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A Sermon Delivered at First Christian
Church Stockton Genesis 18:1-15, Matthew 9: 35-108, Romans 5:1-8 In the
professions I have been in I have seen immeasurable amounts of suffering.
I have stood beside mothers and fathers that have lost children,
men and women who have lost
spouses or seen them wasting away from Alzheimer’s, children losing
parents, mothers going through divorce, gay men and women ostracized by
their families, friends and faith communites, people losing jobs due to
downsizing, parents struggling with defiant teenagers, children coping
with being molested by a parent or relative, and more.
The most difficult job I ever had that produced burnout in less
than two years was working as a social worker with children who had been
abused and abandoned and who had not been successful in numerous foster
care situations. According to
my therapist it resurrected too many of my own unresolved conflicts and
sufferings from early childhood. I used
to live under an illusion that some people were immune to suffering, but I
have come to realize that one of the rules of living requires that there
be some suffering at various times in varying degrees.
The only ones who are free from suffering are the dead, and given
the choice of life or death, most of us choose life. Unfortunately, some choose death over life in the midst of
suffering, for they see no hope of suffering ever ending.
Their choice, however, leads to tremendous suffering and guilt for
those who loved them. I
don’t know about you but given the choice of suffering or not, I
generally choose not. But
given the fact that suffering is a part of life, the question is not will
we suffer, but what will we do with our suffering? A
parishioner recently asked me if I believed that it was alright to give
all of our problems to God. I
responded saying, “Yes, I believe we should give all of our problems to
God, and I do it every night.” I
continued, “But God has a way of taking all of my problems and giving
them back to me the next morning when I awaken.
What God does is give me the faith, hope, patience and the
perseverance to continue on.” So if
we must live a life where suffering is involved, how will we live through
suffering while honoring God with dignity and grace?
Sometimes we can look for answers from stories in the Bible, and
sometimes we can find solutions from the lives of people we know.
The
Apostle Paul endured more suffering than anyone writer of the New
Testament. He says in 2
Corinthians 4, “But we have this treasure in clay jars, so that it may
be made clear that this extraordinary power belongs to God and does not
come from us. We are
afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not driven to
despair; persecuted, but not
forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed;
always carrying in the body the death of Jesus, so that the life of
Jesus may also be made visible in our bodies.”
Paul was able to deal with overwhelming suffering because he
realized that he had the resurrected Christ living within his mortal body,
and that Christ suffered with him. And
Paul realized that in the midst of his struggles that he was solely
dependent upon God to survive through his struggles.
His own strength was insufficient.
When
one part of creation suffers, the creator of all creation suffers as well. God is not and has never been immune from suffering.
From the smallest bird to the largest mammal, God cares about all
creation, especially humans. When
a wounded child suffers, God suffers.
When the poor cry out for food, God weeps with them.
When we are wounded, God is wounded.
Who
among us has not cried out in the midst of suffering and despair, “My
God my God, why have you forsaken me?”
We humans have struggled for thousands of years to figure out why
God allows so much suffering in the world, much of it unjustified.
Some of us have dared to say to God, “Creator of the universe,
all powerful and all knowing, how can you allow suffering in this
world?” Is this not a fair question to ask? Couldn’t
God put an end to all suffering just as easily as God spoke and created
the heavens and the earth? Couldn’t
God cure all disease, end all war, banish all hate, heal all wounds,
protect all children, feed all the hungry, make just the unjust, ease all
pain? Why does God have to suffer with us if God could alleviate
all suffering? Is this not
the question Job asked of God? It
is a fair question. Haven’t
you asked God this very question? What,
do you suppose is God’s answer? I’m
not sure. I can tell you what
I think, but I really don’t know for sure what God might say.
I think that God would answer, “My grace is sufficient for you.
I have given you my very self, my only son, who lives within you.
And together we will suffer until my kingdom comes on earth as it
is in heaven. Until then, my
grace is sufficient for you.” I want to ask you this morning, Where do you find the power to hang in there in this world? Where do you find the power to keep going when the going really gets tough? Where do you find the power to continue to believe in love in a world that is filled with hate? Where do we find the power to continue to work for peace in a world that is addicted to violence? Where do we find the power to continue to believe in good in a world that is filled with so much suffering and pain? Where do we find the power to continue to believe that ultimately God's kingdom will come and God's will, as revealed in Jesus, will be done in all of the creation? Where do you find the power to be a disciple of Jesus in this world? In my short time here I have listened to many of you and the stories of struggle you have shared. Some of you carry many struggles, more than any one human ought to bear. Yet each day you find the strength to carry on, the faith to trust in God, the power to move forward and not live in the past. By God’s grace you carry your crosses everyday, and by God’s grace you will carry them to heaven. It is the very love of God made known in Jesus Christ on the cross that empowers you to live one day at a time until all suffering is ended. And I think, I’m not sure, but I think God has one more answer for us. I think God has invited us to help one another carry each other’s cross to help lighten the load. That is what I think God is saying.
Michael Malone
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