We all suffer. Granted, Aquinas has spoken of the degrees of perfections of things, and so some people suffer more than others do. But we all suffer, regardless. And suffering is painful. Think of how you suffer in your own life. Think of how your loved ones suffer as well. Painful, ain't it? Sure thing. But suffering is useful for salvation. It makes you strong. They say that gold is purified by fire, and that whatever does not kill a person only serves to make them stronger. And suffering is both like fire, and something that at first seems like it might kill us. Yesterday, I was watching an episode of 7th Heaven, the one in which Lucy's friend dies. Lucy is so distraught by the death that she cannot even allow anyone to console her. Her mother tries to embrace Lucy, to comfort her, but Lucy vehemently pushes her mother away and flings herself to the floor in paroxysms of passionate weeping. Her father picks her up and holds her tightly in his manly embrace, but even then Lucy struggles to break free from him. Her father shouts: "Lucy, it's not your fault!" Please let us console you! But Lucy keeps struggling. She is fighting her pain. She is suffering.
Periods of suffering are periods when the spirit is quarreling with the body. The inadequacy of the body is brought powerfully to the human consciousness. We are vulnerable. We realize that we are in need of consolation. The spirit is in crisis mode: Should it stay with the body or should it leave it? Think of Lucy pulling away from her mother and throwing herself to the floor. Think of the anguish of such a situation. Think of the spirit seemingly threatening to leave the body, while the body desperately clings on. In cases of severe depression, the body even loses the fight to hang on to the spirit. The soul is defeated. Suffering! The things it can do. It seems as if it just might kill us. But recall: Whatever does not kill a person only serves to make the person stronger. Lucy did in fact get better. Gradually, with the help of her family especially and a couple of friends, she was able to pick herself up and dust herself off and continue along her way. Think of the classic case of Jesus' falling three times as he carried his cross to Calvary. Each time, he picked himself up and continued the journey. He was not going to lose the battle against negative emotions in himself and the world.
Periods of suffering are periods of test. Since gold is tested by fire, and we are gold in the eyes of God (are precious to him), he tests us. Think about Job. He was so dear to the Lord that God boasted about him when Satan came visiting. God was telling Satan: "See, I have a great stack of gold coins in Job (Job is so very precious to me)!" And Satan was so jealous. He said, "Well, is it not because of all the fine things you give him that Job stays loyal to you! Just send him suffering and see if he will not forsake you." God retorted, "As if...!" And he gave Satan the go-ahead to torment Job. So it was that, as Job's children were having a get-together, Satan pushed the roof of the house down and killed all of them. Quickly then, he ran to the fields where Job's cattle were grazing and killed all of them. He made Job poor and bereaved in one day. Job was overwhelmed with suffering. He was very sad. But he did not desert God. He did not disrespect his Lord. And God was happy. The next time Satan came visiting, God said: "I told you! I told you Job was as good as gold." Satan was infuriated and very jealous. He said, "Well, it's because you keep him so healthy. If you plied him with sickness, he would surely desert you." God said: "As if...!" And he gave Satan the go-ahead to strike Job with sicknesses. Satan struck Job with severe boils and rashes, so much so that Job was pretty much on the verge of simply dying from suffering. His wife said: "Are you still subsisting? Why not just curse God and die!" Job rebuked her. Also, Job's friends came and tortured him with their unkind words, but Job did not disrespect God. And when God saw how Job did not disrespect him, but kept faith through all the suffering, God restored everything that Job had lost, and even gave him more.
Periods of suffering are periods of witness. They are opportunities for us to give testimony to the power of God before others. Think about Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego. They chose to eat vegetables, rather than eat meat sacrificed to idols, and God made them appear healthier than all the other page boys, who ate from their master the king's table. But the bigger opportunity for witness came when King Nebuchadnezzar built a statue of himself. He said: "At the sound of music, everyone must bow down and worship this awesome statue of my very self, which I have made. Anyone that does not bow - indeed, I will torture that person thoroughly." And so, at the sound of music, everyone fell down face forward and worshipped the awesome statue that Nebuchadnezzar had made of himself. That is, all except Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego. Some people saw that Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego refused to bow down to the statue of the king at the sound of music, and they went and reported the matter to him. The king was furious. He quickly sent for Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego. He said to them: "What is this I hear? Is it true that, at the sound of music, you refuse to bow down to the awesome statue I have made of myself? Listen, punks, you had better bowed down, at the sound of music, to the statue I have made, or else I will throw you all into a furnace of fire, and let me see what power will save you from the fire." Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego said to him: "The reason we do not bow to your statue is that we bow only to God. He has the power to save us from the furnace of fire, but -" Listen people, this is my favorite set of words in the entire Old Testament, next to Esther 6:1a. Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego said: "but even if he does not, we will still not bow to your statue"! Imagine that.
Just take a minute to ponder that. Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego knew that God could save them from the flames. But their faith transcended God's deliverance of them, so much so that they were prepared not to be saved, as long as they kept their faith in him. Their faith in God was so great that it transcended physical demonstrations of it. And the king was so furious to hear such audacity that he had the lads thrown into the fire. [Now, this must have been a very difficult decision for the king to make - throwing the lads into the fire, that is. Think of all the money he had spent on their training as page boys. But he was not going to stomach their audacity at all.] And when the king did throw the boys into the fire, God did in fact save them, even if he didn't have to.
Periods of suffering are periods of triumph. Think about the cross. In Ancient Rome, it was a symbol of shame and disgrace, especially to be crucified - it was a death for criminals alone - but Jesus turned it into a symbol of triumph. In our day, we make the sign of the cross to bless ourselves and - for me, and I hope for you as well, since our discourse on my concept of sacrifices - to destroy negative emotions. The suffering that Jesus endured on the cross became the instrument of our salvation and our lasting pride and victory over evil. Indeed, suffering saves us. Jesus' suffering has saved us from eternal damnation in hell. We are blessed and perpetually set free.
Let us therefore bless the Lord, even in periods of suffering, and praise him all our days. Amen.
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