9. LIVING & SUFFERING IN FAITH

Transcription

1 9. LIVING & SUFFERING IN FAITH

2 Charles Dickens: It was the best of times and it was the worst of times.

3 Faith Thinking it Through Session Nine Living in Faith & Suffering in Faith If God is good, why is there so much suffering and evil in this world? Where is God when it hurts?

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8 The point of these optical illusions: Both views/perspectives are real Both have merit But, each will lead to a different conclusion! But You cannot see both at the same time it is a matter of choice and exercise of the will!

9 Suffering in Faith Definition: the state of undergoing pain, distress, or hardship: suffrir, from Latin sufferre, from sub- from below + ferre to bear. Suffering requires consciousness / awareness [Inanimate objects do not suffer] We pick up the flow of information from physical sensors but also from invisible abstracts, such as bad news [One of the transcendent experiences such as fear, anxiety or sadness] Q: How and why does this translate into suffering? There has got to be a standard that tells us the way it should have been or, what we should have wished for [expectations]! That is why suffering can be emotional, spiritual, physical or mental: dislocation from where things should be! Disequilibrium. There is a wide spectrum of intensity in suffering.

10 Suffering in Faith Q: In an ideal world, would there be no suffering? Q: In an ideal world, would there be no possibility of suffering? Q: Why is there so much suffering on earth and yet, there will be none in heaven? [Suffering is intrinsic to the created order it all, fundamentally, has to do with freewill.and maybe also with sin (yours or another s) but caution here] Consider reading CS Lewis: The Problem of Pain and Philip Yancey: Disappointment with God

11 Suffering in Faith Paul Brand s work with Leprosy patients and the necessity to have pain in our world. Diabetes and the consequences of diabetic neuropathy when people lose sensation of hot/ cold and temperature. Without sensation, severe damage occurs. Pain and suffering are Protective, or Indicators that things are not how things should be.

12 Suffering in Faith Q: Does that then mean that we should welcome suffering or pain? Well, no but there is a remedy we are not without help. God s help and his ultimate promises for our well-being! [eg. Psalm 43] [2 Corinthians 12:10 Paul s attitude to trouble ] BUT! Suffering can be unrelenting as well. [Job 6:10]

13 Suffering in Faith Q: What is the worst kind of suffering? [Separation from God, the essence of hell] Bertrand Russell (atheist who wrote Why I am not a Christian wrote in a letter to one of his numerous lovers, the actress, Lady Constance (née Annesley) Malleson ( ). [McMaster Archives] I am strangely unhappy because the pattern of my life is complicated, because my nature is hopelessly complicated; a mass of contradictory impulses; and out of this, to my intense sorrow, pain to you must grow. The centre of me is always and eternally in terrible pain, a curious, wild pain, a searching for something, beyond what the world contains, something transfiguring and infinite - the beatific vision - God - I do not find it, I do not think it is to be found - but the love of it is my life - it's like a passionate love for a ghost. At times it fills me with rage, at times with wild despair, it is the source of gentleness and cruelty and work, it fills every passion that I have - it is the actual spring of life within me.

14 Suffering in Faith Q: Why does God allow so much suffering and for so long? [Tension between our short view and God s long view within salvation history.] If our concept of God being absolutely good were valid, then he simply would not have created us (from The Problem of Pain CS Lewis) Q: If God is good why doesn t he do something about all the evil and why should Christian s suffer along with everyone else? Why not just beam us up? But, recall that there are pitfalls to Anthropomorphism! [Matthew 5: 45] [Psalm 73] [Romans 8:22-27]

15 Solutions in suffering Focus on what you know, not on what you don t know (and may never know). [God is. He is just. He has shown love. He has given us many promises. History speaks of his Presence. He is in it for the long-term. This life is not the be all or end all. etc] I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded that he is able to guard that which I ve entrusted to him until that day. [2 Timothy 1:12] Job 13:15 Though he slay me. God is still there and knows better than you or I what suffering is all about. [Hebrews 4:14-16] [Romans 8:18] [1 Peter 4:19] [2 Cor. 12: 8-10]

16 Solutions in suffering The only way to victory is to take the big picture and the long view.that is why suffering cannot be sustained without faith that, at some point, all injustices and harms will be obliterated. There will be a judgement of evil. Also explains why God is not to be expected to just make everything right in the here and now! [2 Peter 3:9] God would have wished for perfection but knew even at creation that there would be a fall That is why scripture speaks of the redemptive provision in Christ before the foundation of the world.

17 Is there meaning to suffering? Sometimes we can discern meaning. [eg. Psalm 119:67,71] Other times, there is no discernible meaning but it always is an opportunity to draw close to God and receive his strength and support [Ps. 73:2] It may also be testimony to the observers how Faith can undergird a person in their affliction. Also, provides the opportunity for us to act redemptively in the lives of others.

18 The greatest suffering in history was experienced by Jesus Christ. It was not the excruciating pain of crucifixion. It was the death that God assumed upon himself for our redemption and ultimate life eternal for us. That ultimate suffering was a demonstration of God s ultimate love for us. Was that fair? Can we bear our finite suffering for his sake even if we cannot understand it?

19 Questions for God: Habakkuk 1: 3, 13 Psalm 44: Philip Yancey s book: Disappointment with God [Is God Silent? Unfair? Absent?] Q: What are our expectations of God and do you think that this can trip us up? Proverbs 19:3 (We sometimes blame God for our own failures.)

20 How then, do we respond? Should we be angry with God that hurt has afflicted us? Should we expect that God should deliver us from all harm and hurt? [Psalm 91 & cf. Luke 21 and also 1 Peter 1:6-9 + ] How did Job handle this? [ Job 42:1-6 ] How to pray in times of affliction? [ Luke 22:42 ]

21 How the, do we respond? cont d Perspective! (Two stages at play upper,lower) Faith in God s transcendence, wisdom, love and purpose in the long term for us Genesis 16:13 [We have a God who sees us!] Hebrews 12: 7-11 and do not forget Hebrews 11:35-40 Ecclesiastes shows us that we still are not satisfied even when life goes well!

22 Back to Illusion! It depends on what you choose to focus on [1 Peter 4:1-2] [Philippians 3: 7-14] [Hebrews 12:1-3]

23 ecret to living, as well as suffering, in Faith: Galatians 2:20 I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. A dead man does not suffer! The life of Christ changes the attitude [Phil. 2:5-8] The communist: We live as dead men.

24 References Used (a few omitted): 1. Psalm Corinthians 12:10 3. Job 6:10 4. Matthew 5: Romans 8: Timothy 1:12 7. Hebrews 4: Romans 8: Peter 4: Cor. 12: Peter 3:9 13. Habakkuk 1: 3, Psalm 44: Proverbs 19:3 16. Job 42: Luke 22: Genesis 16: Hebrews 12: Peter 4: Philippians 3: Hebrews 12:1-3] 23. Phil. 2: Psalm 119:67,71