The Lutheran Hour
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"Faith Sees Through Suffering"
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Text: Mark 8:27-35
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Grace, and mercy, and peace to you in Jesus’ Name; a Savior who suffered for all that all might live forever in Him, Amen.
What kind of Savior is this? Is He like so many today, a self-help guru or a power of positive thinking Preacher? Well, He’s nothing of the sort, that’s for sure! Who goes around building a movement that will change the world by talking about things like suffering, being rejected, and then killed? And then who further pours cold water on the fire of His growing popularity by saying that all who “follow Him, all who trust in Him,” they too must deny themselves, not only face up to the crosses of this world, but take up one’s own cross in serving others in His Name. Whatever you think about Jesus Christ, there is no One like Him in this world. He is what He says He is, the Savior of the world, but to be that is to be the only One who could and would face down sin, death, and Satan himself for the sake of those who needed Him most (even if those same people would actually put Him on the cross).
It was nearly the end of the Second World War. A young, German Lutheran pastor named Dietrich Bonhoeffer, sat alone, in the darkness of a cell in one of Hitler’s Concentration Camps. He was an early resistor of the Nazi movement, one who spoke out vehemently against Hitler’s misuse of power and his corruption of German life, especially his corrupting of the German Church.
He wrote, “When Christ calls a man, he bids him to come and die.” Resolutely, then. standing up for his faith, such a public confession of his faith in Jesus as well as his public resistance against Hitler, eventually led to his imprisonment and ultimately his execution.
Bonhoeffer’s public confession of Christ cost him his life. It shows again that in this evil world there is often suffering to bear for sharing the Good News of Jesus.
In our text for today we see that and much more, for Jesus Christ, clearly doing and saying the Father’s will completely for all, such faithfulness led Him to persecution, to abuse, and ultimately to death on the cross. Jesus had to suffer the cross for our sin, He had to take upon Himself what no mere man could withstand, He took upon Himself the eternal weight of this world’s sin and evil and He is looking for a people who will be willing to suffer whatever comes our way, to share with others the forgiveness, life, and peace that He has won for all.
For those who trust in this suffering Savior, Jesus, for those who are willing to follow Him, to pay the price of sharing Him with others, there is a promise…faith in Jesus sees through suffering.
“Then He (Jesus) called the crowd to Him along with His disciples and said: ‘If anyone would come after Me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow Me.'”
The gospel account in Mark 8 is a clear proclamation of what Jesus Himself said He came to do, and what kind of people His church, His followers were to be. The text says, “And He spoke plainly about these things! He spoke of the reality of suffering for sin in His mission and He spoke of the willingness of His people to suffer for others.” It must be this way!
Have you ever noticed that the people in our society who tend to suffer ridicule, mercilessly being made fun of day and night, are often decent, even good people? What is it about our society that the more profane you are, the more outrageous you are, the more unhinged a person’s life might be, that person often tends to be treated with sympathetic indifference or even public admiration.
Now there are those who say, “That’s easy. It’s because those supposed good people are always hypocrites.” Now that charge may be true at times, but not always. Anyway, the Christian faith has never claimed that Christians, followers of Jesus, are perfect people. In fact, we suffer from the same temptations and struggles as anyone else. To be a follower of Christ doesn’t make a person a “holier than thou” prude. It makes one a forgiven sinner who strives to lead a faithful life in service to others, loving others as God, in Christ, loves them.
But if that “hypocrite” charge is correct, why did these same things and worse happen to Jesus? He was no hypocrite. He was, in fact, a Servant to all, One beloved by many. He was authentic, He was sincere, He was One who blessed, forgave, healed, and comforted others. Yet He suffered a fate beyond measure.
Jesus answers such a question. In an evil, sinful world, the Savior must suffer the cross for you and me so that we might be saved!
Jesus Himself says that “It is necessary.” Something that must happen to save people from this world’s all-so-pervasive evil, God Himself must enter into sinful people’s suffering, into their judgment in order to liberate them from what literally “enslaves them.” No matter what the cost.
John Stott wrote, “I could never believe in God, if it were not for the cross… In the real world of pain, how could one worship a God who was immune to it? I have entered many Buddhist temples in different Asian countries and stood respectfully before the statue of Buddha, his legs crossed, arms folded, eyes closed, the ghost of a smile playing round his mouth, a remote look on his face, detached from the agonies of the world. But, each time after a while I have had to turn away. And in imagination I turned instead to that lonely, twisted, tortured figure on the cross, nails through hands and feet, back lacerated, limbs wrenched, brow bleeding from thorn-pricks, mouth dry and intolerably thirsty, plunged in God-forsaken darkness. This is the God for me! He laid aside His immunity to pain. He entered our world of flesh and blood, tears and death. He suffered for us. Our sufferings become more manageable in light of His.”The journey to true faith must come to grips with the holiness of God and the sinfulness of humanity and the all-encompassing reality of a personal God who would suffer rebellious humanity’s hell so that there could be abundant, eternal life available to all again. That’s no easy journey either.
In our text the first disciples recoiled at this Jesus. The Apostle Peter, the leader of the disciples, at first rejected such statements outright. He said to Jesus’ plan of salvation, “no way, no suffering, no crosses for my salvation. No cross for you, too, Jesus, if you want to be my Messiah.”
Much like our society’s modern ridicule of Jesus, we, too, reject such a message at first because it reveals our utter need; it exposes our religious religiosity or philosophical inanity and it calls us to faith, not in ourselves, but in the One who would enter our sinful degradation all the way, so that we could have His life, eternally by grace!
“He (Jesus) then began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things, be rejected by the elders and the teachers of the law and that He must be killed and after three days rise again.”
Suffering was a reality in the life of Jesus because He came to save us from our sin. Where there is evil, there is suffering; where there is sin, there is suffering. Where there are men and women, there is sin. That’s the proclamation of Scripture, too. Jesus had to suffer the cross for you and me. This is the place where faith in Christ begins. If our Lenten reflection empowers us at all, it must begin here. Lord, I deserve nothing but Your eternal punishment and death for my sin. Naked, without excuse, I stand before Your throne! It is true. It is true. The cross was necessary for me!
But, if it is true, then the cross and the resurrection of the One who suffered for me is the place of my eternal confidence, my never-ending joy because even where there is sin and suffering, there is the suffering Savior for you. Even where there is pain and injustice, there is an eternal hope that cannot be extinguished. By His death, He destroyed death! By His suffering, He drained suffering of all of its power!
True faith outlasts suffering because true faith is connected to the life, and death, and resurrection of the suffering Savior for you. His presence sustains us, His Word guides us, and His promises are sure no matter what the circumstance.
Faith outlasts suffering because faith never looks at suffering alone. It always looks to Christ in the midst of trial! Faith sees Jesus, His resources, His armor, His promises right in the middle of suffering.
B.M. Launderville wrote, “The vine clings to the oak during the fiercest of storms. Although the violence of nature may uproot the oak, twining tendrils still cling to it. If the vine is on the side opposite the wind, the great oak is its protection; if it is on the exposed side, the tempest only presses it closer to the trunk. In some of the storms of life, God intervenes and shelters us; while in others He allows us to be exposed so that we will be pressed more closely to Him.”
But you also know that when Jesus calls you to faith, to follow Him, not only is He joyfully pouring His resources and strength into your life, He’s calling you to live that “grace life” to take up your cross for others.
And this is not Jesus calling you to some morbid spiritual discipline. He’s not demanding your pound of flesh for His gracious kindness. No, He’s merely calling God’s people to the reality of the cost of sharing the gracious life of faith in Him to others in this sinful, evil world. Jesus doesn’t make us pay in our walk with Him, our sinful, evil, needing grace world does.
So, Christ is looking for a people who will make a difference in this world. He is looking for a people to be outposts of His healing in a destructive world. In fact, the Christian life grows stronger as it faces suffering, resistance, and challenge with the good news of Jesus Christ alive in our lives! Faith muscles need to be exercised in the strength-engendering, resistance-training of taking up one’s cross for another.
On December 29, 1987, a Soviet cosmonaut returned to earth after 326 days in orbit. He was in good health, which was not always the case in those record breaking voyages. At zero gravity, you see, the muscles of the body begin to waste away because there is no resistance. To counteract this, the Soviets prescribed a vigorous exercise program for the cosmonauts. They invented the “penguin suit,” a running suit laced with elastic bands. It resists every move the cosmonauts make, forcing them to exert their strength in everything they do.
When Jesus says, “If anyone would come after Me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow Me,” He’s not merely laying on us a “Penguin suit of minimal resistance” to help us re-enter human society. No, this is no works religion for our spiritual blessing. He paid the price for our abundant life and salvation. But, like that suit which offered up resistance so that muscles would continue to fire for the sake of a successful mission, so does taking up our cross for the sake of others. Faith muscles grow in service because such faith must constantly return to the source of its strength, the words and the promises of our suffering Savior. But such faith serves others into Christ’s kingdom as well.
In fact, Christians on that mission tend to look at things like suffering and trial much differently than those who do not have faith in Jesus. First, we, like anyone, we don’t like to suffer, but we begin to see through it by faith. You might say that faith transforms suffering. Suffering is not about you paying for your sins, Jesus did that. It is about paying the price to share this Jesus with others.
Paying a price to share His Good News. Such things can be times for spiritual growth! In a world where the Gospel seems too good to be true, here come those Christians who seem to be willing to pay a price, whatever that price is, just so that another might believe as well.
Saint Peter would later write in 1 Peter 2:20ff, “If you suffer for doing good and you endure it, this is commendable before God. That’s why you were called to faith because Christ suffered for you, leaving you an example, that you should follow in His steps!”
Christ’s example for us was His enduring patience, His willingness to suffer not only our sins, but our ignorance, our rebellion, even our indifference so that we would finally see God’s love for us as a gift of Grace. That was the joy set before Him that the Hebrews writer speaks about in Hebrews 12. He paid the price to even deliver such grace to you and me.
So, take up your cross, love those in your life the very way that Christ loves you.
And remember, it’s not take up His cross, but yours! His cross is for you; your cross is for another. So, it’s take up your cross to the hospital bed, the broken home; to the life of one suffering with the loss of a loved one! It’s to the one who is suddenly without work, or to the friend who is struggling with a son or daughter, to those whose marriage is suddenly on shaky ground. Take up your cross for them, with them, in Christ.
For such faith can see through such suffering as well. Jesus is looking to make us a people who in His strength and courage can allow themselves to be broken, so that others might receive the blessings of Christ! These are the people that will change the world!
And even here we have His promise, too. As Romans says, (Romans 5:3) – “We rejoice in our sufferings (for Jesus) because we know that suffering produces perseverance, perseverance, character, and character, hope! And this hope does not disappoint us because God has poured out His love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit!”
Calbraith Perry Rogers is the little known aviator who in 1911 completed the first coast-to-coast crossing of the United States in an airplane. Roger’s plane was a Wright Ex-Biplane. He took off from Sheepshead Bay, Long Island, N.Y., Sept.17, 1911 and landed in Pasadena, Calif. on Nov. 5, 1911. He made his ultimate goal of Long Beach, one month later.
49 days, 49 whole days to complete this trip. His air time, though, was only 3 days, 10 hours, 14 minutes of those 49 days. Along the way, he crashed 39 times and made 30 other unscheduled stops. The only parts of the original plane left were the vertical rudder and the drip pan. All he really had for the trip was himself and the ability to fly! And he made it! 49 days, 39 crashes, 30 other stops! “Through the suffering, through the pain,” he made it!
Well, the engine that you have to fly in this world, is no little plane engine. The wings that you have to soar in this world are no “Wright ex-Biplane” wings.
The Prophet Isaiah says in Isaiah 40:31, “Those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.”
What you and I have is the blessings and power of Christ, and the wings of faith in Him that can literally empower, and transform, and see us through the sufferings that come in this world.
The victory is yours even now in the middle of the suffering! Sure there will be some crashes, sure there will be some unscheduled stops, there are always crosses to bear in loving others with Jesus’ gracious, mercy filled love. But, faith in Him outlasts, transforms, and perseveres through it. Jesus had to suffer for you; you and I, in His strength are willing to suffer for others! As Jesus said, “it is necessary” but oh so very beneficial.
In Jesus’ Name. Amen.
LUTHERAN HOUR MAILBOX (Questions & Answers) for March 4, 2012
Topic: Suffering? Taking Up Crosses?Announcer: Now, Pastor Gregory Seltz responds to questions. I’m Mark Eischer. A listener wants to know: when Jesus talks about “anyone who follows Him must take up his cross;” well, okay, why would anyone want to be a Christian if suffering is a normal part of the Christian life?
Seltz: That does sound like a “deal breaker” doesn’t it?
Announcer: Well, really. No one wants to suffer unless they have too.
Seltz: And I think that’s the point. Is suffering and sacrifice part of the essence of real love, real forgiveness, and real mercy? I think that people know this to be true even at a very basic level.
Announcer: Really? How do you mean?
Seltz: Well, do you remember the common saying, “It is better to have loved and lost than to have never loved at all?”
Announcer: Right. Yeah.
Seltz: Well, even there people realize that to experience and to share love, there is a cost. But, the question is, is it worth it?
Announcer: We should point out, though; Jesus isn’t talking about the love between two people, a relationship-type of love, is He?
Seltz: You’re right. He’s talking about something much deeper, the love of God for them in Him. But, that love even transforms all those other loves. But, even here, His love is to be shared. In fact, when Jesus calls us to take up our cross for others, He’s inviting us to love others the way that He loves us.
Announcer: All right. That’s an important distinction. It’s not a morbid call to pay the price for being a Christian; rather look at is as an invitation to roll up your sleeves and love others following Christ’s example.
Seltz: Well said. But there is a cost, then, for sharing such a love in a sinful, evil world. And I think that’s why Jesus prepares us for the challenge by calling us to take up our cross for others.
Announcer: What might some of those costs be?
Seltz: Well, people can take advantage of this kind of selfless love. They can ridicule it, reject it. They can even caricature Christians who try to demonstrate Christ’s love to others. Just look at how our world treats all public Christian people.
Announcer: Seems to be a lot of cynicism.
Seltz: Yes, there sure is, and I think that’s one of the reasons why is that people can’t believe that such love, God’s unconditional, eternal love, they really can’t believe it exists for them. We live in a “dog-eat-dog” world where everyone is out to use one another to get ahead in this world. Who really cares for someone just because? And who is going to do what God wants done for somebody else and not for some selfish reason?
Announcer: Which explains why the first reaction is often cynicism or ridicule and people might think Christians are either just naïve or they’re playing the same game as everyone else, but they’re just putting a happy Christian face on it.
Seltz: Well, I think that’s where we begin to “carry our cross” for that person. That’s where we hang in there with that friend, or neighbor, or relative because Christ does that and more with us. That’s where we take those initial hits, even unfair responses, but we don’t take them too personally, hoping that someday that person might truly see how much God cares for them through us.
Announcer: So when we love others in Jesus’ Name, there are crosses to bear, there’s suffering to endure, sacrifices to make. Surely there are also some benefits too, right?
Seltz: Absolutely, yes. The benefits are beyond one’s imagination because when you’ve won a friend or a brother or sister in Christ, you suddenly share a deep, shared love from God that you experience with another person. It’s a love that really does forgive, and guide, and bless, and encourage. It’s also a friendship that is rooted in a common bond of faith.
Announcer: All right. Now you make that sound kind of exciting!
Seltz: It is! Think about it, when you take up that cross for another, and they ultimately see God’s love for them through your friendship, suddenly they can see God’s purposes in their life, God’s blessing for their life, and they have a tangible example of that love in their life because they have you as a friend. I don’t know if there’s anything more joyful than that.
Announcer: Well, if picking up the cross means all of that, now it sounds like an adventure!
Seltz: Yeah, and it’s a joyful one at that. That’s the joy that Jesus had when He picked up His cross for you. And so picking up our cross, then, is letting others in on that joy.
Announcer: And that’s a joy that’s worth the cost!
Seltz: Absolutely!
Announcer: Thank you, Pastor Seltz; this has been a presentation of Lutheran Hour Ministries.
Music Selections for this program:
“A Mighty Fortress” arranged by Chris Bergmann. Used by permission.
“Who Trusts in God, A Strong Abode” From Heirs of the Reformation: Treasures of the Singing Church (© 2008 Concordia Publishing House)
“Lord, Thee I Love with All My Heart” by J.S. Bach. From Werke für Blechbläser von Bach, u.a (© 1988 Hänssler Verlag, Stuttgart)
“On My Heart Imprint Your Image” arr. David Cherwien. From Hymn Interpretations, vol. 2 by David Cherwien (© 1997 Summa Productions)