Worthy of the Hurt

Hurt People

A little over two years ago when we planted Harvest I knew one thing was for certain — We would be ministering to hurt people — I knew this because my wife and I were hurt people — I don’t know anyone who isn’t in some way impacted by the previous hurt in their lives. To know people, is to know hurt people.

This is the great question of the atheist: How could a good God allow bad things to happen to good people. The easiest answer to that is that there are no good people — What did Jesus ask in Matthew 19:17?

Matthew 19:17 (KJV 1900)

... Why callest thou me good? there is none good but one, that is, God: but if thou wilt enter into life, keep the commandments.

Knowing us, this assembly of believers and what we have been through together, I know that we are a collection of hurt people.

Closing Harvest hurts. — It is another in a list of hurts that we all share.

Worthy

John

There is something of a different tone with those seeking Christ in the New Testament, compared to that of the modern church.

Consider John the Baptist. Of John Jesus said this in Matthew 11:11

Matthew 11:11 KJV 1900

11 Verily I say unto you, Among them that are born of women there hath not risen a greater than John the Baptist: notwithstanding he that is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he.

But what John had to say was this (in Matthew 3:11):

Matthew 3:11 KJV 1900

11 I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance: but he that cometh after me is mightier than I, whose shoes I am not worthy to bear: he shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost, and with fire:

Here is the man of who God Incarnate says is the greatest prophet and this man, John, had such an understanding of his own lowliness and the worth of Christ that he declares this: He is not even worthy to carry the shoes of Christ. — Understand that shoes were considered filthy and were unclean. Shoes were the barrier between the feet and the wearer from the nastiness of the street, where animals relieved themselves regularly and there was no irrigation — But he was called the greatest of men wasn’t even worthy to carry the shoes of Christ.

Revelation

One of my favorite passages in scripture is the question asked in book of Revelation. Rev 5:2-9

Revelation 5:2–9 KJV 1900

2 And I saw a strong angel proclaiming with a loud voice, Who is worthy to open the book, and to loose the seals thereof? 3 And no man in heaven, nor in earth, neither under the earth, was able to open the book, neither to look thereon. 4 And I wept much, because no man was found worthy to open and to read the book, neither to look thereon. 5 And one of the elders saith unto me, Weep not: behold, the Lion of the tribe of Juda, the Root of David, hath prevailed to open the book, and to loose the seven seals thereof. 6 And I beheld, and, lo, in the midst of the throne and of the four beasts, and in the midst of the elders, stood a Lamb as it had been slain, having seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven Spirits of God sent forth into all the earth. 7 And he came and took the book out of the right hand of him that sat upon the throne. 8 And when he had taken the book, the four beasts and four and twenty elders fell down before the Lamb, having every one of them harps, and golden vials full of odours, which are the prayers of saints. 9 And they sung a new song, saying, Thou art worthy to take the book, and to open the seals thereof: for thou wast slain, and hast redeemed us to God by thy blood out of every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation;

It is Jesus who is worthy. The Lamb slain who yet lives — The Lamb that the choir of heaven sings was slain and by His blood redemption was accomplished for all of the people of the world.

This contrast of understanding is stark. The culture in our time has impacted the church today so that nearly everyone has an over-inflated sense of self worth. There is a lack of this understanding that we are not worthy of any of the blessings of God that we might want of Him. — I used John as the example but this is also true of of the Centurion of Luke 7 who declared that he was not worthy for Christ to step into his house — or Peter who fell down before the feet of Christ decreeing his unworthiness as a sinful man. — I could continue.

We are not worthy of Christ. We are not worthy of His blessings or comfort — However Christ is worthy of our enduring hurt, for Him.

So, in that, our message this morning is entitled Worthy of the Hurt

Let’s Pray

Suffering for Christ

In the beatitudes Jesus says this — We will stick with the account in the Gospel of Matthew, looking at chapter 5 verse 11:

Matthew 5:11 KJV 1900

11 Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake.

In Matthew 5:44 Jesus continues this theme

Matthew 5:44 KJV 1900

44 But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you;

Reaction to Suffering

I already began this message acknowledging that we are suffering people — We have suffered many things, however the hardest suffering to reconcile seems to be suffering that comes when we are trying to do the right thing. — It is hard to reconcile suffering that comes from other members in the church — It is hard to reconcile hurt that comes from being treated harshly or unfairly because you made yourself vulnerable by way of church membership.

The worst part is that when you have been hurt by the church your walls go up and the very people that you should be leaning on for support are placed behind an impenetrable barrier.

PK’s

I see this a lot with preacher’s kids and deacon’s kids. — They tend to be under a great deal of scrutiny and some of that is fair game.

1 Tim 3:4-5 should disqualify more church leaders than it does — 1 Tim 3:4-5 says:

1 Timothy 3:4–5 KJV 1900

4 One that ruleth well his own house, having his children in subjection with all gravity; 5 (For if a man know not how to rule his own house, how shall he take care of the church of God?)

and Titus 1:6

Titus 1:6 KJV 1900

6 If any be blameless, the husband of one wife, having faithful children not accused of riot or unruly.

If a family is in disarray and the children are out of control that is disqualifying. — period. — You can know a lot about the heart of a parent by the attitude of that parent’s children. If the children are bullies then it is likely that at least one of the parents is a bully as well — If children are chronic liars then it a good indication that at least one of the parents is a liar as well. — If children don’t demonstrate a pattern of love for God and for their brothers and sisters in Christ, well it’s a pretty safe bet that at least one of the parents doesn’t either. — Kids tell on us whether they mean to or not. — I am always amazed to see children who run away from the church the minute that they become adults — That usually points to things like parental hypocrisy or a lack of demonstrated love and mercy at home, or within the church. — Regardless, it is a red flag and our Bible warns us of it.

But — This refers to a pattern of unacceptable behavior. A lot unfortunately, of nasty people who call themselves christians would want to bring a pastor or deacon to task if their children aren’t paying attention in their Sunday School classes, etc. — Kate and I were very concerned and prepared to respond if this happened to our children because of my history of positions in ministry, but by the grace of God we have been spared. — It could be that the person is an awful Sunday School teacher who is boring the kids to tears, but rather there is a gravitation towards blaming others for problems rather than accepting our own shortcomings. — Incidences here and there that are common to most children, isn’t what the bible is talking about — but some people will take anything short of perfection as cause to disqualify. — As a result of this preacher’s kids and deacon’s kids often learn to put up walls — to handle scrutiny by isolating themselves from the rest of the church. — So then from the suffering of unfair criticism from a handful of church members, walls go up that not only isolate, but prevent those from being ministered to or admonished by even those who are spiritual within the body of Christ.

Reaction

We need to be careful that we don’t allow past hurts to isolate us. The church is an institution ordained of God whether we have been hurt in it or not. I will give you that some churches foster a culture of hurt, and maybe in that situation you need to join yourself to a different church — But we can’t forsake church because we become hurt. We can’t put up walls and not let people in because there is risk — We need the church — we need to be soft to hear preaching that hits us directly in the heart — we need to be humble to hear the correction of spiritual men and women who come along side us when we are on the wrong track — we need comfort we are spiritually hurting — From those who know what it is to be spiritually hurt and can come along side you and comfort you and encourage you.

A Church Attitude

In Acts 5 the Apostles had been imprisoned for the preaching the gospel. — You might know the story, Gamaliel urged the pharisee’s to hold off on killing the apostles for that God would handle the matter and that if they were on the side of God then opposition by the Pharisee’s would be futile.

The pharisee’s conceded this point, but did it in the poorest possible spirit. — The let the apostles go, but before hand they beat them and threatened them to no longer speak of Jesus.

The heart of the Apostels in v41 is what pricks me in my heart:

Acts 5:41 KJV 1900

41 And they departed from the presence of the council, rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer shame for his name.

They rejoiced that they were found ‘worthy’ to suffer for Christ!

This is the attitude that we should all have. It isn’t likely that you are going to have an experience like the Apostles, brought before leaders and beaten for the gospel. — But in your obedience in other ways you are are going to be tried. — In obedience to God by faithfulness to church, you are going to find yourself put in situations where you are hurt — not by outsiders but by other church members and maybe even by church leaders.

Understand this. I completely advocate for people to get out of abusive churches and into good ones — But our heart should be that of the apostles: we should rejoice that we are counted worthy to suffer for Christ. — How we respond to suffering tells people about that God you serve. If you suffer but maintain your grace and faithfulness through the suffering then what you are doing is testifying to the world that you serve a God who is worthy. Worthing of all blessing and honor and glory and worthy of your suffering.

What’s Next

It is my sincerest hope that whatever time you spent as a member of Harvest, was a time where you know that you were loved and cared for by the church. — No matter what baggage came before and what baggage comes after, please remember this: — Like anything worth anything, the church can be a place of difficulty and hardship at times. — People might treat you poorly and unfairly and you might even feel like those who should have stood up for you and and cared for you the most were the ones who hurt you.

But our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ is worthy of our faithfulness. — He is worthy of our suffering — and when we are hurt he is worthy of us picking ourselves up again, and risking being hurt again — Count yourselves blessed, and rejoice that you have been found worthy to have suffered for Christ — and by how you respond to the hurt you have experienced, you will testify of Christ.

Let’s Pray