Comfort Follows
Suffering
Naaman
probably didn’t want leprosy. I’m
guessing that the Aramean general in the Old Testament reading this morning
probably didn’t like being inflicted with a terminal skin disease. Who would?
It was probably never-wracking for him, it was probably affecting his
job, it was probably putting stress on his wife and children, and it was
probably very painful. But without it,
without being inflicted with that terminal skin disease, Naaman would have
never listened to what that little Israelite girl had to say; Naaman would have
never gone to the land of Israel in search of a prophet; Naaman would have
never washed himself in the Jordan River; Naaman would have never had any need
to be healed. But most importantly, if
Naaman didn’t have to suffer like he did, he never would have experienced God’s
comfort through Christ.
We
didn’t read that part of the story today, but in the end Naaman actually became
a believer in the true God. He was
brought to faith in his Lord who healed him and in the Savior that his Lord had
promised to one day send. And so Naaman
went back to his home country of Aram with a comfort that he didn’t have before. After he had gone through the leprosy and the
trip and the miraculous healing, he knew that his Lord would always be with him
from there on out, that his Lord would take care of him, that his Lord would
protect him; and that no matter what he had to face during the rest of his life
- pain, defeat, maybe even another bout of leprosy - the comfort he now had because
of his Savior would never leave. His
life was certainly filled with the normal kinds of troubles that everyone else
has to deal with, but the comfort he had been given by his Lord gave him the
peace of mind to make it through anything.
Comfort is a
Mindset
This comfort
from Christ is not a cure; but it is a mindset.
Comfort from the Lord doesn’t make leprosy go away or overdue bills go
away or family problems go away or health issues go away… But the comfort from Christ about his love
and his compassion and his protection does
produce a mindset that helps you deal with those problems and troubles and
convinces you that everything is going to be alright. Comfort from Christ doesn’t fix your
problems; it allows you cope with your problems.
The
ancient Christian congregation in the city of Corinth needed this kind of
comfort because they had many different problems. And most of them were self-inflicted! In the apostle Paul’s first letter to this
group of Christians he addresses a whole laundry list of different sins that
they were committing and really lays into them with the law of God. There are gospel sections throughout the
letter too, of course, but a good portion of Paul’s initial correspondence with
them had to do with conflicts within the congregation that needed to be
resolved.
But at
the beginning of his second letter to this same church, Paul starts out with a
different kind of tone. He begins with
words of comfort. “Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord
Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts
us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the
comfort we ourselves have received from God.” The Corinthians and heard some harsh words of
the law, now it was time to hear some comforting words of the gospel. Words about the Father of compassion, words
about the God of all comfort, words that they could count on when things weren’t
going so well in their congregation or in their everyday lives. And the Corinthians needed that. They needed a reminder about who their Lord
was and what he would do. It had been a
tough time lately for this new group of Christians and they had to understand
that their Lord was still by their side and that his comfort was still theirs
to enjoy.
Empty Comfort
Of
course, this comfort wasn’t just for their own benefit. Notice one of the reasons why they were
comforted and why we are all comforted: “So
that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves have
received from God.” We as Christians
are comforted in our troubles and problems by Christ himself, not just so that
we can rest comfortably ourselves and have a sense of relief and peace in this
life on our own, but so that we can relay that same message of comfort to
others who are going through similar problems and struggles. We aren’t supposed to keep this comfort to
ourselves! We are supposed to share it
as often and in as many ways as we can.
And we’re talking about “real” comfort here, not the kind of supposed “comfort”
that is normally given in this world.
A few
months ago my neighbor across the street had a severe heart attack. And he was old enough and weak enough that he
died a few hours later. I took his wife
down to the hospital to see him while he was still alive soon after the
ambulance left their house, and while I was sitting there with her in the room
next to her husband who was slowly passing away, the different nurses and grief
counselors that were coming in and out of the room tried offering her some
“comfort.” And so they would say things
like: “I’m sure he was a good husband…”
“You must have a lot of pleasant memories together after being married
for over 60 years…” “He’s probably not
in any pain right now…” “At least he
didn’t have to suffer…” “You are lucky
to have a chance to see him and talk to him before he passes away…” And maybe the all-time favorite, “It’s going
to be OK.” But in the end, were any of
those words truly comforting? Because now she lives alone without her
husband. And although she may remember
those words of “comfort” as nice gestures, they don’t really mean anything
now. Maybe she and her husband did have
a long life together; maybe he didn’t have to suffer a whole lot of pain; maybe
she did have a chance to say goodbye before it was over. But so what?
Those might be nice things to look back on, but there’s no real peace
there, no relief, no sense of contentment at all.
But we
say similar things sometimes, don’t we?
When someone we know has a problem or is going through a difficulty and
they make us aware of it one way or the other, what comes out of our mouths sometimes? “Oh, I’m sorry to hear that…” “I’m sure it’ll get better eventually…” “Maybe it’s not as bad as it seems…” “I feel so bad for you…” “Oh, it’s going to be OK…” But if those kinds of words are the only
words that we end up saying, then why bother?
What a waste of time. What a
waste of breath. Because those words
don’t really give any true comfort at all, do they? The real
comfort and relief that we have because of Christ and his promises are more
than just words, they’re facts. But they
are facts that end up being kept to ourselves far too often. They are facts that are not shared. Not revealed.
Hidden. As if that person dealing
with that problem wouldn’t care. As if
that person wouldn’t understand anyway.
And I
apologize if I have ever done that to you.
I know that I have left some people without comfort - people who were
dealing with problems and issues and awful situations - and I ask for your
forgiveness if I have ever done that to you.
Because how could I? How could I
ever let that kind of conversation end without offering that wonderful comfort
we find in Christ? Even if it was an
unbeliever, there’s no reason why I shouldn’t have soothed that struggling soul
with the words about our Savior! It’s
upsetting to me that I have done that on more than one occasion. And I would think that it’s a little
upsetting to you if any of you have done the same thing.
There is No
Other Comfort Than Christ
But whenever
we come to the realization that we have once again failed to share the comfort
of Christ with someone, the only place we can go is back to Christ’s comfort. And pray: “Lord, I have sinned. I didn’t say what I should have said. I didn’t share with them the comfort that you
have given me. I’m sorry.” And the Lord’s says to you, “I know. I forgive you.” “But Lord, I did a really awful thing!” “I know,” your Savior says, “but I forgive
you.” “But Lord, I keep on sinning and
keep on sinning and keep on sinning. Not
only with this situation but in everything I do every day!” “I know, my child. That’s why I came to this earth. That’s why I took on every temptation and
experienced every torture. That’s why I
died. That’s why I rose. And I forgive you.”
And
these comforting words of your Lord don’t just apply to the sins you commit,
they also apply to every other bad thing that happens in this life. When you are weighed down with obligations or
guilt, when your blood pressure is about to boil over, when you are so sad it
hurts, when you are on the verge of depression, when you can’t handle the pain,
when you are so worried that you can’t even sleep, your Lord grabs you with his
Word, wraps you in his arms and quietly says, “Shhhhhh. It’s OK.
Shhhhhh. It’s really OK. I still have everything under control. I know what you’re going through; I went
through it myself. I know how it’s going
to end; I’ve planned on it from the very beginning. And what you are going through right now is
exactly what you need at exactly the right time. Shhhhhh.
Don’t worry. I’m right here. It’s OK.”
And when
your Lord says that it’s OK, he means it.
He doesn’t say it’s going to
be OK. It won’t just be OK sometime in
the future. No, even right in the middle
of the terrible moments and the tough times and the difficult situations, it’s
OK. Because the Lord is right
there. The Savior who suffered for you
is holding your hand as you suffer. And
he wants you to know that even if you can’t see it at the moment, this is what
is best; this is how he can show you the full amount of his love; this unpleasant
situation is an opportunity for him to comfort you once again.
Give Others
True Comfort
Share
this comfort with others. Please, for
the sake of their souls, share this comfort with others. Both believers and unbelievers. From fellow Christians you know to those non-Christians
you have yet to meet. Because the fact
is: you aren’t going to be able fix their problems anyway, are you? You aren’t going to be able to solve their
situation or realign their life. You
can’t even realign your own life when things go awry! But you can give them that one thing that is
able soothe their minds and put them at ease and fill them with peace: the
comfort that comes from Christ. And that
comfort is this: Christ loves you; he
cares for you; he even went so far as to die for you. He now protects you; leads you; defends you;
and promises never to leave you. And so
when everything else in this life is crumbling down around you, when nothing is
certain, when nothing is stable, when you can’t even depend on yourself, guess
who’ll be there? Just like he always has
been. Just like he always will be. And there are so many people who need to hear
that. I need to hear that! You need to hear that. And we all have to remember that our Savior actually
looks forward to those difficult times and trying situations we have to experience
because he knows that they are simply more opportunities for him to prove his
love to us yet once again.
Amen.
“Praise be to the
God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God
of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort
those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves have received from God.”
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