Suffering and Growth -- 1 Peter 4:12-13

 ¹² Dear friends, do not be surprised at the fiery ordeal that has come on you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you. ¹³ But rejoice inasmuch as you participate in the sufferings of Christ, so that you may be overjoyed when his glory is revealed. -- 1 Peter 4:12-13 (NIV)

We talked about this passage this morning, and I had a thought or two on the discussion. Now this is not a deep treatise on the problem of pain or the nature of suffering. Just a few thoughts.

I'm wondering about how to "rejoice" as I participate in suffering. My general policy toward suffering is that it's something to be carefully avoided. I spend a lot of my time arranging my life to avoid pain and suffering in one way or another. Most of the advice I gave my children as they were growing up could be seen as a commentary on avoiding suffering in their lives. Even in the midst of the inevitable suffering that comes, the last thing on my mind is rejoicing.

It seems to me that the rejoicing might occur later, after I have survived the trial. Then I can sometimes look back and see how God used the pain to build me up or to prune off some harmful parts.

I wonder if we're harmed by the pain-avoidance we've all learned growing up. We're taught to avoid suffering in our own lives, to alleviate it in the lives of others, and avoid causing even small offenses that might cause pain.

Might the church be healthier if life were a bit more painful?

I don't think I want to know.

Beginnings - Genesis 1:1-3:24

A lot of people set out in January to read through the Bible. Many get bogged down in February or March and never finish. I have done the same thing on several occasions with mixed results, sometimes finishing, sometimes not. This year you'll all get to see how far I get!

Genesis is of course about beginning. The thing that strikes me today is how pleasant everything was in Eden to start with. God created everything just right, carefully making it all work together as it should. What a contrast to our world where little if anything seems to work together. It's easy to blame Adam for messing things up, or blame Eve for leading him astray, or blame the serpent for tempting them...and they do blame each other this way. The truth is, we can't have true freedom without accepting the consequences of our own mistakes, and the mistakes of others. Without the ability to sin, the choice to love God is missing also. God really did create everything just as he intended.

What Does Your Religion Taste Like?

We all have things that we don't like the taste of. Some of them are things that conjure up memories from the past that we'd rather leave behind. Some are things we've tried before and really don't like. But some are things that somebody else has told us we don't like. We haven't actually tried them, but we've become convinced that we don't like the taste. Often this means that we miss out on something good.

I think we do the same thing in other areas of our life as well. Why don't people attend church? Why don't people accept Jesus as Savior? Could it be that they have heard that Christians are a hypocritical, judgmental group of weak-minded fools? They just know that religion tastes bad and they're sure they won't like it.

The author of Psalm 34 is challenging his readers to "taste and see that the Lord is good." This is good advice for us today as well. The taste of our faith will be shaped by a personal experience with Jesus. If our experience is based on a superficial, every-so-often effort on our part, then we will have a tasteless, flat faith. If we are to taste the full, rich life that God has for us, we will need to invest more in the "tasting" effort!

Good News: God's Mercy (1 Timothy 1:15-17)

The best-known prayer 20 years ago was the Lord's prayer, but the best-known prayer today is the Serenity Prayer. It speaks to letting go of the things we can't control because so many find themselves in a situation they can't handle. It is the prayer adopted by many of the 12-step programs.

Paul understood God's mercy. He knew that the things he had done made him the worst of sinners, and yet God saved him. This is the chief characteristic of mercy - giving kindness and help to someone who doesn't deserve it.

Mercy is not something that God possesses, it's something that He is. His personal response to the worst sinner is mercy. Our first reaction is to desire punishment and revenge on those who wrong us. God's desire is to forgive and save us, He has unlimited patience...this is good news for us! Of this Paul says, "Here is a trustworthy saying..."

Mercy is God's redemptive patience in action. He is not willing that any of us should perish, but that we would each be redeemed. Mercy triumphs over judgement.

God's mercy changes how we live our lives. We can have hope for the future in spite of the past, and we can have hope for others in spite of the past. We can forgive and be forgiven.