Circling the Sufferer
Selected passages from the great book of Job
Job’s
friends had good intentions to help but only added to his misery.
Christians
can be a great comfort or a great burden to hurting people.
How can
we, as Christians, be a comfort rather than a burden to hurting people?
There are three steps
that Christians must take to comfort hurting people:
UNDERSTAND THEIR PERSPECTIVE
“Sufferers attract
fixers the way road-kill attracts buzzards. And buzzards are sure ugly!"
1. Eliphaz chp. 4
I had a vision from the Lord…
If I were in your shoes, this is what I would do: appeal to God and count your blessings.
2. Bildad chp. 8
So, repent and ask God’s forgiveness for whatever you did wrong.
3. Zophar chp.
11
There are some things that you just can’t understand.
Repent of your sins and reach out to God.
Characteristics of their comments:
a. They used the Word of God.
b. They gave spiritual diagnosis and prescription.
c. Some of their general statements were technically true but
they were:
“Answers without
personal relationship, intellect without intimacy.” Eugene Peterson
According to them, anyone who lives intelligently and
morally is exempt from suffering.
Pattern to their behavior: (especially true of men!)
Attempt to fix the problem.
Accusation of failure.
How do suffering people feel when they hear things like
this?
Job’s response to his friends: Job 16:1-6, 10, 19:1-6, 21:1-3, 26:1-4. Read these verses!
FACE THE FACTS
1. No matter how insightful we might be, we don’t really
understand the full nature of their problems.
2. Our friends may not want our advice.
3. People do not suffer less when they are committed to
following God, but more.
Three great
contributions of the book of Job:
1. Witness to the dignity of suffering.
2. Witness to the presence of God in suffering.
3. A Biblical protest against religion that is reduced to “answers.”
“There is meaning
beyond the mystery.” Rabbi Abraham Heschel
But we must become satisfied with the mystery. Job learned
this lesson. See Job 42:1-6.
If you have to find the remains of Noah’s Ark to believe the
Bible, if you have to analyze the DNA evidence of the Shroud of Turin to
believe in Christ, if you have to understand why Godly people get cancer, why
children die in house-fires, or why marriages fall apart to believe in God, you
cannot enter the Kingdom of God.
“Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see. Without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to Him must believe that He exists, and that He rewards those who earnestly seek Him.” Hebrews 11:1, 6
WALK IN THEIR SHOES
Rather, than trying to prevent suffering, which is
impossible, we should begin entering the suffering, entering the mystery and
looking around for God. See Job 33:23-28.
We can be that angel/messenger, the mediator, to tell them that there is a “ransom” provided. God left the very portals of heaven and took upon Himself a robe of flesh. See 1 Peter 2:21-24.
“There is a friend that sticks closer than a brother.”
Proverbs 18:24
“A friend loves at all times, and a brother is born for
adversity.” Proverbs 17:17
We have been called to suffer with Christ.
“For it has been granted to you on behalf of Christ not only
to believe on Him, but also to suffer for Him.” Philippians 1:29
“I want to know Christ and the power of His resurrection and
the fellowship of His sufferings, becoming like Him in His death, and so,
somehow, to attain to the resurrection from the dead.” Philippians 3:10,
11
We have been called to suffer with others.
“If one part suffers, every part suffers with it.” 1 Corinthians 12:26
If you are really part of the body, but do not suffer with
the rest, one must question your relation to the rest of the body. At best you
are either spiritually numb to the pain or a wayward prodigal in the far
country.
Stop
feeling sorry for them.
Look up to
them.Learn from them.
If you are allowed, join them in protest and prayer.
Pity is near-sighted and condescending. Shared suffering can
be dignifying and life-changing.
(I built this lesson quite a few years ago with the help of several sermons I had read. I don't have the names of those authors any longer but I am truly grateful for the material of theirs that I "borrowed". ~ Mick.)
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