See Affliction’s Silver Lining!

6th Sunday after Epiphany, 2/12/12
2 Corinthians 1:3-7


See Affliction’s Silver Lining!
I. Our God comforts us.
II. So that we can comfort others.


I’m sure you’re familiar with the saying, “Inside every dark cloud is a silver lining.” In fact, you may have spoken that phrase or something similar to it more than once in your life. You likely spoke those words to a friend or loved one who is going through a tough stretch in their life and they’re having a terrible time making sense of it all. Or, you may have spoken it about a tough stretch in your own life that you’ve just gone through and you realize that God blessed you in that ordeal in a way you never imagined. That blessing was the silver lining.

Our previous readings from 2 Kings and Mark’s Gospel presented us with some “dark clouds” in the lives of two of God’s people and one who wasn’t yet one of God’s people. Imagine the dark cloud of a young Jewish girl becoming a victim of war and being sold into slavery in a family of the enemy nation. Imagine Naaman’s thoughts as he was told what he already suspected but was hoping wasn’t true, “Yes, it’s leprosy and there’s no cure.” Imagine being the Jewish man who approached Jesus. His leprosy not only filled him with the same dread as Naaman felt, but it also excluded him from the rest of God’s people and from worship of the only true God. These were dark clouds in their lives that appeared to be permanent. What silver lining could there possibly be?

One little Jewish girl’s enslavement became an opportunity to share her faith. Naaman’s leprosy became the pathway to faith in the only true God. The Jewish man’s leprosy became an opportunity for our Lord Jesus to reveal his almighty power and his deep compassion. These were the silver linings in the dark clouds of their personal affliction.

And that’s true no matter what dark clouds we face in our lives. Paul writes about that very thing in these opening words of his Second Letter to the Corinthians. We can’t always expect a miracle to happen as the two lepers that I mentioned did. But we can expect comfort. See affliction’s silver lining! May the Holy Spirit enlighten us to that truth through his word this morning.

Part I.

What’s your impression of country music? I’m certainly no expert, but my impression is that, for a majority of its songs, the subject matter of country music is the troubles of life. Troubles with your love life. Troubles with your neighbor, boss or co-workers. Trouble with your job. Troubles with your dog or your pick-up truck. And as much as we might like to find some humor in that recurring theme, is it really that far from the truth? Life is full of troubles. You’ve probably even said so yourself. Life isn’t a bowl of cherries or a Sunday School picnic. It’s tough. It can be downright brutal at times.

And we know that. In fact, we know it so well that we pray about it frequently. We plead with the Lord in prayer to keep our lives and the lives of our loved ones trouble free. And when troubles arise, as they so often and inevitably do, we pray for the Lord to take them away. That’s exactly what we’re praying in the Lord’s Prayer when we say, “Deliver us from evil.” Lord, keep afflictions away from us or take them away when you permit them to come to us.

But the Apostle Paul looks at these troubles and afflictions from the other end of things, a rather unique perspective indeed. He writes, “Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the God of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles.” He doesn’t praise God for keeping troubles away from us or removing troubles from our lives. He praises him for comforting us in our troubles. Paul realized that God never promised to remove any troubles from our lives. In fact, he told us to expect afflictions to be a constant, daily part of our lives. That’s part of living as sinners in a sinful world. But as God’s children by faith in Jesus we have God’s comfort in every trouble. He promises to be with us in every trouble. He promises to give us strength as we face each trouble.

In fact, he has a good purpose for every trouble we face. He tells us plainly in his word that he will work out everything for the good of those who love him. There are times when we can see this clearly, as in the cases we met in our readings earlier. But there are times when we may not know the good God intended for us in a particular trouble until we reach life with him in heaven. We simply need to take him at his word that he will do what he has promised.

And no matter what the earthly affliction we face, we know that our God has removed our greatest affliction from us. It occurred 2,000 years ago when Jesus took our sins upon himself and suffered hell for them in our place. He rescued us from unending affliction. He redeemed us and made us his own. We belong to him forever so that he can bless us forever. That’s our eternal comfort.

See affliction’s silver lining. Our God comforts us.

When you were just a small child and were ill, what did your mother likely do for you? Well, she was powerless to take away the cold or flu you were suffering. But she could put you in her lap and hold you. She could rock you and sing softly in your ear. She comforted you.

Our God and Father is capable of taking away whatever afflicts us. Sometime he does. Other times he doesn’t. But he always comforts us. Our afflictions remind us that we are sinners living in a sinful world. That’s our biggest problem. And our God has done something about that. He sent and sacrificed his Son. Jesus paid for our sins. Jesus redeemed us and made us his own forever. And when we reach our heavenly home with him, all our afflictions will be gone forever. We have that comfort from our God whether our afflictions are great or small, temporary or permanent. See affliction’s silver lining. Our God comforts us.

Part II.

While none of us likes a “know-it-all,” I think I’m safe in saying that all of us like to share our knowledge and our experiences to one degree or another. That’s especially true if what we know or what we’ve experienced can help someone we care about.

St. Paul was no different. Paul was fervent about helping his beloved Corinthian Christians with what he knew and what he had experienced. He writes, “If we are distressed, it is for your comfort and salvation.” How does that work? Well, Jesus spoke about the afflictions that will come our way because of our connection with him. If the Corinthians looked at Paul’s life and saw how trouble-free it was while their lives were full of trouble, they might reject everything Paul had taught them. But they saw the opposite. They saw how Paul was suffering persecution in ways far worse than their own. The result was that they were steeled in their resolve to hold onto Christ by faith and thus were saved.

But the opposite was also true. Paul states, “If we are comforted, it is for your comfort, which produces in you patient endurance of the same sufferings we are suffering.” The Corinthians saw how Paul was comforted by God in his sufferings. That fact assured them that they, too, were being comforted by God in their own sufferings. Let Satan and his evil world bring it on; they had the God of comfort on their side.

What’s more, noticing the comfort that God provided for Paul and for them would produce an additional noble characteristic, that of endurance. Paul didn’t want the Corinthians to crack at the first sign of pressure. What kind of faith is that? Instead, knowing that God would always comfort them, they could endure even under the heat of deep affliction.

In the end, what Paul wanted them to know was that suffering and comfort are the common Christian experiences. What Christian doesn’t suffer? We all do to one degree or another. In fact, if you’re not suffering in some way for your faith, you’re probably not living it. So, expect affliction! But in the same way, expect comfort from God. He promises it. Perhaps it won’t be in the way you had prayed for, but it will be the best comfort for you because it will be the comfort that God provides for you in the time and way that he deems best.

And that fact qualifies us to be the conduits of God’s comfort to others. One of the blessings that God gives to you because of your afflictions is the opportunity to say to others, “I’ve been through that. In fact, God brought me through that and he comforted me.” And if that’s the only blessing that resulted from your affliction, isn’t that still a tremendous thing? Our God is so amazing that he uses your afflictions to help others, especially those you love. That’s another silver lining.

See affliction’s silver lining. Our God comforts us so that we can comfort others.

I’m not trying to make light of the afflictions you face. They’re real and some of them are overwhelming. But that’s no reason to despair or challenge the wisdom and love of your God. One of the reasons he allows you to be afflicted is so that he can comfort you with blessed presence and the sure promises of his word. Another reason is so that he can use you to comfort others. So lift up your eyes in your afflictions and see their silver lining. Amen.