Untitled Sermon (5)

Who remembers what we talked about last week? Pastor Drey walked us through which book of the Bible? (old testament or new?)

Esther. What happened in the story of Esther?

How many times was God mentioned by name in the book of Esther? Why do we think that is? (to illustrate that even when we can’t see Him, God is always working)

Tonight we are going to tackle another hard question:

When I'm hurting, why does God feel far away?

What does it mean to be hurting?

What does it mean to be far away?

Is this statement true? Has anyone in this room felt this way before? It seems like, we would need God even more when we are hurting, but sometimes it seems like He is nowhere to be found.

Tonight we are going to look at several passages of scripture that will hopefully bring us some clarity.

Psalm 22:1–2 (NIV)

1 My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Why are you so far from saving me, so far from my cries of anguish?

2 My God, I cry out by day, but you do not answer, by night, but I find no rest.

Psalm 22:6–8 NIV

6 But I am a worm and not a man, scorned by everyone, despised by the people. 7 All who see me mock me; they hurl insults, shaking their heads. 8 “He trusts in the Lord,” they say, “let the Lord rescue him. Let him deliver him, since he delights in him.”

Psalm 22:11 NIV

11 Do not be far from me, for trouble is near and there is no one to help.

You can almost feel his pain. He feels abandoned by God. Then he goes on and says that he is alienated from other people. They insult him and mock his faith in God. Then he says that trouble is near…and there is no one to help.

This is a dark place to be. David is crying out and asking God to answer him.

This is not the only time we see a passage in the Bible where the author feels abandoned by God.

Psalm 42:9–11 NIV

9 I say to God my Rock, “Why have you forgotten me? Why must I go about mourning, oppressed by the enemy?” 10 My bones suffer mortal agony as my foes taunt me, saying to me all day long, “Where is your God?” 11 Why, my soul, are you downcast? Why so disturbed within me? Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise him, my Savior and my God.

The psalmist here says that God has forgotten him and that he is oppressed by the enemy. He is in agony…but what is his answer? Where does he place his hope? He looks forward to the day when God will save him from his suffering.

Here we have two clear examples of people asking God hard questions. Is it ok to ask God questions? Isn’t that questioning God? Or is there a difference between questioning God and asking God questions?

I’ll be honest, I’ve had many times in my life when I asked God ‘why me?’ And honestly I had to come to a point in my life where I asked ‘why NOT me?’ What makes me so special that I won’t encounter suffering or hard times?

Jesus literally said in John 16:33 ‘in this world you will have trouble...’ so I’ve gotten to a point where I no longer ask ‘why me’ instead I ask ‘why NOT me?’ Not that I’m looking for trouble, but I understand that sometimes life is just hard and there is nothing you can do about it.

If Jesus, God in flesh, Immanuel - God with us suffered, who am I that I should be excused from the human experience?

Check out what it was like for Jesus on the cross, I think you’ll see some interesting parallels in these passages.

Matthew 27:39–46 NIV

39 Those who passed by hurled insults at him, shaking their heads 40 and saying, “You who are going to destroy the temple and build it in three days, save yourself! Come down from the cross, if you are the Son of God!” 41 In the same way the chief priests, the teachers of the law and the elders mocked him. 42 “He saved others,” they said, “but he can’t save himself! He’s the king of Israel! Let him come down now from the cross, and we will believe in him. 43 He trusts in God. Let God rescue him now if he wants him, for he said, ‘I am the Son of God.’ ” 44 In the same way the rebels who were crucified with him also heaped insults on him. 45 From noon until three in the afternoon darkness came over all the land. 46 About three in the afternoon Jesus cried out in a loud voice, “Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani?” (which means “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”).

This is a tricky passage. We see that Jesus clearly lived through the experience of the psalmists from the first two passages.

But, I feel like it was worse for Jesus. You see, when someone rejects you they just don’t want to be your friend. It’s not like you have known them since before they were born. It’s not like you know them better than any other human could. Jesus, God in flesh looked into the face of His own creation and was rejected.

I have 3 sons, I can’t imagine them rejecting me in that way. I can’t imagine my own flesh and blood utterly rejecting me and turning their back on me. That would be devastating.

Then the last part is where it gets dicey. So I’m going to stick to the curriculum here...

“It’s thought Jesus quoted these passages to make it clear He was the Savior humanity had been waiting for.

Many think it has to do with Jesus carrying the sins of the whole world, and how all of that sin really did make God turn away from Jesus for a moment.

And everyone would agree Jesus spoke these words from a place of deep pain, physically and spiritually.”

Its obviously in there for a reason, so its good to wrestle with it and ask what it actually means. But it is equally important not to get lost in the weeds and focus on the point of the passage. Jesus is dying and also fulfilling scripture.

We’ve seen three seperate passages and all ask the same question,

God, where are You?!?

Have you ever come to a point in life where you asked this? I have, on more than one occasion.

This last passage deals with who Jesus is and how we should see Him.

Hebrews 1:1–3 (NIV)

1 In the past God spoke to our ancestors through the prophets at many times and in various ways,

2 but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, and through whom also he made the universe.

3 The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being,

Gods glory and the exact representation of His being. That is a powerful statement. This is saying that Jesus is God revealed to us in flesh. So everything that is said about Jesus is true of God.

So, where is God when I’m hurting?

It’s funny, I was driving home from church a few Sundays ago. I didn’t serve in pre-school that week, I wasn’t in the band, I was just a regular guy walking in and going to worship then life group.

And if I can be honest, I was struggling a little bit. Work has been really stressful lately, my family is a thousand miles away, I kind of felt like I was losing grip. And I felt like God was no where to be found.

As I was driving home, I realized that I hadn’t cracked my Bible that whole week. I hadn’t listened to a sermon, I hadn’t listened to any worship songs, I was filling myself with work and the struggles of life instead of the Bread of Life.

It occured to me that God hadn’t gone anywhere, He wasn’t shutting me out, I was shutting Him out. And the second I opened my heart to Him, He came rushing in. I’m not saying that my problems magically went away, but that distance that I had created from God was gone. Almost immediately. God had not distanced Himself from me. God was not the problem, I was.

So what do we do when God is nowhere to be found?

Reflect

Remove

Remember

Reflect, ask yourself am I open to God right now? How have I tried to engage with Him recently? Have I read my Bible or even thought about God recently?

Remove the barriers you have created. If you’ve put things in your life that keep you far from God, remove them.

Remember that we have a Savior that has walked in our shoes. Our God has felt the hardship of humanity, He has been rejected, beaten, spit on, had his beard ripped from His face…by hands that He created.

So if find yourself in a situation where you are struggling or even suffering, you aren’t alone, our God has been there, and He is there with you. God never promised that we wouldn’t suffer, but He did promise that we didn’t have to suffer alone.

So - (question slide)

For me, its because I’m usually not looking all that hard for Him. I think we have a tendency as humans to dive further and further into what is actually hurting us as a coping mechanism. We look for comfort in things that are dangerous spiritually and sometimes even physically. We want a quick fix, and we usually look in the wrong place. God may feel far away, but He isn’t.

He is always with us, He will never leave us, even when we don’t feel Him, He is there, and He always will be.