Tuesday, May 10, 2011

e-vo for week of May 11

Dearest e-votees-

Quick turns of the phrase get traction but sometimes they obscure a deeper and more nuanced conversation.

How often do you hear “Well, everyone has their cross to bear.” after someone has been discussing an illness or a struggle or a challenge in their life? Are all painful things crosses? Just because suffering is hard isn’t sufficient to make it just suffering.

This week we’ll spend some time with the appointed epistle text from 1 Peter.

Peace,
Karl

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19 For it is a credit to you if, being aware of God, you endure pain while suffering unjustly. 20 If you endure when you are beaten for doing wrong, what credit is that? But if you endure when you do right and suffer for it, you have God's approval. 21 For to this you have been called, because Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example, so that you should follow in his steps. 22 "He committed no sin, and no deceit was found in his mouth." 23 When he was abused, he did not return abuse; when he suffered, he did not threaten; but he entrusted himself to the one who judges justly. 24 He himself bore our sins in his body on the cross, so that, free from sins, we might live for righteousness; by his wounds you have been healed. 25 For you were going astray like sheep, but now you have returned to the shepherd and guardian of your souls.

1 Peter 2:19-25, NRSV


There are two questions that seem to emerge when we reflect on our own suffering or that of others—why and how. We want to know something about the cause of the suffering. We want to know the details of the suffering and how it was endured.

The first question—“Why?”—is the fodder for many a conversation. When Job’s life took a decided turn for the worse his friends showed up asking what he had done to deserve such suffering—they were asking “Why?” When Jesus and his disciples come across a blind man they asked who sinned that this man was born blind—he or his parents?—they were asking “Why?” When tragedies like 9-11 or tsunamis or devastating earthquakes or AIDS epidemics occur—some people speak with entirely too much authority about God’s purposes and judgments—they are presumptuously speaking answers into the “Why?” question.

The truth is that sometimes we merit suffering that comes our way. Sometimes life knocks us around because we picked a fight with something bigger and stronger and faster than us. Sometimes the things that rain down on us were certainly predictable if not downright provoked. But other times things just happen. Maybe God willed it for a greater purpose and maybe God opted to let things run their natural courses. There is not always a clear cause or responsible party for the things that come into our lives. As much as we want a clear and defensible answer to our “Why?”s we often get a stark “Because.” or a more reflective “Why not?” and so often we just get lonely silence. Just because we ask the “Why?” doesn’t mean we will get a satisfactory answer or even that we will get an answer at all.

One verse that has often brought comfort to me (and I’m sure countless others) is Romans 8:28: We know that all things work together for good for those who love God, who are called according to his purpose.

This verse doesn’t presume the answer to “Why?” looking back but offers hope to the “How?” as we press forward.

“How will this suffering play out?” Jesus reminds us to take each day as it comes remembering that each day has worries enough.

“How will I get through this?” Jesus responds to the penitent thief on the cross “Today you will be with me in Paradise”. God’s kingdom is coming to bear every day—we pray for as much whenever we pray the Lord’s prayer. God has not left us nor abandoned us—God is with us even through the valley of the shadow of death.

“How will I face these people after what I’ve done and what they know about me?” God reminds us “Behold, I make all things new.” and “My mercies are new every morning”. God’s mercy and grace and salvation trump even the gravest missteps.

“How can we be saved?” As the serpent was lifted up in the desert so, too, was the Son of Man lifted up. In the midst of deserved consequences and a death sentence being executed God provides a way for those to be saved. Salvation is here for us all. None of us have erred so far as to be beyond the loving grasp of God’s grace.

“How can I bear this burden—cross or not—with dignity and character and grace?” We can look to the author of salvation who found ways to pray for his persecutors, reach out to those under the same sentence, mend and establish relationships in the midst of having his own severed and who leaned heavily on prayer and grace and restraint. Jesus who is faithful and true and abiding gave us an example of how to suffer.

God, spare us from suffering—deserved and undeserved—and help us alleviate the suffering of others—deserved and undeserved. Help us yield the “Why?”s to you and deeply lean into growing into the “How?”s through your help and the indwelling Holy Spirit. Amen.

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