Sermon preached by Dr. John A. Huffman, Jr.
November 9, 2008
Copyright © 2008, John A. Huffman, Jr.
All rights reserved

THE LIFE YOU'RE LOOKING FOR: SUFFERING--FOR CHRIST'S SAKE

(Eighth in a series on the Beatitudes - Matthew 5:10-12)

"Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are you when people revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you." (Matthew 5:10-12

Sooner or later, every single one of us is going to suffer.

Perhaps you are right now in the midst of suffering. Physical pain may plague you. A domestic heartbreak, a shaky marriage or a troubled parent-child relationship may haunt you. Perhaps financial pressures have driven your back to the wall. You may be coming unglued emotionally. Or, spiritually, you may be going through enormous travail.

There are various causes for suffering.

Suffering can be the result of our own mistakes.

I know a man who is now married for the fourth time. His business life is erratic. He daily treads water as fast as he can to keep his head above the economic waters. This man was raised in a Christian home. Yet, he thought he could handle his life in his own way. Scoffing at his parents' faith, he had muddled through life, making a mess of things. He has what you and I would call momentary successes. But the fact of life is that he has produced a whole trail of heartbreak. The eyes of children produced by these marriages follow him with loving/anger-filled, confused puzzlement. My friend's suffering is a result of his own mistakes.

Then there is unmerited suffering.

You and I know individuals whose lives have been filled with various types of pain, which they themselves did not cause.

I know a woman not yet 45 who has lost three husbands--two to cancer and one to a heart attack. Imagine the suffering this comparatively young woman has gone through, as she's been forced to survive these personal losses. At the same time, she has had to perform as a good mother to her four children.

The Apostle Paul referred frequently to his "thorn in the flesh." This was a permanent ailment with which he was afflicted. There seemed to be no release. It stayed with him throughout his entire life. Some say that it was a disease of the eyes. Others say he was an epileptic. Others speculate that he picked up a case of malaria on his first missionary journey in the south coast of Turkey and was plagued with fevers which periodically emerged from that ongoing smoldering disease that plagued his body. Other conjectures have been advanced. He declares that often he prayed to be delivered from this trouble. For some reason, God never saw fit to remove it.

I am certain that we all have suffered as a result of our own mistakes. We can understand that, can't we?

We are puzzled by this matter of unmerited suffering. Certain tragedies seem to hit at random.

In June of 1964, a young seminarian friend stood up with me at Anne's and my wedding at the Hollywood Presbyterian Church. A week later, he and his fiancée were married. One night two months later as the two of them were driving from Los Angeles back to Princeton Theological Seminary, an oncoming driver, with one headlight burned out, fell asleep at the wheel, swerved into his lane and hit him. His bride was instantly killed in this head-on collision. Why should he suffer this loss? And this was followed a few months later by the death of his two parents in a plane crash. Why?

We can't answer the question, can we? Why is there such unmerited suffering? We can point to some positive benefits of unmerited suffering. We can be humbled. Our trust in Jesus Christ can be deepened through these tragedies. Still, it's difficult to understand, isn't it?

Those of us who have lost children to death will never understand why we have outlived our child. That's not the natural sequence of life.

This is why the Book of Job is so helpful to those who go through unmerited suffering. Deep in our heart, we realize that God has a perspective that we do not have.

Then, there is voluntary suffering.

This results neither from one's own mistakes nor some kind of inescapable fate. I know people who open themselves to pain. Some of these sufferers are basically masochistic. They almost enjoy self-affliction, whether it be physical, mental, social or emotional. We call this masochism. It is unhealthy suffering.

There is another kind of voluntary suffering that is healthy. It comes from the desire to help other people. Men and women of high character are willing to suffer for the sake of another person. Have you ever made a sacrifice with no strings attached? I don't mean a bargaining benevolence. I mean, have you ever gone the second mile for someone, paying the price with your own hurt? This is voluntary suffering.

When we come right down to it, most suffering is a blend of all these three reasons. We make our mistakes and pay the price. Each life has a degree of unmerited suffering. And I'm quite certain that all of us, at times, are willing to pay the price to go out of our way to help a friend.

But today, our biblical text pushes this matter of suffering to a higher level. We are not talking primarily about a suffering that emerges from our mistakes, that is unmerited or that is voluntary in the way I've just sketched. Instead, we are talking about a different kind of suffering--that which is inevitable if you are a true follower of Jesus Christ. We are talking about suffering for Christ's sake.

Jesus said, in what we might call a combination of the eighth and ninth Beatitude,

Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are you when people revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you." (Matthew 5:10-12)

Jesus is here sketching a principle, which needs to be ingrained into our lives. Discipleship to Jesus costs something. If you are a believer, you will pay the price. Yet, coupled with this price is a joy. Jesus promises you a blessedness, a joy, an authentic happiness, which will go right along with the suffering. In the process, you end up with the life you're looking for, not only in spite of the fact you have suffering, but because you have suffering.

The Apostle Peter, in his first letter, restates this Beatitude in several ways. He writes, "But even if you do suffer for doing what is right, you are blessed" (1 Peter 3:14).

In the next chapter, he writes, "If you are reviled for the name of Christ, you are blessed, because the spirit of glory, which is the Spirit of God, is resting on you" (1 Peter 4:14).

He also says, "Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery ordeal that is taking place among you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you" (1 Peter 4:12).

The Apostle Paul went through enormous persecution.

He states to the young pastor Timothy, "Indeed, all who want to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted. But wicked people and impostors will go from bad to worse, deceiving others and being deceived" (2 Timothy 3:12-13).

Jesus is honest. He wants you and me to count the cost of discipleship. He will not trick you into a commitment and then surprise you with persecution. He alerts you in advance that there is a price to pay to be His follower. Suffering is inevitable, if you are a true believer.

I must be careful about one thing. It is this. You and I must be certain that our suffering is for the right thing.

Too often we mistake our difficulties for a persecution that is brought about by our faith. Jesus said, "'Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake. . .'" (Matthew 5:10).

If I'm going to be an objectionable person, I am going to suffer. If I'm going to be a difficult, foolish, unwise fanatic in the expression of my faith, I will face no end of trouble. Nowhere in the Scripture does Jesus ask you to be a fanatic. He wants you to be winsome in your testimony, sharing the Good News of salvation. He doesn't call you to blast forth in destructive ways. Instead, He wants you to be positive in that which up-builds.

The late Dr. James M. Boice, for many years the pastor of the Tenth Presbyterian Church in Philadelphia, wrote,

This means that there is no promise of happiness for those who are persecuted for being a nuisance, for Christians who have shown themselves to be objectionable, difficult, foolish, and insulting to their non-Christian friends. This is not the thing about which Christ was speaking."

A humorous illustration of this kind of non-sanctified suffering is contained in a fascinating book titled The Gospel Blimp by an insightful writer, Joseph Bayly. In his satire, Joe Bayly describes a group of believers in an imaginary town. These individuals have read the teachings of Jesus and want to be faithful to His instructions to go into the world and share the Gospel. They decided the best way to witness to their faith is to buy a blimp similar to the Goodyear blimp, which occasionally hovers over Newport Beach. They buy the blimp and fly it all over town, trailing Gospel signs and dropping tracts and leaflets called "Gospel bombs." No one is ever converted by it. For a while, the town is gracious, snickering in mild amusement. However, the neutral attitude of the town radically changes when the blimp owners start broadcasting Gospel services over loud speakers they have installed on the blimp. It is then that the persecution begins. The blimp is attacked during the night, and the sound equipment is destroyed. The local newspaper carries a report. The Christians pride themselves in this "persecution for Christ's sake."

This is not, for a moment, persecution for Christ's sake. It is the natural result of the foolish activities of some well-meaning but naive Christians.

You and I must discern between authentic suffering "for righteousness' sake" and that which we bring unnecessarily upon ourselves.

The Apostle Peter was spiritually sophisticated in addressing this fact in these words: "But let none of you suffer as a murderer, a thief, a criminal, or even as a mischief maker. Yet if any of you suffers as a Christian, do not consider it a disgrace, but glorify God because you bear this name" (1 Peter 4:15-16).

Suffering for Christ's sake really means that you and I are willing to be persecuted for being like Jesus.

Righteousness implies our being at one with Him. It doesn't mean that you and I are just to be good people. Society basically accepts and, in most cases, likes good people. In fact, it wants more good people. Being like Jesus implies that your life has been transformed by the power of Jesus Christ. Being like Jesus means that you are different.

That is the major difference between the natural person without Jesus and the unnatural person who is reborn by the Holy Spirit of Jesus Christ. The person who is persecuted for Christ is the one who is legitimately a follower of His, responding in faith and doing what He wants you to do. You march to a different drum beat. You stand out like a sore thumb because you are not functioning on the value system of this world. You have bought into a different economy. This is the economy of the kingdom of Jesus Christ.

Members of the early Christian Church paid a price for their faith. They avoided work that compromised their Christian principles. Homes were split apart by a priority of faith in Jesus. When one member of the marriage partnership became a Christian, the other either accepted Jesus Christ or became painfully aware of the difference. In some cases, the nonbelieving spouse divorced the one who had become a believer in Jesus Christ. In other cases, the nonbelieving spouse simply made life miserable for the new believer.

Being a disciple of Jesus made changes in one's social life. Becoming a Christian cost friends. The members of the early Church suffered enormous slander. They were accused of being cannibals as a result of their talk about eating the body and drinking the blood of Jesus Christ. Nonbelievers didn't understand the sacrament of the Lord's Supper. They were accused of being immoral because it was rumored that they celebrated a "love feast." They were attacked as being incendiaries because they stepped forth with a revolutionary Gospel. The early Christians were a threat to the State. Many went to their deaths because their allegiance to Jesus was higher than their allegiance to an emperor who claimed to be God.

Frankly, if you're serious about your faith, you will suffer. Jesus goes on in these Beatitudes to declare, "'Blessed are you when people revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account'" (Matthew 5:11).

I don't like to be reviled. I don't like to be persecuted. I don't like to be falsely accused. Neither do you. You will face this as a follower of Jesus. I could give you story after story of people in other cultures who are "suffering for righteousness' sake." We could talk about believers in India who are being killed by Hindu mobs. We could talk about an occasional Muslim in Afghanistan, Iran or Turkey who accepts Jesus Christ as Savior who, at the least, is immediately disowned by their family and, in some cases, even killed for their faith. We could talk about those who are Jewish who come to faith in Jesus Christ whose families end up having a funeral service for them, treating them as if they had literally died. We all are familiar with Dietrich Bonhoeffer, that brilliant German theologian, who wrote a book titled The Cost of Discipleship. He returned to Nazi Germany, relinquishing the safety of his teaching position here in the United States, feeling that he needed to identify with the "Confessing Church" that was taking a stand against Adolf Hitler and the diabolical practices of the Nazi Third Reich. He was thrown into prison and ultimately killed for "righteousness' sake." We could go on at great length describing situation after situation of blatant suffering for righteousness' sake.

Then there are the more subtle types of suffering. I know believers here in the United States who have lost their jobs, because they were determined to be honest in their work. Their very refusal to pad expense accounts and enter into kickbacks and morally compromised partying on out-of-town business trips made them a threat to those engaged in these activities. These were not the grounds for their dismissal. Their superiors found other pretexts to phase them out. I know teenagers who, because of their determination to obey God's Word, reserving their bodies sexually for their future marriage partner, have been laughed at and ridiculed for their "puritanical, self-righteous moralism."

I have seen individuals written off by their friends because of their sincere open witness to the life-transforming power of Jesus Christ. They are no longer invited to the same parties. They are socially ostracized. It costs something to be a follower of Jesus. It costs something, because you are different.

Just this week, the New York Times, in an editorial, sneered at those who voted their consciences in support of Proposition 8, upholding the fact that marriage is only between a man and a woman, referring to such persons as "bigots." Can you think of a greater put-down, sneer, ridicule than that word? It hurts to be called a bigot, especially when you do have a deep love and care for gay and lesbian-oriented persons and genuinely want to protect their civil rights, even if they choose not to live according to biblical standards.

People who are different are threatening. These Beatitudes show a value system antithetical to our contemporary value systems.

Myron S. Augsburger, in his Matthew "volume" of The Communicator's Commentary, paraphrases the Beatitudes in these words:

God says, "Blessed are the poor in spirit,"
but we say blessed are the achievers.

God says, "Blessed are those who mourn,"
but we say blessed are the self-fulfilled.

Jesus says, "Blessed are the meek,"
but we say blessed are the powerful.

Jesus says, "Blessed are those who hunger and thirst after righteousness,"
but we say blessed are the unrestrained.

Jesus says, Blessed are the merciful,"
but we say blessed are the manipulators.

Jesus says, "Blessed are the pure in heart,"
but we say blessed are the uninhibited.

Jesus said, "Blessed are the peacemakers,"
but we say blessed are the strong.

Jesus said, "Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake,"
but we say blessed are the expedient.

Jesus said we are blessed when persecuted for His sake,
but we say blessed are the aggressors.

Jesus challenges the very selfishness that determines so much of our social behavior.

Yes, you will pay the price for being a Christian. You will pay it right here in this greater Harbor Area. Because if you get serious about your faith, you will be on the spot. You will be different. You will be different in the way you handle your money. You will be different in the way you handle your sexuality. You will be different in the way you handle your power.

In fact, there's a whole new surge of worldliness, even within the so-called Church of Jesus Christ. I see it so clearly, as some very popular preachers and teachers dull the cutting edge of the Gospel, so a Christian doesn't have to look different, live different, be different than the rest of the world. So we begin to evaluate success on the world's standards. We use our money the same way the world uses its money. We use our sexuality the same way the world uses its sexuality. We use our power the same way the world uses its power. We rationalize our way around this by a description of grace, God's unmerited favor that gives us an easy excuse for a worldly lifestyle. We water grace down to the point that it becomes "cheap grace," and we kid ourselves into thinking that we are happy, that we are blessed, that we have joy. Ours becomes a "health and prosperity Gospel" that sees coming to Jesus as a well thought-out consumer decision, which will produce many material, physical and social benefits.

If we take a good, hard, honest look at the life of Jesus, we see a perfect example of this Beatitude fleshed out. No one has ever been more threatened by His fellow human beings than this God become Man in the Person of Jesus Christ. He was really different. And He was given a cross. It's ironic that He tells you and me, His followers, to take up our cross and follow Him.

Jesus promises you and me a joy, even a reward, in our suffering.

As I reflect on this, I'm convinced that there are three major reasons why you and I, when in the process of suffering for righteousness' sake, actually live the life we're looking for, discovering that deep inner joy even as we suffer for the sake of Jesus.

Reason #1: You are living with an authenticity which no one can take away.

One item we lack today is a healthy dose of old-fashioned loyalty. Too many of us ride loose in the saddle. We change our hats in our conversation depending on our environment. How easy it is to have nothing for which we are willing to sacrifice.

Dr. Turner, the pastor of the American Church in Berlin before World War II, visited Pastor Heinrich Niemoeller, the elderly father of Martin Niemoeller, who defied Hitler and spent many months in a concentration camp. When the visit was over, they stood at the door talking. Dr. Turner relates what happened.

Grandmother Niemoeller held my left hand in her two hands. The grandfather of Martin's seven children patted my right hand and then put his hand on my shoulder. "When you go back to America," he said slowly, "Do not let anyone pity the father and mother of Martin Niemoeller. Only pity any follower of Christ who does not know the joy that is set before those who endure the cross despising the shame. Yes, it is a terrible thing to have a son in a concentration camp," the aged man concluded. "Paula here and I know that. But there would be something more terrible for us: if God had needed a faithful martyr, and our Martin had been unwilling."

Persecution is terrible. But unfaithfulness and a lack of loyalty is even worse. A happy, joyful person is one who has the authenticity of knowing that things are right, relationships are stable, that one's basic and ethical values are not up for grabs. That's the life you're looking for!

Reason #2: If you suffer for Christ's sake, you are in good company.

Jesus said, ". . .for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you" (Matthew 5:12).

What a joy it is to be in the company of a man like Daniel. His faith was clean, clear and articulate. He would not compromise to avoid suffering. He purposed in his heart that he would not defile himself with the king's meat. He paid the price of that.

You are in the company of Elijah, who had to flee from the wrath of a cruel, defensive king.

You are in the company of Mary, the one who was willing to suffer all of the questions raised and all of the indignities flung her way as she carried that Child who was conceived by the Holy Spirit. Hers was a purity that attracted jeers. Everybody knows it takes two to get pregnant, and it's usually not the man who is the laughing stock.

You are in the company of Jesus' disciples, most of whom would be killed for their unwillingness to compromise their commitment to their Lord. You stand with all the martyrs of all human centuries. These men and women were willing to pay for it. Are you willing to join this kind of a company? Or would you rather play it easy, joining the crowds who laugh and scoff but are empty within?

Reason #3: You will have a reward.

Jesus promises the kingdom of heaven for those who suffer for His sake. He says, "Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven. . ." (Matthew 5:12).

Could you ask for anything better? Yours is the kingdom of heaven. You will have a great reward for your faithfulness. Do you look forward to heaven? The Christian lives in this world, but he has the enormous assurance that life does not end with death. No matter how difficult it is here, you will step into the presence of Jesus Christ. Will He take your hand and say, "Well done, thou good and faithful servant?" Or have you compromised, unwilling to pay the price of that discipleship?

Are you willing to suffer? Are you willing to put yourself on the line? Or are you hedging your bets? If you are hedging your bets, you are all alone. Jesus is not with you. If you are willing to suffer for His sake, He is at your side. You are not alone.

One of the best pictures in the Word of God can be seen in the book of Daniel. Nebuchadnezzar, the Babylonian king, had issued an edict, commanding that all should bow before a golden image. He declared that whoever did not worship before this image should be cast into the midst of a burning, fiery furnace.

There were three, young Jewish men named Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, who were faithful to the Lord God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. They refused to bow down. Nebuchadnezzar, in his rage, commanded that these three men be brought before him. He gave them one final opportunity to show that they were not different. He gave them a last chance to be like everybody else and fall down before the image or to be immediately cast into the burning fiery furnace. The men answered:

"O Nebuchadnezzar, we have no need to present a defense to you in this matter. If our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the furnace of blazing fire and out of your hand, O king, let him deliver us. But if not, be it known to you, O king, that we will not serve your gods and we will not worship the golden statue that you have set up." (Daniel 3:16-18)

These three were thrown into the white heat of the furnace. There, in the midst of fierce fire, emerged three figures, those of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, plus a fourth form. The Bible says, ". . . and the fourth has the appearance of a god" (Daniel 3:25). Nebuchadnezzar then stands, with all the Nebuchadnezzars of the world, astounded as he observes standing beside the faithful believer, in the most difficult of circumstances, the very Spirit of the Risen Christ, who promises to be with us right through the very worst of suffering!

Let me conclude with this testimonial statement by Dr. Lloyd Ogilvie, who captures the essence of this suffering for Christ theme in his sermon on this text, titled "A Daring Friendship." He writes:

qaq I want you to meet my best friend. I've known him for thirty-two years. He's been with me through trials and tragedies, pain and persecution, ups and downs, success and failure. He is the kind of friend who knows all about me and never goes away. He has a special way of helping me to see myself and do something about it. He accepts me the way I am, and yet that very acceptance makes me want to be all that I was meant to be in spite of all the difficulties around me. He laughs with me over my mistakes and weeps with me in my sorrows. He has been faithful all through life's battles. I have never been left alone when I suffered criticism, hostility or resistance for doing what love demanded. He is with me when truth triumphs and is always there to absorb the anguish of defeat in a righteous cause. We share a vision, a hope, a dream together. . . my friend and I. As a matter of fact, he gives me the daring to be true to what I believe regardless of cost. He meets all the qualifications of a real friend: he loves without limit; he is loyal when others turn away; he listens to my hurts; and he liberates me to grasp life with gusto, regardless of the consequences. I have only one hope: when I come to the end of this portion of heaven and pass on to the next, the one thing people will remember is that I was his friend. My best friend is Jesus Christ!

Can you say that?