Sharing in Redemptive Suffering.
Good Morning Friends,
What is the most painful test you have encountered in leadership? Christ’s was undoubtedly the decision of the cross and the crosses the disciples were to carry as well. Here even Christ needs consoling. And as I contemplate it this morning, in hope of the dawn, I realize that joy is bought with sacrifice and with the price of love, a pain that allows us to participate in mankind’s redemption. No God does not need us for the redemption of the world but does allow us to participate in it. It is both a test of character and courage. It is here that in service we learn that joy is bought with suffering. We learn that the ever widening circle of transformational love is bought with a price. Friends, labor pain of the birth of any new creation is unavoidable. Leadership is not comfortable. Building up the Body of Christ is about Sharing in Redemptive Suffering.
Scripture: Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, for the sake of the promise of life that is in Christ Jesus, To Timothy, my beloved child: Grace, mercy, and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord. I am grateful to God–whom I worship with a clear conscience, as my ancestors did–when I remember you constantly in my prayers night and day. Recalling your tears, I long to see you so that I may be filled with joy. I am reminded of your sincere faith, a faith that lived first in your grandmother Lois and your mother Eunice and now, I am sure, lives in you. For this reason I remind you to rekindle the gift of God that is within you through the laying on of my hands; for God did not give us a spirit of cowardice, but rather a spirit of power and of love and of self-discipline.
2 Timothy 1:1-7 (NRSV)
I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory about to be revealed to us. For the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the children of God; for the creation was subjected to futility, not of its own will but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to decay and will obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God. We know that the whole creation has been groaning in labor pains until now; and not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the first fruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly while we wait for adoption, the redemption of our bodies. For in
hope we were saved. Now hope that is seen is not hope. For who hopes for what is seen? But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience.
Romans 8:18–25 (NRSV)
I am now rejoicing in my sufferings for your sake, and in my flesh I am completing what is lacking in Christ’s afflictions for the sake of his body, that is, the church.
Colossians 1:24 (NRSV)
And going a little farther, he threw himself on the ground and prayed, “My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from me; yet not what I want but what you want.”
Matthew 26:39 (NRSV)
Message: The way to live the good life, the way to triumph over trials is to pray through the pain of life. Sometimes that means facing a pain that others might avoid. Sometimes we need to join with Christ to make amends when others will not. Mercy and grace often requires a reparation that is not self-imposed but submitting to an opportunity to participate with God in the Redemption of Mankind. No Christ the Suffering Servant does not need us but teaches us as Paul is evidence, that forgiving for the sins of others and offering up suffering is an act of love that can be one of the greatest joys we can experience. No do not go beat yourself up but do know that there is a suffering with Christ that can bring joy in the knowledge that it expands love as a gift that builds up the Body of Christ even as it transforms the mind.
Pray our suffering is not wasted. Pray also it is taken away. Pray that the suffering we do have is used to save others from even greater suffering. Pray we have the courage to love. Pray God’s peace helps us to face life’s challenges. Pray we submit to the will of God. Pray we suffer through the process of building up the body to discover an ever widening circle of greater joy.
Blessings,
John Lawson
Daily Devotionals 