INNOCENT SUFFERING

A friend of mine, a retired 76 year old pastor, with 21 others, was deprived of his right to exercise the gifts and spiritual authority conferred in ordination by his denomination. No specific grounds were cited, no offenses defined, no complaints explained, no acts described in detail, and no sufficient facts were given. This minister had faithfully served the Church nearly fifty years. He felt rejected, unwanted, hurt, abandoned, puzzled, disheartened, insulted, harassed, and vilified by those he thought were trusted colleagues and fellow-workers. He was in poor health and complained that no one in authority had ever contacted him personally to express any sort of question, criticism or instruction about his ministry. His experience is another example of loss, and raises the question of how we expect God to take care of us when we or a loved one suffers.

If an enemy were insulting me, I could endure it;

if a foe were raising himself against me, I could hide from him.

But it is you, a man like myself,

my companion, my close friend,

with whom I once enjoyed sweet fellowship

as we walked with the throng at the house of God.

(Psalm 55:12-14)

Suffering takes many forms. Rejection, neglect or betrayal is as painful as any physical pain. When loved ones let us down, fail to support us, abandon us, the pain is intense. How does God take care of us when we suffer this kind of pain towards the end of one’s life and career? It is so easy to feel betrayed by God when we are dying, when we are losing the fight to stay alive. Our enemies can be human, or can be disease. We can feel that God has abandoned us to those who have power to harm us.

“But now you’ve walked off and left us,

You’ve disgraced us and won’t fight for us.

You made us turn tail and run;

those who hate us have cleaned us out.

You delivered us as sheep to the butcher,

you scattered us to the four winds.

You sold your people at a discount –

you made nothing on the sale.”

(Psalm 44:9-12 The Message)

We search our hearts to see if we have done anything to deserve such treatment. What could we have done differently to avoid such a situation as we find ourselves in? We are tempted to blame ourselves, or we feel that others think that we have done something bad for which we are being punished. But in reality much suffering is not our fault. It is dangerous to assume that someone who is in trouble somehow deserves it, and have only themselves to blame.

All this happened to us,

though we had not forgotten you or been false to your covenant.

Our hearts had not turned back;

our feet had not strayed from your path…

If we had forgotten the name of our God

or spread out our hands to a foreign god,

would not God have discovered it.

since he knows the secrets of the heart? (Psalm 44:17-21)

The reality is that we did not do it to ourselves, nor God did do it to us. As Jesus said, “An enemy has done this.” (Matthew 13:28) This saying of Jesus in one of his parables came to me one night when the young wife of a close friend, whose wedding I had conducted, whose daughter I had baptized, died after a battle with cancer. “An enemy” is that material or spiritual entity that seeks to destroy us.

My disgrace is before me all day long,

and my face is covered with shame

at the taunts of those who reproach and revile me,

because of the enemy who is bent on revenge. (Psalm 44:15,16)

Satan wants to derail us and defeat us. Job’s problems were brought on by Satan who couldn’t stand a righteous man being blessed and being a blessing to others. St. Paul warns us that we are engaged in spiritual warfare (Ephesians 6:11,12). St. Peter tells us that “Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. Resist him, standing firm in the faith, because you know that your brothers throughout the world are undergoing the same kind of suffering.” (1 Peter 4:8,9) The enemy uses weak men and women, who are intimidated by those who have been corrupted by power, to inflict suffering on others.

Jesus experienced the betrayal of friends. He calls us all to take up our crosses and follow him. “Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” (Matthew 5:10) He was the Lamb that was sacrificed for the sins of the world. We are called to suffer with him.

Yet for your sake we face death all day long;

we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered. (Psalm 44:23)

Innocent suffering is a privilege experienced for God’s sake. St. Paul quotes this verse to reassure us that suffering cannot separate us from God’s love, but to the contrary it is a sure sign that we are on God’s side. “No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us.” (Romans 8:37) “Suffering may be a battle-scar rather than a punishment; the price of loyalty in a world which is at war with God.” (Derek Kidner)

Unjust suffering stimulates us to call boldly upon God to remember us, to help us, to strengthen us, to defeat the enemy.

Awake, O Lord, Why do you sleep?

Rouse yourself! Do not reject us forever..

Rise up and help us;

redeem us because of your unfailing love. (Psalm 44:23,26)

We need to cry out to God for justice. The neighbor gets up to meet the need of his friend at midnight because he is bold in arousing him. So, Jesus said, “Ask and it will be given you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you.” (Luke 11:5-9) God may appear inattentive to our needs, but in reality he is waiting for us to show how much we want his intervention. We are told to be bold in prayer, and not be afraid to come to God with our anger. He knows the pain in our hearts. He will redeem us because of his unfailing love for us.

Thomas Cranmer, when he wrote the Litany in the Book of Common Prayer, used the first and last verses of Psalm 44 to conclude it with this prayer.

O God, merciful Father, that despisest not the sighing of a contrite heart, nor the desire of such as be sorrowful; Mercifully assist our prayers that we make before thee in all our troubles and adversities, whensoever they oppress us; and graciously hear us, that those evils, which the craft and subtility of the devil or man worketh against us, be brought to nought; and by the providence of thy goodness they may be dispersed; that we thy servants, being hurt by no persecutions, may evermore give thanks unto thee in thy holy Church; through Jesus Christ our Lord.

O Lord arise, help us, and deliver us for thy Name’s sake.

O God, we have heard with our ears, and our fathers have declared unto us, the noble works that thou didst in their days, and in the old time before them.

O Lord, arise, help us, and deliver us for thine honour.