March 4, 2022
It has been both disheartening and heartening to see what is happening in the Ukraine. Watching Russian tanks roll into a neighboring country brings back childhood memories from the 1980s of the Cold War and its specter of nuclear war (for many of you, those memories go back even farther). One of the books I read in junior high was Z for Zechariah, a haunting tale about being one of only a handful of people left on earth after a nuclear holocaust. Perhaps you've wondered, or your children have asked, are we about to live through WWIII, or a nuclear conflict? May the Lord prevent it! Even if we don't experience a worldwide conflagration, the nation of Ukraine is certainly living out a nightmare scenario. To read the brokenhearted email from our beloved Michelle Maly, separated from the children and youth for whom she has poured her life out; to see the refugee crisis unfolding in neighboring countries, and to hear of fathers separated from their families; to know that so many are sleeping in basement bomb shelters each night, not to mention the death and destruction Russian missiles and bombs are causing - our hearts break at the suffering we witness through our screens. Several of you have told me of personal connections you have to the Church in Ukraine, and you feel the pain of friends and acquaintances even more deeply. Of course, such suffering is happening every day in some way some where, but a large scale invasion in a digital, connected age brings it home afresh and in a powerful way. We rightly turn Psalm 46:9 into prayer, "Lord, make wars to cease to the end of the earth; break the bow and cut the spear in two; burn the chariots with fire." If you're wanting to know more of how to pray for our Ukrainian brothers and sisters in Christ, visit MTW's page devoted to the crisis - there are regular updates from Jon Eide, the MTW Country Director. You can also join a Zoom call for the next few days at 2:00 CST by clicking here.
In the face of all that Russia is doing in Ukraine, it has been strengthening for my own heart to see the courage and against-all-odds defiance of ordinary citizens and extraordinary statesmen. When COVID first hit two years ago, I recall that Andy Grammer's song "Don't Give Up On Me" was something of a theme song on the news and in our house, and perhaps in yours as well. I hear the same theme as those lyrics every time President Zelensky speaks. The yearning for and commitment to freedom at the cost of life itself is to be emulated. I pray I would have the same Zelenskian courage if it were ever called for here in America or Mississippi, God forbid - and that I will have it even now in all the ways I am tempted to be a coward in the face of spiritual warfare and the call to be a gospel witness.
The paradox of confidence in the midst of tribulations is going to be the theme of my sermon this coming Lord's Day from Romans 5:3-5. But in that passage Paul doesn't call us to have confidence in the midst of suffering, but even to rejoice and exult triumphantly in those very afflictions themselves. We'll see why/how Paul can say this on Sunday. But for now I want to remind you that this theme resounds frequently through the New Testament:
Matthew 5:10-12 - "Blessed are those who have been persecuted for the sake of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are you when people insult you and persecute you, and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of Me. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward in heaven is great; for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you."
James 1:2-4 - "Consider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance. And let endurance have its perfect result, so that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing."
I Peter 1:3-7 - "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His great mercy has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to obtain an inheritance which is imperishable and undefiled and will not fade away, reserved in heaven for you, who are protected by the power of God through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. In this you greatly rejoice, even though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been distressed by various trials, so that the proof of your faith, being more precious than gold which is perishable, even though tested by fire, may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ."
Acts 5:40-41 - "[the Jewish leaders] flogged [the apostles] and ordered them not to speak in the name of Jesus, and then released them. So they went on their way from the presence of the Council, rejoicing that they had been considered worthy to suffer shame for His name."
II Corinthians 12:7-10 - "Because of the surpassing greatness of the revelations, for this reason, to keep me from exalting myself, there was given me a thorn in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to torment me — to keep me from exalting myself! Concerning this I implored the Lord three times that it might leave me. And He has said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness.” Most gladly, therefore, I will rather boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may dwell in me. Therefore I am well content with weaknesses, with insults, with distresses, with persecutions, with difficulties, for Christ’s sake; for when I am weak, then I am strong."
It is not easy to rejoice in trials and tribulations, and yet by the Holy Spirit Christians are enabled to do so. For we know that God is using our suffering to grow us into the likeness of Jesus, to give us an even deeper hope in and longing for the glory to come, and to make us into a people who are able to minister to sufferers with sympathy and grace. Joni Erickson Tada's testimony of the blessedness of affliction is a beautiful picture of how God grants the gift of joy to His people in dark days. May the Lord grant us grace through His word to rejoice, to exult, to triumph in the trials that draw us closer to our Savior.
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Don't forget that this Sunday is the first Sunday of the month. So we celebrate the Lord's Supper this coming Sunday morning, and we gather for our monthly prayer meeting for missions and the spread of the gospel at 5:00 Sunday evening. Christian Brewer will be continuing our series on eschatology by reflecting on the Bible's teaching about the "intermediate state" - life between our death and our resurrections. Sunday is always the best day of the week, and first Sundays are perhaps my favorite Sunday of each month. To remember our Savior who gave His life on the cross, enduring its shame for the joy set before Him, and to pray for His kingdom to come - these privileges particularly refocus the heart on eternity and on what life is really all about. As we walk through the valley of they shadow of death, let us keep the cross and the crown of Jesus ever before us!