Episode 191: July 28, 2024 - Sight In Suffering

Eternity Church PodCast

A Sunday morning sermon by Pastor Brett Deal. For the last few weeks, we’ve walked with Elihu, following him into the deep suffering of Job. All along the way, moving closer to the man of sorrows on the ash heap, we’ve asked: How do we walk with the broken? The closer we get, the more clearly we see the sores on his hands, the boils on his face, the bleeding fissures on the soles of his feet. This compounds our question: How do we walk with the broken when they are unable to walk!? We like to see ourselves as people of action, go-getters. We want to know our lives have meaning, and we often measure that in terms of movement and action. But facing Job on the ash heap, scratching at the sores with shards of shattered pottery, we are left scratching our heads (Job 2.7-8). Is this what we signed up for? We liked it better when we were asking: How do we walk with the strong? It feels easier on our faith to remain uncorrupted by power sprinting alongside the influential people of the world, than to feel our life grind to an interminable halt on the burnt-out hillsides of the broken. And yet, if we are to follow Elihu’s example, we must not only set out to walk with the broken but also be willing to sit with them in the ashes of their suffering. It is only from sitting with them in their grief that we will be able to share with them the good news of Jesus. Jesus touched the lepers, he sat with the Pharisees, he spoke with the outcasts. We must follow Jesus into the wilderness and learn his way. Only then will we be able to see the greatness and majesty of God the way Elihu did (Job 36-37). Beloved, if we are to see the wonders and glories of God, we must follow Him into the lives of the lowly.