Following Jesus When Faced with Suffering

Have you ever been given the worst job in a group?

Growing up…I was 4 years older than my younger brother….we often had chores...take care of the dogs, shovel the driveway, shovel snow off the roof, mow the lawn…and most of these were not that bad…there was one task though, that was the bane of my existence…the task I dreaded….removing leaves from the landscaping rocks…now we had this leaf blower…that could blow the leaves or you could reverse it and suck the leaves into this bag….

This was before batteries existed…so you had to have a long extension cord….you had this bag attached…and it was dusty, got in your eyes, and you had to vacuum the rocks…so you are just jostling this big tube over and over the rocks, and some of the leaves came out, and some just broke up and were trapped in between rocks for all eternity…the reason it was so bad is that it was impossible to ever finish…you were never done…you would spend an hour sucking leaves out of rocks, the bag would get full…but it seemed like you did nothing…and so you just had to keep doing it…our whole house was landscaped with rock…and so it was like 147 tons of rock….more rock than grass im pretty sure…and all you did was vacuum rock and it seems there was no end…

- Now my brother mind you…he had tasks as well…and my memory might be skewed, but I seem to remember him being able to pick up stick from the yard….we had 2 trees….or he got to pick strawberries from the strawberry patch…so here I am dust in my eyes, rocks that will never get clean, dragging a corded vacuum around 2 miles of rock…and my brother is eating strawberries.

- have you ever been in a situation like that…at work you have to do the hard, dirty job…

- You have to go talk to the irate customer

-You have to lead the team and if something does not go well it is all on you

-you have to stay home with 3 sick kids when you are not feeling well.

-And then it often seems like other people don’t nearly have it as hard…you think their kids always obey, they never argue with their spouse, everyone at work loves them….why does everything go right for them….when it seems like everything is a struggle for me…

As a Follower of Christ who is seeking to share in the fellowship of Christ’s sufferings…Everything we do is going to be laced with some level of suffering as we live in a broken sin cursed world and yet there is great Hope for a follower of Christ…This year our Theme is Hope for Everyday Life, and our Series over 1 Peter was focusing on “Hope in Everyday Suffering”

The question is how do we respond to everyday life where there is suffering…How does our mission to follow Jesus allow us to focus in a way that we don’t compare ourselves to others, and we actually have the motivation to not just survive, but to move forward and persevere for the Glory of God.

We have concluded our series on 1 Peter and we will be starting our series on 2 Peter next week…but today we are going to look at part of Peter’s life recorded in scripture that speaks to How Peter needed to apply first all that He wrote about later…today we will focus on an interaction Peter had with Jesus about suffering and how Peter’s shepherding the flock of God and encouraging them in suffering flows out of Peter’s mission to Follow the resurrected Savior.

So today we are talking about….Following Jesus When Faced with Suffering

With that in mind please turn in your bibles to John 21:18…that is on Page ___.

Read John 21:18-25

With our time today, let’s look at 3 keys to following Jesus when suffering is on the horizon

This first one seems a bit basic, but it is the foundation that we build on…and that is…

I. Focus on the mission of Glorifying God

John 21:18–19 -¹⁸ “Truly, truly, I say to you, when you were younger, you used to gird yourself and walk wherever you wished; but when you grow old, you will stretch out your hands and someone else will gird you, and bring you where you do not wish to go.” ¹⁹ Now this He said, signifying by what kind of death he would glorify God. And when He had spoken this, He said to him, “Follow Me!”

Consider Peter’s Mission

Peter was just restored by Jesus and given the mission to feed Jesus flock…

Peter affirms His love for Jesus 3 times and Jesus calls Him repeatedly to Tend Jesus’ lambs, to Shepherd Jesus sheep, to tend His sheep…to feed, nourish and protect God’s people with the word of God…

In addition to that Mission, Jesus gives Peter a picture of the suffering that is going to accompany it and the suffering that is going to end his ministry.

He is going to be a prison, someone else is going to determine where he goes and what He does.

His hands will be stretched out, which many commentaries believe refers to ones hands being stretched out as the extend their arms along a cross beam before being crucified.

The Author clarifies things and explain that this is talking about How Peter is going to die…and how His death is going to glorify God…

I think it is important for us to see how Peter when confronted with suffering and death later in life is not going to deny Jesus 3 times, but is going to associate Himself with Jesus and glorify God by laying down His life…something he was unwilling to do before Jesus died for Him…

This whole process is being summarized in two incredible powerful words…”Follow Me”

Peter was used mightily by the Lord to build His church…but Peter’s ministry was marked with suffering…where he was beaten by religious leader in Acts 5, or put in Jail by Herod in Acts 12…and then finally imprisoned and crucified in Rome most likely by Emperor Nero…

His mission was very effective, but it was marked with suffering, and it ended in suffering.

Consider John’s mission

1. Johns mission is different…he did not seem to have the same level of suffering, and yet he was used of the Lord to testify to the church about what Jesus had done and call people to believe in Him…he was responsible for writing the book of revelation …as well as writing 1, 2 3^rd John…and the Gospel of John….

1. He was also used by the Lord, but it was in a different way than Peter was.

What about…

Our Mission as a church

Matthew 28:19–20 -¹⁹ “Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, ²⁰ teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”

We are to go…to make disciples…share the gospel, call people to repentance and faith in Christ and then teach them what God says, and teach them to apply God word…to observe what God commands.

We do this because we love God…we believes He loves us…and we want to as part of our mission show His love to others…

Matthew 22:37–40 -³⁷ And He said to him, “ ‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ ³⁸ “This is the great and foremost commandment. ³⁹ “The second is like it, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ ⁴⁰ “On these two commandments depend the whole Law and the Prophets.”

This is what our mission as a church is all about…

Church Mission Statement:

The mission of Faith Church is to glorify God by winning people to Jesus Christ and equipping them to be more faithful disciples.

But how does that play out in your life…

Your mission as a follower of Christ

When we think about our individual walk with the Lord…we often think about passages like…

2 Corinthians 5:9 -⁹ Therefore we also have as our ambition, whether at home or absent, to be pleasing to Him.

1 Corinthians 10:31 -³¹ Whether, then, you eat or drink or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.

Matthew 16:24 -²⁴ Then Jesus said to His disciples, “If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross and follow Me.

The reality is that it is hard to do that…it is hard to keep that focus…we are called to persevere when this mission is hard.

1 Corinthians 15:58 -⁵⁸ Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your toil is not in vain in the Lord.

1. The key is that our toil is in the Lord, and for the Lord…motivated by the Lord…who He is and what He has done for us…

1. Suffering really tends to reveal what you mission in life is all about…

1 Peter 4:14–16 -¹⁴ If you are reviled for the name of Christ, you are blessed, because the Spirit of glory and of God rests on you. ¹⁵ Make sure that none of you suffers as a murderer, or thief, or evildoer, or a troublesome meddler; ¹⁶ but if anyone suffers as a Christian, he is not to be ashamed, but is to glorify God in this name.

Our mission is also going to be marked with suffering…we may not have to be crucified…and killed for our faith…but our kids of grandkids might…and how well did we equip and train them to be ready for standing for Christ and laying down their life for Christ.

I really want to encourage you to think about what is your mission in life…what is your life all about. If we just go to work, do hobbies…it can get so easy to just go through the motions…and over time, you will not be motivated to endure when work does not go well, when hobbies don’t seem very exciting…when things get difficult….you will be forced to ask yourself…why am I doing this…is this worth it…

Whatever you do…do it for the glory of God…in other words be purposeful.

If you are starting your own business…do so because you believe it glorifies God…if you are going to work at a factory on third shift…do so because you believe it is glorifying to God…if you are going to try to get a baseball scholarship or go to school to be a writer…do so with purpose because you believe this is the best way for you to bring glory to the Lord.

Be purposeful, and view everything in your life with a focus on bringing glory to God….so that when suffering comes…and it will come…your mission will help you endure, persevere and serve in the name of the Lord.

Whatever you are doing in life…are you doing it believing this is God’s mission for you to glorify Him?

• If you are a stay at home Mom…do you believe the Lord has called you to serve Him as you serve your family

• If you are going back to school later in life…are you doing this because you believe this is what God wants you to do to bring Him glory

• If you are working 3^rd shift…do you believe this is where God wants you to serve him.

• If you are a grandpa or grandma who jst moved closer to family…are you focusing on how this is part of your mission for Christ.

• In Short…are you burdened with the glorious purpose to Follow Him in all that you do…and whatever you do….as you do it.

• Sometimes in life we go through the motions…we just do what we are doing because it is comfortable, or it is what others expect of us, or it pays the bills, or it is safe…we just don’t always think about what we are doing…we don’t always live with purpose…with a focus on our mission.

• I think it is good to be loyal, to do what you enjoy, to do things you are good at and to do things that challenge you…but above all do you do thing because you believe that is part of your mission to glorify God….

• As believers we are not to just do things because we feel like it…we have been called to Follow Christ…so everything we do must be filtered through the words…”Follow Me”

• So are you living purposefully….if you are not…you will not be able to handle suffering well…you will not going to be able to handle a cruel co-worker, or an unreasonable boss…you will not be able to handle the monotony or repetitive tasks that seem pointless and just get you a paycheck….

Live purposefully with the words ”Follow me” resounding in your mind each and every day. Don’t just go through the motions…we have too glorious a savior and too glorious a mission to do that.

The second keys to following Jesus even in suffering

II. Don’t get distracted from the mission

John 21:20–22 -²⁰ Peter, turning around, saw the disciple whom Jesus loved following them; the one who also had leaned back on His bosom at the supper and said, “Lord, who is the one who betrays You?” ²¹ So Peter seeing him said to Jesus, “Lord, and what about this man?” ²² Jesus said to him, “If I want him to remain until I come, what is that to you? You follow Me!”

It is so easy to get distracted…how long did it take Peter…how long does it take you to turn your head…this is how you are going to glorify me in your death….1, 2…what about Him…

We can get easily distracted and we can get distracted in a lot of different ways…

By comparing yourself to others

Peter is comparing his life and the suffering and the death that will come and He wants to know what will happen to John…

Jesus told a parable of day laborers that captures it from the other perspective where God is very generous to some and that is hard for others to process

…the parable highlights how some day labors were picked up at the beginning of the day…and were paid wages for one day…just what they were promised…but some other day laborers jined them later int eh day…and the employer chose to pay them for a full day even though some of them did not work the full day…or really even close to it…one person who worked a full day was comparing what He got and how many hours he worked to another…instead of focusing on what He got was fair and the master was begin generous giving to someone more than they deserved…

Matthew 20:14–15 -¹⁴ ‘Take what is yours and go, but I wish to give to this last man the same as to you. ¹⁵ ‘Is it not lawful for me to do what I wish with what is my own? Or is your eye envious because I am generous?’

When you think about others who have more suffering or more blessing than you…and you compare yourself it will not help you accomplish your mission of following Christ…

We also are often distracted by….

Jealousy & Selfish Ambition

James 3:16 -¹⁶ For where jealousy and selfish ambition exist, there is disorder and every evil thing.

When everyone is thinking about themselves and what they want and what others have and how they can get to the top…there is chaos…in contrast the wisdom from above is full of good fruits…it is focused on producing what is righteous as you follow the Lord…it is focused on the mission of bearing righteous fruit…fruit that honors the Lord.

The reality is everyone has different gifts and ability and at times that means life is easier for some than others…and we are often tempted with…

Being discontent with your giftedness

Everyone has different gifts and abilities, but everyone needs to respond with a recognition this is what God has supplied and I want to use this for Him…

1 Peter 4:11 -¹¹ Whoever speaks, is to do so as one who is speaking the utterances of God; whoever serves is to do so as one who is serving by the strength which God supplies; so that in all things God may be glorified through Jesus Christ, to whom belongs the glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen.

Some people are born into wealthy families, some are not…some people are born very athletic, very intelligent, tall, great reflexes, able to pick up languages easily, or just write with perfect grammar right out of the womb….there are a variety of things that people attribute value to that give you advantages in life… from skill to appearance….and yet everyone needs to be content with how God made them and not get distracted from God’s mission for them, and we are to use the gifts and ability and resources entrusted to us for His glory.

Be content with what God has given you to complete your mission…

1 Timothy 6:6–8 -⁶ But godliness actually is a means of great gain when accompanied by contentment. ⁷ For we have brought nothing into the world, so we cannot take anything out of it either. ⁸ If we have food and covering, with these we shall be content.

Think about the body of Christ and how we need each person, we need everyone’s gifts…for the body to function well…it does not help us as a body if we compare parts of the body to each other because we need them all for the mission.

1 Corinthians 12:14–18 -¹⁴ For the body is not one member, but many. ¹⁵ If the foot says, “Because I am not a hand, I am not a part of the body,” it is not for this reason any the less a part of the body. ¹⁶ And if the ear says, “Because I am not an eye, I am not a part of the body,” it is not for this reason any the less a part of the body. ¹⁷ If the whole body were an eye, where would the hearing be? If the whole were hearing, where would the sense of smell be? ¹⁸ But now God has placed the members, each one of them, in the body, just as He desired.

The unity of the body of Christ is not that we all have the same experiences or gifts, but that we have the same savior…the same mission…to Follow Him….we are one flock, with many different experiences, trials, gifts and abilities…but we are called to follow Him together.

It is fascinating that right after Peter is restored, it isn’t but 5 minutes when Jesus is rebuking Him…Peter is rebuked…Jesus says a second time…You Follow me…He says what is it to you…in other words…what happens to John is none of your business…

I think a lot about D-Day in WW2 and you think about the men who were tasked with landing on the beach first, especially in the sections tha had not been cleared with bombs…or the paratroopers who we called to land behind enemy lines…it can be easy to think about the folsk who came in last after the beach was secured…it is easy to compare those…but the reality is if you are a soldier…thinking about a different group and what they have to go through or not go through does not help you with your mission at all….and one of the reason we appreciate soldiers who give their lives is they were focused on the mission and not focused on comparing what other soldiers had to do…they were focused on their responsibility and they were willing to give their lives for the mission.

We too need to focus on the mission and in fact we need to give our lives for the mission of Following Jesus. It is far to easy to take our eyes of the author and perfector of faith and be drawn into complaining, gossip, coveting or just bitter comparison.

A good question to ask ourselves…is how does knowing that or thinking about that… help me honor Christ…How does focusing on that help me with my mission….so often what we choose to think about has no bearing on our responsibilities….but inquiring minds want to know….but those with renewed minds want to know Christ more.

The 3^rd key is to….

III. Make sure the mission is Christ centered.

John 21:23–25 -²³ Therefore this saying went out among the brethren that that disciple would not die; yet Jesus did not say to him that he would not die, but only, “If I want him to remain until I come, what is that to you?” ²⁴ This is the disciple who is testifying to these things and wrote these things, and we know that his testimony is true. ²⁵ And there are also many other things which Jesus did, which if they were written in detail, I suppose that even the world itself would not contain the books that would be written.

A. Focus on the Word of Christ accurately.

John had to write a correction in His gospel…apparently something that was not true was being spread…and that is that Jesus said John would not die before Jesus returns…not only was that simply not accurate…but it would tie all the hope to John…as He got older and if He died and Christ had not come back…that could really negatively impact the church body…

Instead the church is to speak what is doctrinally true with a Christlike love…where the whole body works together to grow…and not spread misinformation that could shake the faith of others.

Ephesians 4:15–16 -¹⁵ but speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in all aspects into Him who is the head, even Christ, ¹⁶ from whom the whole body, being fitted and held together by what every joint supplies, according to the proper working of each individual part, causes the growth of the body for the building up of itself in love.

B. Redirect your testimony to the testimony of Christ

John captured what Jesus said to Peter…and Peter fulfilled that…He lived that out…He followed Christ and did not deny Him…He gave His life…but even with that we don’t exalt Peter apart from God’s work in peter’s life.

As Paul said…

Philippians 2:13 -¹³ for it is God who is at work in you, both to will and to work for His good pleasure.

John is testifying to what He has seen…and he gets the focus off Himself and if he is going to live until Christ comes back and he focuses the attention on the deeds of Christ that are so awesome all the books in the world can’t contain them…

Our mission is to not just go through the motions, not just live for the weekend, or a paycheck…not compare ourselves to others either in blessing or suffering…not get distracted from our mission….

…because we have a risen savior that calls us to Follow Him…and we trust Him…and we believe he is able to work in us to do the mission He has called us to…even in suffering…even if it means laying down our lives…

There is a power at work in us…that give us Hope…that allows us to endure suffering…a power that allows us to accomplish the mission…Paul says it like this…

Ephesians 3:20–21 -²⁰ Now to Him who is able to do far more abundantly beyond all that we ask or think, according to the power that works within us, ²¹ to Him be the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations forever and ever. Amen.