This idea of being a parable of Jesus has been haunting me for the past week. What is that supposed to look like in my particular context? How can I be the visible description of the invisible Jesus in the face of job loss, a child’s overwhelming illness, and the death of a church? How can I be a parable of Jesus today, when life is as it is, and not as I wish it were?
At times like this I look to the words of Paul in Philippians:
7 But whatever were gains to me I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. 8 What is more, I consider everything a loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them garbage, that I may gain Christ 9 and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ—the righteousness that comes from God on the basis of faith. 10 I want to know Christ—yes, to know the power of his resurrection and participation in his sufferings,becoming like him in his death, 11 and so, somehow, attaining to the resurrection from the dead.
There’s a key phrase in there that often gets overlooked: I want to know the power of his resurrection and participation in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death. I’ve always thought that the way in which we participate in the sufferings of Jesus is through persecution. The suffering is inflicted upon us by an outside, human force that stands in opposition to the kingdom of God. While this is certainly a huge part of what it means to participate in the sufferings of Jesus, I’ve become convinced that it’s not the whole story. In the absence of persecution, we can sometimes take on the suffering of Jesus by becoming, as he was on the cross, Godforsaken.
It’s important to remember, here, that Jesus didn’t sin or do anything wrong that brought upon his Godforsakeness. That Godforsakeness was a part of the Father’s larger plan, and was soon followed by the resurrection, and an entirely new way of being Trinity. In the same way, we don’t necessarily do anything to bring about Godforsakeness in our lives; it can be (and I say “can be” because it is certainly possible that we are so stubborn in our sinfulness that God “gives us over to the desires of our hearts”) a part of the Father’s larger plan to create a whole new way of being human, that is, becoming like Jesus.
God has not forsaken you because you or he are unfaithful. On the contrary, God’s distance in the midst of our suffering is a part of his redemptive plan that always pushes toward resurrection – to new life arisen out of the ashes of death and decay. As Paul says in Romans 5:
3 Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance;4 perseverance, character; and character, hope.
God’s aim in all of this is to produce, in you, the power of the resurrection of Jesus and the hope of your own resurrection. Therefore, whatever suffering you are enduring now, know that God may feel distant, but he is not absent. You may be forsaken now, but you will not be forsaken then. Only persevere. Take courage, and be faithful. God is faithful even when it seems that he is faithless, and the stories of God’s faithfulness belong to those who persevere through their Godforsakeness and into their resurrection.
I’m also reminded of a couple passages in 2 Corinthians to this effect.
2 Cor. 1:8-10: “For we were so utterly burdened beyond our strength that we despaired of life itself. Indeed, we felt that we had received the sentence of death. But that was to make us rely not on ourselves but on God who raises the dead. He delivered us from such a deadly peril, and he will deliver us. On him we have set our hope that he will deliver us again.”
2 Cor. 4:7-12: “But we have this treasure in jars of clay, to show that the surpassing power belongs to God and not to us. We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not driven to despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed; always carrying in the body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be manifested in our bodies. For we who live are always being given over to death for Jesus’ sake, so that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our mortal flesh. So death is at work in us, but life in you.”
I think the challenge for us is to remember and believe that ours is the God who raises the dead, and that suffering along with his Son is a privilege of children who will be glorified along with him (Rom. 8:17).
Jacob,
I love those passages, and there are probably several others that we could pull out on this related topic. It’s amazing how much the NT authors talk about suffering and dying, and yet how rarely we speak of it in the church today. If there’s one thing that ought to never drive a believer away from God, it’s suffering.
Great post Andy. I often fall into the narrow mindset that our sufferings are only a reflection of outside persecution. I’m glad you referenced Romans 5, as that is one of my favorite passages in all of scripture. I find it so very interesting that hope is the final result of our sufferings. It’s interesting to me that Paul doesn’t stop with perseverance, or even character, but that the ultimate end is hope.
The order of this development is so counterintuitive as well. So many of the stories that we read and movies we watch tell us that it is those with character that ultimately persevere. The good guys win. But here, Paul says that in order to have character, we must persevere first. When I reflected on this passage, it gave me a whole new perspective on suffering. The apostles understood suffering well. As you pointed out, they talk about it a great deal. That suffering was key for them to become the men of character, and more importantly, hope, that we see and read about today. So while suffering will never be fun…”I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us.”
Great reflections, Travis! You need to start a blog!!