14 June 2020 – 2nd Sunday after Pentecost
(Green)
Psalm
116:1-7, 12-19; Romans 5:1-8; Matthew 9:35-10:15
St. Paul wrote to the Romans, “We boast in our sufferings, knowing
that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character
produces hope, and hope does not disappoint – because God’s love has been
poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit which has been given to us” (5:3-5).
“Suffering”. What
does it mean? I think our modern
interpretation misrepresents what is being lifted up as a spiritual virtue for the sake of Christ in the
life of the Church. We think suffering
is something to be avoided, no matter what we must do. After all, if Jesus does not give us a life
that is pain-free, what is the point of following Him? Of course, His assurance is offered only to
those who have the faith and the willingness to “endure [persecution and
suffering] to the end” (Matthew
10:22).
Yet even though a type of suffering (as we
understand the word) can be mitigated through holy means (fasting, praying, the
support and fellowship of the Church), the biblical context of suffering is
that which “produces endurance” and leads us to a firm and resolute sense
of “hope”. So if suffering is such a bad thing (again,
as we understand it), why should we not avoid it at all costs regardless of St.
Paul lifting it up as a holy virtue?
Notice when Jesus sent His disciples out, He gave
them explicit instructions: “Take nothing with you”. Knowing there was the possibility of
resistance to their message, even hostility, He still instructed them to take
nothing with them except the clothes on their backs, His authority, and the
Good News of the Kingdom. Even though
they were to avoid the Gentiles and the Samaritans, there was still the
possibility of trouble “because of His Name” (Matthew 10:22). Even then, in the case of trouble, Jesus
instructed them to “flee to the next town” (vs 23).
It seems Jesus is instructing them to avoid “suffering”. What He is telling them – and US – is to
leave the trouble zones if possible … after
He has assured them the trouble-makers will not avoid being called to account: “It
will be more tolerable for the land of Sodom and Gomorrah on the day of
judgment than for that town” (vs 15).
Retribution and judgment are coming, but these cannot come by our own
hands.
“Suffering”, in the biblical context, can be
understood to mean “allowing”; i.e., “Suffer
the children to come unto Me” means “Allow
the children to come to me”. But if
there is trouble for His Name’s sake and
we cannot avoid it, what are we “allowing” if we do not fight back, if we do
not “return evil for evil”? To be
brutalized? To be persecuted?
Not necessarily.
What we are “allowing” for, what we are to wait for, what we must have
the faith to see, is that these trouble-makers will face the Day of Judgment – and
they will be judged, as we will be, “according to their works” (Romans
2:6).
Paul wrote that to the Romans, but Jesus alludes to
it in His declaration that these who reject, persecute, and brutalize those
whom Jesus sends out with the Good News will be judged more harshly than Sodom
and Gomorrah. In other words, rather
than strike back, we are to have the faith to trust that The Lord will see to
it in His Time rather than ours.
He is not asking us to measure it back to those who may be the cause of
our suffering; in fact, by instructing them to “flee to the next town”, Jesus
actually forbade them from taking any sort of counter action.
Like “turning the other cheek”, this may be the
single, most challenging act Jesus charges His followers with. You may be aware of the street preacher in
Seattle who recently tried to enter the so-called “capital hill autonomous zone
(CHAZ)” in that city. From the start, as
far as we can see in the video, it was clear he was not welcome. When he was physically attacked by the mob,
it appears he did not try to fight back.
I am sorry he got choked and beaten, and it broke my
heart that it appeared there was no one
willing to listen, let alone defend the man.
While we may admire his willingness to walk into the “lion’s den” for
the sake of the Gospel, he apparently missed the part of Jesus’ instruction: “If
anyone will not welcome you or listen to your words, shake off the dust from
your feet as you leave that … town” (Mt 10:14).
Jesus does not ask, command, or expect us to deliberately
walk into trouble. It is not His desire that we “suffer” in such a way. Watching the video, I became filled with such
a rage that I wanted the police to come in with such force that would overwhelm
them and put an end to the nonsense. Even
after the preacher was let go, he appealed to the president to send in forces
to deal with it.
Can we not see, however, that there is so much more
at play here than just the idea of retribution?
There are a lot of things wrong with this “autonomous zone”; and as a ‘law-and-order’
kind of man, I want this crowd dealt with – by force, if necessary.
But aside from Jesus’ explicit instructions under
just such circumstances, there is another parable which comes into play. In Luke
20:9-16, Jesus told the story of a landowner who planted a vineyard and
then leased it out to tenants. When the
landowner sent servants to collect what was due him, they beat the servants and
sent them away. When the landowner
finally sent his own son, believing the tenants would not hurt him, the son was
beaten and killed.
Jesus used this parable to highlight the nature of
the conflict between Himself and the religious leaders, but we can see in such
a parable another certain reality; though it was the landowner’s right to call
in state authority (the ‘king’s sword’ as in Romans 13:4-5)
to reclaim what was rightfully his, the conflict was – and still is - much
deeper and more sinister and diabolical than violation of the “law of the land”.
In Seattle WA, in Miami FL, and at every point in
between, including Murfreesboro AR, the “law of the land”, though necessary for
the sake of order, is not even the point at which Christians must take
notice. If we seek retribution or
vengeance in any form, we are refusing to suffer
for the sake of righteousness. And we
most certainly refuse to “wait for The Lord”.
Our sense of suffering only means we are not getting our own way. And if we are not getting our own way,
someone must be to blame.
So we attack.
We gossip privately. We slander
and defame publicly. Even as we call
ourselves “Christian”, it becomes very clear to those on the outside looking in
that we are not Christ followers; we are not disciples of Jesus. Then they notice they are about to enter a “hostile
area”. We go to church on Sunday, and
renew our attacks on Monday because we are so self-absorbed – even if we really
have been done wrong – that we cannot see Jesus and will not hear Him.
It is written in Matthew’s Gospel, “When
Jesus saw the crowds, He had compassion for them because they were harassed and
helpless, like sheep without a shepherd” (9:36). There was surely His Holy Compassion for
those who were suffering needlessly, but there may also have been a sense of
Compassion for those who were needlessly – yet perhaps very intentionally – causing the suffering only because they
had their minds made up they had been done wrong.
This
crowd going this way, that crowd going that way, demanding what they think they are due, and trampling on
those caught in the middle. It can
surely be said The Lord has Compassion for those caught in the middle, “harassed
and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd” … suffering through no fault of their own.
Those who are the cause of so much suffering, however, are no less “sheep
without a shepherd” because they refuse to heed and obey the Good
Shepherd. Regardless of which side we are on, if we are
the cause in any way of someone’s suffering, we are left with two options … and
ONLY two options: we will repent of
our actions and our hateful words, or
we will be condemned by our actions
and our hateful words. There will be no
in-between.
We need a shepherd.
More than this, we all need The Good Shepherd. I pray – as we all must – that The Good Shepherd
will gather us once again and bring us back to a righteous state of mind and
being before we destroy ourselves, one another, and everyone in between.
“Come
soon, Lord”.
Amen.