Suffering + take up the cross: Pent 16C-2016

Topping my list of the absolute worst theological statements and beliefs is:

“God doesn’t give us more than we can handle.”  What a load of crap!

This morning we are going to take a few minutes to reflect on suffering. Drawing on Deuteronomy’s description of human living and Luke’s discussion of taking up the cross.

A simple dictionary definition for suffering is: the state of undergoing pain, distress, or hardship.

I have heard, “God doesn’t give us more than we can handle,” ascribed to the pain of serious illness, divorce, a children born with birth defects; attributed to distress caused by grief, anxiety, depression, or family turmoil; referring to hardship that includes losing property or job, experiencing accident, abuse, or crippling poverty.

I’ve heard it used as if God is a doctor prescribing medicine to each individual patient; or a cosmic card dealer dealing out ‘character building situations’ to those strong enough to hold the cards. Does this sound right to you? How does it make you feel?

“Whoever comes to me and does not hate father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, yes, and even life itself cannot be my disciple. Whoever does not carry the cross and follow me cannot be my disciple. … therefore, none of you can become my disciple if you do not give up all your possessions.”

The interpretation of this passage, and others like it, have helped Christians write the book on what suffering is all about; and it always includes pain, distress, or hardship; particularly hardship.  Christians have practiced from the Middle Ages that taking up the cross – was suffering and suffering was a badge of honour, and merit, where more suffering assured one of being more religious, and more faithful.  The more one suffered the closer one was to God.  Christians adopted practices of austerity, deprivation, and self-harm, as seen within monastic traditions; in the global south, crucifixions almost to death were performed as a way to enter Jesus’ suffering.  Physical suffering was the way to be holy and encounter God.  A “martyr complex” was created in the church, fueled by a Protestant work ethic, where doing more than the next person, being involved in every church project going and letting everyone know it, taking on tasks of service to the point of near martyrdom, was encouraged. “Biting off more than one can chew,” as long as it was in the name of God, was good. Goodness and holiness was the key.  Holiness was equated with those things understood as virtues: the most virtuous of virtues -  suffering.  To be a good Christian one must take up their cross.

Returning to the words of the Gospel of Luke, it says nothing of taking up one’s cross: Whoever does not carry the cross and follow me cannot be my disciple. It reads, “the” cross; not our cross, not our suffering!  Take up the cross is all about Jesus. Because of Jesus’ death on the cross, God became vulnerable, suffered, and died; entering suffering God redeemed pain, distress, and hardship, in that God is now present in it.  Taking up the cross is a metaphor and a reminder that living passionate lives filled with the sharing of the Gospel may mean death because of one’s actions and beliefs; it may, it may not. 

A foundational scripture for me, in creating a theology of suffering- an understanding of suffering- is found the words of God written in Deuteronomy: “I have set before you today life and prosperity, death and adversity.”  “I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses.” Life, prosperity, death, adversity, blessings, curses are once created and ever present; each is a choice that human beings can embrace.  Human beings can approach life’s circumstances with an attitude for life, prosperity, and blessing, or approach living turned towards death, adversity and curses.  There are suggestions of course to help human beings make the choice of life.  Deuteronomy suggests that one follow the commandments and love God.  

Actually these suggestions are the greatest coping mechanism for suffering – consider, if one is consistently applying themselves and molding their life to love God (a power beyond themselves), and focusing on their relationship with people around them; there is no space for the dwelling on the complaints one has, or hanging on to baggage, or continually mulling over circumstances until they become pathological realities in a person’s life.

I like the words of author and motivational speaker, Dan Millman, he describes in everyday language the intent of the writer of Deuteronomy.  Pain is a relatively objective, physical phenomenon; suffering is our psychological resistance to what happens. Events may create physical pain, but they do not in themselves create suffering. Resistance creates suffering. Stress happens when your mind resists what is... The only problem in your life is your mind's resistance to life as it unfolds. 

Resistance creates suffering.

When you think of people you know, who do you classify as suffering? And would that person describe themselves as suffering?  I will often hear, in pastoral conversation, someone refer to another and say, “they have suffered a lot, pastor,” generally meaning, “they have been through a lot- more than I could have handled.” When talked about it is usually with a certain amazement that the other has found a way to cope and manage their way through the predicaments in which they have found themselves.  The person has shown strength and exemplified grace.

Dietrich Bonhoeffer,  had an interesting thought, he wrote in his, “Letters and Papers from Prison:” We must learn to regard people less in the light of what they do or omit to do, and more in the light of what they suffer.  Perhaps in the attitude of choosing life and blessing, living the commandments, and loving God – we exemplify grace by paying attention to those whom we consider to be in the state of suffering (whether they think so or not).  How would this change our relationships and focus our hearts away from death, adversity, and curse?  In giving allowance for the suffering of others, does this not open our hearts to forgiveness, rather, than, judgement? Is this not choosing life?

Martin Luther King, Jr. said: Human progress is neither automatic nor inevitable... Every step toward the goal of justice requires sacrifice, suffering, and struggle; the tireless exertions and passionate concern of dedicated individuals. Justice requires sacrifice – putting others before ourselves---suffering, as in uncomfortable circumstances; and struggle as in the bringing of truth is not always easy. 

All are tempered with passionate concern, of course that is passion directed at and for others– and it is the elixir that dampens potential suffering brought on when fighting for justice.

What are you passionate about?  Reading? Gardening? Research? Whatever your passion, find a way to take that enjoyable part of your life, and make it of benefit to the whole world.  Choose one thing. One passion. And through that passion declare the Good News to all people; through that passion proclaim life, grow prosperity, embark on blessing, and an outward bound attitude, and then whatever befall, beset, or betide you, you will be blessed. This is not the Prayer of Jabez, where praying hard enough turns into wealth, accumulated accolades, and rising up the social ladder.  The prosperity and blessing is in the relationships that you have fostered with yourself, others, creation, and God. It is through non-attachment to your possessions, non-attachments to what your parents thought you should be, a non-attachment (or a hating) of beliefs imposed on you that are not good and wholesome – it is in letting go of these things that bind us and cause us on some level to be pulled into suffering--- that by letting go we find life with purpose; abundant blessing.

My prayer for all of you, is that at this moment, you let go of personal crosses -the baggage- you carry, so that you focus on the cross – the cross of Jesus; such that your life is changed.  You don’t carry your own cross, you don’t carry the cross of others; you share a focus of heart and mind, and that is choosing to follow and bear Christ’s cross; which was once suffering and death, but, is now redeemed--- where holding others and relieving suffering (as you see it) keeps you from suffering suffering.

Today, choose life! “Be like trees planted by streams of water, which yield their fruit in its season, and their leaves do not wither.  In all they do, they prosper.”

We handle the circumstances and situations of life because in community we bear with one another, and God’s love is made complete; in fullness God is present.

We can handle more because it’s a given that God is present.

On my list this theological statement ranks near the top.

Fires Burning ---- PENT 13C-2016

And suddenly from heaven there came a sound like the rush of a violent wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting. Divided tongues, as of fire, appeared among them, and a tongue rested on each of them. All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other languages, as the Spirit gave them ability.

This is later in Luke’s telling of story.  This morning, we enter Luke’s Gospel at a point where Jesus is commiserating:  I came to bring fire to the earth, and how I wish it were already kindled!

Six hundred years before, in the days of Jeremiah, we find God commiserating: Is not my word like fire?

Not many of us want to think about fire, with recent days of the city smelling like smoke, and 100s of hectares of Nova Scotia forest burning.  Perhaps the images of fire, close at hand, and very much alive in our imaginations and given reality – can burn into our hearts and attitudes the strength, power, and the uncontainable nature of the Word of God. The smoke alone was inundating, unavoidable, persistent; as it hung in the air, it clung in our nostrils; there was no escape. 

When I hear the words of Jeremiah the prophet, I hear a chillingly haunting voice that continues to fog the ears, and dampen the spirit long after the words are spoken. Not only does Jeremiah exude sadness, God’s commiserating (the words we heard earlier) and God’s sarcasm are unbearable.  How on earth are these words to be like fire, when they are heavy like mud?

I like to believe that God’s word, is Living Word.  I like to believe that what we gather in this place, changes us.  I like to believe that we hear God’s word in this space and then go and share it with others.  I like to believe that what we do here makes a difference for more than just ourselves.  I like to believe that our being Christians is more than being “good people.” I would like to believe that we are like fire in the world, spreading Good News. Somewhere in these beliefs, the reality is that there is more mud, than, fire.

There are two Swedes, (no this is not a set up for a Swedish joke); there are two Swedes, a father and son team, Hans and Ola Rusling, who are on a mission to end devastating fires --- not physical fires, but, rather, the fires that cause misconception of basic global trends and macro-trends.  The misinformation and faulty perceptions that lead to wars, rumours of wars, racism, and so on.  Their theory is that not understanding basic global trends causes human beings to fritter around and paralyzes positive forward movement.  --To move to the vision or goal ahead- say, the fullness of the kingdom of God- one has to know the trend and be prepared to fan the flames of that which is good; to speak words and set goals that adequately address the real, not the perceived, issues of the world.

The two, with others, have been working on the “Ignorance project.”    The project asks specific questions to test the global knowledge of people around the world.  The multiple choice questions are simple enough – an example:  “globally women aged 30 spent how many years in school:  3, 5, or 7?”  The answer is 7 (for boys it is 8 yrs). Another example: “in the last 20 years the percentage of people living in extreme poverty has: almost doubled, stayed the same, almost halfed?” The answer is almost halfed.

To have a baseline for scoring the answers, the team asked chimpanzees the same questions – the answers of course produced random scores. When testing people, it was found that for the most part people answered worse than random!    The fires of misconception rage around the world.

Upon investigation the team determined that skewed information and intuition were peoples’ weakness. Only preconceived ideas can have us preform worse than random.

 Skewed information comes from a number of sources: 1) personal bias – that’s what we learn from our neighbourhoods and own experiences; 2) outdated facts – that’s what we learn at school, the bias of the textbooks, curriculum, and teachers.  The church community adds to both your personal bias, and without being aware, the giving of outdated facts; and 3) news-media bias – which is often exaggerated and reports items of swift change.

All of this conditions us to be globally ignorant and to hold four misconceptions:

Generally we believe that everything is getting worse.  Does this not sound like the prophet Jeremiah, or Jesus’ talking about divided households? We hold the misconception that there is a growing gap between the rich and the poor. People contend that one is first rich then social.  And the fourth misconception, sharks are dangerous.

From these the team came up with four rules of thumb, so that our preconceived ideas will have us performing better than random.  I have told this whole story because I believe the Ignorance Project has good rules of thumb with which to approach the hearing of prophets, the reading of Scripture, and the practicing of faith, and living the Word. The first rule to live by: Most things improve; 2) most people are in the middle; 3) 1^st social then rich; 4) assume that fear is exaggerated.

When these rules of thumb are applied, people answer the questions better than random!  When we are aware and understood the real global context then we can begin to understand what is coming.  This opens us to the possibility of being a prophetic voice in the world.  It gives us the gifts we need to proclaim the Good News, to fan the flames of God’s Word for this time.  And instead of being sticks in the mud, God’s powerful word works through us as wild fire.

My husband’s grandmother grew up in Desboro, ON, a small rural village.  The big old stone Lutheran Church had a large pump organ. Grandma Maggie at the age of 9 started her organ career by pumping the bellows. As the organist played, Grandma (either by hand or by foot, I’m not sure which) would pump air into the organ, and push the sound out. By the age of 14 Grandma was playing the organ and someone else was pumping the bellows.  It took two people to make the instrument work. It took fanning the flame so to speak.

The other night at the Olympics, the Brazilian’s fanned the flame – encouraging their men’s breast stroke competitor – by shouting his name, in rhythm, each time his head would come out of water; the chant was to carry him onward and upward to a great finish.

Two of the scriptures set images of fire – and one, Hebrews, draws our attention to the clouds.  It speaks of a

great cloud of witnesses.  It is this cloud that protects the flame and fans the flame through the generations; through their faithful living, faithfulness in death, and the stories they leave behind as fuel for the living.

Flame fanners; a cheering section; not passive observers (judges), but, cheerleaders.

Six hundred years before Jesus, in the days of Jeremiah, we hear God commiserating: Is not my word like fire?

This morning, we enter Luke’s Gospel at a point where Jesus is commiserating:  I came to bring fire to the earth, and how I wish it were already kindled!

From the continuation of Luke’s story in Acts we hear:  Divided tongues, as of fire, appeared among them.

In these days, do you hear the words of a lone prophet? Or of a commiserating God?

 Rising from the ashes of once burning missionary zeal and spreading of the Good News as a fire of hope, there rises a chillingly haunting voice; a voice from the barren landscape that fogs the ears, and dampens the spirit long after words are spoken. From the heavy mud comes the Word on a wisp of smoke, “I came to bring fire to the earth.“  In fact, fire has come to earth – more than once -  People you are the bellow workers, the fanner of the flames. Let’s get to work.

I am sure that when Grandma Magee would pump the organ, or when she was the one playing, that there was a connection between the pumper and the player --- eye contact, a signal of some sort, so the pumper would know when to stop and no extra squeaks or squawks exited the organ pipes.

How will we know when the fire’s flames are completely fanned? It will be when, God and the prophets are no longer commiserating, when the Word is not stuck in the mud, and God’s people are not sticks in the mud; it will mean that the prophetic word of the past will be fulfilled -  it will be fruition of the Psalmist’s song:

 “Give justice to the weak and the orphan; maintain the right of the lowly and the destitute. Rescue the weak and the needy; deliver them from the hand of the wicked.” In this the world will be aglow; all consumed by Living Word.

It is the end of Lutheran Camp Mush-a-Mush’s program season. This had me recall a song that might be the cheer, the fanning of the flame to give us just enough to keep pumping the bellows until God’s kingdom is fulfilled. It has a beat, it rises and swells, it is Word – in that the light, the fire is set in the gloaming (that is in a time of twilight and what seems like growing darkness.  As it is sung may the flame within you be set afire, that your preconceived ideas fall away, and that the Word bursts into faithful living and joy in the presence of the Lord.

Fire’s burning, fire’s burning/draw nearer, draw nearer/In the gloaming, in the gloaming/come sing and be merry.   …join me….