7^th Sabbath in Easter

Holy Communion

May 2/4, 2008

Victor H. Nixon

BLESSED IN SUFFERING

1 Peter 5:12-19; 6:6-11

Easter Series: Living Stones

This sermon is the last in the Easter series, Living Stones, based upon the pastoral epistle of 1 Peter, intended to encourage early believers undergoing difficult times and, certainly, modern believers as well. Peter addresses suffering, a condition that we all experience sooner or later, in one form or another.

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"Cancer is the best thing that ever happened to me," a friend once said to me. I was rather shocked by the statement and wondered how anyone could view cancer as a blessing. When I inquired, my friend explained that it was not the disease itself, but the consequences of a decision made while suffering from cancer.

I was told, "The pain and fear were enormous. I constantly asked why this was happening to me. I had family and a job dependent upon me. I was angry with God, others and myself, wondering what I had done to deserve this, aware that those I loved were treating me differently, even avoiding me, that I had somehow been cheated. I was faced with a difficult decision: whether to submit to the disease and become embittered, or to accept my condition as a challenge. I didn’t want to become an embittered victim, absorbed in my suffering, so I prayed to God for insight and courage to accept that challenge."

Although the disease remained, my friend’s perspective began to change gradually—and dramatically. Despite the disease, my friend began to see life—and whatever remained of it—as a gift from God. Attitudes shifted from fear and bitterness to gratitude, and even joy. Priorities changed. "Inconsequential stuff that used to pre-occupy me is no longer so important, " I was told.

"Now I find delight in the smallest things that formerly went unnoticed or unappreciated—a spring flower, bird song, sunrise and rain, a smile or touch. My relationships with family and friends have become closer, more intimate and honest. Love is a reality in my life. We now converse easily about matters that once were difficult or completely avoided."

"I like myself much better and realize that I have inner resources never before experienced. I am productive in my profession, but I am no longer consumed with success as I once was; I’m more interested in being a successful person with good moral and social values, intent on contributing to, rather than merely taking from, life. I’ve become more sensitive to the suffering of others, doing what I can to help."

"Yes, I continue to struggle and some days are difficult. Fear and pain are constant companions, but I am confident that God is with me come what may and that God is good. I have the love of family, friends, and colleagues, as well as the care and encouragement of my church to keep my spirit strong. I am so blessed and so grateful. My life is better than before. That’s why I can say that cancer is the best thing that has happened to me."

Quite a story! Disease is, of course, merely one cause of human suffering. Suffering may be the result of an accident or a choice. Regardless, it is universal. We suffer physically, emotionally, socially, economically, politically and even spiritually. Our faith has significant and helpful things to offer when adversity comes our way.

My friend’s story reflects the perspective of 1 Peter that suffering can be blessing, not that anyone should desire suffering, but that when it does come there is reason to hope. As Robert C. Morris writes, "it is the way suffering is faced that makes the difference between whether pain, sorrow, difficulty, deprivation, or challenge become part of our soul’s stretching or shrinking."(1)

Suffering presents us with a choice: to remain victims or become victors. None of us can make judgments about how people face suffering whether by natural or personal disaster, disease, disability or death of a loved one. We cannot enter the private hell of those who are victimized by the ravages of life and circumstances. We cannot walk in another’s shoes, but we will all walk the way of suffering and, while we may not eliminate it, we do have a choice about how we deal with it. Those who become victors see life as a series of challenges to be faced, to be dealt with, lived through, learned from, and redeemed.(2)

Like my friend, rather than letting suffering define or rule our lives, we can call upon the resources of faith and the power of blessing to transform the experience by learning how to suffer redemptively; that is, suffering can become an opportunity for a positive life change. This is the message of Peter, who saw in suffering an occasion to glorify God, and of Jesus, who endured suffering in an amazing way.

Jesus did not let suffering define or limit him. He seemed to do everything possible to alleviate it: healing the sick, forgiving troubled sinners, reconciling the outcast, and comforting the sorrowful. Yes, he endured adversity: slanders from fearful opponents, threats of arrest, desertion from friends and followers. Jesus was the enemy of all that causes unnecessary suffering, inwardly or outwardly. On the eve of his arrest, he prayed earnestly to be delivered from the Cross. When he rose from prayer, he approached the coming ordeal in such a way that it became a path to victory (Matt. 26:36-56).(3)

When Peter speaks of "sharing in Christ’s sufferings,"(5:13) he does not mean self-inflicted pain or resignation to suffering caused by evil or by circumstances beyond our control. Rather, we share in Christ’s sufferings when we participate in his way of meeting suffering as we pursue, with him, the rule of God and trust in God. It means facing opposition or adversity, whatever the source, in the same spirit in which Christ did.(4)

How did he do that? Jesus grounded himself in God’s goodness. He did not stand before Pilate, his accusers and the crowd passively accepting abuse, but nobly faced his enemies with courage and compassion, because he was grounded in a Goodness much deeper than suffering. In the midst of suffering he was anchored in the goodness of God that enabled him to endure his adversity and suffering with dignity. This Goodness made it possible for him to face the wilderness and the demons, the diseases and the betrayals, the fears and finally death itself. It gave him courage in the face of anything life had to fling at him.

His victorious way of dealing with the rejection, betrayal and pain of the Cross is a foreshadowing of the Easter triumph.(5) The Cross portrays for us the pattern of suffering redemptively rather than with bitter resignation. His resurrection signals the triumph over suffering. Christ is victorious. Alleluia!

Following Christ’s pattern, we too can face adversity with courage and compassion by drawing on the Grace that is larger and more powerful than suffering. By cultivating that ground of God’s grace, we can grow in faith, and courage and compassion to face whatever is before us. Like my friend, we can become victors rather than remaining victims. My experience as a pastor over forty-plus years of ministering to those who are suffering and dealing with my own periods of pain bears this out.

How do we cultivate that ground of goodness and grace that enables us to suffer redemptively, that is, to become victors rather than victims, to experience life as blessing even in the midst of adversity? The answers are obvious but crucial.

1. Cultivate a close relationship with God through prayer, daily devotion, inviting God’s gracious and healing presence into your life, asking for guidance and courage to deal with your pain in redemptive ways, as Jesus did, so that your life is not defined by your suffering but by grace and goodness. Of course, the stronger one’s faith and trust in God before suffering occurs, the more prepared we are when adversity strikes.

2. Cultivate an active relationship with the community of faith through involvement in weekly worship, biblical and small group studies, Sunday School and other support systems. Remember: you need not suffer alone! Let the church know. I can’t tell you how many notes and calls of appreciation I have received about Cancer Friends, Society of St. Stephens, Stephen Ministers, classes and groups that have stood by, prayed for, loved and visited people in their hour of need. When you need support the church will be there.

3. Cultivate a personal ministry with those who suffer. Such a ministry provides you with an opportunity to help alleviate pain and adversity for others. Nothing helps to overcome one’s own pain like sharing the pain of others, giving them a shoulder to lean on, or contributing to a relief effort. This prescription can help relieve their pain, and yours as well.

We gather around this table today to remember Christ’s suffering and to receive visible reminders of his body and blood. We are reminded also that these elements are much more than symbols of suffering: they are signs of the way Christ faced adversity. That is, the loaf and cup signify grace, the goodness of God, who strengthens our faith, courage and compassion.

Come and receive the goodness of God, so that when, through chance or choice, adversity becomes reality in your life, you, like Jesus, can choose to be a victor rather than a victim. And your suffering may lead to blessing. Thanks be to God. Amen.

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