Suffering and the Kingdom of God

"And so our good Lord answered 

to all the questions and doubts

that I might make

saying comfortingly:

I may make all things well,

I can make all things well,

I will make all things well,

and I shall make all things well;

and thou shall see thyself

that all manner of things shall be well."  

-- Julian of Norwich 

Before I discuss this difficult subject -- suffering and the Kingdom of God, I must admit that I have not endured much suffering.  Granted, as a pastor, I have seen great physical, mental and emotional suffering, but I have not personally experienced anything that could be considered what St. John of the cross described as a "dark night of the soul." 

Also, I want to note that I know there have been many studies done on suffering by much smarter people than myself...therapists, psychologists, theologians and ethicist undoubtedly have a more educated "take" on the subject...Instead, my goal is to provide a simple and brief pastoral interpretation. 

 I have been more and more aware of believers and preachers begging God to remove them from their current suffering (whatever that may be).  I have even witnessed believers teaching those in the midst of suffering the awful lie that their current suffering is a result of a lack of faith --  Many of our friends practicing the  "Health and Wealth" version of Christianity ascribe to that notion.

The popularity of this innocent yet incorrect teaching has prompted me to write this brief entry, if only to correct the misleading theology in my own mind. 

I do not want to bore you with theology or lecture you on the cause of suffering....so let me share my response to our "Health and Wealth" friends by describing some events that have recently occurred in my ministry. 

Like all pastors, I deal with suffering and death on a regular basis.  Recently, a wonderful member of our church was put on hospice care and given days to live.  Due to my unfortunate familiarity with the  dying, upon visiting her I knew that she had at least a week of pain and suffering before she passed.  A week ended up being 10 days.  I just officiated her funeral last Friday (9/21).

She was a wonderful woman, full of the Holy Spirit, dedicated to advancing the Kingdom of God and being the hands and feet of Christ in the world.  She dripped with kindness and love was always overflowing from the cup of her heart. 

She had been dealing with this disease on and off for thirteen years....always with an attitude of grace and joy.  Our church loved her and her husband so much.

When the disease reared its ugly head again and began to take over her body for good, the church flocked to her side and offered a steady stream of divine love. 

At one point, during one of her "bad days" I was sitting with her and her husband in the living room of their house.  They both began crying and apologizing for being a burden to the church and to me.  She said, "I want so much to get better. I have prayed so diligently for healing...Brad, why has God not answered?"  As a pastor, I know that we all have "bad days" (even when we are not sick) and each of us at some point asks that same question. 

I took her hand and responded, "I want you to know that because of your suffering and how you have so graciously handled your disease, you have brought the Kingdom of God to our church.  The Kingdom of God is characterized by love, grace, peace, kindness and power.  And, I have never seen so much love in a church....so many people praying....so many people coming together and so many people offering grace....and it is all because of you....they are coming together because of you.  I want to thank you for bringing us a piece of the Kingdom of God.  Your suffering is not in vain."

Her eyes titled up to the left in a thoughtful position...I could tell the wheels in her head were spinning...she had never thought about her suffering in that way before.  I let her think, then said a prayer and left.

In the end, I believe this wonderful woman came to understand that her suffering was inevitable ("We are all children of Job." Dr. Milton Horne), Spirit-filled, life-giving (in a wonderfully odd and divine way), and it brought the entire church closer to the glorious Kingdom of God.

I believe there is a viable Christian hermeneutic that reveals individual suffering (if received in a healthy way) as a process that produces the following results:   a greater understanding of God's presence by the individual and the community to which he/she belongs, a unique experience with God (seeing that he is always closest to those in need/want/pain), a deeper understanding of the suffering of Christ and strength for the end of the journey. 

Remember, Jesus himself was not immune to suffering...he was "pushed out into the wilderness" at the beginning of his ministry and he was encouraged by his father to drink the cup of the cross in the garden of Gethsemene.  In addition, all of the disciples experienced a great deal of painful suffering in the post-resurrection era. 

Perhaps we should attempt to alter our view of Christian suffering from something to be delivered from to something to learn and experience in and through.