Suffering And The Way Of Christ

"...that I may know him and the power of his resurrection, and may share his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, that by any means possible I may attain the resurrection from the dead (Phillipians 3: 10-11)."

     One of my college psychology professors once stood up and told the class, "All upsets happen because of one simple fact; we aren't getting what we want."  It's true from the time we are born until the time we die!  These days there are many versions of "Christian" faith that teach Jesus is solver of all of our problems, the way to getting the life we want, and the way to our personal prosperity.  I often wonder how those who hold these beliefs hold onto Jesus when he leads them into more problems than they had before or to the life he wants them to have or when he asks them to pick up their cross and follow him into sacrificial service.

     Jesus has given me tremendous freedom and joy because he has forgiven my sins.  He has also given me comfort and direction in times of struggle and joy in the awareness of his many gifts.  But I am sometimes upset because he doesn't always give me what I want!  Times like those remind me that he meant what he said, "He who loses his life for my sake will find it." 

     This all becomes very real when Jesus calls us, his followers, to go and serve an upset universe where relationships are broken, living things suffer, and things aren't the way they are supposed to be.  It is upsetting.  It is tempting for us to run away from the pain, but there, in the middle of it, is Jesus, beckoning us to share in his sufferings so that we may also share in the joy of  his resurrection.  Thankfully, suffering is not an end in and of itself in the graceful hands of Jesus.  In his saving presence and through the power of his resurrection it becomes a sign that new life is being born.  Suffering as a sign of death becomes a sign that new life is on the way.

     Gracious and all powerful Jesus, teach us how to resist the temptation to run from suffering when you call us into it.  Give us your power to engage it and your presence through which resurrection comes.

"It has never been either practical or useful to leave all things and follow Christ.  And yet it is spiritually prudent (The Monastic Journey, Thomas Merton)."