Sorrows Are Normal for Now: What to Expect on Your Journey Home

0:00 So as I thought about this conference of young professionals and said young families, I don't see a lot of kids, I'm assuming young moms, young dads as well as young professionals. And the opportunity to speak to you this morning on what to expect on your journey home. My mind went back 12 years. my wife and I were deeply embedded in a young adult young professional community in a local church Bethlehem Baptist Church in downtown Minneapolis and on January 10th 2013 that community of young professionals young moms young dads singles gathered for the funeral service of a five-month-old.

0:59 His name was Henrik, and his father Michael and mother Emily were the dearest of friends of my wife and I. And they had found out in an ultrasound the previous April that something wasn't right. in utero. Some event had happened during the pregnancy. Henrik survived his birth in July, but clearly he was weak. It wasn't going to be long. They didn't know how long he would live. Might be just hours or days or weeks. Turned out to be months. He made it five months and died in January. And we had the funeral. So for my wife and for me and many of our closest friends, this was our first unshielded adult encounter with the pains of life in this fallen age. Now, I know tragically, some of you have experienced that in your childhood.

2:08 others are shielded as children and maybe even shielded as teens and as college students but sooner or later the real sorrows the real sufferings of this life come crashing in let me read you a section from the eulogy i gave 12 years ago at the funeral of henrik for many of us, especially us younger adults around Michael's and Emily's age. This has been our first encounter or one of our first awakenings to how messed up things really are in this world. This is one of our first up close encounters with what it really means that the creation is cursed and subjected to futility because of sin. And that the place we live is, get this, not yet the home we long for. For many of us who love this family, Michael and Emily, the problem of pain has gone from being theoretical to being intensely personal.

3:24 We've caught glimpses of God's goodness in the midst of wave after wave of disappointment and sorrow, but we are learning the tough lesson that in this world, God's goodness toward us rarely means ease and often means great hardship. If this world and this life were all there is, we would be on the brink of despair. The tensions God is lovingly creating in our hearts in this fallen age are meant to be resolved in an age to come. We've learned that saying God is good doesn't mean that he makes our lives easy, but often that he makes them hard, but not joyless. So we want to talk about this morning. I know some of you have already had your first up close encounter as adults with deep sorrow and suffering. And if you haven't, it's coming.

4:31 That's what this session is about this morning. And if you have more are coming. And so my task this morning is to point you to what to expect on this journey home as we live in a world that is not yet the home we long for. probably no book in the new Testament better prepares us for suffering than first Peter. So I'd like to take several passages this morning from first Peter, and I want to draw your attention to one, especially at the beginning of the letter and to sketch here, a theology of sorrows and suffering. I love to hear that you're already turning to first Peter. So good. Go there.

5:24 Go to first Peter chapter one, verses six to nine. 1 Peter 1, verses 6 to 9. In this, this is verses 3 to 5. You're born again to this eternal inheritance kept in heaven for you through faith, being guarded, Christ is coming. In this, this spectacular future that's coming, in this

6:46 Let's pray together for our moments here this morning. so father in heaven prepare us these young professionals in new england in the greater boston area young moms young dads father prepare us for the tests that are coming would you strengthen those who are in the storm right now? And no doubt some in this room right now are in the storm, in the test. Would you strengthen them with your word by your spirit? Would you heal those that are recovering from the test they've been through from past storms? And Father in heaven, I pray that as you do this, that this would not be despite or a setback in the restoration of New England.

7:47 But Father, that you might be pleased through the way that your people suffer, through the way they carry sorrows, would you be pleased to restore New England? in Jesus name we pray amen this message has four parts based on first Peter 1 6 to 9 and a few related passages that will draw in but here's my summary here's a summary of the whole thing right here sorrows and sufferings on this journey home are expected, designed, limited, and rewarded. That's where we're going the next few minutes. Sorrows and sufferings on this journey home, the journey of the Christian life, are expected, designed, limited, and rewarded.

8:50 So number one, expected. you will have sorrows and suffering. You will have sorrows and suffering. You've had them, or you have them now, or they're coming. Peter writes to Christians who are grieved by various trials, he says. And this is not a fluke or aberration of normal Christianity. This is normal Christianity, grieved by various trials on this journey, sorrowful, suffering. So Peter says we should expect sorrows, expect suffering. I'll read you 1 Peter 4, 12 to 13. Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery trial when it comes upon you to test you. as though something strange were happening to you.

9:47 But rejoice insofar as you share Christ's sufferings that you may also rejoice and be glad when His glory is revealed. because sorrows and sufferings will come. Peter wants us to prepare our minds. Now prepare our perspectives, be sober minded. Chapter one, verse 13, don't assume suffering and debilitating sorrow won't come upon you. It will assume it will expect them. So he says in chapter four, verse one, since Christ suffered in the flesh arm yourselves with the same way of thinking get ready arm yourselves think Jesus suffered Jesus was a man of sorrows why as his follower would I not suffer would I not also be a person of sorrows we expect it on our journey home we are not naive. We expect opposition to a life of faith. We think it not strange to have sorrows and suffering here, but we think it's strange rather when we don't.

11:09 brothers and sisters infants will die children will die friends and family will be cut down in the prime of their life you may get cancer or disease you will experience broken relationships breakups, divorce, estranged family and dear friends, insults, opposition, ostracism for your faith. It's coming. Sorrows are coming. Suffering is coming. Will you be surprised when it comes? Did you notice that in 1 Peter 1, 6, he says various trials.

12:07 You have been grieved by various trials. You will encounter many sources of suffering and sorrow on this journey in a sinful, cursed world. Disease, loss, disappointment, natural disasters. the effect of your own sin, the effects of other sin. And behind it all, 1 Peter 5, 8 says, your adversary, the devil prowls around like a roaring lion seeking some to devour. he wants to eat up your face. He wants to devour your soul. And he is happy to do it through comfort, as he often does in 35% evangelical parts of the South, or he's happy to do it through pain in 2% evangelical Northeast.

13:15 and in particular in 1 Peter, there is verbal opposition for these young professionals. It's a kind of persecution, a kind of soft persecution. It's not physical in 1 Peter, but it's real. It's real persecution, verbal opposition. Like your Savior, you too will be rejected by men. You will be slandered. Chapter 3, verse 16, Reviled chapter 3 verse 9 Maligned chapter 4 verse 4 Insulted chapter 4 verse 14 Which Peter sums up as when not if When people speak against you You probably haven't been a Christian in Boston very long Without experiencing some people speaking against you chapter two, verse 12. Are you ready?

14:18 Many of you already know it. Living in one of the most educated metropolitan areas in the United States. I think there's more college students and grad students in Boston than anywhere else. The reason I know that is because of Twin Cities is the second. And we talk about it there and they always say, after Boston.

14:43 Writing about the suffering in 1 Peter, a commentator named Tom Schreiner says, listen to this, notice how Christians were maligned, criticized, and rejected for not following the societal ethos of their day. That is a calling in Christ if you're in the Northeast. not following the societal ethos of their day. In the same way today, many are astonished that we have such a restrictive sexual ethic. Many contemporaries think we are detrimental to society and many in the Roman world thought the same about Christians. They oppose us because we don't approve the sin that is celebrated in many quarters. That's the battle line today. wants you to celebrate. We got some sin for you to celebrate.

15:44 All you got to do is a little pinch of incense, little celebration for the sin we want you to celebrate. He continues. So what did the persecution look like? The maltreatment Peter talks about consists of verbal abuse and presumably included unjust discrimination in everyday life. Unjust discrimination in everyday life. I'm sure you'll encounter downtown Boston and throughout the Northeast. Even though they weren't experiencing physical abuse, they were genuinely suffering. It is genuine suffering. And I'm sure some of you are already experiencing that. So question, if the main issue in first Peter is verbal abuse, then why do I keep saying more genuinely, more generally, sorrows and suffering. Why isn't this talk just about verbal abuse?

16:53 We're going to see in chapter two, verse 19, that they're said to be enduring sorrows while suffering unjustly. What if you're just enduring sorrows? What if you're not suffering unjustly? You're just doing enduring the sorrows of this life. There are so many sorrows in this life in a cursed sinful world on this journey home. The answer is that anything that puts an obstacle in the way of your faith, not just verbal abuse, any sorrow, any suffering, anything Satan would be happy to use to devour your faith, any threat to your joy in Jesus can be addressed and overcome by how Peter would have us respond to the verbal opposition. Peter himself says, remember, he himself says various trials. He means for us to take it like this. The main trial in all kinds of trials is whether persecution or in life's many sorrows is, will you set your hope on the grace that's coming in Jesus?

18:08 or will you be conformed to the passions of your former ignorance? This is the test. Will you look up and forward to Jesus or will you look down and back from where you came or to the temptations that surround you? Will you keep going with the foretaste of joy and glory to come? Or will suffering cause you to retreat back to where you found some thin, cheap joy in the past? Like a dog returning to its vomit. Trying to carve out broken cisterns that can hold no water. That's the battle for Christian endurance.

18:59 Up and forward or down and back. So number one, you will have sorrows and sufferings on this journey. They are to be expected. Number two, designed. God appoints your sorrows and suffering. He appoints your sorrows and suffering. You see that word necessary in verse six, chapter one, verse six. Kind of strange, necessary. for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by various trials. What's meant by this necessary?

19:43 Who thinks it's necessary? Necessary says who? The answer is God. He deems our griefs to be necessary. He has designs and purposes that he means to fulfill and accomplish necessarily through sorrows and suffering. We tend to think of tests because of our school background. We tend to think of tests as unnecessary. I mean, tests don't make you smart. They just demonstrate what you already know or you don't know. That's the kind of tests we have in mind. that's not how tests work in first Peter. He's not thinking of standardized tests, take the Peabody test and fill in the little bubbles. That's not the test he's thinking of.

20:40 The tests Peter's talking about don't only reveal what's already there, but they also produce something. They form, they shape, they solidify, they grow, They extend the good and purify from the bad. They're doing something. Verse seven says, we are grieved by various trials so that the tested genuineness of your faith, more precious than gold that perishes, though it is tested by fire. That's the kind of test may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ. The test makes your faith better.

21:36 Stronger. Pure. Like gold tested by fire that burns away the impurities and makes the gold better. stronger, more beautiful. So by God's design, the various trials actually do something. They don't only prove what's there. They also produce something. They work something in us. So our sufferings on this journey are not random. They're not superfluous. They are by God's design, by his will for your good. Even as we grieve and suffer, God is working out his wise, patient, all-knowing plan in your life. Here's an example in 1 Peter 4, verse 1.

22:39 since Christ suffered in the flesh arm yourselves with the same way of thinking for whoever has suffered in the flesh has ceased from sin so as to live the rest of the time in the flesh no longer for human passions but for the will of God and then aye yay yay in the world it's a good verse in first Peter to skip anyone who suffered in the flesh has ceased from sin I don't think Peter's talking about sinless perfection here, but he is saying that someone's faith who has been tested with suffering, tested with great sorrows, has been purified, changed.

23:39 They have ceased from the pattern of sin and human passions and have tasted the joy of what it means to live for the will of God. Previously, faith had come, but some human passions had not yet been addressed and overcome. But in the one who has suffered and kept the faith, those passions have been dealt a significant defeat in the depths of the heart. They have been unseated from how deep they were at the bottom of the human soul.

24:20 So the various trials we endure are necessary in God's all wise way of reckoning. They are necessary for purging our lives of sin and of miseries at the deepest levels of the soul. we do not endure in theory it's not Christian endurance works I could endure if it happened to me we don't endure in theory we endure in practice and the enduring not only proves who we have been but it produces who we will be so very practically here when sorrows and sufferings come upon us on this journey home. God's call to us is to grieve them,

25:17 suffer them, own them, receive them. God doesn't mean for us to suppress them and pretend like they're not really there. That's not the calling in Christ. God can handle them. and he's designed them for our good. Receive life's sorrows and sufferings as filtered lovingly through his fingers. Humble yourself in them. He has purposes in them for you, for your good, for his glory, for the good of others, which doesn't make them easy. It doesn't make them happy, but God typically does his best work for our best joy through life's greatest pains. So on this journey, sorrows and sufferings are expected.

26:21 They will come and they are designed by God. He lovingly appoints your sorrows and your suffering with purpose as necessary for your good. Number three, limited. God gives joy in and under and beyond your sorrows and suffering. God gives joy in and under and beyond your sorrows and suffering. they are limited in multiple ways, not just singularly limited.

27:06 First is that phrase for a little while in chapter one, verse six, you see that phrase for a little while in this, you rejoice. So now for a little while, that is such good news for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by various trials. brothers and sisters you will have sorrows you will experience suffering designed by god and it will be for a little while your trials however severe however long maybe even for the rest of this journey will not endure forever. They are for a little while. So Peter says in chapter five, verse 10, after you have suffered a little while, the God of all grace, who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ, will himself restore.

28:11 It's a good word. Restore New England, confirm, strengthen, and establish you. And he says in chapter five, verse six, humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time, he may exalt you. This is such good news. God has his appointed timing for the sorrows and the sufferings of his people. They are for a little while, and he has his proper time. When I'll end it and rescue you. They are limited in that sense.

28:51 Here's an adult lesson. Typically, God's sense of timing is different than ours. Older I get, the more I learn this. His timing is different than ours. That's a good thing. We don't want in the end God to have a human, finite. night, flawed sense of timing. His timing's perfect. He knows the proper time. Sometimes we suffer longer than expected till death. Sometimes shorter than anticipated. Get into some suffering. It's going to be months and God lifts it. But for the Christian, our sorrows and suffering are limited in their duration. In Christ, you will not suffer forever.

29:47 We will not have sorrow forever. He says he's going to wipe away every tear. He says, your sorrows will turn to joy. And get this, here's another limitation. the sorrows and sufferings of this life are not as deep as the joy that he gives us to sustain us in them so now we pick up chapter one verse nine remember written to suffering christians he's talking to people suffering as he writes to them as they hear the letter read though you do not now see him jesus who's risen glorified seated at god's right hand in heaven though you do not now see him you believe in him and rejoice now. Not just when the trial is done, rejoice now with joy that is inexpressible and filled with glory.

30:50 Literally, you greatly rejoice with a joy that is inexpressible and glorified. what does that mean to rejoice with a glorified joy? I'm not glorified. I'm still on the journey. I got sorrows. I got suffering. How am I going to have a glorified joy? because the quality of your joy is not based on your heart, your ability, your strength to muster it up. The source of joy is the object of joy, and he's glorified at God's right hand. He's inexpressibly great, ruling over the universe. And so your joy in him, though buffeted by so many trials and sorrows is an inexpressible and glorified joy.

31:52 so sorrow in the christian life not only ends and then gives way to joy but we have joy now inexpressible glorified joy even now in and under the sorrows and sufferings that's how we endure through the joy through the joy that's stronger joy and sorrow are not equals in christ's economy it's not yin yang sorrow is real and joy is deeper and more enduring jesus was a man of sorrows you don't have to run from sorrows in the Christian life. He was a man of sorrows and he endured the cross. How? We saw it last night. For the joy set before him. And Paul, oh, Paul was such a man of sorrows. Read his letters, his sorrows for his people, his sorrows for the churches, so many sorrows. And yet Paul was the one who would say in 2 Corinthians 6.10, he is sorrowful yet always rejoicing.

33:08 it doesn't flip the other way he doesn't ever say rejoicing but always sorrowful no they're asymmetrical sorrowful yes sorrowful for real and in it under it through it beneath it always rejoicing So how does it work? How do we endure? And that brings us to our last point. So our sorrows and sufferings are expected. They're designed. They are limited. And number four, they're rewarded.

33:58 God will honor your endurance. through sorrows and suffering. God will honor your endurance through sorrows and suffering. There's this remarkable pattern in first Peter and strong in first Peter, but it's throughout the Bible. You'll see this pattern, old Testament in the life of Jesus in the new Testament. the pattern is that suffering leads to glory and our human way of thinking we want to just go straight from the start of the race to glory that's what that's what Peter expected of Jesus Peter had to have himself reframed here Jesus says I'm going to the cross and Peter's like never Lord never Lord because Peter's thinking you know Messiah goes from start to glory straight line from the beginning of the race to the end of the race, to the throne of heaven, to glory.

34:57 Jesus says, get behind me, Satan. I got to teach you a new pattern. Peter learned the pattern. He's got in his letter, chapter one, verse 11. He talks about the sufferings of Christ and the subsequent glories. That's the glories of the Christian life, our subsequent glories, like the glories of our savior. Chapter four, verse 13, rejoice insofar as you sharing Christ's sufferings that you may also rejoice and be glad when his glory is revealed. Chapter five, verse six, humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time, he may exalt you. So self-humbling now, God exalting subsequently. In verse 10, after you have suffered a little while, the God of all grace, who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ, will himself restore, confirm, strengthen and establish you. But let me end with one passage that gets at the dynamic in our souls.

36:08 It's one thing to know it out here, but one thing to feel it in here. How are you going to walk through this in your own soul? And this is 1 Peter 2, verses 18 to 21. Go there with me if you've got your 1 Peter open. I want to point to a couple particular phrases here. 1 Peter 2, 18 to 21. 1 Peter 2, 18-21 Servants, be subject to your masters with all respect Not only to the good and gentle But also to the unjust For this is a gracious thing.

37:06 When mindful of God, one endures sorrows while suffering unjustly. For what credit is it if when you sin and are beaten for it, you endure? But if when you do good and suffer for it, you endure, this is a gracious thing. in the sight of God. For to this you have been called. All right, so take notice of that. He started off with servants. He's talking about servants and masters in the first century. Praise God, we got a different context now. He goes beneath that and say, this is what you're called to, Christians. This is not just for servants in the first century. This is what you're called to Christians in Boston in 2024 because Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example so that you might follow in his steps.

38:06 all right you see that phrase this is a gracious thing that literally reads this is grace it's very simple greek this is grace this is grace when mindful of god one endures sorrows this is grace when you do good and suffer for it and endure. What does that mean? this is grace. This is the grace of the Christian life here. Not that you don't have sorrows. The grace of the Christian life is that you have sorrows and you don't give up, but endure. That's grace.

39:02 The grace of the Christian life is that you suffer and you don't give in, but endure. That's grace. And he adds this. When mindful of God, you endure sorrows and sufferings, God will see to it.

39:24 He'll see it. He'll recognize it. He will honor it. He will reward it. It will not go unseen by the all seeing God, the graciously rewarding God. Not one drop, not one ounce, not one moment of sorrow and suffering will be unseen and unrewarded.

39:54 None of it will be wasted. but Peter not only tells us that God will reward our endurance through sorrows and suffering, but he gives us a clue on how, how to endure. The key phrase there is mindful of God, but you may have in your ESV, if you got that or another translation, mindful of God or through consciousness of God. The kind of endurance we need in the Christian life is not just grit your teeth and endure. Just do your New England duty. Grit your way through like the winter. What he's calling for is endurance that is mindful of God,

40:57 conscious of God, mindful of him in our thoughts while we endure, mindful of him in our hearts, mindful of him in our prayers, mindful of him in our conversations, mindful of him in our complaints, in how we give updates to friends and family, in our hopes, in our joy, in our looking to the reward.

41:25 Enduring those sorrows, those sufferings with a consciousness of God, rhythms and patterns in our lives of bringing him into it, acknowledging his design. Michael and Emily, who I talked about at the beginning, did this so well. so conscious of God. They got through the suffering and the sorrows. And you know what? 12 years later, it's not like it's a past thing now. It's different 12 years later, but you still suffer the loss of a child. 12 years later into the rest of your life. And they modeled for our young professionals in Minneapolis, what it was like to be mindful of God.

42:21 And Just this morning, an email from someone in the young professional, young adult. He's in his late 20s. He and his wife around 30, I guess. Late 20s, early 30s. Here's the email this morning. In a routine scan on Monday, we learned that our baby in utero, 26 weeks, due in February, has a heart abnormality. Today, we saw a fetal cardiologist who conducted a fetal echocardiogram and determined that our baby has a very rare congenital heart disease. the baby will be fine while in the womb, but he or she will go to the NICU immediately after birth and we'll need heart surgery within two weeks.

43:20 If all goes well, they will likely be in the NICU four to six weeks. Follow-up surgeries will be required until he or she reaches adult size. and then consciousness of God. It's good. This is a good brother. He says, as you can imagine, this lands on us heavily. We are shocked. We are sad.

43:52 And we are at peace because we know our sovereign God is empowering and attentive to every beat of this baby's heart. And because he decided before the foundation of the world, precisely how many times that heart will beat. And because he works all things, even malfunctioning hearts for the good of those who love him and are called according to his purpose. And so he goes on like brothers and sisters, that is an example from this morning of what it means to endure sorrows mindful of God through consciousness of God, not just bare facts from the doctor. but mindfulness of God. And in this case expressed mindfulness for other Christians to join in the sorrow and suffering.

44:54 Peter gives us one more clue here about being mindful of God. When he talks about Jesus. when we heard last night that Jesus endured the cross for the joy set before him Hebrew says that for us Jesus did it this way fully God fully man fully man is your example he endured for the joy set before him. Your Peter's going to do it for us. Endure like Jesus, mindful of God. You know who's mindful of God as he endured? Jesus. Verse 21, first Peter two, verse 21. To this you have been called because also Christ suffered for you. So first for you, leaving you an example that you might also follow in his steps. He committed no sin. Neither was deceit found in his mouth.

46:03 When he was reviled, he did not revile in return. When he suffered, he did not threaten, but here we go. Here's the window, a window into the soul of Jesus in his suffering. He continued entrusting himself to him who judges justly. He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. By his wounds, you have been healed for you were straying like sheep, but have now returned to the shepherd and overseers of your souls. So one thing here, as we close. One thing among others meant by mindful of God is continue entrusting yourself to him who judges justly. Or here's another way of saying it. Chapter four, verse 19, entrusting your soul to a faithful creator while doing good.

47:15 When you do good in your neighborhood, in your family, extended family, downtown Boston, when you do good and suffer for it and you endure being mindful of God, this is grace in the sight of God. When you do not repay evil for evil, mindful of God, mindful of Jesus, God will repay you. when you do not repay reviling for reviling, which is a great temptation. That's really in vogue. entrusting yourself to him who judges justly, he will repay you. I guarantee you don't want the personal repayment of reviling back. You want his repayment. That you conscious of him, conscious of his son, entrusted yourself to a faithful creator. Brothers and sisters, this is the true grace of God for your journey home.

48:26 The true grace of God is not a sorrow-free, suffering-free journey. The true grace of God is sorrow, pain, opposition, suffering, reviling, and all the while, mindful of God being upheld and kept for the joy set before you like Jesus. And then like Jesus being spectacularly rewarded for it. That's why Peter says at the end of his letter, I have written to you briefly, exhorting and declaring that this is the true grace of God. Stand firm in it. This is the grace of God.

49:18 The grace of God for your journey home. In the words of another poet, this one's John Piper. the grace of God for your journey home is not grace to bar what is not bliss nor flight from all distress, but this, the grace that orders our trouble and pain. And then in the darkness is there to sustain.

49:51 Let me walk through that. Get that God's grace for you. God's grace for your journey home is not grace to bar what's not bliss. It is not flight from all distress. But this is what God's true grace is. It orders our trouble and pain, orders your sorrows, orders your sufferings. And then in the sufferings, in the sorrows, his grace is there to sustain you, uphold you. The true grace of God for your journey home is not ease. It's not comfort, but it is many sorrows and sufferings for now. Expected, designed, limited, and rewarded.

50:43 Endured in faith, mindful of Jesus Christ, and with inexpressible and glorified joy, leading to boundless, uninterrupted bliss when we're finally home. Let's pray together. So Father in heaven, I pray that you would prepare us to suffer. Prepare us to endure in the suffering and prepare us to endure mindful of you, mindful of Jesus, upheld by your grace, upheld by your spirit. Father, for those in this room right now, in the midst of the storm, would you strengthen them?

51:28 Father, for those who have been through storms and trials, would you heal them? And Father, I do pray that you would restore New England. And Father, we know that's a weighty prayer because your grace is not start to throne. Your grace is suffering and subsequent glory.

52:02 And so Father, through these men and women and through others who would join them, mindful of Jesus. I pray that you would give them a joy that outshines the sun in new England. Lives that are lived, that echo the life of Jesus, that would awaken the eyes of the blind to say, I want that joy. I want joy that deep, that enduring, that thick that can endure the sorrows of this life and the sufferings that those New England Christians are enduring. Father, do that in this room, in these souls here and beyond.