 |
| Source |
This past week's theme was temptation and had me scratching my head in confusion a couple of times. Thankfully between my book club friend and I (and a consultation with my pastor husband), we were able to sort things out more or less. That is the blessing as opposed to reading something on my own and never getting a chance to "discuss".
We started with Jesus' temptation in the wilderness. This was not just some "good example" for us to follow but his active obedience in perfectly resisting temptation on our behalf. He earned salvation for us by living the perfect life we are unable to live, then suffering and dying for our sins and finally conquering death and the devil in his glorious resurrection!
But when it comes to our lives of sanctification, we continue to struggle with temptation that comes in various forms outside of ourselves and inside our very beings! We discussed what is meant in the Lord's Prayer by our asking God to "lead us not into temptation", the roll of our conscience, where our strength comes from while being surrounded by so much evil and conflict. We considered our natural tendency to want to get back at those who do us harm and how hurtful that actually is. We wrestled with our daily struggle against our Old Adam and the New Man that is strengthened through the means of grace. We must daily die to self and live for Christ and despite the struggle that this brings, we can embrace it in joy!
This next week's theme is "The Purpose of Suffering". If Christ already suffered what was sufficient to earn our salvation, then why do we continue to suffer?
18 comments:
Wednesday - A Great Capacity for Suffering
I found his observations of human reactions to be amusing, sad and insightful. It's true that "most people learn only through personal experience occurring to their own bodies". This would be why we struggle with sympathy and empathy!
I remember where I was and what I was doing the morning of 9/11 - the greatest tragedy to hit America in my lifetime. I came in on the news broadcast after the first tower was hit and watched as the 2nd tower was hit. It was horrifying to me but cold. I could see the tragedy but I don't remember at that point thinking about all the people in the buildings - more about the people on the plane. It didn't occur to me that the buildings would come down until they did because at this point this was an event on TV - not something that actually followed the laws of nature or had consequences. I shut it off and continued to head out the door with my then toddler for our regular playgroup morning.
I can say without a doubt that I was" lacking imagination, had unwavering calmness, an undisturbed ability to work" - all while all this suffering was going on! Only when it relates to me would I be upset - if I felt myself in danger. "solidarity with suffering arises in proportion to our own increasing fear of imminent doom…"
This is a rather depressing thought about mankind and reminds us again how depraved and in need of a Saviour we are! Here we're only thinking about SELF again with no regard to the suffering of others. And yet, when I've been on the receiving end of care and concern I am moved by someone else's denial of SELF that instead shows love and sympathy to me! I know in those moments God is caring for me through others. I want to do the same!
The Scripture quoted is one of my all time favourites and that alone could be a study. But I'm hoping as the week goes on, we'll have an opportunity to talk more about His sufficient grace, His power in our weaknesses and our strength found in Him!
First, let me say that I wholeheartedly agree with your assessment of the difference it makes to go through this book with someone - to discuss the daily readings. In fact, as valuable as it's been, I think there's a good chance I might not have continued with the readings without the discussion. That's how much more insight this exchange has given me - so THANK YOU!!!
I also appreciated your recommendations of the podcast recordings from Issues, Etc. Feel free to share more recommendations with me if you ever hear a particularly good recording that I can access online. Being far away from our church has led me to listen to lots of online sermon recordings and whatever else I can get my ears on. :) While those commentaries on Lent were not sermons, they did focus my thoughts on Lent and what my observance of it means.
Wednesday - A Great Capacity for Suffering
As they say, "some people just need to learn the hard way." :)
It is possible that our lack of capability to take any preventative action and our insensitivity to the suffering of others are defense mechanisms. If we really thought about every possible bad thing actually happening to us, we might end up crouched in a corner rocking back and forth uttering unintelligible syllables. If we got emotionally engaged with every other person's suffering we knew about, we might end up having a nervous breakdown.
That is why I absolutely do not know how I'd live without the assurance we have from Scripture that God "works all things for the good of those who love him." That means that whatever suffering I may encounter in my life, it is for my spiritual benefit, or for another's spiritual benefit! Therefore, I need not worry about tomorrow! Suffering may come, but it will be God's chosen cross for me to bear, and "what God ordains is always good!" Tomorrow will worry about itself. I will not fear.
And when it comes to the sufferings of others, I don't need to be afraid to become emotionally engaged either, because of the hope I have. From a place of rest and peace in Jesus, I can take the hand of another who is suffering and show him or her that place of rest and peace. I can also take the situation to the Lord in prayer, and leave it with him. Just check that emotional baggage on through to our final destination, rather than carrying it with me and having it overwhelm me. I know my Lord won't lose my luggage! :)
Bonhoeffer most definitely refused to wallow in self-pity, didn't he. I like that he said he rejected the idea that he was suffering in prison. Talk about perspective!
I'm with you on 2 Cor 12:7-10. Thanks be to God for the gift of His Word to us!
First off I want to say you had some GREAT thoughts concerning yesterdays reading. I haven't read ahead in the book so I'm not really sure yet where he's going with the theme of "suffering" but regardless, your comments are great to keep in mind as we move forward. Thank you so much!
Thursday - The View from Below
He still isn't touching upon the reason for suffering yet in today's reading. Like I said, I'm not sure where he's going with it yet and found the topic of "the view from below" interesting from an educational/spiritual standpoint. I agree that there's great value in learning world history not just from textbooks or from the word of great men but from the "perspective of the excluded, the suspect, the poorly treated, the powerless, the oppressed, and the ridiculed - in short, those who suffer." In the history education of my own children, I have tried to do just this as best I can. As we've learned world geography, we've also learned about the people, culture and religion. We usually are reading a book of historical fiction that is from the viewpoint of, for example, not the shah or ruler but a servant or slave. We read books like "What the World Eats" and "Material World" to get a better understanding of how regular people live even in refugee camps. We've subscribed to "Voice of the Martyrs" and keep up to date on our WELS missions through LWMS. You said it so well - "we don't need to be afraid to become emotionally engaged, because of the hope we have." As we gain a better understanding of the sufferings and challenges of others, we are not focused on self, we can offer help as the opportunities are available and we can trust it to the Lord in prayer.
As is usually the case with Scripture, spiritual things are upside down from temporal things. " So the last shall be first and the first shall be last."Matthew 20:16. Many proverbs talk about the poor. "He who is kind to the poor lends to the Lord and he will reward him for what he has done." Proverbs 19:17. "Better a poor man whose walk is blameless than a fool whose lips are perverse." Proverbs 19:1.
But Bonhoeffer offers a warning. "It all depends on our not letting this perspective from below make us biased in favour of the eternally unsatisfied." I'm reading this as saying not to get caught up in the earthly depravity and ignore the spiritually depravity that is eternal. That's why I'm confident in supporting missions affiliated with WELS that I KNOW is not only offering needed help (like clean water) but spiritual help (like the Living Water).John 7:37, 38. There are unlimited opportunities available to express our faith as we look at the view from below!
Thursday - The View from Below
The reading today again shows Bonhoeffer's incredible perspective on all he is going through - and not only for himself. He is grouping himself together with others who have suffered or are suffering when he uses "we," "us," and "our" instead of "I," "me," and "my."
It is not uncommon for people, after they have endured hardship, trial, or suffering, to look for the blessings that resulted from it. I don't have an education in psychology, but it seems to me that would be a part of the process of recovering from something difficult - a sign of acceptance and moving forward.
Bonhoeffer, though, was able to accept the trial, find the good, and move forward... WHILE he was still in prison! Maybe that's related to the fact that he didn't wallow. Instead of looking inward and feeling sorry for himself, he looked outward and saw, first of all, that he wasn't the only one enduring hardship; in fact, he refused to call his hardship "suffering." He knew that there were others whose hardships were significantly more painful and difficult than his own. Secondly, as he looked outward, he saw the good that was coming out of hardship, not only for him, but for many who were undergoing trials, provided that "bitterness and suffering [had not] eaten up [their] heart," and that their "perspective from below [did not make them] biased in favor of the eternally unsatisfied."
How was he able to do this? He had a "higher satisfaction that is actually grounded from beyond - beyond below and above." His satisfaction, as he called it, was grounded in Jesus! Jesus, who was anointed by the Lord "to bring good news to the poor," to "proclaim release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free, to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor."
Dear Savior, give to all your saints on earth a focus that is increasingly outside of ourselves. Whether it is through suffering or through some other means, keep our eyes ever fixed on you. From that perspective, then, give us a "view of greatness, humanity, right, and mercy" that is "clearer, freer, and more incorruptible." Show us that "great and small, fortune and misfortune, strength and weakness" are redefined when seen through the eyes of your eternal truths. Sanctify us by the truth, Lord. Your word is truth.
Hey! We were posting at the same time! How fun is that!?!
It seems I interpreted the sentence about bias in favor of the eternally unsatisfied differently than you did, but looking at it again, your interpretation seems more accurate - and the point it makes is so very important! It is a message that Jesus preached that people today so often forget/ignore!
I think it's wonderful that you are including the alternative perspectives when you study history with your children! If I was taught history in that way, I think I might have understood it better. I most certainly would have had a richer perspective on times and places in the world.
You mentioned that the reading didn't get to the reason for suffering yet. However, in a certain sense you could say that it IS talking about the reason for suffering. Wednesday talked about how people only learn through personal experience occurring to their own bodies. So the reason for suffering is to teach. It teaches us that we will not always be spared from disaster, and it teaches us to be sensitive to the suffering of others.
It reminds me of 2 Corinthians 1: 3 Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, 4 who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves receive from God. 5 For just as we share abundantly in the sufferings of Christ, so also our comfort abounds through Christ.
Also, the passage in the reading from Wednesday addressed the reason for suffering, and it's also from 2 Corinthians. "to keep me from being too elated, a thorn was given me in the flesh..."
The point of today's reading could be that God uses suffering to give us a clearer perspective on the dimensions of life.
Ha! I noticed that we posted within minutes of each other:)
Thanks for "translating" for me the lessons from each reading of why we suffer. You are right - they are there. I didn't see it clearly until you spelled it out for me!
Friday - God is a God of Bearing
I do not know how these readings can be so short and still have so much content in them. Good grief. This is one of the shorter ones and yet the implication of their meaning is astounding!
First off, I think the Bible passage used to support the reading could be so much better. It's fine, but a dozen other passages come to mind.
Because sin entered his perfect creation, there are consequences. "Just as sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, and in this way death came to all men, because all sinned." Romans 5:12. Bonhoeffer writes, "Suffering must be borne.…Either the world must bear it and go down because of it, or it falls on Christ and is overcome in him."
"But when the time had fully come God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under law, to redeem those under law, that we might receive the full rights as sons." Gal 4:4.
"After the suffering of his soul, he will see the light of life and be satisfied; by his knowledge my righteous servant will justify many and he will bear their iniquities." Isaiah 53:11.
"So Christ suffers vicariously for the world." Bonhoeffer writes. He bore our flesh, he bore the cross, he bore our sins and "through his bearing achieved reconciliation." It is finished! Our salvation is complete and given to us through faith. We are saved. We are justified.
"So too are disciples called to be bearers. Being a Christian consists in bearing." Dusting off my confirmation cobwebs, I am reminded of something I saw written on the whiteboard dozens of times: Faith produces good works. "You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you to go and bear fruit - fruit that will last." John 15:16. Jesus enables us to bear fruit as a result of faith. Suffering under this cross is also something we must bear.
The Theology of the Cross says, "The very word sacrifice implies suffering. Even the seemingly painless sacrifice of thanksgiving runs counter to our fallen nature. But it is because of the gospel, because of the mercy of God, that the new self wants to make an entire sacrifice, to take up the cross. Yes, and the fact that the gospel has already made the sacrifice a holy one (Ro 8:1) wards off the sense of futility that there would be in such a sacrifice, always stained by imperfections and sin as it is. For the assurance of forgiveness covers the future as well as the past. God's mercy covers the stain on good works just as it blots out the sin that had not the least good attached to it. Therefore the sacrifice of all and everything can be a joyful one - pure and perfect because it is covered with the blood of the Lamb." page 54.
So the purpose for suffering found here? I'd say - because we are Christians. What would you say?
Friday - God is a God of Bearing
Again I benefit from your comments! This reading was not my favorite because he said "being a Christian consists in bearing."
Macmillandictionary.com says "consist in something - to have something as the most important aspect or the only aspect."
"So no," I thought, "being a Christian does NOT consist in bearing." Being a Christian consists in letting Jesus bear it all. Our eternal punishment for sin, our anxiety about the things of this life, the job of directing the affairs of this world, etc.
I didn't even think of bearing fruit! I was only thinking of the "enduring" kind of bearing. And as is pointed out in the passage you quoted from "The Theology of the Cross," enduring suffering and bearing fruit are related. Since faith without works is dead, then I suppose I must concede that being a Christian does consist in bearing. Hmm. That still needs time to settle in.
The passages you mentioned to support all of your points are gems. I have to agree with you that if the compiler of this book had chosen a different passage it would make the day's reading much less what-we-do-focused, and much more what-Christ-did-focused... and therefore better!
With that said, I do think it's neat to bring "we love because he first loved us" into the picture and then look at the "love is patient" passage again. What if we substitute "Jesus" for "love" in 1 Corinthians 3:4-7?
Jesus is patient; Jesus is kind; Jesus is not envious or boastful or arrogant or rude. He does not insist on his own way; he is not irritable or resentful; he does not rejoice in wrongdoing, but rejoices in the truth. He bears all thing, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.
Food for thought.
We too can put our own name in place of the word "love" in that passage. Although it won't be true, it will be what we strive for as we are motivated by God's amazing love for us, and the Holy Spirit enables us.
I pray with Bonhoeffer, "Give me strength to bear what you send, and do not let fear rule over me." This is an excellent prayer to pray for and share with those who are suffering. I think of my relative who is ill (getting better, though), and those who love him and wonder what this will mean going forward. I think of a friend whose cousin's wife was killed in the landslide in Oso, WA along with all of those whose loved ones are missing or were found dead. The same with the Malaysian plane that is lost. My brother-in-law who has cancer... It's a very simple prayer that gets to the heart of the matter very quickly.
In summary, I have to agree with you, Rachel. The reason for suffering addressed in this reading is simply because we are Christians.
Saturday - Suffering and Being Rejected
I don't really have much commentary on this one, even after having read through it on Saturday and then again this morning.
How hard it must have been for Jesus' disciples to "let Christ be Christ." They had come to know and love him, and now they were coming to understand that they would have to lose his physical presence with them. Add to this the fact that they were seeing much opposition from the Jewish authorities and feared for their own lives as well.
This reading reminds us again that we are called to suffer. "As Christ is Christ only as the suffering and rejected one, so the disciple is a disciple only as one who suffers and is rejected, as one crucified with Jesus."
As we strive to suffer gladly with Jesus, we must resist the temptation to think that our suffering is earning any favor with God. Academically this is obvious to us as confessional Lutherans, but for me the mindset of somehow pleasing God with what I am doing always wants to creep in.
Maria, as I understand it, is Bonhoeffer's fiancé. What faith and love there was in that relationship! What a blessing it was to each of them to know that the other was totally devoted to their Lord, having a good attitude toward all the difficulties they were experiencing.
I was reminded of the hymn "Let Us Ever Walk with Jesus," so I looked it up. Here are the words to the verses:
1. Let us ever walk with Jesus,
Follow His example pure,
Flee the world, which would deceive us
And to sin our souls allure.
Ever in His footsteps treading,
Body here, yet soul above,
Full of faith and hope and love,
Let us do the Father's bidding.
Faithful Lord, abide with me;
Savior, lead, I follow Thee.
2. Let us suffer here with Jesus,
To His image, e'er conform;
Heaven's glory soon will please us,
Sunshine follow on the storm.
Though we sow in tears of sorrow,
We shall reap with heavenly joy;
And the fears that now annoy
Shall be laughter on the morrow.
Christ, I suffer here with Thee;
There, oh, share Thy joy with me!
3. Let us also die with Jesus.
His death from the second death,
From our soul's destruction, frees us,
Quickens us with life's glad breath.
Let us mortify, while living,
Flesh and blood and die to sin;
And the grave that shuts us in
Shall but prove the gate to heaven.
Jesus, here I die to Thee
There to live eternally.
4. Let us gladly live with Jesus;
Since He's risen from the dead,
Death and grave must soon release us.
Jesus, Thou art now our Head,
We are truly Thine own members;
Where Thou livest, there live we.
Take and own us constantly,
Faithful Friend, as Thy dear brethren.
Jesus, here I live to Thee,
Also there eternally.
Hymn #409
The Lutheran Hymnal
Text: John 11:16
Author: Sigismund von Birken, 1653
Translated by: J. Adam Rimbach, 1900
Titled: "Lasset uns mit Jesu ziehen"
Composer: Georg G. Boltze, 1788
Tune: "Lasset uns mit Jesu ziehen"
Sunday - Participation in the Suffering of God
This reading has kinda lost me. I'm hoping you understand it better than I do and can maybe shed some light.
He starts out by saying that "the religious person" would not expect God to ask humans to stay awake with him while he prays. Is he meaning that it's strange for God to need the support of humans as he struggles? And so it makes sense that he follows with the statement that God DOES in fact call us to share his suffering. Not sure I'm on the right track, but let's move on.
The rest of it is just fuzzy for me. Is he saying that we should really embed ourselves in the world - "get our hands dirty," so to speak - and accept all the discomfort, rejection, etc. that results?
And then in the second segment, he is saying we should pray the psalms of suffering and try to manufacture the emotions of suffering for ourselves??? That seems a little weird to me.
Clearly those psalms are given to us for a reason, but I would be more likely to use the psalms to better appreciate the depth of Jesus' love for mankind.
What are your thoughts?
Monday - Suffering Produces Patience
I found the definition of patience helpful - holding the course, not throwing off the burden but bearing it. If the church in Bonhoeffer's day knew "all to little about the blessing of bearing," how much more so in our time!
Bonhoeffer says we find Christ as we bear our crosses patiently. That is one I will have to allow to settle for a while. I have experienced growing closer to my Lord during times of difficulty, but I'm not sure I would define it as finding Christ as I endure under suffering.
What he says next though, I wholeheartedly agree with. "every conquered wave brings us closer to the land we long for." Suffering does seem to come in waves. Coming through a wave of suffering that has drawn me closer to the Lord really does re-calibrate my perspective to be more centered on Christ with eternity as the backdrop.
The short quote, I believe is also true - that at times God delivers us from suffering not by removing the trial or difficulty, but by working in us the ability to put it out of our hands and into God's.
With the addition of the Scripture at the end of this reading, we now have several answers to the reason for suffering: To produce in us patience, endurance, character, and hope in God's unfailing love, and in the conquering of each wave of suffering, to give us a glimpse of eternal glory.
Thanks be to God - even for suffering!
Really appreciated the words to the hymn that you took the time to type out. How rich the meaning of them and applicable to our study!
I may not be a thorough on this post as I usually like to but have been stewing on some overall thoughts from the readings of the last three days. The first being that I wanted to clearly define the difference in purpose between our cross and Christ's. I'll again quote from The Theology of the Cross by Deutschlander to further this point.
Referring to Mk 8:34-38 : "Notice first that Jesus makes the cross for his followers a consequence, not a cause, of discipleship. He is addressing those in whom the gospel has already created faith and who now wish to follow him. Immediately before the promise of the cross for his disciples, Jesus spoke plainly of his own cross, of his impending passion, and of his resurrection after his suffering. It is his cross that saves, not ours. Nor does our cross contribute to our salvation - no, not in the least part. Even our faith is a gift that comes from his cross, from the proclamation of the gospel that we have been redeemed by his cross alone and not our own. It was after he announced the saving work that he was about to complete for us that he turned to the crowd and to his disciples and announced a consequent cross for all who in such faith would follow him.
How shocking those words of Jesus must have sounded in the ears of all who heard them! Indeed, Peter speaks for us al according to the flees when he takes Jesus aside to instruct his Lord that such a thing as a cross for the Son of God was altogether out of the question. When Jesus then announced that not only he himself but all who follow him would bear a cross, Peter must have been stunned into silence. If he didm not want Jesus to carry a cross, we should not expect that he would he would cherish the prospect of carrying one himself.
The cross for the Christian is a consequence of discipleship. It is a necessary consequence. No cross, no Christian! It is the cross that mark the a Christian as a Christian." Page 2/3
Specifically in response to Sunday's reading and the questions you posed, I was reminded of the words from 1 Peter 4:12-14 "Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery ordeal among you, which comes upon you for your testing, as though some strange thing were happening to you; 13but to the degree that you share the sufferings of Christ, keep on rejoicing, so that also at the revelation of His glory you may rejoice with exultation. 14If you are reviled for the name of Christ, you are blessed, because the Spirit of glory and of God rests on you.…"
I read the overall message from today as this: the "religious person" he's referring to here is like a monk or nun - someone trying to use their energy in praying, retreating from this world, denial of temporal things, chanting and lighting candles (I'm on a roll now but you get what I mean?). When, in fact, God is not asking for that - in this case he just wants his disciples to stay awake for goodness sake! That's a heck of a lot harder to do when you're overcome with fear and sorrow and you're body is just exhausted. It would be a lot easier to light a few candles and call it a day. NO! He wants us "share the suffering of God in a godless world." And "It is not the religious act that makes the Christian, but participation in the suffering of God in the life of the world." i.e. fighting the good fight, living our faith all in light of the gospel message.
And can I just add a personal note on his quote concerning Psalms? My husband and I have been going through Psalms together which I have never done before. I'm thankful that as we go through them he can add some insight of what he knows and so between his comments and the footnotes of my Concordia Self-Study Bible, it helps to explain. But there are some days I just don't get it, can't relate, it's just depressing and I wonder why we even bother. Aren't there more beneficial parts of the Bible we can be going through? (Yikes, waiting for a lighting bolt to hit me now) But this quote. Wow. This quote is gold. I will copy it and put it in my Bible right in Psalms as a reminder.
Still going! Up to Monday now.
Finding Christ in our cross I think can be understood correctly. I know (as good Lutherans;) we want to be very careful not to misunderstand this as a breech from the Means of Grace. We KNOW Christ is found in Word and Sacrament. He promises this and is trustworthy. But I think the meaning here is in regards to being directed back to Christ, to His cross, the gospel message of our salvation and his love for us when we are carrying a cross, whatever it may be. It draws us back to him AND HIS WORD.
And then I would echo everything else you mentioned. I loved the rest of it - reference to that eternal perspective, hope and a reminder that no matter what happens this side of heaven, the victory is already won!
Thanks be to God for these many reminders, hard as they may be, that the victory is won! (Is it Easter yet? I'm ready to break out the Easter Lilies and start shouting He is Risen! He is Risen Indeed!)
Tuesday - Why Have you Forgotten Me?
I'm not sure where to start. I loved it. How's that?
The only way it is possible to be able to honestly say and feel what he wrote would be through the power of the gospel. When faced with every outward sign that God has simply abandoned us, why else would we bother calling out the Kyrie? This is a perfect example of the power found in the means of grace - that even when all appearances lead us to doubt, faith and trust still abide!! "…he is closest precisely when we believe him to be most distant."
Romans 8:18-31
18 I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us. 19 For the creation waits in eager expectation for the children of God to be revealed. 20 For the creation was subjected to frustration, not by its own choice, but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope 21 that[a] the creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the freedom and glory of the children of God.
22 We know that the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time. 23 Not only so, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for our adoption to sonship, the redemption of our bodies. 24 For in this hope we were saved. But hope that is seen is no hope at all. Who hopes for what they already have? 25 But if we hope for what we do not yet have, we wait for it patiently.
26 In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us through wordless groans. 27 And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for God’s people in accordance with the will of God.
28 And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who[b] have been called according to his purpose. 29 For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters. 30 And those he predestined, he also called; those he called, he also justified; those he justified, he also glorified.
More Than Conquerors
31 What, then, shall we say in response to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us?
The purpose of suffering? To draw us back to him, to hope in the Lord, to rely on him alone, remind us of our Baptism
In response to your comments...
Lest you think I am much more hard-working than I am, the hymn was just a copy-and-paste from lutheran-hymnal.com. :)
Thank you for quoting relevant passages from "The Theology of the Cross" from time to time. This has offered very helpful clarification on some of the topics we've touched on.
Your discussion about Sunday's reading was particularly helpful! Thinking about the reading from this baseline - the tendency to retreat from the world and carry out intensely religious rituals rather than "participating in the suffering of God in the life of the world" - was illuminating. I do think that from this viewpoint I am able to understand the reading quite well!
It seems to me that many Christians - perhaps conservative Lutherans especially - would do well to consider whether we are "cloistering" ourselves in the safety of our churchy activities, spending so much time doing church things for church people that we "don't have time" to interact with the outside world. Is it really that we don't have time, or is it more about the fact that we'd just rather not go there? After all, the people "out there" might misunderstand us. They might reject us. We might suffer for the sake of Christ if we go "out there."
One more thing about Sunday's reading. I missed the word "not" at one point, and that's why I was thrown off in his commentary about reading the Psalms of lament! ..."NOT in order to generate in ourselves what our hearts do not know of their own experience"! I'm so glad! It makes so much more sense to me now! And may God bless your reading of the Psalms with your husband.
Tuesday - Why Have You Forgotten Me?
This final reading of our week focusing on suffering has probably addressed the purpose question the most out of any of them.
The two reasons mentioned here would be, in short:
1) to strengthen our faith, and
2) to witness that faith to others.
Looking at our faith, we see how easily we waver and doubt, and by contrast, how solid God is. This gives us all the more reason to trust Jesus for the future with an even stronger faith. We find that Jesus is the only real help in suffering.
Looking at our witness, I could not say it better than Bonhoeffer: "I confess God before the world and before all enemies of God when in deepest need I believe in God's goodness, when in guilt I believe in forgiveness, when in death, I believe in life, when it defeat I believe in victory, when it desolation I believe in God's gracious presence."
Lord, if it be your will that I should suffer, please strengthen me by your Holy Spirit so that I may confess you boldly before the world as I bear the cross you place before me.
I did not notice that you had posted a comment about today's reading until after I had already posted both of mine - again, we were probably at the computer at the same time. That's neat.
The Scripture that you shared was a WONDERFUL summary of what we have read and discussed this week. Thank you for sharing that!
Post a Comment