As a society, we are afraid of pain and death. One of the reasons our new federal administration wants to invoke universal healthcare is to mitigate—or completely wipe out—pain and suffering, even to prolong life to the point that death comes very late in life. Why, rather than simply embracing the idea that these bodies are deteriorating, do we do everything we can to avoid suffering?
Trying to avoid suffering now is the short view of things. The New Testament speaks a lot about suffering and none of those teachings are about trying to avoid suffering. In fact, what the New Testament teaches is that (1) these bodies and, in fact, all of creation are under the penalty of sin which causes deterioration and eventually death; and (2) if we are walking the narrow way, we will suffer for the cause of Christ. Paul wrote in Romans 8:
“I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory about to be revealed to us. For the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the children of God; for the creation was subjected to futility, not of its own will but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to decay and will obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God. We know that the whole creation has been groaning in labor pains until now; and not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the first fruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly while we wait for adoption, the redemption of our bodies. For in hope we were saved. Now hope that is seen is not hope. For who hopes for what is seen? But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience” (v. 18-25 NRSV).
As believers, we are groaning, Paul says. What’s interesting about this Greek word, stenazo, is that it has three meanings: sigh, murmur, or pray inaudibly. In other words, there is such pain and suffering in life that the only alternative that we have, the only One to Whom we can run for comfort is our Heavenly Father. The sense is that our every thought turns to Him for help, for comfort, for direction.
For many years, America was so wealthy as a nation that we grew prideful and arrogant. We often had, at our disposal, the resources to solve every problem. And that continues to be the mindset when we talk about healthcare and solving our country’s financial problems. If we just throw enough money at the problem, we have the wherewithal to fix it. Unfortunately, there isn’t enough money in the world to fix the root problem . . . which is sin. Fixing that problem took the precious blood of the Savior. As believers we need to refocus our vision, to turn from secular fixes, and realize again that the only solution is to trust the Lord Jesus.
Proverbs tells us that “those who keep the commandment will live; those who are heedless of their ways will die.” There are consequences for everything we do and we cannot mitigate those consequences, as much as we might try. Ultimately, those who refuse to trust the Lord will sin in their sins and will face eternity in hell. Those who understand that we cannot save ourselves and must throw ourselves upon the mercy of God will live eternally in Heaven with Him. And we throw ourselves on His mercy by keeping His commandments. We must live our intention. It’s not enough to say that we want to be saved; we must put actions to our words.
There are a number of reasons for suffering. We suffer because we live in a sinful world. We suffer because God wants to discipline and refocus us. We suffer as a consequence of our sins or as a consequence of someone else’s sin. We suffer in order to deny our flesh. It is natural to try to avoid suffering; this fleshly body hates pain. But we not only need to accept suffering, there are times when we need to embrace it.
It’s interesting that, in the Romans passage, Paul says that we are waiting for adoption. Our salvation is not yet completed and won’t be until we stand before the Throne. We are working out our salvation everyday by keeping the commandments through the power of the Holy Spirit. And those commandments say that we must embrace God’s will regardless of where it leads us, even if it leads us through suffering (which it will). Being a Christian goes against the flesh nature. Paul wrote:
“I punish my body and enslave it, so that after proclaiming to others I myself should not be disqualified” (1 Corinthians 9:27 NRSV).
If our circumstances don’t pummel our flesh, we should do it ourselves, not out of a sense of pride, but because we need to ignore and beat down our desires and impulses. For example, most of us, when we go out to eat, look at the menu and ask ourselves what we want to eat. What we should be asking ourselves rather is what would be good for us to eat. (Often what is good for us doesn’t taste nearly as good!).
Obeying the commandments has an eternal reward. Rather than focusing on (or trying to avoid) pain, discomfort, and suffering, we should rather embrace obedience that we might receive the prize!
© 2009 Robin L. O’Hare. All Rights Reserved. International copyright reserved. This study may be copied for nonprofit and/or church purposes only without permission when copied in its entirety (including this notice).
No comments:
Post a Comment