February 20, 2023 — “Finding Joy in Suffering”

“Endure trials for the sake of discipline. God is treating you as children; for what child is there whom a parent does not discipline? If you do not have that discipline in which all children share, then you are illegitimate and not his children. Moreover, we had human parents to discipline us, and we respected them. Should we not be even more willing to be subject to the Father of spirits and live? For they disciplined us for a short time as seemed best to them, but he disciplines us for our good, in order that we may share his holiness. Now, discipline always seems painful rather than pleasant at the time, but later it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it.” Hebrews 12:7-11

“Can you remember facing a disruptive moment as a child? Perhaps you fell from your bicycle and skinned your knee. What was your first impulse? To call for help, of course. And perhaps when you did that, your mother or father called out, “Stay right where you are—I’m coming to help you!” That’s precisely what God says to us: Stay where you are. I’ll be there with you. When life wounds us and we’re in deep pain, we instinctively cry out to God. And it is then that we hear Him and feel His presence so clearly. In the midst of tragic circumstances, we can have the richest fellowship with Christ afforded to us. That’s when our faith becomes fully real, and we experience the assurance of things we’ve hoped for.” (David Jeremiah – The Purpose of the Disruptive Moment “God deals with you as sons”)

Paul spends some time talking about his “thorn in the flesh” in his second letter to the church in Corinth. He says, “to keep me from being too elated, a thorn was given me in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to torment me, to keep me from being too elated. Three times I appealed to the Lord about this, that it would leave me, but he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for power is made perfect in weakness.” (2 Corinthians 12:6-7)

Dare I say we all have some thorn in the flesh that has been a source of suffering – and perhaps a source of strength. Paul was not afraid to ask the Lord to take his thorn away, like we all would do in a similar situation. Even Jesus asks that his “cup be removed so he did not need to endure it” – but in the end he says that if it be G-d’s will to endure, then he would endure. Perhaps this is where we begin when it comes to looking at our own sufferings. In one of the readings I encountered in the book “The Tibetan Book of the Living and the Dead” the author writes that when we are suffering, we should pray that the Lord allow us to endure the sufferings of others as well, while we endure our own. It is a higher level of enduring and “pain management”, but perhaps it will help take our minds off our own suffering.

There may not always be joy in suffering, but there can be redemptive suffering, if not some satisfaction in suffering for the sake of others. Again, this is nothing we can do on our own – it takes a relationship with Christ and the presence of the Holy Spirit to help us achieve such a level of endurance.

Let us pray: Dear G-d, help me to endure all things today. Your Spirit is always sufficient for me. Amen.

Pastor Dave

February 19, 2023 – Transfiguration Sunday

“Jesus took with him Peter and James and his brother John and led them up a high mountain, by themselves. And he was transfigured before them, and his face shone like the sun, and his clothes became dazzling white. Suddenly there appeared to them Moses and Elijah, talking with him. Then Peter said to Jesus, “Lord, it is good for us to be here; if you wish, I will make three dwellings here, one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah.” While he was still speaking, suddenly a bright cloud overshadowed them, and from the cloud a voice said, “This is my Son, the Beloved; with him I am well pleased; listen to him!” When the disciples heard this, they fell to the ground and were overcome by fear. But Jesus came and touched them, saying, “Get up and do not be afraid.” And when they looked up, they saw no one except Jesus himself alone. As they were coming down the mountain, Jesus ordered them, “Tell no one about the vision until after the Son of Man has been raised from the dead.”  Matthew 17:1-9

In his baptism, the voice booms down from above Jesus saying “This is my Son, the Beloved. With you I am well pleased.” Now in the Transfiguration the voice adds this caveat:  “listen to him”. What was G-d saying? G-d was reminding the disciples that to truly understand Jesus, they need to do more paying attention, listening, understanding and seeing. The message then is transported to us today, so that we can hear again this teaching — that we need to stop pretending that we know it all, or stop thinking that there is nothing else Jesus can teach us, and find some time in our busy lives to LISTEN to Jesus.

Our lives are a journey – I have said it time and time again. Many of the people in the bible whom we encounter are on a journey. When Elijah was transported on his fiery ride Elisha would pick up the mantle to continue the ministry he began. Paul was on a journey to Damascus when his life was turned upside down – when his eyes were temporarily veiled. We also will find our minds are veiled sometimes to fully understanding Jesus. Yet we should not stop letting the light of Christ shine through us to those who are still in the dark – even if we ourselves are still struggling in the journey. 

In this Transfiguration moment we come to the mountain top with Jesus where through this event, it is confirmed to us that Jesus is who the voice says he is – but Jesus and his disciples do not stay on top of the mountain.  Jesus leads them back down to the people where the journey continues – where he passes the mantle of ministry along to his disciples – so they learn to continue his ministry.

Take some time to listen to Jesus – don’t wait for the next disaster to take you to a mountain top of fear. Find time to listen to Jesus – the one who tramped all of those miles with his disciples, getting dusty and footsore, never giving up on them – and let your relationship with him take you to a mountain top of understanding, mercy, grace, and love.

Pastor Dave