Do you have that knot in your stomach? Do you have that feeling in your mind of unsettledness and you’re uncertain of the future and that’s led to worry and concern?
Are you having problems in your work, at home, or in your marriage?
Are your children driving you absolutely crazy? Do you feel like all the relationships in your life, or at least some of the most important ones, are somehow devolving into chaos, and everything just feels unsettled, and it keeps going on and on, and the pressure keeps intensifying and it gets worse and worse and you are at a breaking point. You’re at a desperation point.
You’re thinking to yourself, I don’t know what to do.
I don’t understand why any of this is happening.
Well brothers and sisters, if you are close to God and you’re getting closer to God through your ordeal, then this is to be expected. The Bible refers to this, the New Testament refers to this over and over as a tribulation.
A tribulation is like gut punch. It’s that moment when it feels like you can’t catch your breath and it just goes on and on and on and it creates that exasperation, that anxiety, that need for relief that just doesn’t come.
The bank account never seems to have the right amount of money in it.
The problems at work keep compounding.
The people around you are constantly just creating conflict in some way, shape, form, or manner.
Peter tells us that if you’re a Christian who is seeking God, if you’re a Christian who is drawing closer to him, that you should expect bad things to happen. You should expect difficulties.
You should expect challenges. You should expect trials. You should expect tribulations of the worst kind.
In 1 Peter chapter 4:12, this is what the apostle says,
“Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery ordeal among you which comes upon you for your testing, as though some strange thing were happening to you.”
Some strange thing. It’s not strange.
As if some strange thing were happening to you. It’s not strange. The closer to heaven on earth we get, the more the fiery ordeals happen to us.
The more the world looks at us like, you just think you’re a goody two-shoes, don’t you? You just think you’re special, don’t you? You just think you’re better than me, don’t you?
No, not at all.
I just think I’m blessed. I just think that God has honored me.
I just think that the closer I get to God, the more I know him. The more I can get through whatever challenge it is that I’m going through. Whatever the pain is, whatever the suffering I’m enduring is, God is with me.
Even in those moments where I feel abandoned and I feel alone, I know in my heart he’s with me. Even when everything and everyone is coming against me, he is with me. There is a peace and a solitude that you can’t buy.
You can’t outspend your checking account for that kind of peace because that kind of peace comes from sitting still and being quiet and just allowing yourself to hear the voice of God.
We are so busy doing in this world. We are taught that if you’re not doing something, you’re doing nothing.
And that might be true, but this isn’t about me. It’s not about what I do. It’s about what God does.
And sometimes God wants us to just be still and be quiet and trust him. Trust him. This is the essence of faith.
St. Paul says in Romans chapter 8:24-25 that hope is not hope if we can see it. Faith isn’t faith.
If we know what the outcomes are, that doesn’t require faith.
Faith only exists when you trust God so deeply and so intimately that you have no idea what the outcome is going to be. Matter of fact, if you knew what the outcome was, you probably would come to the conclusion subconsciously that, you know, I really don’t need God. Everything’s okay.
And yet it was God the whole time allowing this fiery ordeal to occur.
And we think that this stuff just comes out of nowhere sometimes.
Why is this happening?
It’s not strange.
To you and I, it should not be strange.
We must be reminded that we are constantly in a state of spiritual war. And in that state of spiritual war, every day of every moment, we are engaged in the battle.
But you know what?
There are moments when the battle is calm.
There’s a season in the battle of quiet. But that doesn’t mean that something’s not happening.
That doesn’t mean that our adversaries, the devil and his demons, aren’t preparing, aren’t scheming, aren’t laying traps. And then one day we step into it and we say it came out of nowhere, but they’ve been planning for this for some time.
While they were planning and scheming, what were we doing? Partying, living our best lives, enjoying things instead of praying and preparing.
This fiery trial that you’re going through serves a purpose and a much bigger and broader purpose than you could probably even think about or hope for or understand, right? There’s always more to life than just me.
Rejoice. Rejoice in your hardships. Rejoice in your tribulation. Isn’t this the heart of Philippians 4:1?
“Rejoice in the Lord always. And again I say, rejoice. Be anxious for nothing, but by all prayer and supplication with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God. And then, and then, you will know the peace that surpasses all comprehension.”
How is this all possible?
Let’s think about Jesus’s words in the Sermon of the Mount. The very first thing Jesus does, well, you know, let me preface…
Do you know that at least 17 times in the Sermon on the Mount alone, Jesus talks about the kingdom of heaven? Guys, are we so focused on the earth and the things of the earth and what’s happening on the earth that we miss the kingdom of heaven?
See, if we become focused on the things that are dominating our lives and the things that are creating worry and fear and anxiety, you’re 30 days late on the mortgage payment, the utility bills aren’t paid, the job offers aren’t coming, the fights with my spouse are intensifying, the conflict is growing, there’s separation or divorce on the horizon. My kids are constantly in trouble. I’m worried about their future. My parents, I’ve got one with dementia or Alzheimer’s and I can’t care for their needs.
The list goes on and on and on of things to worry about.
But why are we focused on the things of earth?
Are we focused on heaven?
You know, Jesus says this in the Sermon on the Mount. He says, Blessed are the poor in spirit. This is the very first thing he says. Blessed are the poor in spirit, for they shall inherit the kingdom of heaven.
What does it mean to be poor in spirit?
It means to be broken.
The second thing that Jesus says in the Sermon on the Mount is he says, blessed are those who mourn for they shall be comforted.
Poor in spirit and mourning. They go hand in hand, don’t they?
And Jesus reminds us that the most important thing about the kingdom of heaven right now, in this moment and in this life, is to recognize that we’re broken and that we’re mourning in that brokenness.
But what is it we’re broken from?
What is it that we’re mourning?
Because the person, here’s how to think about this, the person who is poor in spirit, they see everybody else as above them, as superior to them.
And is this not how Jesus sees us?
That he humbled himself and took on flesh, and that he lived amongst a people that despised him, hated him, and reviled him. They beat him so mercilessly. They disfigured him physically, and they put him on a cross.
That he humbled himself, he took on flesh, he endured this.
That he did not equate himself as equal with us, but he humbled himself and experienced what it meant to be broken, to be poor in spirit, to mourn. We often see Jesus mourning over his people, over his disciples, over the choices that they’re making, over their lack of understanding.
And we see on the cross, his cry, his plea to the father, quoting the Psalms. Lord, forgive them, for they know not what they do. Father, forgive them.
He is still putting us over himself.
Folks, if you want to access the kingdom of heaven, if you want to experience everything in your life that’s good, because everything feels so bad, bad doesn’t mean it’s not good. I was reminded by my bishop yesterday that many times we go through the fire for the purpose of God refining us.
Are you willing to go through the fire?
Are you willing to be refined?
Am I willing to be put to the test to prove my faith?
Not for God, but so that I would know God and know him more deeply, and more intimately, and more personally, that whatever happens, he loves me.
Whatever happens, I’m his child, I am his adopted son. That whatever happens, I endure and I persevere, so that after I have endured and persevered in this life, I will receive the promise that the door to the kingdom of heaven will be unlocked, and Jesus will look at me and say, good and faithful servant, well done.
This should be our heart.
This should be the way that we look at our trials and our tribulations.
We need to understand that we go through the fire being purified like gold, so that all the impurities are taken out of us.
Our sin is separated from us, that we might be his righteousness, that we might be his light to the world, that in my struggle, in my situation, in your situation, the world doesn’t see me as defeated. The world sees his light. The world sees God in us.
Christianity is so hampered today, because so much of it has become self-help. It has become about what I can get out of God. And God keeps putting us through the fires, and he keeps finding more and more and more impurities.
Peter says this, Do not be surprised at the fiery ordeal among you, which comes upon you for testing.
God is testing you, and God is testing me.
Will he find us approved?
Will we pass the exam?
If you don’t do the work, if you don’t study, if you don’t pray, if you don’t read scripture, if you don’t practice confession, if you don’t do the basic things of the faith, you won’t pass the test.
You won’t.
Brothers and sisters, you will not pass. You will just be continually put through the fire.
Blessed are the poor in spirit, for they shall inherit the kingdom of heaven.
Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.
Do you see the fiery ordeal as a blessing or a curse? I choose to see it as a blessing.
It’s a blessing. It’s a blessing because I know that God is testing me. God is thinking of me. God is approving me for that day when he will say, good and faithful servant. I don’t want to hear the words, let it not be, Lord, that he looks at me and he says, oh, mercy have me. I don’t even want to think about it.
Mercy on me, Lord. Oh, have mercy. I don’t even want to think of him saying to me, depart from me, for I never knew you.
Those are the worst words in our existence that we could possibly hear. Endure and persevere until the end. To those who endure and persevere until the end, Jesus says they will receive the promise.
Peter goes on, though, do not be surprised at the fiery ordeal among you, which comes upon you for your testing, as though some strange thing were happening to you. There’s nothing strange about it. To the Christian, we should expect these things.
We should expect these challenges. We should expect these trials. We should expect bad things in this life to happen because God is putting us through the fire, and he is refining us.
He is taking the impurities out of us.
Peter goes on to say in verse 13, but to the degree that you share the sufferings of Christ, to the degree you share the sufferings of Christ. St. Paul tells us that we haven’t even begun to participate in his sufferings yet. We haven’t given up our sins. We haven’t abandoned our sin. We haven’t even gone so far in our pursuit against sin to endure the cross.
But Peter says to the degree that you share the sufferings of Christ, keep on rejoicing. Peter reaffirms what St. Paul said in Philippians 4, rejoice in the Lord always. Again, I say, rejoice.
He writes this from a dungeon cell, not a good place to be in, a Roman dungeon cell. Dark, damp in the 40s or 50s for temperatures, dirt walls, dirt floors. You go to the bathroom in the place that you sleep, there’s no hole in the floor, there’s no toilet, there’s no sanitation.
The closest you have for a light is a flickering flame, and who knows how far away that is. There’s just enough light that Paul’s eyes could see enough to write. He’s probably only got for clothing something around his waist. There’s no blankets to keep him warm. There’s no comfort in a Roman dungeon cell. He’s probably misused and abused by the Roman soldiers that are his guards, as are all the other soldiers, but maybe Paul even more so because of his faith, because he stands for everything that Rome doesn’t.
Blessed are the poor in spirit, for they shall inherit the kingdom of God.
You’re looking at your problems, and some of you right now are wallowing in self-pity. Some of you are in such deep despair that all you can do is say, well, I quit, I give up.
That’s not what you were called to if you’re a Christian.
You’re failing the test. You and I are called to live by faith, not by sight.
Faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things unseen (Hebrews 11:1), and back to Romans chapter 8, verses 24 and 25, for who hopes for what they see? For if you hope for what you see, it’s not hope. But if you hope with perseverance, with perseverance, we eagerly await for it.
Brothers and sisters, I just want to challenge you today.
That knot in your stomach is your fear. That torment in your mind, the dreams that you have, night after night, that wake you up, that when you arise in the morning, you feel anxiety and tension. That’s not from God.
That’s from two things.
That’s either from a demon infiltrating your heart and your mind, sharing things with you, convincing you of things that are not true, or it’s your own sin nature that you have repetitively taught yourself things that are not true… How to live in fear instead of boldness and courage and strength.
We’re reminded, Saint Paul tells us, that we were not given a spear of timidity, but one of power and strength and discipline. So many people leave that last word out, discipline. The key to unlocking the door to the kingdom of heaven is spiritual discipline.
So many churches don’t teach this anymore. They teach us the self-help stuff that doesn’t work. The stuff that will get, matter of fact, I’m concerned that many pastors out there, they’re going to get quite a scolding from the Lord one day.
A lot of Bible teachers are going to get a scolding from the Lord one day for teaching all of this self-help stuff. Instead of teaching us and living for themselves and such a way that those under us, under our care, they see us go through the fiery trials ourselves and model for them how to go through it.
Not how to short circuit it, not how to get around it, not how to get away from it, but how to go through it broken.
I guarantee you, your pastor, your priest, your deacon, your bishop, they’re going through things that you can’t even imagine, difficulties that you will never know about. They are going through things that test the metal of our faith.
Pray for them.
Pray for them. Pray for your pastor. Pray for the deacon. Pray for the priest. Pray for the bishop. They need your prayers more than you know because they continually humble themselves and they carry your burdens.
Every person I talk to, every story I hear, I carry those burdens with me. I have to pray to the Lord continually to not become the thing that I’m praying against.
So if you’re feeling fear today, I get it.
I feel it too. If you’re feeling anxiety, I understand. I go through it as well.
The key is when we go through the most difficult things in life, do we cast our worries and our fears, and our anxieties at the feet of Jesus? And when we put ourselves at the feet of Jesus, do we cast all of that upon him because he cares for you and he cares for me?
Now you might be saying to yourself, I don’t know how to do this. I understand. I didn’t either for a long, long time. It took decades of being able to learn how to discipline my mind and how to discipline the wildness of my heart so that I could see Christ in the fiery ordeal, that I could trust him in ways that years ago I could not.
Maybe, just maybe, you need someone to pray for you. May you receive his grace and his peace in this time.
Amen.
Father Don
Pastor, Holy Trinity Church
