Grateful, In Spite of Suffering

Good morning, everyone.

Why don't we bow our heads and pray together before we think about God's Word.

Our gracious Father, as we've come together to think about gratitude today,

we pray, Lord, that even those of us who feel like we're going through a season of darkness

may be able to find something that we can say thank you for.

And Lord, we thank you for you are an amazing God who promises amazing things to your people.

Lord, we want to really believe in those promises.

And so we pray, Lord, today you would help our unbelief.

Lord, that even in times of adversity, we might find space to give thanks for all that you've done

and all that you will do in Jesus Christ, our Lord.

Amen.

So, in 1 Peter chapter 1, we read in verses 6 and 7 these words.

1 Peter 1 · chapter mention

In this, that is, in the events that form the basis of our salvation, the life, death, resurrection of Jesus,

in all this, says Paul, you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials.

These have come so that your faith of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire,

may be proved genuine and may result in praise, glory and honour.

One of the hardest things that I had to face in my own ministry in local church

is that though there were lots of people coming to Christ,

there were lots of people who had been sitting in church for years who came to Christ in our church.

My general sense was, I would rather people left our church than remained in it unconverted.

And sadly, all the people I wanted to leave never went.

Here's the thing.

What I had to face was,

there are some people who started well

and then gave up.

didn't just give up coming to our church,

but gave up their faith altogether.

I spent a lot of time in prayer

and thinking, trying to work out,

well, why is this?

Why is it that some people give up?

And then I realised,

this is no new phenomenon.

In John's Gospel,

in chapter 6,

in verse 66,

we're told that many of the disciples,

who, unlike us,

saw Jesus,

unlike us,

heard him minister,

saw him do healings,

did all that,

some of those disciples gave up.

And in verse 66,

we're told why.

They said,

because this teaching

is too hard.

of course,

when it comes to a very serious question,

like why do people give up their faith,

the answer is there in Scripture for us.

You remember that story

of the different soils,

the one we call the parable of the sower.

And you can read about that in various places.

I'm reading from Mark chapter 4 here.

Mark 4 · chapter mention

Jesus says there are basically four reasons

why people give up.

Some people

never get started.

They're like a path,

says Jesus,

and when the seed

is sown on it,

it just bounces off.

Faith never has opportunity

to take root

in their hearts.

Then he says,

others,

like seeds

sown in rocky places,

hear the word

and receive it with joy.

But since they have no root,

they last only for a short time.

I think I've seen that phenomenon

in my ministry.

Seen people

who really came to the Lord

with zeal

and enthusiasm.

I've never forgotten a man.

His name was Gordon.

I won't tell you his surname,

but he was one of my

prodigies in the faith.

It was dangerous for clergy

to have prodigies.

This man came to Christ.

He was a very senior scientist

in a local company

that made radioactive chemicals

to help us get better

from things.

He was full of joy.

He waved his arms around

in morning prayer.

He was full of joy.

But then a temptation

came his way.

I've never forgotten this.

I saw his wife in church

one evening

and she was weeping

in a pew

and she,

I asked her what it was about

and she couldn't tell me

so I went round to the home

afterwards.

Daughter was there with her

and said to her,

what's up, Claire?

She said,

I think my husband's

having an affair.

I won't give you

the graphic details

of why she thought

that was.

So I was sitting there

trying to find

something consoling

to say.

I mean,

that's a tough call.

Some of you know that.

When the phone went,

she was in the kitchen

making some,

she shouted to me,

can you pick up the phone?

I picked up the phone.

It was her husband.

He said,

who's that?

I said,

it's Mike.

Is that you, Gord?

He said,

yeah,

I'm in New York.

Wow.

He said,

yeah,

would you mind

telling my wife

I'm never coming

home again?

I said,

look,

I think that's your job.

So I shouted to Claire,

Claire,

you can't put my hand

over the mic.

I said,

I don't think you're

going to like this

conversation.

He repeated

what he'd said to me

and was true

to his word.

He was out there

with his secretary.

There are people

who receive the word

with joy

and then

fall foul.

And then there are

those,

says Jesus,

who get caught up

in the cares

and pleasures

of this world.

Isn't that a temptation

for our generation?

Let me ask you a question.

How much time

do you spend

thinking about stuff

in comparison

with how much

you think about God?

How many of you

spend more time

worrying about money

and thinking

if you had a bit more

what you would spend it on

than you do

thinking about

the power of God

to transform your life?

I'm not going to ask you

to shout out your answer,

but you might like

to think about that.

People give up

on the Christian faith.

Interestingly,

in the 2021

census,

the questions

on religious

affiliation

revealed for the first time

that the fasting,

fastest growing religion

in this country

is no religion.

people who said

they didn't believe

in anything anymore.

Today,

we're thinking

about gratitude.

I've told you

many times,

gratitude is good

for you.

If you

wake up

in the morning

and try and think

of something

grateful to say,

it will start your day

on the right footing.

It's good for you

spiritually.

It's good for you

psychologically.

I read in the Daily Mail,

so it must be true.

I read in the Daily Mail

that 55% of people

wake up

after a night's sleep

and their first words

are,

oh dear.

Oh dear.

You start the day

saying that,

the rest of your day

is based on

a negative statement.

Oh dear.

No,

find something

to say thank you for.

Told you that

I say thank you

to God every day

that I've been able

to take a breath

and then I remind myself

that the breath

I just took

means one less breath

here on earth

while I'm here on earth

and there's an urgency

to God's work.

And a lot of you

would think that

our subject today

is extremely eccentric

to the point of laughable.

How can anybody

stand here this morning

and encourage you

to give thanks

when your life

is going through turmoil

and disorder?

It would take a bumptious

old guy

with a flashy tie

to do that.

But it's what

I believe

God wants me

to say to you today.

How can we

rejoice?

Well,

Peter

interestingly

tells us

three things

that we can think about

and what you need

to know

is that

Peter

was writing

sometime

between

AD 62

and 64.

At this time

the church

was going through

a major persecution

under the Roman

Emperor Nero.

It was a persecution

that started

around about

AD 62

and went on

almost interrupted

for the next

70 years

under different

Roman emperors.

You know,

we all make choices

don't we?

We Christians

make choices

and we don't always

make good choices.

But I thought

to myself

if in a time

of terrible

persecution

where Christians

would ask

to be crucified

upside down

simply because

they didn't want

to be crucified

in the way

that their Lord

had been crucified.

If that was

your choice

to make

either

you can say

I'm no longer

a Christian

and bow

your knee

to the Emperor

or you can be

crucified upside

down.

What would you

choose?

I mean,

anybody sensible

would say,

you know,

hail Emperor.

But they didn't.

And many of them

were hung upside

down on the Appian Way,

that road that leads

out of Rome

where they died

for their faith.

death.

So what Peter's

talking about here

is,

in particular,

he's talking about

persecution.

He's saying,

though at the moment

you're going through

this persecution,

it will be momentary.

I mean,

70 years doesn't feel

that momentary to me.

But he said,

here are three things

that you can think about

in the light

of your troubles,

really important things.

The first thing is,

says Peter,

keep your eyes

on the prize.

Come back to that.

Secondly,

he says,

faith works

and will see you home.

And thirdly,

he says,

whatever's going on,

hold on.

Hold on to Jesus

and it will come right.

Keep your eyes

on the prize,

says one Peter.

Let me just remind you

of what he says.

He says this.

First of all,

he reminds them

of what the prize is,

so to speak.

In his great mercy,

he has given us

new birth

into a living hope

through the resurrection

of Jesus Christ

from the dead

and into an inheritance

that can never perish,

spoil or fade.

Kept in heaven for you.

You know,

I read those words again.

I suppose I've read them

many years

over since I became

a Christian.

Almost 60 years ago now.

And I thought to myself,

do I think about that enough?

20th century psychology

told us that

if we want to understand

who we are,

what we need to do

is to look into our past.

It's, you know,

it's not rocket science

in one way.

We all know

that to some extent

we are the product

of what went on

in our childhood,

what went on

and what went on

in our adult years.

But I wonder

if it meant that

we forget

that there's a future.

And if you're a Christ follower,

there is a future for you

that is so amazing

you never could,

you just can't imagine it.

It's your inheritance.

The Bible says

although we are God's children

through creation,

our sin broke that link

with God

and in consequence

when we come to Jesus

we are adopted children.

Do you all ever think

about that?

Do you all ever

imagine

what it's going to be like

when you die?

I mean,

a lot of you,

I mean a lot of people

who come to church,

I know,

think that death

is a brick wall.

No,

says Peter.

You have the most

amazing inheritance

waiting for you.

When Gran died,

she left us

a load of stuff

from the days

when a great-grandfather

was a naval chaplain

in Shanghai.

I have no idea

what kind of chaplain

he was,

but I can tell you

he had an eye

for antiques.

And he collected

a boatload of them

which was burgled

about three times,

but there was

some stuff left.

And we have it.

And my goodness,

it's fading now.

Every ten years

I have to send

the pictures

that we have

to an art renovator

to have them cleaned

and looked after.

It's an inheritance

that fades.

Peter says,

no,

your inheritance,

friends,

if you trust Christ,

will never fade.

It will be there forever.

And some of you

are sitting there

this morning saying,

well,

hang on,

you have no idea

what's happened to me

in my life.

And that's true

up to a point,

I know some of you

well enough to know,

that it's been hard.

Some of you are saying,

well,

what about my questions?

Will I go to heaven

if I have questions?

Yes,

you will go to heaven

as long as you continue.

to trust Christ.

In fact,

in 1 Corinthians chapter 13,

1 Corinthians 13 · chapter mention

what the great apostle teaches

is this.

He says,

though at this time

we see in a mirror darkly

one day,

the day we enter

the courts of heaven,

the day there's a party

as we arrive,

Paul says,

I will then know fully

as I am fully known.

Whatever lingering questions

you have,

dear friend,

there will be a day

when they will be answered.

Imagine that.

You're like,

well,

my questions are unanswerable.

No,

they're not.

And when you meet Jesus

face to face,

he will reassure you.

Paul says,

keep your eyes

on the prize.

I think to myself,

and it's been

a real,

what would you say,

it's been blowtorched

in the media recently.

You remember this man,

Abdul Ezzedi,

a man who travelled

all the way

from Newcastle

to London

with a very caustic

substance

in his rucksack,

which he then

threw in the face

of a woman he knew

and her two children,

having picked up

her three-year-old child

and thrown it

to the ground

like a prize wrestler.

This is a man

who'd handed

asylum appeal

heard twice.

Let me be very clear,

I am not making

a negative point

about asylum seekers

here.

I think we should

be offering

refuge

and sanctuary

to people

who if they were

sent home

would face

the most terrible

outcomes.

This is not my point.

My point is,

this man had been

through two asylum

tribunals

and had been told

that he had to leave.

On the third one,

he told the

tribunal judge

that he converted

to Christianity.

See, I think that

the world

can expect

that if we claim

to have converted

to Christianity,

there should be

some evidence of that.

Do you think that?

There should be

some evidence.

There should be

something that shows

forth in your life.

Let me ask you

a question.

Suppose a terrible

persecution

broke out

against the church

in Clevedon

in 2024.

Would there be

enough evidence

to convict you?

Let me ask that again.

Very somber feel

in the church

right now.

If a great persecution

broke out

against the church

in Clevedon,

would there be

enough evidence

to convict you?

Friends,

we've got to keep

our eyes

on the prize.

It may be

that delving

into your past

will give you

some insight

as to why you are

the way you are

today,

though too often

that becomes

an excuse

for terrible

behaviour.

But listen,

you're not just

people with a past

if you trust Christ.

You're people

with a future.

And if you can't

think of anything

else to say

thank you to God

for,

at least you can

say thank you

to God for that.

Thank you

that I'm a saved

person,

not through my

own effort,

but through the

grace of God

so that none

of us can boast.

You are saved.

Saved for

eternity.

Saved into

an existence

you cannot

begin to

imagine.

Friends,

keep your eyes

on the prize.

The second

thing is

faith works.

This is a

wonderful

passage,

isn't it,

in 1 Peter

where he says

this,

to these

Christians

who are

spread out

across what

they call

the diaspora,

that is,

the regions

around

Israel.

He says

this,

though you

have not

seen him,

you love

him.

And even

though you

do not

see him

now,

you believe

in him

and are

filled with

an inexpressible

and glorious

joy.

Why?

Verse 9,

for you are

receiving the

goal of your

faith,

the salvation

of your

souls.

Someone say

amen.

Some of you

need to get

over it,

don't you?

Listen to me.

This is

fundamental,

friends.

Faith works.

And you

should be

thankful for

that.

Because of

what Paul

has said,

which I

just quoted

from Ephesians

2,

is by

grace

you're

saved.

That's

God's

mechanism

for saving

you.

His love

for you,

though you

don't deserve

it.

And the

mechanism

by which

you are

saved is

by faith.

Peter,

who wrote

this epistle,

of course,

did see

Jesus.

Hung out

with him

while he

did his

miracles.

Made a

few mistakes.

Remember,

he lopped

off the

ear of the

high priest's

servant.

He denied

Jesus three

times,

and Jesus

says to

him,

on you

I will

base

my church.

People like

him,

people like

us.

It is by

grace,

through faith,

that we're

served.

In 1 Peter,

1 Peter 5 · chapter mention

chapter 5,

and verse 1,

Peter says

this,

I appeal

as a fellow

elder,

a witness

of Christ's

suffering,

and one

who also

will share

in the

glory to

be revealed.

Peter saw

it all.

Peter's now

writing to

people who've

not seen

it, but

have heard

the gospel.

Faith

works.

You ask

a lot of

people,

I remember

this when I

did Evangelism

Explosion

course,

which is a

course of

door-to-door

visitation,

where you

explain the

gospel to

people in

their own

home.

How terrifying

is that?

And one

of the

things that

they taught

us there was

that you

have this

diagnostic

question,

and it's

this,

if you were

to die

tonight,

and God

were to

ask you,

why would

I let

you into

heaven,

what would

you say?

A lot

of these

people were

people who

were in

church

Sunday by

Sunday,

you know

what they

said?

I've

tried my

best,

tried to

live a

good life,

right?

I mean,

I'm not

so beastly

that I

would say

to them,

that is

nonsense.

I mean,

I'm not

unhappy that

they've been

trying to

live a good

life,

but let me

tell you,

that will

not see

them into

heaven.

It's the

grace of

God,

received in

faith,

that will

see you

into heaven.

Why,

says Paul,

so none

of you

can boast?

Faith

works.

One thing

I've

learned is

this,

and if

you gave

me the

choice of

suffering with

Jesus,

or suffering

without him

in this

life,

I would

choose to

suffer with

him all

the time.

so Peter's

message is,

it's for

us to

hold on,

to hold

on to

Jesus in

the most

dire

circumstances.

Why?

Because the

promises of

God are

true,

and he

will see

you home.

keep your

eyes on

the

prize.

Remember,

it's faith

that works,

and hold

on to

Jesus.

Let me

end with a

rather

surprising

insight,

not my

insight,

the insight

of

researchers.

You would

think,

would you

not,

and I

imagine

some of

you have

been sitting

here this

morning

thinking,

that in

a time

of

persecution,

the

church

recedes.

Exactly

the opposite

is true.

Where the

church is

persecuted,

it grows.

In North

Korea right

now,

if you

were caught

with a

Bible in

that evil

land,

you would

be executed.

Yet,

open doors

tell me

that the

church in

North Korea,

an underground

church,

you got

found out

to be a

Christian there,

you'd just

be shot in

the street.

The

underground

church is

growing.

You look

in China,

where for

years,

the Christian

faith was

illegal.

It's legal

now,

but you

can only

go to

a church

which is

licensed

by the

government,

which is

a way of

keeping an

eye on

people in

their

population.

Despite

all that,

it is

estimated by

open doors

there are

50 million

Christians

in China

and it's

growing.

Persecution

broke out

against the

church in

Cleveland,

friends.

Would there

be enough

evidence to

convict you?

Peter says,

these

sufferings

are yours,

terrible

though they

are,

very high

risk.

I mean,

I said

earlier,

we make

choices.

I mean,

you could

argue that

to choose

to be a

Christian in

a land of

persecution

was a

stupid

choice.

not those

Christians,

friends.

They stood

up,

they prayed

up,

and they

prevailed

and received

the promise

of God.

We're

aimlessly

bombarded,

aren't we?

Bombarded

with statistics

telling us

that the

church is

failing

spectacularly

in the

worst.

There are

some

churches,

thank God

for all

of you,

that are

growing.

I think

this church,

in terms

of church

growth,

is in

the top

1% of

churches

in this

diocese.

Talking about

the Church

of England,

of course,

I'm not

talking about

some of

the independent

churches,

but 1%.

I mean,

that makes

me feel good

for Clive

and Russ

and for

what's

going on

here.

It makes

me feel

bad for

the

diocese.

Friends,

we're those

Christians

of old.

You need

to stand

up.

You need

to pray

up.

And we

need to

make our

difference.

There are

so few

churches

that are

growing,

and the

reason for

that is

maybe not

surprising to

you.

But what

Linda Woodhead,

the social

scientist,

has come up

with is

this,

that in

1965,

the decline

of the

church was

accelerated.

Do you

remember in

that cocktail

permissiveness

of the

availability

across the

board of

the pill?

Somehow our

culture went

mad.

It's going

mad today.

No wonder

G.K.

Chesterton said

when people

stop believing

in God,

they'll believe

in anything.

You can go

and pay

thousands of

dollars to go

to some

remote island

and then

sit with a

bunch of

weirdos

with singing

bowls in

front of

them and

see if you

can find

your true

self.

It's all

about me.

Come on

friends,

the one

thing I can

promise you

is that

nobody in

this town

is going

to come

to Christ

with a

half-committed

discipleship.

I never

met any

general of

any army

who said,

I really

like it

when I

march with

a bunch

of

half-committed

soldiers.

Can we

step it

up?

Can we

pray up

and believe

the promises

of God?

It's hard

to say

thank you

sometimes,

but it's

good for

you,

even in

the dark

times of

life.

Let's

pray.

Lord,

thank you

very much

indeed for

your promises.

Lord,

maybe we

don't think

about it

enough,

but we

thank you

that there

will be

a day

when your

promises will

come true

in our

lives.

And Lord,

that those

who trusted

you,

those who

held on

to you,

are minded

of most

of the saints

of the church,

most of all

who had

horrendous

lives and

terrible things

happened to

them,

but they

held on,

Lord.

And we

ask that

you'd help

us,

whatever our

life circumstances,

to hold

on to you.

Lord,

help us not

to give up,

but to

embrace that

big New

Testament

persistence.

And Father,

you know we

can't do this

in our own

strength.

We need the

help of your

Holy Spirit,

so come

Holy Spirit

and help

us to stay

faithful,

to stay

close to

you.

In the

knowledge that

whatever happens

to us,

we shall

prevail.

And we

pray these

things in

the name

of Jesus,

who gave

his life

that we

might be

free.

And Lord,

in his name

we pray,

and the

people who

agreed,

affirm

together,

Amen.

Amen.