Thought for the month:
When we feel we can’t forgive, we need to dwell on what God has forgiven us in Christ, and to depend on his Holy Spirit. David Watson
Text for the month:
Matthew 51 One day as the crowds were gathering, Jesus went up the mountainside with his disciples and sat down to teach them. 2This is what he taught them:
3 “Blessed are those who realize their need for him, for the Kingdom of Heaven is given to them.:
4 Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.
5Blessed are those who are gentle and lowly, for the whole earth will belong to them.
6Blessed are those who are hungry and thirsty for justice, for they will receive it in full.
7Blessed are those who are merciful, for they will be shown mercy.:
8Blessed are those whose hearts are pure, for they will see God.:
9Blessed are those who work for peace, for they will be called the children of God.
10Blessed are those who are persecuted because they live for God, for the Kingdom of Heaven is theirs.
11 God blesses you when you are mocked and persecuted and lied about because you are my followers. 12Be happy about it! Be very glad! For a great reward awaits you in heaven.
And remember, the ancient prophets were persecuted, too. The terrible earthquake in Gujarat, India, back in January was not just an horrific experience for those caught up in the tragedy. It affected all of us by the sheer magnitude of the event and the many thousands who perished as a result.
It would be a rather unthinking Christian who did not let such an event affect their faith. We must all be tempted to think “How can God allows such a disaster?”. Disasters caused by the wickedness of humanity, such as war and genocide, are easier to explain and still keep faith in a benevolent God, on the understanding that God allows his created beings free-will, even though they so often abuse that freedom. An earthquake though is beyond our control. Nonetheless, as Christians we do need to come up with some way of coping with the issue, and retain our faith in God. So where can we begin?
Firstly, it is a true assertion to say that in our present society we approach the whole area of suffering from a very privileged position. We live in an affluent and comfortable country, which has not experienced tragedy on a large scale since the last world war. We find national suffering then an alien concept, although we all have our own personal experiences of it, some of us more than others. Therefore, as western Christians we are immediately at a disadvantage in trying to come to terms with such suffering.
However, this is in marked contrast to the Biblical view of the world. In the Old Testament we firstly see the experience of the Flood, and later the experience of the enslavement of the people of Israel in Egypt. Later came a return to the land of Israel to be followed by further invasion and exile to Babylon. The whole history is steeped in suffering and trauma. In the New Testament we read about our Lord who at his very birth was born into a nation immersed in bloodshed with the slaying of the first-born. Jesus was then to live a quiet life as a carpenter before his three year ministry, at the end of which he too endured extreme suffering through betrayal, mockery, torture and crucifixion. The early disciples also were hardly immune from suffering. Both St Peter and St Paul, our patron saints, are widely believed to have been martyred for their faith along with many of the other disciples, and the history books are full of examples of Christians who were either fed to the lions or who died in other equally unpleasant ways in the following centuries.
The idea then that the world is progressing today exactly according to Gods will is clearly not biblical. We believe as Christians that something occurred right at the beginning of time (we call this The Fall) through which evil and suffering entered the world, both through the presence of sin and through the activity of evil in general, be that in the form of natural disasters, disease, and so on. Certainly, whether you believe in Adam and Eve as historical figures or allegorical/metaphorical figures, something must have entered the world at some point to lead it to the point it is at today if we are to believe that Gods original creation did not contain such evil.
Secondly, the whole of the Bible, though clearly presenting us honestly with a world full of suffering, talks continuously of a time when the world will be without suffering. Some parts of the Bible refer to this as heaven, other parts talk about a new heaven and a new earth indicating that at some point God will intervene to refashion the world in the image he intends it to be, without suffering and without pain. Jesus in the Beatitudes (see opening page of magazine) talks about a Divine justice which will be at work at some point in the future when those who suffer now will receive Gods favour and will be freed from their troubles. Many of his parables also talk of a time when those who are suffering will receive a far greater blessedness in the realm of eternity than the hell they endured on this earth (for example the poor man Lazarus in Luke 16).
This still raises a crucial question why does not God intervene now? I honestly cannot answer that question and I do not know anyone who can, but I want to finish with this observation. If the tragedies that we see make us lose our faith in God then we are indeed led to the belief that this is a cold, meaningless universe, whose system of justice is cruel and merciless. However, if we are to believe in Christianity, we have to accept that only in the eye of eternity will we understand why things happen as they do, and only, by trusting in that eternal perspective, can we still believe that the universe today is still intrinsically good and that God is good. We have to trust God and say Lord we do not understand now, but in eternity we will. Without you there is no hope for this world or the next, nor can there ever be any eternal justice. Only with you and your promises of eternal justice can we believe in justice for this world at all.:p>
Finally, we should accept that in Christ God himself became involved in the world of suffering in a way that no other philosophy or religion portrays. Jesus was not just a prophet or a teacher, he was Emmanuel, God Incarnate. On the cross we see how God himself became involved in our world of suffering. Of course he could have chosen to rub the slate clean and start all over again with a new heaven and a new earth centuries ago. Instead he comes alongside us and says to us – I am with you in your suffering. See my scars on my hands and feet. When you have finally come off the cross and followed me, the Risen Lord, into the light of eternity, then you will understand.
Yours in Christ
Simon Tillotson
This letter appears in the parish magazine. To subscribe to the magazine please email Brian Eddy or contact the church office.
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November 2000
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