVE READING
So then, brothers and sisters, we are debtors.
Not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh—for if you live according to the flesh, you will die;
but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live.
For you did not receive a spirit of slavery to fall back into fear,
but you have received a spirit of adoption. When we cry, “Abba! Father!” it is that very Spirit bearing witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs, heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ—
if, in fact we suffer, we suffer with him so that we may also be glorified with him.
I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory about to be revealed to us.
For the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the children of God;
for the creation was subjected to futility, not of its own will but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to decay and will obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God.
We know that the whole creation has been groaning in labor pains until now;
and not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the first fruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly while we wait for adoption, the redemption of our bodies.
For in hope we were saved.
Now hope that is seen is not hope. For who hopes for what is seen?
But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience.
- Romans 8:12-25
