Joel: Why Do We Suffer?

No Not One

WELCOME

Psalm 46:1-3—God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear though the earth gives way, though the mountains be moved into the heart of the sea, though its waters roar and foam, though the mountains tremble at its swelling.

Welcome! (in-person/online)

Women’s Brunch—May 8 at 11 am; register at blue flag

Fellowship Groups begin this week!

Members Meeting tonight at 6pm (bring snacks to share at 5:30)

Turn to Joel 1:1 as Chloe Figgers comes to read for us

Scripture Reading (Joel 1:1-12)

Prayer of Praise (Chloe Figgers)

Great Are You Lord

Crown Him

Prayer of Confession (Cliff Hall)

Living Hope

New City Catechism #18

Pastoral Prayer (Mike Lindell)

SERMON

Have you ever been in so much pain you attempted to bargain with God?

On September 30, 2003 I was there

Downtown Atlanta hospital

My two-year-old brother Adrien lay in a hospital bed . . . dying

Haunting glow of the waiting room vending machine

A mostly sleepless night stretched out over waiting room chairs

Bargaining with God

The next morning my brother died. And I told God I was done.

Why follow a God who lets His people suffer?

Turn to Joel

Last week in Hosea we answered the question, “What is love?” and we learned some powerful truths about God’s love for His people.

This week the book of Joel forces us to ask a different question: Why do we suffer?

Don’t know exactly when it was written, some think around 835 B.C., but not sure (timeline)

But we know it was written during a painful episode in Israel’s history

We know this because Joel gives us three snapshots of suffering, each snapshot is nicknamed “the Day of the Lord”

Like Russian nesting dolls but in reverse, each chapter the suffering gets bigger.

In each of those snapshots we’ll see an answer to our question for today: Why do we suffer?

Not exhaustive; there’s no way we can say all that could be said in one sermon

I’m beginning with the presupposition that God is sovereign in our pain

Contra Rabbi Kushner, “God is doing the best he can under the circumstances.” (Why Do Bad Things Happen to Good People?, 1981)

Not only is God sovereign in our suffering, He’s like a craftsman, using suffering as a tool to accomplish His purposes.

Three Reasons Why We Suffer:

1) Suffering Gets Our Undivided ATTENTION.

The first Russian nesting doll of suffering is in chapter 1. . .

Joel 1:4—What the cutting locust left, the swarming locust has eaten. What the swarming locust left, the hopping locust has eaten, and what the hopping locust left, the destroying locust has eaten.

Look at what these locusts had done. . .

Joel 1:10—The fields are destroyed, the ground mourns, because the grain is destroyed, the wine dries up, the oil languishes.

Two of the staple foods in ancient Israel were bread and wine.

No grain and oil to make bread. No vineyards to make wine. It’s all been destroyed.

Not just the loss of bread and wine. . .

Inability to sacrifice because the grain and wine are gone (vv. 8-9, 13)

Famine in the land as all the crops are devastated (vv. 10-12, 17)

Widespread hunger as the people’s food is cut off (v. 16)

Death of livestock because they too have nothing to eat (vv. 18-20)

The devastation is so complete it looks like a wildfire has raged through the country (vv. 19-20)

Can locusts really cause that much devastation?

John Blanchard—“Swarming in their billions, [locusts] can blot out the sun, cover distances of several hundred miles in twenty-four hours and jump from one continent to another. Nothing can stop a swarm of locusts that can be several miles wide, interfere with land and air travel and devour an entire country’s food supply in a matter of hours. A massive plague of locusts can affect twenty per cent of the earth’s surface.”

To make matters worse, this suffering didn’t just “happen.” Joel calls it “the day of the Lord.” He says that God is the One who sent the locusts. . ..

Joel 1:16—Alas for the day! For the day of the Lord is near, and as destruction from the Almighty it comes.

Why? Is God just mean and petty?

Lamentations 3:33—He does not afflict from His heart or grieve the children of men.

What is God’s purpose in their pain?

Commands in chapter 1. . .

“Hear this” (2), “Tell your children” (3), “Awake” (5), “wail” (5), “Lament” (8), “Be ashamed” (11), “Put on sackcloth and lament” (13)

Joel 1:14—Consecrate a fast; call a solemn assembly. Gather the elders and all the inhabitants of the land to the house of the Lord your God, and cry out to the Lord.

God uses suffering to get our attention.

C.S. Lewis—“Pain insists upon being attended to. . . . God whispers to us in our pleasures, speaks in our conscience, but shouts in our pain: it is His megaphone to rouse a deaf world.”

Is God trying to get your attention?

I believe that’s partly what God was trying to do in my life when I lost my brother. He wanted to wake me up!

Your suffering may be God’s grace!

Why do we suffer? God uses suffering to get our undivided attention. But if we won’t wake up . . .

2) Suffering Calls Us to Genuine REPENTANCE.

There’s not a mom in this room that doesn’t know about Braxton-Hicks. Sometimes called practice contractions or false labor, they may sometimes hurt (or so I’m told) but the pain pales in comparison (or so I’m told) to what comes next when real labor begins.

In some ways the plague of locusts was kind of like a Braxton-Hicks “day of the Lord.” The pain was real, but it paled in comparison to the pain that was to come.

The second Russian nesting doll of suffering in chapter 2. . .

Joel 2:1-5—Blow a trumpet in Zion; sound an alarm on my holy mountain! Let all the inhabitants of the land tremble, for the day of the Lord is coming; it is near, 2 a day of darkness and gloom, a day of clouds and thick darkness! Like blackness there is spread upon the mountains a great and powerful people; their like has never been before, nor will be again after them through the years of all generations. 3 Fire devours before them, and behind them a flame burns. The land is like the garden of Eden before them, but behind them a desolate wilderness, and nothing escapes them. 4 Their appearance is like the appearance of horses, and like war horses they run. 5 As with the rumbling of chariots, they leap on the tops of the mountains, like the crackling of a flame of fire devouring the stubble, like a powerful army drawn up for battle.

Through the centuries many armies have conquered Jerusalem. Not sure to which Joel is referring. Whoever it is, God has a purpose in their pain. God is the one who will send this army. . .

Joel 2:11—The Lord utters his voice before his army, for his camp is exceedingly great; he who executes his word is powerful. For the day of the Lord is great and very awesome; who can endure it?

But why? Why would God allow suffering like this?

Zoe’s finger slammed in door

Needed seven stitches

Needed numbing shots

I held her down while they injected her

Why? There was purpose in her pain. Not to harm, but to heal.

God harms in order to heal!!!

Joel 2:12-13—“Yet even now,” declares the Lord, “return to me with all your heart, with fasting, with weeping, and with mourning; 13 and rend your hearts and not your garments.” Return to the Lord your God, for he is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love; and he relents over disaster.

There may be someone in this room whose life is headed towards disaster. If you repent, God will relent!

Repentance is more than just looking sad and sorry.

Repentance = change in how you think, feel, and act towards your sin

Notice what God promises for those who repent. . .

Joel 2:19—The Lord answered and said to his people, “Behold, I am sending to you grain, wine, and oil, and you will be satisfied

The bread and wine destroyed by the locusts will be restored!

But He promises more than restored crops. . .

Joel 2:25—I will restore to you the years that the swarming locust has eaten, the hopper, the destroyer, and the cutter, my great army, which I sent among you.

He promises to restore YEARS!!!

Years passed after that incident in the Georgia hospital. I had a wife, a young son, and my running from God had reached new lows. My wife and I sat in a counselor’s office devastated by the effects of my rebellion. That’s when I first understood the beauty of this promise.

You can make a mess of your life. But God can restore those years! You can have five years of pain in your marriage, and then God can fill the next ten years filled with such beauty and grace that it restores everything you lost in those pain-filled, sin-stained years.

But He promises even more than restored years . . .

Joel 2:27—You shall know that I am in the midst of Israel, and that I am the Lord your God and there is none else. And my people shall never again be put to shame.

How is God in our midst? He feels very absent. . .

God’s Spirit is poured out on all of His people (not by being born as a descendant of Abraham, but by being born again)

Men and women, young and old, slave and free

In Acts 2, Peter quotes this passage to refer to what happened at Pentecost when God sent His Spirit.

Christian: you have the Spirit!

If this is what is promised for all who repent, why would we not? Will your sin give you this? Will it satisfy?

2 Peter 3:9-10—The Lord is not slow to fulfill His promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance. But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, and then the heavens will pass away with a roar, and the heavenly bodies will be burned up and dissolved, and the earth and the works that are done on it will be exposed.

Repent, because if you don’t a final “day of the Lord” is coming. . .

Why do we suffer? God uses suffering to call us to genuine repentance. But if we won’t repent . . .

3) Suffering Reveals God’s Holy JUDGMENT

The final Russian nesting doll of suffering is found in chapter 3 . . .

If the “Day of the Lord” in chapter 1 is like Braxton-Hicks and chapter 2 is like real labor, chapter 3 is like a stillbirth. The pain is still there, but with none of the reward on the other side.

Joel 3:1-2—For behold, in those days and at that time, when I restore the fortunes of Judah and Jerusalem, 2 I will gather all the nations and bring them down to the Valley of Jehoshaphat. And I will enter into judgment with them there. . .

Jehoshaphat means “God is Judge,” so this is the valley of God’s judgment

Joel 3:12—Let the nations stir themselves up and come up to the Valley of Jehoshaphat; for there I will sit to judge all the surrounding nations.

Joel 3:14-15—Multitudes, multitudes, in the valley of decision! For the day of the Lord is near in the valley of decision. 15 The sun and the moon are darkened, and the stars withdraw their shining.

Same valley, different name. Here the nations aren’t making a decision. It’s too late for that. Now they’re experiencing the consequences of God’s decision. A better translation may be “verdict valley.” It’s time to read the verdict against the nations

What’s going on with the son, moon and stars?

Jesus alluded to this a few days before His death, when He was teaching His disciples about the end of the world. . .

Matthew 24:29-30—“Immediately after the tribulation of those days the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light, and the stars will fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken. Then will appear in heaven the sign of the Son of Man, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory.

Why are the tribes of the earth mourning?

Shouldn’t they be celebrating? The King is here!

They’re mourning because it’s too late!!!

This is the final Day of the Lord is when Jesus comes as judge.

Revelation 20:11-15—Then I saw a great white throne and Him who was seated on it. From His presence earth and sky fled away, and no place was found for them. And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were opened. Then another book was opened, which is the book of life. And the dead were judged by what was written in the books, according to what they had done. And the sea gave up the dead who were in it, Death and Hades gave up the dead who were in them, and they were judged, each one of them, according to what they had done. Then Death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death, the lake of fire. And if anyone's name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire.

Jesus says this is a place where the fire burns forever (Mark 9:48)

How can a loving God punish people eternally?

Reason 1: He’s a Just Judge

Derek Chauvin verdict—regardless of your personal opinions or feelings on the verdict, we know this: we are hardwired to want justice.

The problem is we don’t think we’re really that guilty

Reason 2: He’s Holy

Think of the sin you’re struggling with (lying, selfishness, pride, bitterness, lust)

Right now, God restrains you, He puts things in your way (like suffering) to keep you from being as bad as you could be

But what if all that gets taken away? What if you’re totally left to your own devices? What if there is nothing left to stop you from giving yourself over to sin?

You no longer struggle with lust, you’re lust incarnate. You’re no longer occasionally bitter. You become bitterness. You are the locust.

And in the white-hot light of God’s glory you must be punished.

And when that suffering comes, you won’t be sorry then either. You still won’t repent. You’ll shake your fist at God in unrighteous anger. And you’ll keep blaspheming the name of God, into eternity.

C.S. Lewis—“I willingly believe that the damned are, in one sense, successful, rebels to the end; that the doors of hell are locked on the inside”

But there’s Good News. . .

Joel 3:16—The Lord roars from Zion, and utters his voice from Jerusalem, and the heavens and the earth quake. But the Lord is a refuge to his people, a stronghold to the people of Israel.

How do I get God as my refuge?

Joel 2:32—And it shall come to pass that everyone who calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.

Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord can be saved!!!

Even angry, hurting young man in an Atlanta hospital waiting room. . . . even you.

God sent Christ to absorb this wrath in your place so you don’t have to!

You can escape the coming Day of the Lord! Paul tells us how. . .

Romans 10:9-13—If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved. For the Scripture says, “Everyone who believes in him will not be put to shame.” For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; for the same Lord is Lord of all, bestowing his riches on all who call on him. For “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”

Call on Him in repentance and faith!

Explain repentance and faith

Why do we suffer? God uses suffering to call us to get our undivided attention, to call us to genuine repentance, and to display His holy judgment.

Going to stand and sing in just a moment, a song written by a man familiar with suffering. Horatio Spafford wrote these words in 1873 after losing four daughters in a tragic accident. He was able to say “it is well with my soul” amidst unimaginable tragedy because His eyes weren’t on His own suffering but on the suffering that Christ endured in His place.

That night in 2003 it was not well with my soul.

When my brother died the next morning I started running even faster. Praise God, He wasn’t done with me yet. But that’s another story for another sermon. Here’s my question for you this morning: is it well with your soul?

Maybe it’s not well with your soul because you’re not a Christian: repent and believe so you can be saved from God’s final judgment

Maybe it’s not well with your soul because you’re a Christian living in unrepentant sin : like God’s people in chapter 2, your sin may lead to God’s discipline. Repent and be restored!

Maybe it’s well with your soul but it shouldn’t be: Maybe you’re too unconcerned about the eternal judgment that awaits the world around us. I pray God wakes us up to the reality that while our suffering is temporary, the suffering of our unbelieving friends, family, and neighbors will never end.

Missionary friend in Mumbai. “They’re all going to hell.”

It is not our responsibility to save them. Only God can do that. It’s our job to tell them.

Romans 10:13-15—For “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.” How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching? And how are they to preach unless they are sent? As it is written, “How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news!”

When we stand and sing there will be people at the white flag happy to talk and pray with you if you’d like. Or, you’re welcome to kneel and pray right where you’re at. Or find a friend who came with you and find a spot to pray together. But whatever you do, don’t leave here this morning until you can say that it is well with your soul.

PRAY

LORD’S SUPPER

In Joel 1 we saw the destruction of bread and wine, and then in Joel 2 we see a promise to once again send bread and wine to His people. . . That promise was ultimately pointing not to a harvest, but to a Person.

On the night Jesus was betrayed He took a loaf of bread and said, “this is My body which is given for you.” He took a cup of wine and said, “this is the new covenant in My blood.”

He is the only bread and wine that can make you satisfied!

Every time we take communion we remember the death of Jesus in our place

Didn’t receive a communion cup when you came in and you want to take communion with us, hold your hand up.

In the book of Joel, people weren’t saved because they had bread and wine. They received the bread and wine as a gift because they had called on the name of the Lord and been saved.

Not a Christian? Don’t take (even if we gave you cup). Receive Christ!

Christian? Take with joy! Yes, confess sin but don’t forget the point of the meal is that you’re not good enough. But you’re trusting in the One who is.

Peel back the layer of plastic covering the bread. Thank Jesus for giving His body for you.

1 Cor. 11:23-24—For I received from the Lord what I also delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus on the night when he was betrayed took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it, and said, “This is my body, which is for you. Do this in remembrance of me.”

Peel back the layer of plastic covering the cup. Thank Jesus for shedding His blood for you.

1 Cor. 11:25—In the same way also he took the cup, after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.”

1 Cor. 11:26—For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.

Let’s sing together

It Is Well (final verse)

BENEDICTION