by Rev. Dr. James I. Lamb
Text: Romans 12:1-21
Introduction
How does a Christian deal with affliction, especially affliction associated with the pain and suffering of a chronic or terminal illness? There are those who say quite sincerely that death is a solution to such afflictions of life. The Hemlock Society of America, for example, says, “Death is not our enemy, suffering is.” For them, death is the compassionate relief of suffering. They are part of a growing movement that supports physician-assisted suicide and euthanasia. This movement includes well-meaning Christians. “After all,” they might say, “what is so wrong with sending grandma to be with Jesus?”
Such thinking is wrong. It is wrong, not because it lacks compassion for the dying, but because it lacks understanding of living. A Christian’s view of life is radically different from the world’s view of life. In the world’s view, life should be free from the crosses of affliction and suffering. In the Christian’s view, life is lived under the cross. Based on the Word of God before us, let’s grow in our understanding of life under the cross.
The Message of the Cross
A necessary place to start is to review the message of the cross. This is what Paul is doing in the first eleven chapters of Romans. The message of the cross is that although we all “have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,” we are “justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus” (Romans 3:23-24). In other words, because of our sin we all deserved Hell not the glory of God. God, however, left his glory and, in the person of Jesus Christ, suffered the Hell we deserved as he hung there forsaken on the cross. Through faith in this suffering that Jesus endured in our place, we have forgiveness of our sins and we are seen by God as being “good” or as Paul puts it, “This righteousness of God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe” (Romans 3:22).
The message of the cross is that God was there revealing the great depth of his love for sinful mankind in the midst of suffering. “What foolishness,” the world might say. It is foolishness to the world, but faith sees things differently. The world sees that nothing good can come from suffering. Faith sees that the greatest of all good came from suffering.
Under the Cross We Are Transformed to Live Differently
Faith in the “foolishness” of the cross transforms us to live differently. Paul says, “Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.” He makes a radical contrast with the words “conform” and “transformed.” To conform to the pattern of the world is to outwardly behave the way the world is behaving. That is exactly what we are doing when we use that popular excuse, “Well, everybody else is doing it.”
Transformation, however, is something that happens on the inside. It is not outward behavior that is changed. We are changed! Transformed people do not say, “I’m not going to behave that way anymore.” They say, “I just can’t behave that way anymore.” Life under the cross is lived differently because of who we are—redeemed children of God.
Oh, that does not mean we will always behave properly. Even Paul says, “For what I do is not the good I want to do; no, the evil I do not want to do—this I keep on doing” (Romans 7:19). We can all identify with Paul’s struggle. There are those pesky sins that just keep coming back no matter how hard we try to get rid of them. Life under the cross, however, means that we live in grace and have the renewal and hope that forgiveness brings. When Jesus died on the cross, he died for our sins once and for all. Our transformation, however, is an ongoing process that will never be completed until our Lord takes us out of this sinful world and this sinful flesh. Nevertheless, God’s Word, the recalling of our baptisms, and the holy meal of his Body and Blood, strengthen our faith and constantly transform us to live differently than the world. We can “hate what is evil” and “cling to what is good” (vs. 9). We can “be devoted to one another in brotherly love” and “honor one another above [ourselves]” (vs. 10). Paul reminds us that we are transformed to be part of a body. “In Christ we who are many form one body, and each member belongs to all the others” (vs. 5).
We Live Differently in the Face of Suffering
Because of all of this, we can also live differently in the face of pain and suffering. There are those who say the way to face suffering is to kill the sufferer. There are an increasing number who see those who are suffering as being burdens. Derek Humphrey, founder of the Hemlock Society, refers to the elderly, for example, as “greedy geezers” who are putting a strain on our health care system.
Under the cross, however, we do not see people who are suffering as burdens. A hospice worker stated, “I have participated in the intensely human drama that surrounds dying. I’ve witnessed the difficulties, I’ve smelled the odors, I’ve seen the unpleasant liquids which assisted suicide advocates claim make life at the end inherently undignified, horrific, and hence worthy of a death sentence. Yet, such conditions need not diminish the inherent value of human life. Dying people remain people, and when properly treated, they usually transcend the limitations of their physical conditions—especially if they know they are cared for and about.” This is how those who live under the cross view suffering and dying. Our task is not to see grandma’s suffering as a burden and send her to be with Jesus. Our task is to carry grandma’s burdens until Jesus sends his angels to her. One of the easiest and most effective ways to do that is showing by our words and deeds that she is cared for and about. Life under the cross enables us to live differently.
Under the Cross We Are Transformed to Think Differently
Life under the cross also enables us to think differently, to have an attitude about things that the world just cannot have. Paul talks about three such attitudes in verse twelve.
Joyful in Hope
First, we can be “joyful in hope.” Because the greatness of God’s love for us is seen ‘hidden” in the cross, the cross gives us the certain hope of that love. In chapter eight, Paul writes, “He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all—how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things?” Unlike the world, our joy is not tied to joyful circumstances. Increasingly we hear advocates of euthanasia and assisted suicide talk about quality of life. The world ties joy and happiness and purpose and meaning to certain criteria of physical, emotional, and mental health. When they do, they come to the same conclusion that many did in Nazi Germany that there are certain “lives not worthy of life.”
Christian joy, however, is tied to the certain hope that God’s love gives worth and value to human life whether or not it has quality in the eyes of the world. We have hope in the certainty that as long as God gives life, God gives life purpose and meaning. Christian joy is tied to the presence of this hope and not to the absence of pain and suffering.
Patient in Affliction
This does not mean, of course, that a Christian will necessarily enjoy pain and suffering! That’s why Paul talks next about being “patient in affliction.” Luther once said, “Affliction is the best book in my library.” He could say that because he understood life under the cross. He understood that just as God was at work in love through the suffering of the cross, so his love is at work in the suffering of his people.
In an old book entitled Christ and Human Suffering, E. Stanley Jones writes, “He [Jesus] did not bear the cross—he used it! There at the cross was the deepest injustice ever done, and Jesus turns it all into a healing of injustice and sin. There men were at their worst, and through it Jesus reveals God at his best. There hate was bitterest, and there Love met it and conquered it by taking it into his own heart and transforming it. The darkest hour of history becomes the lightest! The cross becomes a throne! The end—a new beginning.”
God has a way with crosses! God has a way of working in affliction. That is why he never promises his people the absence of affliction. Indeed, Jesus said, “In the world you will have affliction” (John 16:33). Sin sees to that. But Jesus had more to say. “Take heart! I have overcome the world.” The afflictions Christians face become tools in God’s hands of love through which he disciplines and teaches and refines. He does this, the writer to the Hebrews says, so that we might “share in his holiness” (Hebrews 12:10).
This is the view of affliction that life under the cross gives. It is radically different than the world gives. The world sees no purpose in affliction, especially the suffering associated with dying. The world defines compassion as ending suffering by ending life. Those who live under the cross would define compassion suffering with people, caring for them, and allowing God to do his work. The God who created the world out of nothing, the God whose mighty power is seen again and again in the pages of Scripture, can certainly accomplish his will even in the most desperate of human conditions.
Any pastor could tell you of the blessings of affliction they have seen. Such blessings come not only to those who suffer but also to those family members, friends, and caregivers who are part of the process. Sins confessed, sins forgiven, old wounds healed, new bonds established, priorities reestablished, love strengthened, faith renewed, God’s grace acknowledged—all these and so much more form a litany of blessings that God can use for his eternal purpose and for the ultimate good of his people.
Patience in affliction, then, comes from living life under the cross. Patience in affliction is knowing that because of the cross nothing can separate us from God’s love. Patience in affliction comes from knowing that because of the cross God’s love is at work in affliction. Patience in affliction comes from knowing that because of the cross victory has been won and our affliction is but light and momentary compared to the glory that awaits us.
Faithful in Prayer
Finally, life under the cross helps us think differently about prayer. Prayer under the cross is best exemplified by Jesus’ story of the Pharisee and the tax collector praying in the temple. We do not stand under the cross boasting of our accomplishments and thanking God we are not like other, less godly types. We stand with head bowed acknowledging that our sin put Jesus on that cross. We stand knowing that all we can say is “God be merciful to me a sinner.” We stand, however, knowing that mercy is given, and because it is, the barrier between God and ourselves is torn down. We can talk with him. We can make our requests known to him. We can be open with him about our frustrations because of our afflictions and sufferings. David in the Psalms is a good example of someone who felt free to make his requests and his feelings known to God with petitions like, “Why have you forsaken me?” We know that God understands such prayers. Jesus prayed one himself from the cross. We can be faithful in prayer under the cross because the cross assures us of a listening and merciful God.
Life under the cross—it is a radically different life than the world would live. It is a life of sacrifice, putting the needs of others before our own. It is a life of joyful hope, even in the midst of pain and suffering. It is a life of patient endurance in affliction because of the knowledge that God’s love is at work in our suffering. It is a life of faithful prayer because we know we have a merciful and understanding God. Life under the cross—no matter what the circumstances—is life worth living!