the Seventh Sunday of Easter

1 Peter 4. 12-14; 5. 6-11
Suffering, in the church, is just another word for love!

The proverb – in one form or another – has been around for a hundred generations. It’s most recent incarnation – and the one with which we’re, probably, most familiar – comes from an aerobics routine of the ‘80s … “No pain, no gain!” In other words, you don’t get something for nothing! Anything worthwhile doesn’t come free! It demands blood and sweat and tears! And they’re words we Americans take to heart. Words we live by. Everything has a price. Everything a transaction, a quid-pro-quo, a something-for-something. And that something requires – it demands – sacrifice! No pain, no gain! No guts, no glory! And of course, the church’s version … No cross, no crown!

First Peter. Chapter four. Verses twelve and thirteen …

Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery ordeal that is taking place among you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you. But rejoice in so far as you are sharing Christ’s sufferings, [so far as you are sharing Christ’s passion, so far as you are sharing Christ’s cross] …

Rejoice! Be glad! Shout for joy! No pain, no gain! No cross, no crown! Just do it!

It’s all about the suffering! The suffering and the glory only suffering brings! There’s something good about it! Something godly about it! Something holy! Suffering! And this first letter of Peter reeks of it! From start to finish! From beginning to end! Take Jesus as an example! Do what he’s done! Run the race! Fight the fight! Then claim the cup! The medal! The crown! No pain, no gain! No cross, no crown! It’s about as American as it gets! But once again, the exceptional gets in the way. The extraordinary confuses. Distracts.

You see, suffering, here in the church, has a very specific, a very particular, meaning. It isn’t, merely, the blood, sweat, and tears. And it’s not, simply, the workout and routine. Here in this place, here among this people, suffering is nothing that another word for love! Suffering’s the thorn on the stem of a rose! It’s the arrow through the heart on a valentine card! It’s the thorns and the nails of the cross!

That’s what the poet was celebrating in the gathering song, this morning … “Faithful cross, true sign of triumph, be for all the noblest tree; none in foliage, none in blossom, none in fruit your equal be; symbol of the world’s redemption, for your burden makes us free!” Jesus loves! Jesus sacrifices! Jesus suffers! Not for what he gets out of it. But for what those he loves get from it! He doesn’t suffer, simply to suffer! He suffers for us! He suffers because of us! That’s what love does! What charity, what grace, what love does! For Jesus – for us – it’s not suffering for suffering’s sake! He suffers – we suffer – because that’s what love does! Suffer because we love. Suffer, also, because we love the wrong people.

Instead of loving the people the world thinks we should love. The people we’re obligated, duty-bound, to love! People like the powerful and the rich. Like the mighty and the high. Instead, he loved – loves – the lowest and the least! Jesus wasn’t nailed to the cross because of the songs he sang. Jesus wasn’t nailed to a cross because of the prayers he said. He wasn’t nailed to a cross because of the book he read. He was nailed to a cross because he loved the wrong people! He loved the people who had nothing. He loved the people who were nothing. The forgotten and the ignored. The crumpled up and the tossed aside. He loved the foolish and the weak. The hungry and the poor. He loved those who would forever remain faceless, nameless. A rabble rouser! That’s what he’d be called, today. Suffering for the tired and poor! For the huddled masses! The wretched refuse! The homeless! The tempest-tossed! Suffering for the ones not worth the price! Who have nothing! Who have no one!

No pain … for Jesus is no gain … for us! No cross … is no crown! No pain, no cross, no suffering, no love! Jesus’ world didn’t revolve around the movers and the shakers! For that matter, his world didn’t revolve around god, either! At least, no n the way we usually imagine! Jesus’ life, Jesus’ world, revolved around the forsaken and the forlorn! And it’s his suffering, his cross, that echoes and reflects his commitment, his devotion! Lifting up the lowly and scattering the arrogant in their conceit! Filling the hungry and sending the rich away with nothing! It’s that love that flips the world upside down! It’s that suffering that turns it inside out! As god raises up a nation not from royalty, but from servants and from slaves!

And so, he suffers twice. Suffers from the love itself. And suffers because he loves whom he does. For kings want to remain kings and priests want to stay high. And Jesus’ love is a threat, a danger, to all that! So he makes sacrifices … and he suffers … Because to do anything else – to do anything less – just isn’t love! Pulling back? Pulling away? Is not an option! Not for God! Not for Jesus! Not, even, for us! We are a partner in Christ’s sacrifice, as the song says. We are clothed in Christ’s humanity! Clothed in Christ’s divinity, as well! And we have no mission … but to sacrifice … and to suffer … and to love! To care for all! But especially, specifically, to care for the rabble! For the uncouth! For the vulgar! For the people who aren’t worth it! The time and trouble! The effort and the energy! The blood! The sweat! The tears!

So, my friends, what would Jesus do? What has Jesus done? He sacrifices! He suffers! He loves! As Jesus’ people, we go and do the same! Sacrifice! Suffer! Love! Just! Like! Jesus!

Posted by Midland Lutheran Church on Sunday, May 24, 2020
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