Tag Archives: Mark

Jesus is the Suffering Servant

Unknown's avatar Rev. David J. Schreffler 4:44 am on August 20, 2015
Tags: Mark,   

Suffering is Transformed Into Victory Through Christ — Rev. David J. Schreffler

 

image         August 20, 2015

“And he could do no deed of power there, except that he laid his hands on a few sick people and cured them. And he was amazed at their unbelief.” Mark 6:5-6

“Healing is a sacrament because its purpose or end is not health as such, the restoration of physical health, but the entrance of man into the life of the Kingdom, into the “joy and peace” of the Holy Spirit. In Christ everything in this world, and this means health and disease, joy and suffering, has become an ascension to, and entrance into this new life, its expectation and anticipation.

In this world suffering and disease are indeed “normal”, but their very “normalcy” is abnormal. They reveal the ultimate and permanent defeat of life, a defeat which no partial victories of medicine, however wonderful and truly miraculous, can ultimately overcome. But in Christ suffering is not “removed”; it is transformed into victory. The defeat itself becomes victory, a way, an entrance into the Kingdom, and this is the only true healing.” “For the Life of the World” Alexander Schmemann (1921 – 1983) “For All The Saints”, volume II, (p. 373-374)

(Alexander Schmemann was an Orthodox Christian priest, teacher, and writer. From 1946 to 1951 he taught in Paris, and afterwards in New York. In his teachings and writings he sought to establish the close links between Christian theology and Christian liturgy.)

I like what Father Schmemann writes when he says “in Christ suffering is not “removed“, it is transformed into victory”. There will be only a few people in this world who will be able to live their entire lives without some kind of suffering. Many people live in daily lives of suffering — most will encounter some amount of suffering because of physical problems. But in our suffering we join, in a mystical if not in a physical way, the suffering of Christ. And when our suffering is understood in this way, we soon understand the “victory” it stands to gain for each one of us. We may not ever be able to end our personal suffering on this earth, but when our suffering is joined to Christ’s suffering, our death becomes a victory won for us through the suffering of Christ. This is true victory — one we can live in right now, when we suffer, and when we work with those who suffer.

Pastor Dave

Unknown's avatar Rev. David J. Schreffler 4:44 am on August 18, 2015
Tags: , , Mark   

The Ordinary Becomes Extraordinary — Rev. David J. Schreffler

 

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August 18, 2015

“On that day, when evening had come, he said to them, “Let us go across to the other side.” And leaving the crowd behind, they took him with them in the boat, just as he was. Other boats were with him. A great windstorm arose, and the waves beat into the boat, so that the boat was already being swamped. But he was in the stern, asleep on the cushion; and they woke him up and said to him, “Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing?” He woke up and rebuked the wind, and said to the sea, “Peace! Be still!” Then the wind ceased, and there was a dead calm. He said to them, “Why are you afraid? Have you still no faith?” Mark 4:35-40

“…in a boat on the sea of Tiberias, the Redeemer rose and rebuked the storm. Was the miracle merely a proof of His divine mission? Are we merely to gather from it, that then and there on a certain day, in a certain obscure corner to the world, Divine power was at work? It is conceivable that a man might credit that miracle: that he might be exceedingly indignant with the naturalist who resolves it into a natural phenomenon — and it is conceivable that very man might tremble in a storm. To what purpose is that miracle announced to him? He believes in G*d existing in the past, but not in the present; he believes in a Divine presence in the supernatural, but discredits it in the natural; he recognizes G*d in the marvelous, but does not feel Him in the wonderful of every day: but unless it has taught him that the waves and winds now are in the hallow of the hand of G*d, the miracle has lost its meaning.” Frederick W. Robertson (1816 – 1853)
Sermons, “For All The Saints” volume II, (p. 359)

It is true that we all must work to see G*d as active in our lives every day, not just reflect on G*d’s work in the past. It is hard to see how Jesus performed a miracle 2000 years ago, and the impact that same miracle has on each one of us right now. When the people of the 1st century gazed upon a miracle by Jesus, it was truly an act of G*d, or the Devil. When we see something miraculous happen before us today, we are more likely to say “it was done with smoke and mirrors” or “it is some act of illusion” — rather than to say “thanks be to G*d”.

My friends, even today, G*d can act through the ordinary to do extraordinary things. Every Sunday when the bread and wine are consecrated in Holy Communion, we believe that G*d is “bodily in, under and through the bread and wine” — G*d is doing the extraordinary through ordinary bread and wine. It is being streamed to us live right at that moment — it is not a memorial — G*d comes to us and into us through that act of Communion. And if G*d can act through ordinary bread and wine, who is to say that G*d cannot do amazing things through ordinary you and me? We are fed on bread and wine by an amazing G*d — so let’s get going doing amazing things in the name of the Lord.

Pastor Dave