As we begin to look at suffering in the Christian walk, a couple points need to be addressed. The first is that boasting about ourselves is wrong but boasting about Christ is necessary. Why would I say this? Well we must not seek to avoid or minimize suffering but rather rejoice over God’s Providences when they come. We need to rejoice over God’s Providences, whether good or bad, and not boast about ourselves (as the source of providence). We need to focus on boasting about Christ as a necessary function of our life because boasting in Christ is centered on genuine faith; you might say that this kind of boasting is a fruit of genuine faith. The evidence of this truth is found in the two additional points: 1) genuine faith in Christ hopes for what is not seen and 2) genuine faith in Christ establishes us to endure patiently. How is it that I can begin to move away from boasting about myself? How I am able to not avoid conflict but began to a boast in Christ in the midst of conflict? This comes from 2 Thessalonians 1: 4 where the apostle Paul speaking to the Church in Thessalonica says “therefore we ourselves boast about you in the churches of God for your steadfastness and faith in all your persecutions and in the afflictions that you are enduring.” Paul says not only are we not to minimize the afflictions and the persecutions, but we boast about you in the midst of those persecutions and afflictions because your steadfastness and your faith is growing. Further, our faith in Jesus Christ is made evident in those persecutions. Paul says we are boasting about Christ’s work in you, or in other words, we do not boast about ourselves (for this is wrong) but we boast about Christ which is necessary. Did you catch that? Not only is it not wrong to boast about Christ; it is necessary. Why I would say this is that the apostle Paul says, “therefore...” Now, I will stop and point out very quickly that that word “therefore” points to what Paul has said previously; it is a term of conclusion. The word therefore means that based on everything that Paul has just said there is a result that comes out of it. What Paul has just said is “we ought always to give thanks to God for you brothers, as is right, because your faith is growing abundantly and the love of every one of you for one another is increasing.” Now, Paul says because of that increasing love, because of that growing faith, a faith growing in abundance; we ourselves boast about you. Paul is telling the church in Thessalonica good job, way to go! And not only are we encouraging you in this good job, we are also using you as an example to other people of what it means to live in Christ. So, we are to boast about the work of Christ; in fact, it is necessary to boast about the work of Christ. Now I want to point out one other thing. The word “boast” in verse four is an infinitive. An infinitive means a gained ability; so as we translate the meaning of the verse we know that the infinitive brings with it the understanding of an acquired ability. What Paul is saying in essence is that that we ourselves are growing in our ability to boast about you. What Paul is saying is not a prideful thing within Paul but rather as the church in Thessalonica is undergoing these persecutions, undergoing these afflictions as they are growing in their faith. As they are standing steadfast every day, Paul and those who are spreading the truth of the gospel are using the church of Thessalonica as an example. Every day they stand firm, they prove a little better example and Paul is able to speak more confidently about the church’s faith in Jesus Christ. Also, this is not just a singular event; it is not just something that happened today and is gone. They seem to be in a season of persecution and affliction that is happening day, after day, after day, after day. We all know that when we have gone through these seasons of things going wrong, that when it rains it pours; right? Have you ever found yourself in that place where you say, “Lord, what else is going to happen?” You know, I lost my car keys and the dog chewed my favorite pair shoes and my favorite shirt, that I wear all the time, got washed with a red sock and now it is pink. And, work is tough and things are not going well and the kids are demonstrating their depraved nature and we just say Lord, “What else… What else?” You see, that is what the church of Thessalonica was going through. They were in seasons of affliction and persecution and it wasn’t just a singular thing; it was the season; day after day after day. So Paul is saying because of your steadfastness we are being given the ability to boast; not boasting about you necessarily, although Christ is working in and through you, but we are boasting about what Christ is doing in your life. You see the reality of this circumstance is that we need to accept suffering and boast in Christ. Rejoice that we have been granted the opportunity to suffer in this way. You remember the disciples who as they were arrested and beaten and told to stop preaching in the name of Jesus Christ; they said “we are not going to do that” so they were beaten again. And as they let them go, they left their being imprisoned counting themselves worthy to suffer for the gospel. This is just not a message that we hear much in churches these days. We do not hear the message that suffering is an ordained part of God’s plan for our lives and we ought to embrace suffering as an opportunity to demonstrate Christ in some very difficult circumstances. Now look, please don’t misunderstand me. Afflictions and persecutions are not easy; they are not fun. They are not things that we necessarily look forward to. But when we begin to see them as opportunities to glorify Christ and to boast in Christ, I think it makes the affliction a little bit easier to take; doesn’t it? There is a lot more to say about suffering. I hope that you will stay with me as we go through this subject together.
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