Tag Archives: Suffering

We do not always know the cause, but we are called to help ease each other’s suffering.

Unknown's avatar Rev. David J. Schreffler 4:44 am on October 10, 2015
Tags: , Suffering   

Let Anger Lead You to Positive Action — Rev. David J. Schreffler

 

image          October 10, 2015

“So then, putting away falsehood, let all of us speak the truth to our neighbors, for we are members of one another. Be angry but do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger” Ephesians 4:25-26

“Last year was the “Year of Outrage,” according to Slate.com. To prove their point, they provided a handy interactive online calendar. You can pick a day, any day, from 2014, click on it, and find out what everyone was outraged about during that particular 24-hour period. Every single day, a new outrage, a new offense, a new anger, over something that someone, somewhere, had done or said. Forget the NFL: Being offended is our national sport. It’s what we do. We’re good at it. It’s righteous. We’re entitled to it. It’s good to be angry, even! Here’s the problem: We’re dead wrong. We’re convinced our anger is justified. It’s righteous. We’re entitled to it. It’s good to be angry, even! Here’s the problem: We’re dead wrong. Anger is universal; it’s an absolutely natural reaction to perceived threat. So the idea that we are to rid ourselves of it as soon as possible is radical indeed. Otherworldly, even. In order to give up our right to anger, we have to crush our own egos. It feels self-diminishing. It’s almost as if God is asking us to deny ourselves entirely. Wait, it’s not “almost” like that at all. It’s exactly like that. But honestly, since when has following Jesus been anything short of radical? And what if—what if !—Christians were the least offend-able people on the planet?” (NO OFFENSE, There’s plenty to get angry about, but what would happen if Christians chose not to take things personally? By Brant Hansen, July 1, 2015)

Yesterday I wrote about admonishing our Christian brothers and sisters in gentle ways rather than in brash and ugly ways. Today we are talking about anger. Brett Hansen will go on to write in this devotion:

“You do well to be angry,” he writes. As I say, people have this memorized. Interestingly, they forget something Paul writes in the exact same passage: “Do not be bitter or angry or mad” (Eph. 4:31 NCV). Let’s be honest: We want to be angry, so we cling to a passage that clearly says yes, it happens. However, we simply cannot take it to mean anger is always a good thing.”

In one instance Paul says “be angry” and in just a few more verses he says “do not be…angry”. Anger can be a motivating reaction, but anger can also encourage a person to look for revenge. Anger, if held onto for any length of time, will most often cause someone to sin. Anger usually is an immediate reaction to an injustice done to ourselves, or done to someone we know — even to complete strangers. But, let the anger lead you to action, positive action to change the injustice, to deal with the situation. The challenge is to do it out of love, and let the anger go. Anger that we hold on to will only eat away at our ability to love unconditionally.

Pastor Dave

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

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