In the classic novel ‘Hypatia,’ a highly intelligent pagan
found himself fleeing a war zone.
He hitched a ride on a boat manned by Christians, who were spiriting
away a cadre of injured soldiers. At first, the pagan mocked the Christians. He
found their theology illogical and primitive. Yet during the course of the
3-month voyage the pagan began to change, until finally he launched into a
memorable speech, “While I still find much of the Christian faith mysterious
and even nonsensical, I am utterly taken aback by what I have witnessed. You Christians have tirelessly tended
to these sick men. They woke you in the middle of the night, and you comforted
them. You handled even the most unreasonable demands with kindness. You have
deprived yourselves of food so that those without might have something to eat.
I have never seen such love in action, such intentional suffering for the sake
of others, and I too, fear that the call of the Galilean has a grip upon me.”
The history of Christianity shows us few times where more
progress has been made than those instances in which great suffering has been
involved. Across Christian history, and in our personal histories, suffering
often leads us to God, and can lead others to God as well.
In Sunday’s Gospel we find Jesus suffering. He is under
assault from fans who want healing and foes who want Him stopped. Jesus suffers
the exhaustion and anguish of trying to please everybody, along with the
ceaseless anxiety that a pursued deer must feel in the hunter’s crosshairs. Yet
through Jesus’ suffering the whole world benefits.
Yes, we each have our own sufferings. Some we have willingly
undertaken, others we had absolutely no say in. And as we study how Jesus moved
through suffering, not avoiding it or causing it to disappear, we see that He
simply walked in and through it, encouraged by the notion He was doing what He
was supposed to do.
As you and I move through our own sufferings we note that
God does not promise to take it away from us either. Instead, God promises to
be with us – through it all. For God uses suffering, for us, and for others. How
are our present sufferings shaping us and the people around us? How is God
using our suffering to further the mission of peace, reconciliation, and
healing? Might we, too, bear our best witness when we walk with strength
through adversity?
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Reading
HHhH – Laurent Binet
Unbroken – Laura Hillenbrand
Teaching as a Subversive Activity – Neil Postman
