Suffering and Obedience

Lent 1 – February 18, 2024

Genesis 9:8-17
Psalm25:1-9
1 Peter 3:18-22
Mark 1:9-15

We usually don't talk about suffering and obedience these days. If someone does talk about suffering it’s usually to complain about how much they have suffered and how unfair life is. When they talk about obedience it is usually someone declaring that no one is going to tell them what to do. But in our lesson from Peter today we hear about both in a completely different light; that Jesus suffered for us and even for those who were disobedient. This places both of these aspects of life in a new perspective. We are called to obedience by God. That obedience is not because we have to do as God says or we will be punished. We obey God out of gratitude for what God has done for us. In fact, without God’s gift of the suffering of Jesus we could not obey God. It is as if God has turned the world upside down. Instead of being rewarded for obeying, we are able to obey because we have received our reward.

This is certainly a strange way to get people to do what you would like them to do. We usually don't pay someone the whole price of some work that they are going to do for us before the work is finished. We all have heard stories like that. It just goes against human behavior. Yet God does it for us. But then, I suppose, God is willing to take the chance on us. And not only once but many times over. Yes, we have already been paid for the task God has commanded of us and we have not finished it. Yet God has not rescinded His gift to us. God has not even taken us to court. Instead God has forgiven us countless times and will do so again. And it is not a horrible task that we are called to do. The command that we are called to obey is to love others as God loves us. You see, the list is not very long. Although many in the church will tell you that it is. They add frivolous things to that list like dancing, playing cards, or going to the movies. God does not want you to live a life of boredom and false hardships. God wants you to enjoy life and all that God has given you. But God also does not guarantee all will be rosy either. God only guarantees that whatever happens in your life you will be loved, nourished, blessed, and forgiven. In other words, God will make you whole.

But then, how are we able to love in a world filled with so much violence, hate, and destruction, when most of society does not see God’s command to love. Nor do they see those God calls us to give special attention to: the orphan, the widow, and the immigrant (alien in your land as the Old Testament says). First of all, as the task seems impossible, remember that you don't do it alone. We do it together. We who are the body of Christ. We work and suffer and celebrate together. Knit into one Holy Church through the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus. So gathering in this place is where we begin our obedience. We continue it when we leave here by reading the Word of God and through prayer. Finally we act on God’s call. And we continue that cycle. As you do you will note that walking with Jesus becomes almost second nature no matter where he leads us.

That is what Lent is all about. We are called to the obedience of lent: Repentance, prayer, fasting, and works of love. This is not a time of self-punishment. It is a time to remember what God has given you and reflect on how you have returned thanks for those gifts. And if you note that you have squandered those gifts, ask for forgiveness and the will to resist doing so again. You have been given all that you need for the task set before you by God. Pray that your work this Lent may be acceptable in God’s eye.