Strathalbyn Church of Christ

Heb 12:3-11 Theme: God disciplines those he loves.

Sermon by Pastor David Williams. Strathalbyn Church of Christ. 12 Jun 2022.

Mary is a young girl in Pakistan. Her family belongs to that tiny minority who follow Christ. She would love to go to school like others in her village but cannot, for she is a Christian. She would love to play with her friends but must help her family as they work in the hot sun making bricks. It is hard work and poorly paid – but the only work available to Christians. Her sister was recently abducted and forced to marry a Muslim man who was much older.

Mary and other Pakistani Christians – they respond to suffering in different ways. Some are Stoics who try to tough it out. Some get worn out, bitter and depressed – even give up their faith. For others, suffering can lead to a deeper faith. We will look at how to respond to suffering today. I know this is a real issue for some of you.

The letter is written to Hebrew Christians who were suffering for their faith. In their suffering, they were encouraged to consider Jesus:

3 Consider all the hostility he endured from sinful people; then you won’t become weary and give up.

Some Hebrews had been imprisoned and their property plundered (Heb 10:32-4, 13:3). But so far, they had not died for their faith.

4 After all, you have not yet given your lives in your struggle against sin.

Yet Jesus was put to death and Paul and Peter. Will these Hebrews prove faithful even when facing death? Many Christians in Ukraine are facing such a test. What about us? Will your faith survive under persecution?

Christians have always suffered persecution for their faith. But we suffer for other reasons too. We suffer because we are human – our bodies wear out. We also suffer due to sin – broken relationships and the problems caused by our own sin too. We may even suffer at hands of God, as Job did. One cause can run into another, so there may be no point trying to work out why I’m suffering. A better question to ask is, how should I face suffering?

We face suffering by seeing it as God intends us to. Suffering is no random event. We are not the hapless victims of people who wield power. Incredibly, God is using suffering for our good. As a loving father, he is disciplining his children through their suffering. The writer calls us not to forget God in our suffering:

5 And have you forgotten the encouraging words God spoke to you as his children?

The writer gives three reminders to help us to accept his correction. In times of testing, remember God’s word, care and purpose.

Remember God’s word (5-6)

When God disciplines, people react in different ways:

a. Some are indifferent

My child, don’t make light of the Lord’s discipline, we are warned.

God teaches us through discipline. When you learn through discipline, you are not likely to forget it! I was teaching my little sister all the interesting new words that I had learnt at school that day – I had learnt them in the school yard, not in the classroom. Dad happened to hear this and gave me a very stern warning. I blithely ignored that, so he marched me to the bathroom and literally washed my mouth out with soap. I still remember that lesson! But sometimes we don’t learn, do we. We can be stubborn and resist God’s correction. Is God trying to discipline you? Is God trying to correct you and you are not listening?

My child, don’t make light of the Lord’s discipline

b. Some are overwhelmed

don’t give up when he corrects you.

Suffering can be so hard and demoralising. It can feel overwhelming like those Christians in Pakistan. It is easy to think God is angry with us or has rejected us when we are disciplined. But no, the opposite is true. God is showing his love for us. He is showing that we truly are his beloved children. He disciplines because he loves us. God only disciplines us for our good. We can be encouraged by his other promises too. He has promised

- Never to test us beyond our strength

You are tempted in the same way that everyone else is tempted. But God can be trusted not to let you be tempted too much, and he will show you how to escape from your temptations, 1 Cor 10:13.

- Never to leave us

He will be with you; he will not leave you or fail you. Do not fear or be discouraged, Dt 31:8_
_

c. Some rejoice

6 For the Lord disciplines the one he loves,
and he punishes each one he accepts as his child.

This discipline reminds us that we are his children. Also, when we suffer in Christ’s name, we rejoice for we share in his sufferings

Everyone will hate you because of me. But if you remain faithful until the end, you will be saved, Mt 10:22.

The barbs that are directed at Christ fall on his followers too. So we rejoice when we are counted worthy to suffer for him.

The second reminder God gives us when suffering is:

Remember God’s care (7-9)

For some, the subject of discipline and fathers brings very painful memories – and the idea of God punishing us opens raw wounds for them. So we need to look carefully at what the Bible actually says. Hebrews talks of discipline as an act of love. Good fathers discipline because they love their children.

7 As you endure this divine discipline, remember that God is treating you as his own children. Who ever heard of a child who is never disciplined by its father?

It is not loving fathers who fail to discipline – but absent or neglectful fathers who do not discipline:

8 If God doesn’t discipline you as he does all of his children, it means that you are illegitimate and are not really his children at all.

Proverbs takes this even further

Those who spare the rod of discipline hate their children.
Those who love their children care enough to discipline them. Prov 13:24.

If good fathers discipline their children, how much more will our heavenly father do so:

9 Since we respected our earthly fathers who disciplined us, shouldn’t we submit even more to the discipline of the Father of our spirits, and live?

This is not the time to discuss how to raise children, but as a society, we make two big mistakes. We discipline without love, and we love without discipline.

1. Discipline without love

Discipline without love can become child abuse. Getting belted by an angry drunken father is not discipline but child abuse. But getting disciplined by an angry sober father – even if that father is a church elder – that can be child abuse too - a father who punishes without love. Or if that love is there, it is totally hidden from the child. Unfortunately, some of you know that. Rather than being changed for the better, such correction can leave permanent scars of hate and bitterness and shame. Scriptures warn parents:

Parents don’t stir up anger in your children but bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord, Eph 6:4.

Parents don’t be hard on your children. If you are, they might give up, Col 3:21.

It is not easy being a parent. When I was a young father, I thought I was doing fairly well. I’d managed to work out how to change a nappy without stabbing Maryanne too often with the safety pin. Nothing to it really. And then we went shopping, and the tantrums started. Do you want to push someone’s patience to the limit? Send them shopping with a truculent child. Guaranteed to work every time! So while it may be hard to achieve, discipline without love is never a good move. Neither is …

2. Love without discipline

No discipline at all is a recipe for disaster. Children need correction – because they are ignorant and because they are selfish and proud – like us adults. Children who have never known limits, who have been spoilt or ignored, can grow into awful adults.

Foolishness is bound to the heart of a youth; a rod of discipline will separate it from him, Prov 22:15.

But in the West today we have a huge chasm – between traditional Christians and the experts in society. And it all goes back to basic assumptions on human nature. When looking at any idea, it helps to go back to the roots – to the assumptions. If the assumptions are wrong, it doesn’t matter if you then write three PhD’s on it, the conclusions will also be wrong. As Jesus challenged, what is your life built on – rock or sand? Some university faculties are built on sand.

The Bible is very clear on one basic assumption – it is called original sin. Our nature is to go our own way, not God’s way – and we are all born with that rebellious streak in us. For instance,

I have sinned and done wrong
since the day I was born, Ps 51:5

All have turned away;
all have become corrupt.
No one does good,
not a single one! Ps 14:3, Rom 3:10-18.

But the bible’s teaching on original sin is completely at odds with most psychologists and childhood educators as well as experts in criminal reform and many theologians. They teach that humans are born good. It is other things – our environment, our upbringing – these are what cause strife. For Freud it was latent sexual urges. The New Age theologian Matthew Fox teaches not original sin but original blessing.

But the Bible teaches all are born with a rebellious streak. And so the Bible takes it for granted that loving parents discipline their children. The sort of discipline that is appropriate will change – with each child, each situation, each family, and across time. Loving parents will be sensitive to this.

The final reminder God gives us when suffering is:

Remember God’s purpose (10-11)

How should we respond to discipline? James tells us to

Count it all joy when you meet trials of various kinds …, Jas 1:2.

Look it up and see why.

It does not mean that we must enjoy suffering! We’re not masochists. Some have developed an unhealthy martyr complex – the idea that suffering is a sure sign that God is on their side. But we don’t need to prove that we are God’s children. We can be real with ourselves here. Suffering always hurts. Persecution and discipline of any sort are painful.

11 No discipline is enjoyable while it is happening—it’s painful!

But this doesn’t mean that discipline is bad and should be avoided. We are in a pain-averse, pleasure-seeking society. Discipline is used by God to correct us and to achieve his good purposes. Hebrews gives us three reasons to welcome God’s discipline:

a. Our good

10 For our earthly fathers disciplined us for a few years, as it seemed best to them. But God’s discipline is always good for us …

Your parents and teachers were probably not perfect. They may have gone too far in discipline, and their intentions may have been questionable. Even good parents get it wrong. They disciplined as seemed best to them. Some may have had no role models and had to work it out as seemed best to them. It is not easy being a parent is it. It is far easier managing 1000 people than trying to raise one difficult child. Whether your parents disciplined as seemed best to them, or whether they did not – there is an important question we all need to ask: Have you forgiven your parents? No matter how bad they were? God has forgiven you, and he knows just how bad you are. Have you forgiven your parents?

But God is not like our parents. God’s discipline is always good for us …God never makes mistakes.

We know that God is always at work for the good of everyone who loves him. They are the ones God has chosen for his purpose, Rom 8:28.

God always works for the good of his church. Nothing we suffer is wasted in his perfect plan.

b. Sharing holiness

God also disciplines so that we might share in his holiness.

I pruned a pear tree. A large branch had broken at the fork, and rot had begun to eat away at the stump. The rot was spreading down into the fork, like gangrene taking over a limb. To save the tree, I had to make a large cut into the good wood to root out all the rotten wood. It was a very rough job. I hope I got it all but who knows – some of that fungus may have penetrated deeply and invisibly. But God is a master surgeon. He knows where our sin is eating away, and how to deal with it. We carry our sin like rotten flesh, like gangrene. It is eating into our heart. Major surgery is needed.

The result of his surgery, his correction, is that we share his holiness. What a great reward is that. As wicked and wretched as I am, I can share the goodness, the rightness, the holiness of God. Not because I am sinless but because the blood of Jesus has cleansed me, made me pure. And by rooting out my guilt and anger, my pride and selfishness – others may glimpse something of God’s holiness even in me and you.

Finally we welcome God’s discipline for its …

3. Peaceful fruit of righteousness

11 No discipline is enjoyable … But afterward there will be a peaceful harvest of righteousness for those who are trained in this way.

In contrast to the pain of discipline and our struggle with sin, the harvest will be one of peace and righteousness. The Hebrew word for peace is Shalom, but it means so much more than just peace. Shalom looks to a future when the world is put to rights and when God’s kingdom is being lived out by his people. And this kingdom has already begun - as his people, his church, grow in faith and obedience. By God’s discipline we are being trained – we are habituated to living right and godly lives. A boxer trains so that every hook, jab and cross hits the mark every time. God’s discipline trains us – so that our every thought, word and deed hits the right mark every time.

To wrap up, three reminders are given to help us to accept God’s correction. In times of testing, remember God’s word,

6 For the Lord disciplines the one he loves

Remember his care

7 As you endure this divine discipline, remember that God is treating you as his own children.

Remember his purpose.

For God’s correction yields the peaceful harvest of righteousness

We know that in all things God, you work together for the good of those who are called according to your purpose. Thankyou for correcting us and changing us. Thank you for those who will be encounter the living God through us as we are changed. In J name, Amen.

If anything I’ve said raises any issues for you – anything at all, please speak to me or a friend about it.

Source:

· Brown, R. E. (2021). The message of Hebrews: Christ above all. IVP.

Series: Hebrews

Topics: #Hebrews