Season of Suffering

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Henry Flipper

This next session is about the Season of Suffering. But first, is there anybody here who finished the crossword puzzle during the break?

That crossword puzzle tells you a little about who Henry Flipper was. In a nutshell, Henry Flipper was a former slave and the first African American graduate at West Point.

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If you go to Thomasville, GA, you will find that the post office is the Henry Flipper Post Office. If you went to West Point in the spring on a certain evening, you could go to a dinner where they give out the Henry Flipper Memorial Award to the student who has overcome the most adversity.

So, knowing those things, you’d probably guess that he must have been heroic in battle, or he must have made some great strategic decision that transformed a war. But the reality is that Henry Flipper was court-martialed and convicted and dishonorably discharged from the Army.

How do these things go together?

Well in 1877, Henry Flipper graduated from West Point and he began a career in the army. He went out to the Indian Territories as part of the Buffalo Calvary and served in various forts. In 1882, he was in charge of the commissary, and while in that post, he was accused of embezzling $2500.

In his court martial, he was acquitted of the charge of embezzlement, but he was convicted of the charge of conduct unbecoming an officer.

Now, at that time, he was the only African American officer in the army. The judge acknowledged that the charges were clearly motivated by racism. Yet, he did not overthrow the conviction. And President Chester Arthur upheld the conviction as well.

And so Henry Flipper was dishonorably discharged from the US Army. He did not have any children, but he fought to clear his good name and then his nieces and nephews took up his challenge. Finally, in 1976, the US Government changed it to an honorable discharge, and years after that, Henry Flipper was pardoned of conduct unbecoming an officer.

I want you to think about what it might’ve been like for Henry Flipper. What he went through. What kind of legacy did he leave?

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The Problem Of Suffering

Some of you may know suffering well.

Maybe you rein the middle of it

- Health - Marital - Financial pressure - Greif

Maybe you have suffered evil or trauma in childhood that sill impacts you deeply today.

Maybe you struggle with mental health

We all go through seasons of suffering - It is very real

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When we think about suffering it creates some problems.

Pain has the power to send our theology in a tailspin.

Philosophers have long recognize the problem of evil and suffering, as perhaps the most potent argument against Christianity

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Because humanly speaking, when we look at suffering, there are only really three things that can be true…

1. God doesn't know – that he's ignorant, and not all knowing

2. God doesn't care - that he's not all loving

3. God can't do anything about it - That He’s not omnipotent, that He’s not all powerful

There are some things we will never understand until we may God face-to-face, but the scripture does deal with suffering head on

3. Consoling Truths about Suffering

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The Calling To Suffer

We are all called to suffer - that’s not very consoling

But according to scripture, suffering is not merely something to be in endured, but rather some thing that God has called us to…

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Philippians 1:29–30 (CSB)

For it has been granted to you on Christ’s behalf not only to believe in him, but also to suffer for him, since you are engaged in the same struggle that you saw I had and now hear that I have.

Bible says we are in Union with Christ the picture is that of a marriage being of one flesh. It's a picture of our restored relationship with God.

And we often think about that, and say oh, I'm going to have joy, peace and happiness, and all the great things about being linked together with Christ.

But remember in marriage vows where it says in sickness and in health.

Because we are linked together with him we also experience the fellowship of his suffering

because in that suffering, we learn more about us. We also learn more about him, and we share that fellowship of being united with him, both in his life and in his death.

In the joy and peace, but also in the suffering.

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We are going to suffer. It is part of her calling. No amount of planning can avoid it. No amount of seeking security or trying to make our lives complete and trying to take care of every contingency can avoid something that has promised to happen.

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why is it certain that we are going to suffer?

1. One reason we suffer is for doing right - Jesus said the world hated me and it's going to hit you also.

Persecution

In our country, the persecution we experience is usually not that bad; we may suffer some ridicule, we may be forced to make some unpopular decisions that cost us something, things like that. But of course, we know that in many countries today, people are being killed for their faith.

Jesus is a trailblazer - we follow behind him

He’s our trailblazer. And if He had to hack His way through that jungle, guess what? We’ve got to walk that same road behind Him and so we are going to know the suffering that He suffered. We will suffer in this world for doing right.

2. Sometimes we suffer for doing wrong.

Consequences of bad decisions that we make or our own sinful choices.

It may be discipline - Hebrews tells us that, as a child of God, he disciplines those he loves.

Sometimes when we are disciplining our children, there is no change in behavior, until we find a level of discipline that actually causes them to suffer. Until they experience real consequences or some pain, they don't reflect on what they've done and want to change.

Hebrews 12:11 CSB

No discipline seems enjoyable at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it.

3. And sometimes we suffer for no apparent reason. And this is the one that causes us so much pain and confusion.

- why do tornadoes hits some houses and not others?

- Why does this person get cancer?

- Why does a young couple have a miscarriage?

We live in a fallen world - sin has corrupted God’s order, so we should not be surprised at the suffering that results

But it doesn't make it easy to understand, or grapple with when it happens.

What we do know is that suffering is a part of God's plan of redemption.

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B. The Purpose of Suffering

Romans 5 gives us one of the purposes of suffering

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Suffering shapes us - it produces qualities that we can get no other way.

There are times we go through season of suffering, and at the end we look back and realize we would never have learned the lessons apart from that experience.

It also creates in us a longing for the next world…

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This world can easily deceive us into thinking that it's our home. We get comfortable here. We have everything we need. And everything is going great.

But suffering produces in us and anxiousness. It produces in us and unsettled us that says one day it's not going to be like this anymore. He goes on to say in verse 5

“and hope does not put put us to shame, because God's love has been poured into our hearts, through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us.”

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Romans 8:18-21

So, when suffering comes into our lives, we can remember that God uses that not only did she pass, but also to convince us to produce to give us a little prick that we need to remember that this world is not our home and how long for the day when he comes and makes everything the way it should be.

ILLUSTRATION: personal example of suffering - mom

But even when we recognize the purpose of suffering, we are still left with questions, if we are honest

We have to come in, acknowledge that there are real questions here, and we have to deal with them honestly because I think the scripture deals with them honestly and God doesn't clearly give an answer to all of our why’s

But he does show us that suffering, even as bad as it is, and horrible as it is, can be redeemed by the power of the gospel.

We see that is true, because the greatest suffering that has ever happened, turned out to be the greatest good

Think about it. The only truly innocent person in the history of the world was Jesus Christ. He was the only person who did not deserve anything bad to happen to him and yet what happened? He was taken by man and nailed to a cool cross. Not only did he suffer a terrible death, that he did not deserve, torture, humiliation, paying for agony. But he also suffer the wrath of God. I can send he experience God's wrath against him, even though he had never sinned.

Talk about injustice, and yet that came to be the greatest good. You see in that moment when Jesus on the cross, and he said father why have you forsaken me? God abandon Jesus, in that one moment said he would never have to abandon you.

That's the hope we have. God port out his wrath on Jesus said he would never have to pour out his wrath on you..

And so in the light of that, we look at the suffering around us, and in our own lives, that we can't make sense of, and we think: if God can redeem that evil, and he can redeem this evil as well. That's the promise that we have in the gospel.

That’s really …

C. The Comfort in Suffering

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That’s our third consoling truth: the comfort in suffering.

God’s faithful and He will never abandon His children.

In Romans 8, as we return to that passage, it talks about the groaning that we have in this world as we eagerly await the day when suffering will be removed.

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Paul comes back to the promise in verse 31, and He says,

“What, then, shall we say in response to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all—how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things?”

In other words, if He has already given us the best, if He has already overcome the evilest suffering there could possibly be, then He can take care of these things, too.

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And so he goes on, “Christ Jesus who died—more than that, who was raised to life—is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? … No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us.

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For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor death, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

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So when we are in a time of suffering, the comfort is that God redeemed the suffering of Christ, that He overcomes sin and death, that He triumphed over that and He can triumph in the midst of our suffering, too.

But you know, some people deal with the power of evil by rejecting the idea of God.

And that does lessen the problem of evil, but it reveals another problem and that is the problem of life.

Because when we reject the idea of God, then we have to ask:

- Why does life have any meaning at all?

- If there is no God, then why do we ask why is there evil?

- And furthermore, why is there any good?

- Why do I understand one thing as being bad and one thing as being good?

- What difference should it make?

Why does it matter? So we are left then with the problem of life and how to make sense of it all.

So we can reject God in our season of suffering and the problem of evil might go away to some extent, but then we’re left with new questions and problems.

What God says to us is: I’m not going to give you the answer to why. But you can ask another question, and that is, “Who?”

Who is it that I can look to in the midst of my suffering? Who is it that can redeem this suffering? Who is it that I can hold onto?

Because what we need even more than a solution to our problem is Him!

The truth is that the God of the Universe is right there with you in the midst of your suffering. He will never leave you nor forsake you. Let your time of suffering draw you closer to Him.

Return to Henry Flipper

Now, I can’t know for sure, but I can imagine, based on what I’ve read about Henry Flipper, what he would’ve chosen if given a choice. Image if he was told he had a choice. He could never be accused of embezzling money, he could never be discharged from the army, etc. but no one would remember him when he was gone. That’s one choice. OR he could endure what he endured, and 100 years later, his life would be a testimony to people who fight for justice everywhere. And people all across America would read about him and know about what it means to stand up for what’s right. Which one of those would he choose? I think it’s very possible that Henry Flipper would have said, “I’ll choose to suffer, because in my suffering, I can then make a difference. I can have an impact.”

In our lives, we may not immediately see why suffering is happening. We may never know why it is happening, but we can remember that God can redeem our suffering just as He redeemed the suffering of Christ. That’s the promise that He’s given us through the power of the Gospel. God is there with us and there is comfort in suffering because there is purpose to suffering.

Prayer

All right, we're going to take about 15 minutes now and we're going to talk about the discussion questions on page 8 of your outlines. After that, we're going to take a quick break. You're welcome to keep talking during that break if you prefer. But I just want to give you a quick reminder that after the next session, you’re going to have the opportunity to commit to a small group for six weeks.

This will be your workbook for the six-week group. You can see it's short. It's sweet. It's to the point. All you have to do each week is read this material, think it through, jot down anything you want to talk about with the guys.

Then when you get together, these are the questions you're going to talk about—the same kinds of discussions you've been having here is what you would do as a part of one of these follow-up groups. We're going to have some men after the next session talk about where and when they can meet. You need to be a part of this. No matter what season you’re in right now—suffering, success, no matter what it is—this opportunity has the power to change your life.

END SESSION WITH DISCUSSION QUESTIONS AT TABLES

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