A Severe Mercy Romans 5:1-8 June 25, 2017 While C.S. Lewis was teaching medieval literature at Oxford University, among the students who fell under his influence was Sheldon Vanauken. Sheldon and his wife, Jean, had a marriage of delicate and unusual beauty. He wrote that being married to Jean was like living in a perpetual springtime. At Oxford, they became committed Christians. Their newfound belief in God deepened and enriched the communion they had as husband and wife. Not long after they returned to America, Jean was stricken with a fatal disease. When she died, Sheldon turned to Lewis for counsel to cope with his sorrow. They corresponded extensively on the meaning of suffering and the will of God. In one of his letters, Lewis wrote, You have been treated with a severe mercy. i Part of what Lewis was saying by describing Sheldon s sorrow as a severe mercy is that life is hard. If you think that life is going to be a perpetual springtime, you are kidding yourself. After the youthful, playful innocence of spring inevitably comes the withering heat of summer, the aging of autumn, and the death of winter. Life is difficult. If we base our happiness on life being kind to us, we will undoubtedly be disappointed and even end up in despair. We tend to think of suffering as an exception to the human condition. The reality is that suffering is the human condition, and it is almost impossible to avoid. There is another aspect to what Lewis is saying when he describes Sheldon s experience as a severe mercy. In the suffering and struggle of life, there can be found a quality of grace that we might not otherwise know. Suffering can be graced with a severe mercy. Mercy is compassion, which means to suffer with. Mercy is found because God suffers with us and because companions on life s journey suffer with us. Out of that shared sorrow, blessings emerge. Experiences of suffering leave us feeling vulnerable, naked, exposed to hurt, pain and unpleasantries. But vulnerability also opens us to receive the care of others and the grace of God. When we feel defenseless, we find ourselves in a thin place, or a threshold experience. We choose how to respond to suffering. We can open ourselves to the touch of Holy Presence or we can turn away from God. If we think that God is indifferent to suffering or even the source of our
hardship, we are likely to feel alienated from God. This comes from the perspective that life should be free from pain and suffering. However, when we accept that life is difficult and live with the expectation of hard times, we see God differently. We understand that God s role is not to spare us from suffering nor to relieve it. God s presence enables us to bear and endure suffering and sometimes God brings blessings out of suffering. In this way, even severe suffering can be graced with holy compassion. What s our perspective? Is life meant to be a perpetual springtime? If so, we are likely to be disappointed, project our frustration on God, and turn away from God. Another viewpoint is to recognize that life will have a variety of seasons, including the scorching heat of summer, the aging of autumn, and the bitter cold of winter; however, through it all we can experience the golden thread of God s presence, with a heart of endless compassion and fierce love. Paul is the author of this letter to the Romans. Although one of the greatest missionaries of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, Paul was no stranger to suffering. Paul was imprisoned because he was passionate about spreading his faith in his Lord, Jesus Christ. Paul s evangelism was a problem for the ruling establishment who felt threatened by Jesus. He also suffered from a painful physical condition which he described as a thorn in the flesh. Although he prayed that his suffering would be relieved, it was not. He learned that in his weakness, he could experience God s strength (2 Corinthians 12:8-9). Paul writes in this letter that we take pride in our problems. One translation is we rejoice in our suffering. How could anyone make such a claim to celebrate our troubles? I don t know about you, but when personal troubles come my way I don t tend to rejoice. In fact, I m more likely to complain about the disruption and be frustrated by the attention and energy the trouble demands. Listen again to a few key verses: We even take pride in our problems, because we know that trouble produces endurance, endurance produces character, and character produces hope. This hope doesn t put us to shame, because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts through the Holy Spirit. Paul can celebrate because he is confident that God s love for us and our love for God will give birth to blessings even in the face of suffering. One blessing is endurance or fortitude which provides the strength to hold on, trusting that God is at work to help us overcome the trials of life. Endurance produces character. In New Testament Greek, character is a verb meaning to engrave, to take a hammer and chisel a stone. To character means to sculpt a shapeless stone into a beautiful work of art. God s Spirit helps
us sculpt meaning out of the raw materials that life throws at us. Out of the testing we emerge stronger, refined, and closer to God. Finally, character produces hope. Once our faith has been tested in adversity, we don t panic every time something goes wrong because we have learned that we can rely on God s promises. We don t fear the next crisis that looms on the horizon. With hope, we patiently wait for the promise of God to be fulfilled once again. Hope embraces the future with expectation, not with despair. Hope trusts in God. Hope waits upon God. Life has thrown various troubles to members of this community of faith. Health has declined; the biopsy returned positive; relationships crumbled; loved ones slipped through our grasp. In the face of vulnerability, we wonder where God is. Sometimes it is not so clear. Oftentimes it takes years before we can look back and recognize the golden thread of God s presence woven through those painful experiences. The promise of the gospel is a severe mercy, compassion to meet the pain, love mingled with sorrow, God s presence in the seeming absence. My personal heartbreak for several years has been a broken relationship with my developmentally disabled brother. Six years ago, he fell prey to a professional poker player who exploited him financially and emotionally. While under her grasp for five years, she lived in his home, took his money and furniture, and alienated him from any person of integrity who saw the truth of the situation. I ve been to court over a dozen times in the last five years trying to protect him. At times, I nearly gave in to the forces of wickedness that were pulling him away, but I continued to pray and trust that God would hold him and lead him to freedom. The perpetrator finally left the home a year ago, but it took a year for my brother to build enough trust to call and talk to me in March. I finally saw him in person earlier this month. I feel like my brother has returned home. He was tethered to God all along and God s faithful mercy continues to restore him. Sheryl Sandberg is the Chief Operating Officer of Facebook. Two years ago, her husband, Dave, died suddenly while the two were vacationing in Mexico. It was clearly a devastating loss for Sandberg, her two young children, and their family and friends. With psychologist Adam Grant, she has written a book called, Option B. One time when longing for her husband, a friend said, Option A is no longer available. We re going to [knock the socks off] Option B. It is not what she planned, but it is what life dealt. It is a very helpful book about facing adversity, building resilience, and reclaiming joy. We are familiar with post-traumatic stress disorder, or PTSD.
Sandberg and Grant write of the possibility of post-traumatic growth. Studies show that more than half the people who experience a traumatic event report at least one positive change, compared to the less than 15 percent who develop post-traumatic stress. Post-traumatic growth takes various forms. People are personally strengthened. Having been tested through fire, they emerge stronger even at the broken places. That sounds like endurance. People gain appreciation and develop a deeper sense of gratitude for the gifts of life. They find reason to rejoice. Tragedy can motivate people to develop new and deeper relationships. We can find greater meaning in life, a sense of purpose, a belief that our life has significance. People can see new possibilities, offering hope for the future, for even when Option A is no longer available, there is an Option B or C or D or E. ii The apostle Paul must have experienced post-traumatic growth. That is why he could affirm, We even take pride in our problems, because we know that trouble produces endurance, endurance produces character, and character produces hope. This hope doesn t put us to shame, because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts through the Holy Spirit. That s a declaration of faith that God s love, grace, and compassion will prevail, bringing to birth blessings even out of pain. My experience is that life is difficult. Sometimes life throws us a curve, or even a tragedy. We can choose our response: to turn away from God or to draw near to God. As we invite God to journey with us, we will taste God s severe mercy, a fierce love, a compassionate presence growing within us endurance, character, and hope. May God deepen our faith that we might find God even in the suffering. God of grace and mercy, your heart is larger than our imagination. Within your immense love, you hold each one of us. You call us by name, you recognize our true identity, and you ache when we are in pain. Your heart has also been broken by our fear, betrayal, and harmful acts. And yet you never give up on us. You are graceful in forgiving and compassionate in raising us to new life. We are deeply grateful, O Caring Companion, for your steadfast saving work in our lives. Look down and watch over us in the midst of our personal crises. Walk with us through the fire and keep us from being burned. When the waves threaten to overwhelm us, lift us high and carry us to a firm foundation where we may embrace your care.
Stretch your loving arms of mercy around this wide world, extending your care wherever there is need and heartache, sorrow and suffering. Bring hope to those recovering from disaster or violence. Liberate those who live under oppressive conditions. Move your church to be the hands and feet of Christ reaching beyond itself to meet the needs of your people in Christ s name. Hold close to your heart those whom we know and name before you.offer your tender mercy to those who grieve. Massage their aching wounds with your comfort. We give you thanks for your Son, our Savior, Jesus Christ. Through his death and resurrection, we have access to your abounding grace. Grow us in the likeness of Christ that your image might shine through us. We unite our voices in the prayer he taught his disciples, together praying i Sheldon Vanauken, A Severe Mercy (New York: Bantam Books, 1977), p. 211. ii Sheryl Sandberg and Adam Grant, Option B: Facing Adversity, Building Resilience, and Finding Joy (New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 2017), pp. 79-92. Rev. Lori B. Sawdon First United Methodist Church, Lodi, CA