Thuffering Pathta...

Perhaps I should explain that title... It is inspired by Sylvester the Cat of Looney Tunes fame.  For those not familiar, Sylvester had a lisp and always said "Suffering Succotash", which, with his lisp, came out "Thuffering Thuccotashth"  This week's lesson was about suffering, and so my brain immediately went to Sylvester.  But I had to type the title with a lisp to make the connection authentic.  Now, aren't you glad you asked?  What?  You didn't ask?  Oops.  I am just glad this is a blog and not Twitter- I would have burned my 140 character limit just explaining the title.

Ok, if you are still here...

There are a few thoughts still rolling around in my head from yesterday's study/discussion, (which I thoroughly enjoyed). 

For those unable to attend, the passage under discussion is 2 Corinthians 1:1-11.  In the passage, Paul greets the Corinthian church in his usual style, and proceeds to write about how he and his companions have suffered.  Now, when we first hear that, our minds want to go straight to "Oh great, here we go... we are going to hear all about how bad Paul has had it.  Well, you want to know about bad?  I'll tell you about bad!"  For me, Jerry Seinfeld's dad just pops into my head.

But here is the thing- although Paul does try to express the extent of his suffering, it is not anything like Seinfeld's dad.  In fact, when you read those 11 verses, there are two things that stand out- at least for me.

One is that, yes, Paul did suffer greatly.  He used phrases like, "far beyond our ability to endure", and "we despaired even of life" and "our hearts felt the sentence of death".  Sometimes it is hard for us to catch the intensity of the scripture when it is black letters on a white page, (or iPad, or Kindle...)  But this is one time when we really need to try to understand the depth of Paul's suffering in order to catch the significance of this passage.  I think that what Paul is trying to get across is that there have been times in his ministry when he was sure he was going to die.  There was absolutely nothing he could do to save himself and he was to the point of thinking, "This is it.  It is over."

I have been through some difficult things and I am sure you have too, but I have never been to a point in my life when I was sure I was going to die.  But it happened to Paul on more than one occasion.  And it came from every angle.  Some of his suffering was physical, some emotional, some from rejection and hatred- much more than I have ever endured.

So, one thing that we must grasp here is the depth of Paul's suffering.  It was bad.  And it does not hurt to note that most of this suffering is happening BECAUSE Paul has chosen to carry the gospel to the world.  But that leads us to the second thing that you cannot help but notice when you read this passage- and that is the undeniable tone of worship in his words!  Look at the phrasing... 

"...the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles..." (v. 4),  

"On Him we have set our hope that He will continue to deliver us" (v. 10)  

These are not the words of Seinfeld's dad!  These words are not bitter or resentful or indignant.  These words are grateful and respectful and full of worship!

And so we come to the "tension" or the challenge of the passage:  How can one who has suffered so deeply continue to praise God even more deeply?

That is one of the challenges of the Christian life, and everyone, in their "inner-selves" is at a different place with the issue.  For some it is not hard to understand, but for others the question of suffering is really hard to resolve.  But I think we do see one important key in this passage, and it has to do with Paul's mindset toward suffering.

When you read his words, you get the idea that all the suffering he has endured has been for the good of others.  He doesn't see it as "bad things have happened to me", he sees it as "I have endured these difficulties for the sake of others".  Look at his phrasing:

"...so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves have received from God" (v. 4)

"If we are distressed it is for your comfort and salvation..." (v. 6)

"...our hope for you is firm because we know that just as you share in our sufferings, so also you share in our comfort." (v. 7)

There is no other conclusion except to say that Paul has an outwardly focused view of his own suffering.  Now, that is one that I have not mastered.  Not even close.

At the end of yesterday's class I shared a list of five things about suffering that I think are good for helping us to build the kind of mindset we see in Paul.  I want to offer them again here- mostly for those who could not be with us yesterday.

1. Suffering is Divine

It is not that God causes suffering, but suffering does occur within God's context.  He has it contained in his hand.  It is not a separate event in our lives that has no connection with God.  In that respect, suffering is divine

2. Suffering Brings Expanded and Expressed Faith

We are human.  And although we are thankful always, it is not our testimony when things are fine that impacts the world.  It is the times when we are stretched that show the true depth of our faith and belief.  Our suffering lets the world see God at His best- if they have eyes to see.

3. Suffering Brings About Closer Communion with God

Again, we are human.  We always appreciate what God does for us, but lets face it, when things are easy, we don't draw as close to God as we do when things are difficult.  Suffering reduces that amount of "me" and increases the amount of "Him" in the equation of our lives.

4. Suffering Equips Us

Things fall in our laps.  We don't ask for them.  They are not "fair".  But there they are.  However, after it is all over, you suddenly find yourself with some understanding and some, (shall I say it this way?) some skills that you did not have before.  By skills I mean the ability to understand and talk to someone on a level that you previously could not.

5. Suffering is a Bonding Element in the Church

It sure helps to know that you are not the only one fighting the battle.  It sure helps to know that you are not the only one who struggles.  It helps to know that when you fall, someone will come pick you up and say, "Come on- no one quits here- lets keep going."  Anyone who is an athlete and has endured rigorous conditioning knows that one of the things that gets you through is that your teammates are doing it too and you have each other and you need each other.  The same is true for the church.

So there you have it.  Some recap and some thought on the latest episode of Closer Walk.  By no means is this an exhaustive discussion.  We have not even touched on the idea that "the value of the cause is greater than the price of the effort", but more about that later.  Comments and discussion are always welcome.  I hope your week is a good one.

Just Keep Swimming...

Jon