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Life
Has Cheated Me...but Here's Hope |
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A "Sermon on the Net" by Henk Frijters
And He also spoke a parable to them to teach it is always
right to pray, and not to faint, saying, A certain judge
was in a certain city, not fearing God, nor respecting
man. And a widow was in that city. And she came to Him,
saying, Avenge me of my adversary. And he would not do
so for a time. But afterward he said within himself,
Though I do not fear God nor regard man, yet because
this widow troubles me, I will avenge her, that she not
wear me down in the end. And the Lord said, Hear what
the unjust judge says. And shall not God avenge His own
elect who cry day and night to Him, though He has been
long-suffering over them? I say to you that He will avenge
them speedily. (Luke 18:1-8a MKJV)
According to Victor Borge, the composer
Bizet was the original hard-luck man. He stayed up nights
to finish an opera by the deadline, only to find out
afterwards that the production had been postponed for
a year. He wrote a symphony and misplaced the manuscript
before anybody could play it. He entered a composing
contest with only one other entrant, and ended up with
second prize. Once he went to visit his girl friend and
tapped on her window at the precise moment her mother
was emptying a chamberpot from the room directly above
his head. (Victor Borge and Robert Sherman, MY
FAVORITE INTERMISSIONS, (Garden City, New York), p. 89.
)
Have you ever noticed that some people always seem to
be in the wrong place at the wrong time?
Many people speculate that they would be better off with
a new spouse or a different set of circumstances. John
Micofsky was confident his life would be greatly improved
once he ridded himself of his wife. His dream came true
on January 20, 1993, when his divorce from Maryann Kulpa
was finalized. On January 21st, she claimed the $10.2
million jackpot in the New Jersey Pick-6 Lottery. When
the press asked about Micofsky's condition, attorney
Thomas Kline spoke for his client by saying, "Very
upset, I think that's the word I would use." (THE
HOUSTON CHRONICLE, 2/18/93, p. 8A. IN OTHER WORDS. .
. , Mar/Apr 1993, p. 2.)
Do you get the feeling sometimes that life is
not fair? C. S. Lewis felt that the feeling of unfairness within
each of us is a signpost pointing to God.
For example, when we see a movie, we want to see justice
done. That is what a happy ending is usually about. We
want to see wrong righted. We want to see the good guy
win. And we feel cheated if virtue does not triumph.
Feelings like that are so universal that Lewis felt they
are evidence that we are created in the image of God.
The Hebrew Bible is obsessed with the idea of the justice
of God. Remember Abraham's argument with God concerning
Sodom. The Lord had revealed to Abraham that Sodom would
be destroyed because of its great wickedness. Abraham
asked rather boldly, "What if there were fifty righteous
people in the city, would you still destroy the city?" Then
Abraham argues God down to ten righteous people. But
at the heart of the argument is a question that resounds
throughout the entire Old Testament, "Shall not
the Judge of all the earth do right?" And the answer
is affirmed by both the Law and the Prophets: Above all
else, God is a righteous and just God.
When we think of Jesus we think of God's mercy and grace.
But Jesus affirmed the principle of God's righteousness.
Jesus told about a woman who had a problem. She was a
widow and someone was treating her in an unjust manner.
She went to a judge who feared neither "man nor
God," to try to get some relief, but the judge ignored
her plea. Some people would have stopped right there,
but not this woman. She "rejected the judge's rejection." She
hounded him at every opportunity to give her justice.
Finally the obstinate judge gave in to the more obstinate
woman and justice prevailed.
Then Jesus added a moral to his little parable, "And
will not God bring about justice for his chosen ones,
who cry out to him day and night?" God is a just
God.
Let's begin here: WE LIVE IN A WORLD THAT IS SOMETIMES VERY UNJUST.
We learned early in our discipleship
that whatever a person sows, he or she also reaps. But
the truth of the matter is that we sometimes reap things
we did not sow.
U.S. tennis champion Arthur Ashe underwent heart-bypass
surgery in 1983. At that time, hospitals were not checking blood samples
for H.I.V.--the virus that causes AIDS. Through a blood transfusion, Ashe
contracted that much dreaded disease. He did not suspect that he was infected
until 1988, when he had to have brain surgery after his right arm became
paralyzed. The surgery revealed a parasitic infection that quickly led
to a diagnosis of AIDS. Ashe had not planned to reveal his illness until
the time came when he would be noticeably changed by the disease physically.
But USA TODAY demanded he confirm or deny the rumor that he had AIDS in
1992. The tennis star, ranked seventh in the world before he was forced
to retire, bravely held a press conference and announced that he was indeed
an AIDS victim.
Like anyone else, Arthur Ashe was tempted to aim his
rage at God, but he conquered that temptation. Speaking
at the Niagara County Community College in the fall of
1992, he testified to the place Jesus Christ held in his life.
"I've had a religious faith, growing up in the South
and black and having the church as a focal point of my
life," Ashe said. "And I was reminded of something
Jesus said on the cross: My God, my God, why hast thou
forsaken me?' Remember, Jesus was poor, humble, and of
a despised minority. I wasn't poor in that my father
was a policeman, but we certainly weren't rich. And Jesus
asked the question, in effect, of why must the innocent
suffer. And I'm not so innocent--I mean, I'm hardly a
perfect human being--but you ask about yourself, Why
me?' And I think, Why NOT me?'
"Why should I be spared what some others have been
inflicted with," he continued. "And I have
to think of all the good of my life, of having a great
wife and daughter, and family and friends, and winning
Wimbledon and the U.S. Open and playing for and coaching
the Davis Cup team, and getting a free scholarship to
U.C.L.A. — all kinds of good things. You could also ask
about this, Why me?' Sometimes there are no explanations
for things, especially for the bad." (Dr.
William P. Barker, TARBELL'S TEACHER'S GUIDE, (Elgin, Illinois: David C. Cook Church Ministries, 1994).)
What an extraordinary testimony. There are no explanations
for many of the bad things that happen — at least no explanation
understandable by our limited brains. But we need to admit that sometimes innocent people suffer. Life is
sometimes very unfair.
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We also need to admit something else.
SOMETIMES SUFFERING CAN BE REDEMPTIVE.
Not all the time, perhaps. There are events in life that seem to have no
redemptive characteristics — at least not from our perspective. But there is some truth
to the expression, "what does not kill me makes me stronger."
That has been one of the things Dave Dravecky has
learned in his battle with cancer. You'll remember that
Dravecky was a major league baseball pitcher with the
San Francisco Giants. Then he was diagnosed with cancer
in his pitching arm. He underwent treatments and after
a heroic comeback attempt lost his arm to the disease. "From
spending so much time in hospitals," Dave said, "I've
learned that when we walk through someone's door who
is suffering, we have to respect the sanctity of that
room." During his frequent stays in the hospitals
Dave has spoken with many other patients. They share
their stories and encourage each other. "Something
sacred happens when a person is suffering," Dave
claims. It is when persons suffer that they turn to God
for assurance, for answers, for comfort.
Spending time in hospitals gives persons a lot of time
to think about what is really important and reflect on
their lives. "God doesn't promise us a life full
of mountaintop experiences," Dave Dravecky says.
We will also experience valleys in our lives as well. "Dark
valleys," Dave claims, "disorienting valleys--valleys
of depression and despair." Dave Dravecky has learned
that God does not give us a map to detour the valleys
of life either. Rather God will be with us, will walk
beside us, during those valleys.
"When we emerge from those experiences," Dave
declares, "we look back and realize that that is
where the growth is. It isn't on the mountaintops above
the timberline; it's in the valleys." (Dave
and Jan Dravecky, WHEN YOU CAN'T COME BACK, (Grand Rapids:
Zondervan Publishing House, 1992), pp. 70-71. )
What a wise analysis of the place of suffering in our lives.
George Matheson, the great poet, developed that same
kind of wisdom. When Matheson's eyesight vanished, so
did his fiancée. Twenty years later he wrote the
immortal hymn, "Oh, Love, that Will Not Let Me Go." But
he also penned these very meaningful words that are sometimes overlooked:
"My God," he wrote, "I have never thanked
Thee for my thorns. I have thanked Thee a thousand times
for my roses, but not once for my thorns. I have been
looking forward to a world where I shall get compensation
for my cross: but I have never thought of my cross as
itself a present glory. Teach me the glory of my cross:
teach me the value of my thorn. Shew me that I have climbed
to Thee by the path of pain. Shew me that my tears have
made my rainbow." (Charles R. Swindoll, COME
BEFORE WINTER AND SHARE MY HOPE, (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan
Publishing House, 1985).)
That's beautiful, isn't it? "Shew me that I have
climbed to Thee by the path of pain. Shew me that my
tears have made my rainbow." Not everyone can thank
God for the thorns. Some people are in too much pain.
But sometimes life's most dreaded situations can lead
us to a deeper and more profound relationship with God.
Doubtless, there are some of you who have experienced
that in your own life. And that brings us to our final truth:
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JUSTICE WILL BE DONE.
Mark it down. Write it in indelible
ink. Justice will be done. As sure as there is a God,
the innocent shall not suffer forever.
Go with me to Prague, Czechoslovakia to those last days
of the Soviet empire. In the Prague demonstration that
sparked the Czech revolution on November 18, 1989, students
began chanting to the communist party leadership, "You
have lost already! You have lost already!" — though
the ultimate victory was still in the future. "We
know that we can win," said Karel Srp, leader of
the demonstrations, "this is unstoppable."
(THE INTERNATIONAL LESSON ANNUAL 1994-95, (Nashville: Abingdon
Press, 1994), p. 211. )
I believe he was right. There is something in this world
that is unstoppable — it is the justice of God. Tell it
to any who would oppress God's people. God's justice
will prevail. Hold on to it like a piece of driftwood
when you are about to sink from the raging flood of life's
heartaches. God's justice will prevail. Teach your children
when it appears that evil is in control. God's justice
will prevail. Live your life and conduct your business
with this guiding principle. God's justice will prevail.
And when you think of letting go--and giving in--and
going over to the other side--discipline your thoughts
with this sure warning: God's justice will prevail. It will prevail.
There was a bit of poetic justice a few years ago in
Berlin, Germany. The San Francisco Giants and the San
Diego Chargers played an exhibition football game in
Olympic Stadium there. But there was an interesting sidebar
to this athletic event. Marty Glickman's seat for the
game was in the same box that was built for Adolph Hitler
to view the 1936 Olympics. Glickman, a broadcaster and
one-time world-class sprinter, was not allowed to run
on the American 400-meter relay team in 1936, primarily
because of Hitler's hatred of Jews. But now Hitler is
dead--the victim of his own hand and of the evil, insane
policies that he pursued. Now Hitler's former viewing
stand was Marty Glickman's viewing stand. "It was
weird sitting there," Glickman said. "It made
me remember marching in the stadium and looking up to
the box and seeing him." (LEXINGTON HERALD-LEADER,
Lexington, Kentucky, Monday, August 15, 1994, p. C2.)
Hitler has gone the way that all tyrants will eventually
go. Why? Because God's justice will prevail. One day
all of God's people will live in freedom and justice
and dignity under the Lordship of Jesus Christ. That
is the promise of the Scriptures--both Old Testament
and New. "Shall not the Judge of all the earth do
right?" asked Abraham. "Will not God bring
about justice for his chosen ones, who cry out to him
day and night?" Jesus asked. These are both rhetorical
questions. Both men already knew the answer.
It may not happen as quickly as we might prefer but it will happen.
God's justice will prevail.
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Henk Frijters is involved in several websites and ministries
that promote Christian growth. You can get more information
and subscribe to the free newsletter, "Sermons on
the Net", at http://folsom.sk.ca/gohere.html |
Scripture taken from the
Holy Bible, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®.Copyright ©
1973, 1978, 1984 International Bible Society. All rights
reserved throughout the world. Used by permission of International
Bible Society.
NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION® and NIV® are registered
trademarks of International Bible Society. Use of either
trademark for the offering of goods or services requires
the prior written consent of International Bible Society.
Scripture quotations marked (NLT) are taken from the Holy
Bible, New Living Translation, copyright ©1996. Used
by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Wheaton,
IL 60189, USA. All rights reserved.
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