God, Pain, Suffering and Joy
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Here’s a book. And by the way, I never recommend a book, unless I myself have read it at least once. Really, really good book. You ought to check it out. It’s a book called Eternity in Their Hearts. It’s by a missiologist named Don Richardson. Really, really good book. Eternity in Their Hearts published by Regal of Ventura, California. And Ecclesiastes 3:11 says that God has set eternity in our heart. Isn’t it amazing?
By the way, I could give you quotes of atheists that eventually talk about how they wish there were a God. Nietzsche, on his deathbed, Friedrich Nietzsche said, “The days are intolerable. Return to me, oh three person God.” Isn’t that something? See, we can talk about our atheism. We can be like hip, really cool, relativistic, secularist, hedonist, but it’s just not livable. We know that we know that we know there’s some ultimate spiritual foundation. I’ve had many in atheists, interviewed 34 atheists for the two books I wrote on skepticism and atheism.
Interestingly 34 atheists, twice interviewed Christopher Hitchens, Michael Shermer of Skeptic Magazine, David Silverman. By the way, I was interviewing Michael Shermer on the radio, but I’ve interviewed him personally. We’ve had dinner, I’ve moderated some of his debates with Christians. Michael Shermer, just routinely threw this out, Skeptic Magazine. He’s one of the hardcore atheists.
Shermer goes, “I used to be in Campus Crusade.” I said, “Really?” He said, “I’ve probably led over 300 people to Christ.” I said, “Okay, now you’re one of the world’s leading atheist. What’s going on?” He said, “Well, it’s a lot of stuff.” He said, “I don’t really talk about it too much.” February of 2010, interviewed Michael Shermer. And he said, “Had a girlfriend, sort of engaged.” He said, “The most godly person I’ve ever known.” And he said, “She was in a car wreck, became severely injured, paralyzed, in a hospital bed.” Now follow where this is going. Follow this. We’re on live radio, remember. He said, “If anybody deserve to be healed, she deserved to be healed.”
Now, before the conversation could even finish, I knew where it was going to go. See, I’ve known Michael Shermer, and it’s all about Darwin. It’s all about evolution. It’s all about philosophy. Theism is unintelligible. It’s incoherent. And suddenly I’m hearing what I believe is, the real story. He said, “We prayed. We did all the things. We interceded. God did not heal her.” And he said, “I was thinking, God, if you don’t heal her, I will walk away from you.” And on live radio, and I’ve got this tape. One of the world’s leading atheists, he said, “It was pretty much an emotional decision.”
It’s interesting, of 34 atheists that I’ve interviewed, 28 were ex-Protestants, four were ex-Roman Catholics. Isn’t that something? And the problem of pain and suffering, why is there evil in the world? Why did a Godly Christian young lady get paralyzed in a car wreck? Let me just say this. Christianity is not the subtraction of all of your pain and problems, but it is the addition of God’s presence through the problems. And I’m with Peter. Peter asked this famous question in, I believe it’s Luke, Chapter 6, it might be John, Chapter 6. Remember, Jesus said, “Eat my flesh, drink my blood.” This is a hard saying, and everybody left. And Jesus said, “Will you go away too?” Peter, with the right answer, breaks the awkward silence. He says, “Lord, where would we go? You have the words of eternal life.”
The bad news is, it’s a fallen broken, simple world. The worst news is, you have no guarantee that you’ll live a pain free life. In fact, the evidence is quite the opposite. Your life will involve some pain and suffering. The good news is though, there is an answer. There is a way that the wrinkles are one day going to get ironed out. There’s a way that fallen man can be rejoined to a holy God. There is a way that your guilty conscience can be cleansed, your pain and unrequited love can be assuaged. And it’s through Jesus.
Let me say this. Belief in God and Christianity, for many is a bitter pill to swallow. But I would submit to you that is a less bitter pill, than the pill that we currently are culturally swallowing, which is rejection of God, rejection of moral boundaries, and really embarking on the path to societal chaos. Creation and conscience are best understood in terms of there being a God. Scripture and Savior tell us though, what kind of God. Three questions, does God exist? Another question, what kind of God exists? You ever thought about that question? And thirdly, how may I know this God who exists?
There was a man named Mortimer Adler. I really like Mortimer Adler. I’m a fan of Adler. He was editor of Encyclopedia Britannica. Really, really smart dude. He was one of the editors of the great books of the Western world. Anybody know much about Mortimer Adler? You ever heard of that name? You ought know about Mortimer Adler. Really smart guy. But he shocked the world. He was a really, really literate guy. In the mid 20th Century said to be one of the most literate, well read men in the world. He traveled the world as editor of Encyclopedia Britannica. And he called himself a happy pagan. State that he was a happy pagan. He ate dinner with famous people. He fraternized with the wealthy, happy pagan. But he shocked everybody. When he was an old man, in his 80’s, he became a born again Christian.
Some people patronizingly said, “Well, he’s old. He’s going to die. Just in case there is a God. Let’s maybe throw a bone to Christianity.” Adler said, “No, it’s not like that at all. You’ve got it wrong.” He said, “Follow the evidence where it leads. Don’t bail out on the search. You will wind up at Calvary.”
You’re going to meet people that have either temporarily, or… Hope not, but some permanently, bailed out on the journey. Think about it. You might recall you’re seven, eight, nine, 10, and you begin to think about God. You lie in the grass on a summer day, you look at the sky, and you ask yourself, “What’s beyond those clouds?” And mom and dad conceived me, and birthed me. But how did that happen? And what happens to my soul while I’m asleep at night? And where is grandma? Her funeral was years ago. Will I ever see her again? We think about those things. You become, God conscious. You begin to ask yourself the big questions, origin, purpose, destiny. Where did we come from? Why are we here? Where are we going? And remember, acceptance, significant security, do I fit in? Do I matter? Am I safe?
You have a locker beside somebody asking those questions. You sit in class next to people that grapple with those questions. You’re going to have relatives, neighbors, coworkers, friends. And if you know the answer, origin, created by God. Purpose, according to the Westminster, shorter catechism, to glorify God and enjoy Him forever. Destiny, heaven, if you know Jesus. John 10, 28, 29, Christ said, “Look, I give to you eternal life. Nothing can pluck you out of My hand.” Yay. Acceptance, you might not fill it fit in with the cool crowd at school, but Jesus says, “I’ll never reject you, if you’ll come to me.”
Significance. Romans five, verse eight. Here’s a good verse for you. God demonstrated His love, and that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. You are significant enough. I want to tell you, you matter. Your mom and dad might have called you stupid. Your older brother might think you’re a loser, but he’s a moron anyway. But listen, Almighty God says, “You matter enough that I’m going to leave heaven and come to earth, and lay down My life for you.” That’s significant. You matter. You do. And security. Hey, Christ wins. Let’s be on His team.
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