Indomitable Joy in Jesus in the Midst of Suffering and Sorrow

Excerpt from John Piper sermon:  Sorrowful Yet Always Rejoicing

2 Corinthians 5:20–6:13

We are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. ²¹ For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. ¹Working together with him, then, we appeal to you not to receive the grace of God in vain. ² For he says, "In a favorable time I listened to you, and in a day of salvation I have helped you." Behold, now is the favorable time; behold, now is the day of salvation. ³ We put no obstacle in anyone's way, so that no fault may be found with our ministry, ⁴ but as servants of God we commend ourselves in every way: by great endurance, in afflictions, hardships, calamities, ⁵ beatings, imprisonments, riots, labors, sleepless nights, hunger; ⁶ by purity, knowledge, patience, kindness, the Holy Spirit, genuine love; ⁷ by truthful speech, and the power of God; with the weapons of righteousness for the right hand and for the left;⁸ through honor and dishonor, through slander and praise. We are treated as impostors, and yet are true; ⁹ as unknown, and yet well known; as dying, and behold, we live; as punished, and yet not killed; ¹⁰ as sorrowful, yet always rejoicing; as poor, yet making many rich; as having nothing, yet possessing everything. ¹¹ We have spoken freely to you, Corinthians; our heart is wide open. ¹²You are not restricted by us, but you are restricted in your own affections. ¹³ In return (I speak as to children) widen your hearts also.

Let me tell you here at the very beginning what the main point of this message is. The main point is this: What the world needs from the church — let's be specific, from Bethlehem Baptist Church, from each of us who are Bethlehem — is our indomitable joy in Jesus in the midst of suffering and sorrow.

I'll say it again: What the world needs from the church is our indomitable joy in Jesus in the midst of suffering and sorrow.

Letting the Sufferers Know We've Been There

This is the last message in the series of thirty-year theological trademarks of Bethlehem, and I am calling it "sorrowful, yet always rejoicing." Here is what I wrote to the worship leaders to give them a flavor of where I was going in this message:

I believe for these decades this theme and tone has marked us deeply. We are a happy people. But we are not what you might call "chipper." There is a plaintive strain in the symphony of our lives. I think Jesus was the happiest man whoever lived. And O how sorrowful! A man of sorrows and acquainted with grief.

Our signature song is perhaps "It Is Well With My Soul." I think that would be a good song to end the service with. God bless and guide you as you build a joyful service that makes all the sufferers know that we've been there.

Not Playing Games in Corporate Worship

I have tried these thirty-two-and-a-half years to lead the staff and the elders and you in the experience of sorrowful yet always rejoicing. I turn with dismay from church services that are treated like radio talk shows where everything sounds like chipper, frisky, high-spirited chatter designed to make people feel lighthearted and playful and bouncy. I look at those services and say to myself: Don't you know that people are sitting out there who are dying of cancer, whose marriage is a living hell, whose children have broken their hearts, who are barely making it financially, who have just lost their job, who are lonely and frightened and misunderstood and depressed? And you are going to try to create an atmosphere of bouncy, chipper, frisky, light-hearted, playful worship?

And, of course, there will be those who hear me say that and say: O, so you think what those people need is a morose, gloomy, sullen, dark, heavy atmosphere of solemnity?

No. What they need is to see and feel indomitable joy in Jesus in the midst of suffering and sorrow. "Sorrowful, yet always rejoicing." They need to taste that these church people are not playing games here. They are not using religion as a platform for the same-old, hyped-up self-help that the world offers every day. They need the greatness and the grandeur of God over their heads like galaxies of hope. They need the unfathomable crucified and risen Christ embracing them in love with blood all over his face and hands. And they need the thousand-mile-deep rock of God's word under their feet.

...