I have learned,
the hard way, that today’s Gospel about Martha and Mary is not appreciated by
many giving and talented women. It just
doesn’t seem fair. Often I have tried to
address that feeling. But this year I
want to address our second reading, from St. Paul’s letter to the
Colossians. This seems a rather dense
piece of Scripture to tackle on a warm July Sunday, but here goes.
St Paul makes a
rather dramatic, indeed shocking, statement: “now I rejoice in my sufferings
for your sake, and in my flesh I am filling up what is lacking in the afflictions
of Christ...”
First of all
Paul sounds masochistic: “I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake,” And
in the second place he sounds heretical: “I am filling up what is lacking in
the afflictions of Christ...” What
could possibly be lacking in the redemptive work of Christ? Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross is the once
and for all, complete and definitive act of salvation.
So, Paul’s
statement is bold, to put it mildly.
What was Paul smoking? Well, I
think we are into some rather deep aspects of our incorporation into Christ -
our being part of the Body of Christ.
St Paul was
familiar with suffering: especially suffering that came from preaching the
Gospel. In the second letter to the
Corinthians Paul gives us a list of some his sufferings: “Five times at the
hands of the Jews I received forty lashes minus one.
Three times I was beaten with rods, once I was stoned, three
times I was shipwrecked, I passed a night and a day on the deep; on frequent
journeys, in dangers from rivers, dangers from robbers, dangers from my own
race, dangers from Gentiles, dangers in the city, dangers in the wilderness,
dangers at sea, dangers among false brothers; in toil and hardship, through
many sleepless nights, through hunger and thirst, through frequent fastings,
through cold and exposure. And apart
from these things, there is the daily pressure upon me of my anxiety for all
the churches.” 2 Cor 11:24 ff
How was St. Paul
able to bear all this? Did he just grin
and bear it? Just suck it up and deal
with it? Just get through it as best he
could, and hang tough till it was over?
I don’t think
so. Paul has a much deeper appreciation
of his sufferings. He even can state:
“now I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake,” We need to pay attention to the
language. Notice Paul does not say he
“enjoys” his sufferings. That would be
sick. But rather he “rejoices” in
them. Because even though they are
painful, and frustrating, and discouraging, and difficult to bear, and they
hurt, still St Paul sees great value in his sufferings for the sake of
preaching the Gospel.
St. Paul, in
this letter to the Colossians, today’s reading, is not so much doing systematic
theology as he is doing spiritual direction.
He is giving the Colossians, and to us, the example of his own life in
order to teach us. Because every one of
us, like St. Paul, has to face suffering for the sake of the Gospel. In the chapter of St. Luke’s Gospel before
today’s Gospel reading, Jesus bluntly tells us: "If anyone wishes to
come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me.” (Lk 9:25)
Have you taken
up your cross yet today? Maybe your
cross was squelching the cutting word or the racist comment. Maybe it was forgiving the person who cut you
off in traffic. Maybe it was speaking
the unpleasant truth that needed to be said.
Maybe taking up your cross was an act of generosity that grated on your
natural selfishness but you did it anyway.
Maybe it was that very difficult sacrifice of moving to the center of
the pew so that those lesser Christians, the latecomers, could easily find a
seat.
The Lord tells
us that EVERY DAY we have to take up our cross and follow Him. And crosses hurt. They are hard.
How do we handle
that? Do we just suck it up and deal
with it? Endure it as best we can? Or do we - like St Paul - find deep value and
meaning in our suffering?
St. Paul tells
us that: “in my flesh I am filling up what is lacking in the afflictions of
Christ on behalf of his body, which is the church,” This is a difficult statement. Christ has already and fully achieved the
redemption of the world. And yet St.
Paul clearly sees that he, and we, are members of the Body of Christ. What happens to us also happens to Christ in
a way. Therefore we are invited - and
are able - to enter into Christ’s redemptive work.
Jesus has provided a new meaning for suffering by giving it
redemptive power. By His grace we are
able to unite our pains and sufferings to Christ’s redemptive passion.
This is deep and
rather dangerous stuff. It has been
misused many times in the course of history.
It is not that suffering is a good thing that should be sought in
itself. Nor can we ever permit the
suffering of others because it would be good for their redemption.
These approaches
are perversions of this truth. Suffering
always remains an evil that we must battle against. Jesus went about healing the sick, feeding
the hungry and relieving suffering.
Rather this
teaching of the redemptive quality of suffering is a deep understanding that in
this sinful world, to live the Word of God, and to preach the Gospel both by
the example of our lives and by our words, will generate opposition,
resistance, ridicule: in short, suffering, as well as go against our natural
sinful inclinations.
But this
suffering, and indeed any pain and disappointment, born with the attitude of
Christ: that is, an attitude of not
hurting back, of not seeking revenge, of not trying to push it off on someone
else by becoming grumpy, irritable and angry, of not giving up in despair, but
rather bearing suffering in trust of God’s Love for us; suffering born this way is HEALING. Somehow it heals the estrangement between us
and our neighbors and God. It is redemptive.
Every one of us,
as a member of the Body of Christ, has the privilege of participating in
Christ’s redemptive work. We bear
suffering in Christ and in so doing we bring God’s love closer to the world.
To “bear” also
means to give birth. From suffering
“born” in this way a new way of life is “born”:
beyond revenge, beyond violence, beyond despair. And for this Paul rejoices. “now I rejoice in my sufferings for your
sake, and in my flesh I am filling up
what is lacking in the afflictions of Christ...”
We must do the
same.
AMEN.
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