Thursday, October 22, 2009

Sorrow and Suffering -- faithful companions

In 1955 Hannah Hurnard published Hinds' Feet on High Places, an allegory featuring Much-Afraid who was called by the Chief Shepherd to climb from the Valley of Humiliation to the High Places. She had two traveling companions for the journey. They were named Sorrow and Suffering. In our Hebrews passage for this week, we discover that Jesus also walked with these companions and learned obedience from them.

The problem of pain and suffering is perhaps one of the oldest and most puzzling mysteries of life, particularly for those who believe the universe was created and is even now overseen by a God whose essence is love. I don't know the answers to the questions along this line that have been discussed throughout the ages, but I find it interesting that suffering is presented here as qualifying Jesus to be our high priest. Are there desirable character traits that can be developed by no other means? Are Sorrow and Suffering somehow essential to spiritual growth? Do they shape us in a fashion that cannot be accomplished by any other force?

The writer to the Hebrews notes in 5:2-3 that an earthly priest is "able to deal gently with those who are ignorant and going astray" because he himself is subject to weakness and obliged to "offer sacrifices for his own sins." However, in the case of Jesus, the writer notes a few verses later, it is the "prayers and petitions" he offered up "with loud cries and tears" as he "learned obedience from what he suffered" that qualifies him to be "high priest in the order of Melchizedek."

In my half-century of life, I have not encountered nearly so much pain as many of the people around me. Yet, I can see that I am a better person because of some of life's challenges -- more empathetic and caring. The "light and momentary troubles" (2 Cor. 4:17) that have come my way have been good for me. Perhaps learning obedience and submission during the tough times of life is preferable to being broken by the pain of sin and has the same effect of teaching us "to deal gently with those who are ignorant and going astray."

I certainly have no plans to go looking for painful experiences for the sake of building character. I figure trouble can find me plenty well without me going out looking for it. Still, it makes times of trouble more bearable to realize that there are useful lessons to be learned from those faithful companions called Sorrow and Suffering, lessons which can qualify those who suffer to share the burdens of those around them.

Sunday, October 11, 2009

The Sabbath and Faith

More and more, I associate the call to Sabbath rest in the Bible with faith. It requires faith to set aside the urgent tasks of living and take one day off every week. I must believe that what I can accomplish in six days is enough. And when I realize that it is obviously not enough, it takes faith in the love of God, the grace of God, to believe that submissive obedience counts more than accomplishment. I haven't done enough and yet ... today I will let it all go and simply rest. By faith, I believe that the world will not end if I quit spinning plates for one day. I can give them one final whirl on Saturday evening and then let them go until Monday with faith that the tasks I set aside will still be there waiting for me if they need to be done.

I find the church's treatment of the fourth Commandment a never-ending irony. Christians hold up the 10 Commandments as sacred and eternally valid -- except the fourth one. Only the fifth comes close to it for disregard. It's amazing how little popularity the positive "Thou shalt" commands have in comparison to those in the "Thou shall not" category.

In the case of the fourth commandment, I suspect a fear of hypocrisy softens the voice of the church. After all, the bulk of the 'work' of the church happens on Sunday, the Christian 'Sabbath.' There are sermons to preach, lessons to teach, tithes to collect, services to conduct, prayers to be prayed, music to be played, special emphases to be emphasized. And since we all have the day off, it's a good time to call a meeting and conduct church business. In between all the church activity, we'll fit in Sunday dinner and maybe watch some football or run to Wal-Mart. That's the current pattern. My grandmother used to do her "calling" on Sunday afternoons -- visiting the sick and elderly. Her Sunday were just as full, if not more so. Were they more holy?

It requires faith to push aside the urgency of our work and deliberately rest. Protecting sacred space in the week isn't easy. It requires faith that it's worth it simply because God ordained it. And it sometimes means accepting the label of hypocrite when declining to add another event to one's Sunday schedule. I regularly inconvenience people by resisting their requests to practice music at 9:00 am before Sunday School begins at 9:30. I shift as much activity as possible to other days, giving Sunday a restful rhythm of preparation, gathering, low-stress dining, relaxing, and gathering again. I accept interruptions to that flow as acceptable exceptions by God's grace, even as I invest energy in making sure the exceptions don't take up permanent residence. Part of the faith required for observing a Christian Sabbath is believing that every moment of the day is sacred but that inactivity isn't the only way to relax.

More and more, I associate the call to Sabbath rest with faith, faith that I am not so essential to the business of the world that I can't set it all aside for one day a week; faith that the disapproval of those whom I disappoint or irritate as I protect that sacred space is fully offset by the benefits of obedience; faith that being 'hypocritical' or 'inconsistent' for allowing some activities into the day while rejecting others will not significantly harm my witness as a follower of Jesus Christ; faith that there is a God who is more pleased to see me rest than take on more work.

I heartily recommend guarding some sacred space each week. It's a good reminder that the world is not our master. And, just as tithing our money is the first step toward fiscal responsibility, carving out space in our schedules is a great start for effective time management. If we all committed ourselves to a restful and rhythmic weekly sabbath, I suspect our Sunday schedules would become simpler and we would be healthier.