23 August 2006

Again from "The Cross in Our Context" by Douglas John Hall.

We all suffer, individually and corporately. To be human is to suffer. Some of our suffering is integral to our creaturehood; without it we could not become fully human. And some of our suffering as Christians and as churches is integral to our becoming mature disciples of the Christ - it belongs to the tradition named conformitas Christi (being conformed to Christ). One dimension of the suffering of the church, therefore, is its appropriation and internalization of the pain involved in being identified with the crucified one - what the Reformers called its "continuing baptism" into his death.

I appreciate the reminder that "to be human is to suffer." In commenting about the Apostles' Creed when it says "suffered under Pontius Pilate," Marva Dawn once said that we would do well to put a comma after suffered because as the creed presently stands it appears as though the only suffering worth mentioning is that within the time directly before his death as he was sentenced to be crucified. In reality - if Jesus was human like the rest of us...if he was indeed one who knew all of our suffering - Jesus suffered throughout his whole life. Jesus suffering in ways that are completely human and ordinary because he was - human. Then again, he also faces suffering, like under Pilate and the other power players of the day, because he took on the brokenness of the world and faced it and would not be a part of its workings even if it meant he would take on suffering that most people would avoid. It is this last "taking on the world and resisting its power" kind of suffering that brings about the suffering during the three days around and through his death. We - the Church - is invited to join Christ there in the midst of that "continuing baptism" from death into new life.

Connection: Some time within the ordinary movement of this day, we may be invited to set into the pattern of this continuing baptism. It is by the power of the Holy Spirit that we step forward into its live giving water.

In the middle of what is ordinary, O Lord, you embrace us and you invite us to be a part of your loving presence in the middle of an unloving world. Inspire us to face the world with that love even as we come to understand that the consequences of that love may lead us into trials we could otherwise avoid. Praise to you, O Christ. Amen.