SHARING CHRIST S SUFFERING Sermon preached at South Church, New Britain September 24, 2017 Jane H. Rowe Today I begin a brief series of sermons on

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1 SHARING CHRIST S SUFFERING Sermon preached at South Church, New Britain September 24, 2017 Jane H. Rowe Today I begin a brief series of sermons on Paul s letter to the Philippians. For those of you who don t know as much about the Bible as you wish you did and believe me, that includes all of us let s get caught up on a little background before I read today s lesson. The New Testament begins with the four gospels, Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. But just because it begins with them doesn t mean they were written first. It took 35 or 40 years after Jesus resurrection for the gospels as we know them to begin to be written. It is Paul s letters, appearing a little further on in the Bible, that came first, by probably 15 or 20 years. His writings are the earliest Christian documents preserved. Paul did not become a follower of Jesus during Jesus ministry on earth. It was not until sometime after the resurrection, when a dramatic conversion experience turned Paul from being a persecutor of Christians to being a leader in the church. Paul s travels took him far and wide through the Roman Empire, as he brought the gospel of Christ and established churches wherever people welcomed him and his message. At each location, after developing a leadership team to get the church started, he would move on to another place. But he remained in touch with them through messengers, letters, and prayers. Paul s letter to the Philippians reveals his great love for this church and their love for him. Like any parent, I m sure Paul tried hard not to play favorites, but truly, the Philippians appear to have been his favorite children. You will learn in this morning s reading that Paul is writing to the Philippians from prison. Paul had been arrested and imprisoned for his missionary work many times, including during his stay in Philippi as he established the church there. But as he writes this letter, the imprisonment seems especially perilous, and you will hear him wonder aloud whether he is going to make it out alive. Listen now in Paul s words for the word of God to us today. 1

2 Philippians 1:18b-30 Yes, and I will continue to rejoice, for I know that through your prayers and the help of the Spirit of Jesus Christ this will turn out for my deliverance. It is my eager expectation and hope that I will not be put to shame in any way, but that by my speaking with all boldness, Christ will be exalted now as always in my body, whether by life or by death. For to me, living is Christ and dying is gain. If I am to live in the flesh, that means fruitful labor for me; and I do not know which I prefer. I am hard pressed between the two: my desire is to depart and be with Christ, for that is far better; but to remain in the flesh is more necessary for you. Since I am convinced of this, I know that I will remain and continue with all of you for your progress and joy in faith, so that I may share abundantly in your boasting in Christ Jesus when I come to you again. Only, live your life in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ, so that, whether I come and see you or am absent and hear about you, I will know that you are standing firm in one spirit, striving side by side with one mind for the faith of the gospel, and are in no way intimidated by your opponents. For them this is evidence of their destruction, but of your salvation. And this is God s doing. For he has graciously granted you the privilege not only of believing in Christ, but of suffering for him as well since you are having the same struggle that you saw I had and now hear that I still have. Last Sunday s worship was so uplifting. A spirit of love, joy and delight filled the room many people spoke to me about it. I felt it too; it carried me halfway through the week. If you weren t here last Sunday, I m sorry you missed it, and I don t mean to rub it in, but I wish you could have been here. I spoke about singing a love song to God, and by the end of the service as we lifted our voices to sing Great is Thy Faithfulness, I sensed that many were indeed caught up in that love song for God. It was great. So it s a jarring turn we take today as we consider the topic of suffering. It s not something we particularly like to dwell on. After the uplift of last Sunday, it seems like a downer. Yet we cannot avoid it as we read the letter to the Philippians and talk about Paul s ministry. Paul knew a lot about suffering. We know a lot about suffering, too. Every one of us has suffered in some way, and some suffer in many ways. There is the suffering of those suddenly 2

3 impacted by disaster, accident, or disease. There is the suffering of those afflicted with chronic pain, illness, or injury. There is the suffering of those who struggle with depression or other mental illness, or with the invisible scars of trauma. There is the suffering caused by injustice, racism or poverty. There is the suffering brought about by the death of someone you love, especially an untimely death, leaving a hole that will never completely heal. There is the suffering of watching someone you love in pain, and feeling helpless to do anything about it, and there is the suffering of taking on the responsibility to do something about it, to care for a family member or friend or foster child in need, freely accepting the burden that entails. Life is suffering, say the Buddhists. All of us experience it at times in our lives. Being human, Paul experienced suffering, too. One of his letters talks about a thorn in his flesh, some ailment or adversity that he prayed to God repeatedly to take away. We don t know what that was, but that tiny glimpse into his personal struggle tells us that he was familiar with a kind of suffering not so different from our own. But as we heard in this morning s reading, Paul s approach to his suffering was determined joy and gratitude. It wasn t that he enjoyed the suffering that he experienced as he sat in a damp, dark jail cell. It s that he looked beyond those walls to understand how his suffering could be of benefit in service to Christ, his Lord and Savior. On Thursday this week, I flew to Minneapolis. There were two reasons for my trip. One was to attend the memorial service of my home church pastor, Mick McCain, who was a mentor to me since I was 15 years old, and the first to recognize my call to ministry. The other was to visit another dear friend who lives in St. Paul, whom I haven t seen in years. Diantha is a pastor who was assigned to be my mentor when I began my ministry in Rochester, NY, and we quickly became close friends, despite the nearly 20 years difference in our ages. Diantha has had more than her share of suffering in life suddenly widowed at a young age, with three sons to raise, she struggled to go back to school and follow her call to ministry. But she found joy in being a pastor, serving several different churches, and later in life she had the joy of another marriage and some wonderful years with her second husband before his death. Now Diantha is burdened with several chronic health problems that prevent her from the active living she enjoys. I asked her what she would say in a sermon about suffering. She recalled a favorite theologian, Dorothee Solle, asking something to this effect: The question is not what are you suffering, or why are you suffering, but rather whom do you serve in your suffering? 3

4 That was Paul s question, too. And his answer was, I serve Christ. In fact, as he sat in prison, Paul came to understand that the suffering that he was going through was the very suffering Christ had gone through before him, and believing that he was sharing Christ s suffering gave him comfort and joy. Whom do you serve in your suffering? I turned the question back to Diantha. She paused, then recalled how she struggled early this summer when the police officer who shot Philando Castile was acquitted of murder. People took to the streets protesting the verdict, and she so wanted to be there to express her outrage, but she simply could not. She was frustrated. But, she said, I could still pray. She talked about the small acts of love that she is able to do, like making a phone call every night to a friend who is lonely, or writing once a week to her sister who is in a nursing home in upstate New York. Those letters mean so much to Edith, she said. It s amazing what a big difference such a small gesture can make. Though she is very limited in how much she can do, Diantha is doing what she can to let the love of Christ move through her. I reminded her that another way she serves is by providing care for her three-year-old grandson as often as she does. She could say, I m just too tired, but she doesn t. Of course, it brings her great joy to do it. But she is also giving gifts to him, and to her son and daughterin-law, that are precious beyond measure. Diantha didn t answer my question by saying, I serve Christ. Perhaps none of us is as quick to claim that as Paul. And for good reason the suffering he took on for the sake of Christ is more than most of us can ever dream of doing. Most of us would avoid it at all cost. But when suffering comes to us, through no choice of our own, how will we deal with it? Whom shall we serve? On Sunday afternoon two weeks ago, as I was driving my car, I was listening to a story on the radio as Hurricane Irma was pummeling the west coast of Florida. The reporter was speaking with a nurse s aide at a nursing home in Tampa Bay. The reporter asked if she had been able to go home and she said, No, we re just staying here, taking care of the residents, doing our best to help them not be afraid. They were afraid at first, but I think they know now that we are keeping them safe. She talked about the important challenge of keeping patients oxygen machines going by generator, not knowing how long the power would be out. 4

5 The reporter asked, Do you know what s happened to your home? And that s when I, as a listener, was really caught off guard. She said, No. That s the thing. We all have kids and families at home, but there s no way we can call them. Cell phones aren t working. There s no way for us to know what s happening there. So we just keep doing our job here, taking care of these people, and praying and hoping for the best. I was dumbfounded and humbled. I can t imagine, in a storm like that, not being with my family, or at least being able to know what is happening with my family. I can t imagine being able to focus on caring for others when I don t know about my own loved ones. I was profoundly moved by the commitment of this nurse s aide who knew that her patients needed her, and dedicated herself to taking care of them, trusting that her family would be cared for, too. Suffering is unavoidable in this life. There s no question about that. The question is: Whom do you serve in your suffering? 5

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