When Life Is Unfair and God Is Silent

Copyright 2011 by Bob Rogers

The ancient prophet Habakkuk was troubled by the very contemporary problem of why God didn’t seem to do anything about evil.

We can identify with Habakkuk. Life seems unfair, and when we pray, sometimes it seems like God isn’t hearing us and isn’t doing anything about it.

It’s kind of like getting stuck in quicksand. When a person gets stuck in quicksand, the harder they try to get out, the deeper and faster they go under. The harder they try, the worse things get because the nature of quicksand is to pull them down the more they move. Likewise, the harder you try to fight your problem, the more you feel like you are sinking. Let's look at how Habakkuk dealt with it.

I. Habakkuk’s complaint (1:12-2:1)

A. Life is unfair (1:13a)

Habakkuk could not understand why God was using Babylon to punish Judah. Judah was bad, but Babylon was worse. It didn’t seem fair. So Habakkuk said, “Your eyes are too pure to look on evil; you cannot tolerate wrong. Why then do you tolerate the treacherous?” He was referring to Babylon’s total depravity.

Sometimes life seems unfair like that to us. When an umpire or referee makes a bad call, our sense of justice is offended, and we want to jump up and shout “unfair!” We demand for a correction. We want instant replay and the ability to reverse a bad call.

On July 26, 2011, the Atlanta Braves were playing the Pittsburgh Pirates. The game was tied 3-3 after 19 innings. Umpire Jerry Meals was behind the plate. Julio Lugo was on third base. Relief pitcher Scott Proctor was batting. Proctor had 2 strikes on him and hit the ball to third base. The third baseman threw the ball home, and the catcher Michael McKenry got the ball and tagged Lugo on the leg before he even got to the plate, but umpire Jerry Meals called him safe, anyway. The instant replays clearly showed that Proctor was out, but the umpire called him safe. A lot of the Pirates players had to be restrained, they were so upset they wanted to attack the umpire.

Atlanta Braves announcer Chip Caray said on the air, “Folks, this is one that will be talked about for a while.” Bryan Jordan said, “This may be one of the worst plays we have ever seen by an umpire.” Boy, was he ever right. The next day even the news stations were talking about the bad call. But no matter how much the Pirates fans fussed about the unfair call, the Braves still won the game.

Sometimes, life is unfair like that. We get upset at a bad call in a ballgame, but what about the 12.4 million people in Somalia and the Horn of Africa who are in danger of starving to death? A drought has caused hard-working farmers and cattle owners to lose their crops and their cattle, and wander with their families in search of food. But warlords and terrorists are preventing relief organizations from getting food to the refugee camps. How do we explain that?

B. God is silent (1:13b)

Habakkuk went on to complain, “Why are you silent while the wicked swallow up those more righteous than themselves?” As the evil empire of Babylon destroyed nations and cities that weren’t as bad as them, God seemed to do nothing.

C.S. Lewis wrote in his book, A Grief Observed, of how he felt God was silent when he lost his wife. He said that when he prayed, he felt like God had slammed the door in his face and bolted the door shut.

In Habakkuk 2:1, the prophet wrote of keeping watch on the “ramparts,” that is, the lookout tower on the city wall, waiting for an answer to “this complaint.” Actually, the Hebrew word is stronger than “complaint.” A more literal translation would be “rebuke” or “reprimand.” Strong words for God, and many people who struggle with the problem of pain and the question of suffering and evil in the world are just as harsh in their condemnation of God. “Where is God?” they ask. He’s abandoned us. He’s silent.

What is the answer to all this? Habakkuk strained to get an answer, and beginning in Habakkuk 2:2, the answer came.

II. The Lord’s answer (2:2-20)

The Lord gave an answer in verses 2-4, and then elaborated on the answer in the rest of chapter two. In verse 2, the Lord let him know that the answer was so significant that it should be written down on “tablets” and a “herald” should run with the news to share it. The answer came in two parts, in verse 3 and verse 4.

A. Wait on the Lord (2:3)

The first part of the Lord’s answer was to have patience, and learn to wait on the Lord. “For the revelation awaits an appointed time; it speaks of the end and will not prove false. Though it linger, wait for it; it will certainly come and will not delay.”

Billy Graham says, “Tears become telescopes to heaven, bringing eternity a little closer.” (Billy Graham in Quotes, p. 337) Through patient waiting in our suffering, we get closer to God.

God plans to work in His timing. The Lord was letting Habakkuk know that it would prove true, not false, and would certainly come. But he had to await the “appointed time.” He had to “wait for it.”

We know from history that in the appointed time, God judged Judah and God judged Babylon as well. Jerusalem and all of Judah fell in 586 B.C.; Jerusalem’s gates and temple were burned down, and the people taken into exile. But in 539 B.C. Babylon fell, as the capital was captured in a single night by the Persians.

In verses 6-20, the Lord goes into detail about the wickedness of Babylon and how He planned to punish them. These verses have two sections of five “woe’s” upon Babylon. Each of the two sections end with a statement about God’s greatness in contrast to Babylon’s sin.

In verses 6-8 he pronounces a “woe” upon the sin of greed. In verses 9-11 he pronounces a “woe” upon the sin of exploitation. In verses 12-14 he pronounces a “woe” upon the sin of cruel violence. Then in verse 14 he says, “For the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea.”

In verses 15-17 he pronounces a “woe” upon the sin of drunkenness and debauchery. In verses 18-19 he pronounces a “woe” upon the sin of idol worship. Then in verse 20 he says, “But the Lord is in his holy temple; let all the earth be silent before him.”

It’s hard to wait on the Lord when life seems unfair and we don’t see Him doing anything right now, and He seems to be silent. But we must learn to trust Him and wait.

Isaiah said those who wait on the Lord will renew their strength and soar on wings as eagles (Isaiah 40:31, KJV). So wait on the Lord. One day the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord. Don’t give up. Keep waiting upon the Lord, for despite all of the evil around us, the Lord is still in His holy temple, and we need to be silent in worship before Him.

B. Live by faith (2:4)

Verse 4 is the key verse of Habakkuk. Talking about the pride of Babylon, the verse begins, “See, he is puffed up; his desires are not upright…” The HCSB translates it, “His ego is inflated.” Then the key part comes at the end of verse 4, the words that they should write down, the words the herald should run with and proclaim. Here it is: “the righteous will live by his faith.” The apostle Paul quoted this part of the verse in Romans 1:17 and made it the theme verse of his letter to the Romans, and it is also quoted in Galatians 3:11 and Hebrews 10:38. It can be translated two ways: “the righteous will live by his faith” or “the righteous will live by his faithfulness.” Either way, it means basically the same thing, because if we have real faith we will be faithful.

For fifty-one years Bob Edens was blind. He couldn't see a thing. His world was a black hall of sounds and smells. He felt his way through five decades of darkness. And then, he could see.

A skilled surgeon performed a complicated operation and, for the first time, Bob had sight. He found it overwhelming. "I never would have dreamed that yellow is so ... yellow," he exclaimed. "I don't have the words. I am amazed by yellow. But red is my favorite color. I just can't believe red.

"I can see the shape of the moon—and I like nothing better than seeing a jet plane flying across the sky leaving a vapor trail. And of course, sunrises and sunsets. And at night I look at the stars in the sky and the flashing light. You could never know how wonderful everything is." (Max Lucado, God Came Near.)

Your life may seem like a blind alley right now. But hold on. Dr. Jesus wants to open your spiritual eyes. He wants to perform faith surgery. Will you let Him? If you do, you will live… by faith.

At the beginning of this sermon, I said that Habakkuk’s problem was like getting stuck in quicksand. Now, the person who knows how to handle quicksand knows that he should not fight it. Instead, he should paddle underneath, moving an inch here and an inch there, slowly getting to the bank.

That’s the way many of are problems are. If we strike out in anger against God and fight it, we will just sink into despair and bitterness. But if we will learn to wait on the Lord and live by faith, we can make it. Even though we cannot see the shore right now, if we will just hang on, and keep on paddling underneath even when we feel like giving up, in time, if we’ll be patient, God is going to bring us home. (Adapted from Tony Evans’ Book of Illustrations, p. 239.)

In 1856, Henry Brown, a slave in Richmond, Virginia, decided he didn’t want to be a slave anymore, and he was going to take a huge risk in order to be free.

Henry Brown found himself a box, a wooden crate, and postmarked it to an abolitionist in Philadelphia, which was in free territory. Henry Brown got inside the box, sealed the box from the inside, and mailed himself to Philadelphia.

Henry Brown was banking on the U.S. Postal Service to deliver him. He was in slavery and needed to be free. The abolitionist got the crate. When he opened the box, Henry Brown stood up, after being in that box three weeks, and said, “How do you do, sir. My name is Henry Brown and I was a slave. I heard about you being an abolitionist, so I’m entrusting my future to you.”

That was a big risk. It was an oxygen risk, a risk of being discovered, a risk of going hungry. But when Henry Brown stood up in Philadelphia, he was a free man. It was worth the risk. (Tony Evans’ Book of Illustrations, p. 42.)

Waiting on the Lord and living faithfully in spite of our troubles is like that. It’s hard. It’s a risk. But it’s worth it, because in the end, God will deliver us. Henry Brown entrusted his future to an abolitionist he had never met, in a land he had never visited. How about you? Will you trust your future to God, even though you haven’t seen Him, to take you to a land you haven’t seen yet? That’s what it means when it says, “the righteous will live by faith.” Will you?

Copyright 2011 by Bob Rogers

Two Things Every Church Needs

Copyright 2011 by Bob Rogers

This summer USA Today reported that Southern Baptists are in decline.

Church membership has dropped for four straight years in a row, even as the population in America has increased. The article interviewed Ed Stetzer, a researcher with LifeWay Christian Resources, as to why our denomination has declined. Among other things, Stetzer said that Southern Baptists are getting older, and the younger generation is not coming to the faith like their parents. (“Nation’s largest Protestant group faces ‘decline,’” USA Today, June 11, 2011, http://www.usatoday.com/news/religion/2011-06-12-baptisms_11_ST_N.htm).

Research has found that churches all over America are declining, and the trend is expected to continue for years. In 1990, on any given Sunday over 20% of Americans attended church. But in 2010, it was down to 17%, and if current trends continue, by 2050, only 11% will attend church on a given Sunday. (http://www.theamericanchurch.org/facts/27.htm)

There is a desperate need for the church to get back to the kind of life- transforming body that we find in the New Testament. And in the last chapter of Romans, we find some answers to that need: two things that every church needs.

At first glance, the last chapter of Paul’s Letter to the Romans just looks like a list of names. It’s tempting to skip it, but if we do, we’ll miss a wonderful lesson for the church, because in this chapter we see two things every church needs.

I. Every church needs a strong fellowship

In Iowa there was a storm that had flooded out a major city. People were gathering their goods to save what they could. One of the policeman saw something that touched his heart. He saw a little boy carrying another little boy on his shoulders, while also trying to carry goods and luggage. The policeman went to help the boy and said, “My, you’re trying to do too much. You’ve got all these bags and then you’ve got that boy on your shoulders. It’s too much weight for you. It’s too heavy.”

The little boy looked at the policeman and said, “He ain’t heavy, he’s my brother.” When you know somebody is your brother or sister, it makes it easier to bear the weight of their burdens. (Tony Evans’ Book of Illustrations, p. 85)

After so many words of theology and instruction on Christian living, here in Romans 16, Paul spends a whole chapter focusing on personal remarks to the brothers and sisters of the church. What a reminder of the importance of Christian fellowship in the church! The church isn’t a building, it’s people; and this chapter reminds us of the importance of relationships.

A. Warmth for different people (v. 1-16, 21-23)

This chapter mentions all kinds of different people, warmly greeting them, thanking them and encouraging them. Quite of few of them are called a “dear friend.” Many are praised for working hard. Several are singled out as Paul’s “relatives,” which probably meant fellow Jews.

16:1 Phoebe, the “servant” (deacon?) who may have carried the letter to Rome. She was from Cenchrea, a port city near Corinth, and as Paul was writing from Corinth, it is likely she had the resources to board a ship and deliver the letter personally to the church in Rome. “Has been a great help” is literally the word for “patron” or “benefactor.” Apparently she was a generous financial supporter of ministry.

16:3 Priscilla and Aquila were a husband-wife ministry team mentioned in Acts 18. This couple became mentors to the great preacher Apollos, who was preaching powerful sermons but needed some correction. Acts 18:26 says when they heard him, “they took him and explained to him the way of God more accurately.”

16:5 Epenetus was the “first convert … of Asia” and may have been an older man.

16:6 Mary is mentioned alone, and may have been a single woman.

16:7 Andronicus and Junias could have been brothers or perhaps a husband/wife team (it’s unclear of its Junias or Junia, male or female name). Notice the NIV calls them “my relatives.” Literally, the word refers to either a relative or a fellow countryman, and likely means that they were fellow Jews. These two had spent time in prison alongside Paul, probably for their Christian witness.

16:8-10 Ampliatus, Urbanus, Stachys and Appelles were common slave names in Rome. They are likely mentioned in the “household of Aristobulus” because Aristobulus was a very prominent citizen, the grandson of Herod the Great and a friend of Emperor Claudius, so those mentioned here were probably household slaves of Aristobulus.

16:11 Herodion is mentioned alone, and may have been single, like Mary in v. 6.

16:12 Tryphena and Tryphosa may have been twins!

16:13 Rufus is apparently the son of Simon of Cyrene, who carried the cross of Jesus. This would explain why Mark 15:21 mentions that Simon was the “father of Rufus.” If so, Rufus was an African and may have been black. Notice that Rufus’s mother was a great hostess, whom Paul called “a mother to me, too.” Imagine Paul spending the night and about to leave the next day, and Rufus’s mother says, “I don’t care if you are an apostle, Paul, you need your breakfast.”

16:15 mentioning a man and his mother in v. 13, we see a man and his sister in v. 15: “Nereus and his sister.”

16:21 Paul sends greetings to Rome from individuals who are with him, including his “son in the ministry,” Timothy.

16:22 is an interesting comment, not written by Paul! Paul dictated his letter to a scribe, and Tertius, the scribe, is so caught up in all of the personal greetings that he adds his own!

16:22 Erastus was a prominent citizen in Corinth, from which Paul writes. In Corinth, archaeologists discovered a block of stone in a paved square, with the following words in Latin: “Erastus, director of aedileship, bore the expense of this pavement.” An aedile was a publicly elected official who oversaw city projects and finances. This was probably the same man whom Paul greets.

Of 28 people mentioned, most were Gentiles but at least eight were Jews (Priscilla & Aquila, Andronicus and Junias, Herodion, Lucius, Jason, Sosipater), one was a half-Jew (Timothy), one was an African (Rufus), at least four were slaves (Ampliatus, Urbanus, Stachys, Apelles), a couple of them were prominent city leaders (Aristobulus, Erastus), some were married and some were single, and about a third of them were women. So in the same chapter, his greetings run the gamut from common slaves to a city father, from families to singles, men and women, and different races and cultures.

What a beautiful picture of what every church needs: a warm fellowship made up of different people with different gifts to contribute to the body of Christ.

16:16 Paul encourages this warm fellowship with his instructions to “greet one another with a holy kiss.” Paul says the same thing in 1 Corinthians 16:20, 2 Corinthians 13:12 and 1 Thessalonians 5:26. Peter says in 1 Peter 5:14 to “greet one another with the kiss of love.” This sounds strange to us, but a kiss on the check is a normal greeting in many cultures. When I went to France, I had to learn to greet people with a bisou (pronounced beezoo), a kiss on the cheek. But whatever greeting a culture uses, the point is the same: every church needs a warm Christian fellowship, where people feel accepted and loved.

B. Warning for divisive people (v. 17-20)

A good coach knows that sometimes he can have a talented player on his team who can hurt the team more than help. He might be the strongest and fastest and most agile, but if he doesn’t have a team spirit, and if he undermines the coach, he can cause division on the team and end up causing more harm than good. The same thing is true in the church. We need people with a team spirit.

Just as the fellowship needs the warmth of different people, it also needs a warning for divisive people. Paul gives such a warning in v. 17-20. He urges them to watch out for people who do several things:

1. Cause divisions

2. Put obstacles in your way (works salvation)

3. Deceive people with smooth talk

After those warnings, he encourages them in v. 20 with an assurance that the spiritual warfare will be won, for “The God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet.” Genesis 3:15 had prophesied that, and Revelation 12:9 says Satan was thrown down from heaven, and Revelation 20:2 prophesies that Satan will be thrown into a bottomless pit.

II. Every church needs a solid faith

The last verses sum up the teaching of the letter, and remind them of their faith. As important as a good fellowship is, a church also needs a solid faith.

A. Focused on the gospel (v. 25)

Paul calls it “my gospel” not because he invented it, but because he preached it. As he says in 1 Corinthians 15, he passed on to them the same gospel he received from the apostles. Paul says in Galatians 1 that if anybody should preach any other gospel, let him be eternally condemned!

The gospel means “good news.” Billy Graham says, “The Gospel shows people their wounds and bestows on them love. It shows them their bondage and supplies the hammer to knock away their chains. It shows them their nakedness and provides them the garments of purity. It shows them their poverty and pours into their lives the wealth of heaven. It shows them their sins and points them to a Savior.” (Billy Graham in Quotes, p. 157) All of this is possible because God became a man in flesh, Jesus Christ, and died on the cross to defeat Satan and evil, pay for our sin, and overcome death and the grave by His resurrection from the dead.

The church must focus on the gospel of Jesus Christ and faithfully share it.

B. Faithful to the Scriptures (v. 26)

Notice that this message was “made known through the prophetic writings.” The gospel was a fulfillment of the Old Testament scriptures. When Paul preached in the city of Berea, it says they searched the scriptures to see if what he preached was true. Every church needs to be faithful to the Bible. It is so easy to go with the flow of our culture, instead of standing upon the truth of God’s word. It’s not a matter of being liberal or conservative, Republican or Democrat, it’s a matter of being Biblical.

Liberals often emphasize the parts of the Bible that discuss social justice and care for the poor, while conservatives emphasize the parts of the Bible that defend the sacredness of human life against abortion and the sacredness of marriage against homosexuality. Both all of it is in the Bible! Instead of trying to be politically correct, we need to be Biblically correct!

The neighborhood bar is possibly the best counterfeit of what the church should be like. The bar is like an imitation of a good church, dispensing liquor instead of grace, escape rather than reality, but it is an accepting, inclusive fellowship. At a bar you can tell people secrets and they usually don’t tell others or even want to. The bar flourishes not because most people are alcoholics, but because God has put into the human heart the desire to know and be known, to love and be loved, and so many seek a counterfeit at the price of a few beers.

But the difference in a popular bar and a powerful church is that while both may be a place where you can find acceptance and fellowship, a powerful church is where you will also find life-changing truth. A bartender will usually tell you want you want to hear. A church will tell you what you need to hear. We have good news, a gospel of Jesus Christ, but we stand upon the moral truths and teachings of God’s word.

Oh, how the world is looking for churches like that: a strong fellowship and a solid faith. So many people have not found it, so they are turning to the bars, social media on the Internet, and wherever else they can find it. Yet we can offer it right here. Will we? (Adapted from Keith Miller & Bruce Larson, Edge of Adventure.)

Copyright 2011 by Bob Rogers.

What's your ambition?

“What’s Your Ambition?” (Romans 15:14-33)
Copyright 2011 by Bob Rogers

Max Lucado tells a humorous parable about reaching for four candles when the lights went out, only to have the candles make excuses why they could not come out of the closet and shine their light. One said he needed more preparation, one said he was busy meditating on the meaning of light (it was enlightening), another fat candle said he wasn't stable enough, and a candle with a female voice said that shining light was "not my gift," so instead she sang to inspire others to shine their light. Then she began to sing, "This little light of mine."

(Max Lucado, God Came Near, quoted in Max Lucado, ed., The Devotional Bible, p. 1383-1384.)

Many of Jesus’ followers are like those candles. Afraid to be light to the world and shine the light of Christ. But not the apostle Paul. In Romans 15:20 he writes to the Christians at Rome, whom he has never met, and says, “It has always been my ambition to preach the gospel where Christ was not known.” Then he asks them to prepare to send him on a mission trip to Spain.

Paul had a great ambition to shine the light of Christ. How about you? What’s your ambition for Jesus? Let’s look at Paul’s ambition, and think about our own.

I. Paul’s ambition (15:14-21)

Motivational author Jim Collins coined the term “BHAG” (BEE-hag), or “Big, Hairy, Audacious Goal” to inspire businesses to have a great vision.

For example, the BHAG of Amazon.com is “Every book, ever printed in any language, all available in less than 60 seconds.”

The BHAG of Microsoft is “A computer on every desk in every home.”

The BHAG of Ford is “democratize the automobile.”

The apostle Paul had a BHAG, but his ambitious desires did not stand for “big, hairy, audacious goal.” Instead, it stood for “bold, holy, acceptable and God-driven.”

1. Bold (v. 15)

Paul says in verse 15, “I have written you quite boldly on some points.” In Ephesians 6:19, he asks the Ephesians to pray for him to be a bold preacher.

Paul was a bold preacher. He boldly stood before Greek philosophers in Athens and proclaimed Jesus, and before cynical synagogues as well, in city after city.

We must be bold in our ambition for Christ. I remember the weekend in the spring of 1999 when I first came to Rincon to meet the people of this church, as a candidate to be your pastor. Steve Spence took me to a big concrete slab where you are now sitting. That’s all there was here: a concrete slab. He said, “We’re building a new worship center here.” I heard the story of how this church voted almost unanimously to step out on faith and to boldly build a worship center three times bigger than the one you had. God has blessed that.

2. Holy (v. 16)

Paul says in verse 16 that he desires to be a minister of Christ Jesus whose preaching will lead people to be “sanctified by the Holy Spirit.” A young girl named Terrie was a student at Poplarville High School, and noticed that her school did not have any Christian organization, so she started one herself, called the CLOC club (Christians Living On Campus). By the time she was in her 30’s, Terrie had died of cancer, but she had made a lasting difference in a Christian club that continues to this day, because she had an ambition that was holy, to reach others for Jesus.

3. Acceptable (v. 16)

Paul also says in verse 16 about his ministry, that he has a “priestly duty of proclaiming the gospel of God, so that the Gentiles might become an offering acceptable to God.”

This verse reminds us of Romans 12:1, where Paul urges Christians “to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and acceptable to God.”

4. God-driven (v. 17-19)

In the 1960s the heroic Christian leader Martin Niemoller came to America on a speaking tour. Knowing of his experience in the German resistance against Adolf Hitler, two newspaper reporters hurried to hear him, expecting sensational stories about Nazi Germany. After they heard him preach the gospel, the two reporters left, disappointed. One said to the other, “Six years in a Nazi prison camp, and all he has to talk about is Jesus Christ.” (James E. Hightower, Jr., Illustrating Paul’s Letter to the Romans, p. 113)

Paul emphases in verses 17-19 that this is all about God, not about himself. Many preachers love to bask in the glory. He says in verse 17, “I glory in Christ Jesus,” not himself. Many preachers love to get on a soapbox and preach on their pet peeves and favorite themes. Paul says in verse 18, “I will not venture to speak of anything except what Christ has accomplished through me…” Many preachers depend on their ability to write clever sermons with catchy titles and captivating illustrations, or depend on the power of their booming voices. Paul said in verse 19 his was “by the power of signs and miracles, through the power of the Spirit.”

When Apple Computer fell on hard times a while back, Apple’s young chairman, Steven Jobs, traveled to New York City to convince Pepsico’s John Sculley to move west and run his struggling company.Jobs issued a challenge to Sculley: “Do you want to spend the rest of your life selling sugared water, or do you want to change the world?” Sculley says that Job’s challenge “knocked the wind out of me.” He decided to put his life in perspective and went to Apple Computers. (Craig Brian Larson, Illustrations for Preaching & Teaching from Leadership Journal, p. 278.) After all, not many people get to change the world.

But as Christians, we can change the world! Paul knew it, and that is why he had a great ambition for Christ. How about you? Do you have a BHAG (Bold, Holy, Acceptable, God-driven) ambition for Jesus?

Copyright 2011 by Bob Rogers