[Faith-talk] Lord's Day Thought for May 5, 2013

[Paul]

Well folks, for those of us who are Mexican-American as far as our family background is concerned, today is your day, so I'll just say to you, "Muy buena suetre por sua pais, y viva Mexico!" In English that is rendered as follows:  "Very good luck for your contry (of family origin) and long live Mexico!" My Spanish is a bit rusty, but I hope you get my point.  Now I know that the situation in that nation presently isn't so good what with government corruption and other things, but, in looking at the bigger picture, I can see God working among the citizens of that country as well as the indigenous peoples that presently live there.  So, from that perspective, happy cinco de Mayo!

And now for today's article.  This was originally written by a lady by the name of Cheri Lynn Cowell, someone whom I know nothing about, but she wrote an article that many of us can identify with, if not all of us.  The title of her piece is "God's Response to Suffering--And Ours," rendered as follows:

Jesus had a visceral reaction to the suffering He saw.

We've all experienced or witnessed pain and suffering.  We hear the phrase from well-meaning Christians, "God never gives us more than we can handle," or they say, "God must have something great planned for you if He allows this much suffering in your life." Although these are meant to comfort, I find them anything but.  I am also troubled by the theology these statements represent, for they do not square with the God I know.

When the World Trade Center towers fell on September 11, 2001, some well-meaning Christians pointed fingers.  During my church's prayer service that week, my minister said many people asked him, "Where was God when those towers fell?" He responded by saying God was with every single person.  God was in each stairwell, inside each plane, and under each desk.  Then as tears streamed down his face he told us, "It was God's heart that was the first to break that morning." Those words pierced my soul and resonated within my spirit, for this is the God I know.

To understand God's response to our suffering we need look no further than Jesus.  Jesus is often referred to as the image of God, "the exact representation of His being" (Hebrews 1:3).  When Philip asked Jesus to show them the Father, Jesus responded, "Anyone who has seen Me has seen the Father" (John 14:9).  If Jesus responds a certain way to our suffering, we can be certain it is how the Father is also responding.  Let's look at how Jesus responded to the sufferings He encountered.

Jesus Heals a Leper
One of the most dramatic and telling events in the Bible is the healing of a man who had leprosy.  Lepers were social and physical outcasts.  Leprosy was a disease that ate away at the flesh, leaving gaping and oozing holes in the skin.  In Jesus' day, those who contracted this terrible skin disease were banned from society.  Even the leper's family was forced to forsake him.

To add insult to injury, if anyone came near, lepers were required to shout, "Unclean, unclean," because by simply touching a leper a person would be declared unclean.  According to Jewish laws, these unclean Jews were unable to partake of the temple rituals, and therefore, God's blessings.

On this day, Jesus had been traveling the hillsides of Galilee preaching and healing when a man with leprosy approached.  He had heard about Jesus' healing powers and and fell on his knees before Him pleading, "If you are willing, you can make me clean" (Mark 1:40).

The next sentence is a startling one.  A literal reading of the original Greek text tells us Jesus looked on the man and his situation, and his bowels turned.  The word has been translated _compassion or _pity, but such translations appear to miss the mark.  Jesus didn't simply have pity.  His heart didn't just "go out" to the man with leprosy, as we would say today.  No, Jesus had a visceral reaction.  His bowels churned--not at the man or the open sores covering his body, but at the condition he was forced to be in.  This was not what God had intended for His children.

This suffering was so far outside of His will that Jesus reacted physically at the sight.  Then Jesus turned to the man and touched him.  It's hard to imagine Jesus could have done anything more compassionate than touch a man who had been untouched, unloved and, in a sense, unseen.  Jesus said, "I am willing, be clean" (v. 41).

I can imagine the tenderness of that touch.  I can see tears welling in Jesus' eyes as He said those words.  And I can feel the mixture of shock, awe and horror in the hearts of the crowd.  They must have been asking themselves, "Hasn't this man sinned? Isn't this the life God willed for this leper? Who is Jesus to invalidate God's punishment?" If such questions were asked, Jesus ignored them and focused on the man and his needs.

Jesus Heals a Blind Man
In the book of John we see Jesus again traveling with His disciples, when they come upon a man who had been blind from birth.  His disciples asked, "Teacher, why was this man born blind? Was it because he or his parents sinned?" (John 9:2, CEV).

Jesus knew this was the wrong question, so he reoriented the conversation to the proper view.  "No, it wasn't," Jesus answered.  "But because of his blindness, you will see God work a miracle for him" (9:3).

Jesus emphatically denied this man or his parents were to blame for his blindness.  After this stern denial, Jesus turned to the real need--to heal the man--and he used the healing as an opportunity to show God's glory.

Questions
Habakkuk, a prophet and the author of one of the last books of the Old Testament, asked questions--a lot of questions.  He looked around and saw situations similar to those you and I see today.  He saw injustice and suffering, and he wanted answers.  He believed God was a good and just God, but Habakkuk had trouble squaring what he saw with who he knew God to be.  His words still ring true for us today.

"How long, O Lord, must I call for help, but You do not listen? Or cry out to you, Violence!, but you do not save? Why do you make me look at injustice? Why do You tolerate wrong?" (Habakkuk 1:2, 3a, NIV).

God answered Habakkuk's questions.  He told Habakkuk to write His answer plainly so that all would see and understand.  What did Habakkuk write? God told Habakkuk He understood his need to ask questions.  And, although it may appear that evil had the upper hand, eventually, and at the appointed time, evil would be conquered.

After the Lord said His piece, Habakkuk offered his prayer of thanksgiving for a God who answers questions, who can be completely trusted, and who, in final victory, will vindicate the sufferings of His people.  God did not explain the whys and hows of suffering, but He did promise that, in the end, evil would be conquered.

Habakkuk completed his prayer with this truth:  "Though the fig tree does not bud and there are no grapes on the vines, though the olive crops fails and the fields produce no food, though there are no sheep in the pen and no cattle in the stalls, yet I will rejoice in the LORD, I will be joyful in God my Savior" (Habakkuk 3:1-18).

The apostle Paul had undoubtedly read these words from Habakkuk.  From his prison cell he might have recalled them as words of comfort.  As he wrote his letter to the Corinthians, Habakkuk's prayer may have been in Paul's heart:  "Now we see but a poor reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face.  Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known" (1 Corinthians 13:12, NIV, 1984).

T
he truth is, one day we will be complete, our journey will end, and suffering will be no more.  One day we will be returned to the glory for which we were formed.  "I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us" (Romans 8:18).

God's Response and Ours
How does God respond to our sufferings? He is present with us.  And, like Jesus with the leper, God is displeased with the injustice He sees and He reaches out to touch us where we most need it.  Then, when others want to point and ask, "Who sinned?" Jesus emphatically says "No! Wrong question."

As followers of Christ we are invited to go and do likewise.  We are to be present with those who suffer, our bowels ought to churn with the injustice we see, and when well-meaning people point fingers and ask, "Who sinned?" we should join Jesus in saying, "Wrong question."

Then, like Habakkuk, we wait expectantly for the day when God will vindicate the sufferings of His people.  Because this is the God we know.  This is the God we follow.

Even if I didn't have a clue to the author of this article, I could detect a woman's touch and heart behind it, and I believe that I would be found to be correct.  For your sighted friends who may wish to read the original article in print, it was published in the November 4, 2012 issue of "The Lookout" magazine published by Standard Publishing Company of Cincinnati, Ohio.

I'd really appreciate any comments on this article.  I don't personally know Cheri Lynn Cowell, the author of this piece, but would like to meet her some day.  Thanks for any comments, positive or negative.

And now may the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob just keep us safe, individually and collectively, throughout this day and especially in these last days in which we live.  Your Christian friend and brother, Paul