I understand the extent of Dianne's forgiveness demonstrates the depth of her faith. And we should all desire to have such faith that if we were faced with a similar challenges we could emerge on the other side with such forgiveness.
And yet it feels incomplete to think of our faith as simply allowing us to endure great suffering and live uprightly in a profoundly broken world. Such faith would mostly be good for this life only. But shouldn't the real goal of our faith and endurance be to train our appetites and desires for God so that our joy is complete and upon meeting Him?
Perhaps endurance is a byproduct and not the objective of our faith. After all isn't what allowed Christ to suffer was the joy set before him? And didn't Paul say we are most to be pitied and our faith in vain if there is no resurrection to be with Christ?
I don't think you mean that the goal of our faith should be to suffer well and you probably meant to write a meditation on forgiveness. And I agree the more we have faith, the better we can endure suffering. But its good to remind ourselves that a life of faith is not only a life of suffering. It's a life preparing for greater joy.
I totally agree that suffering is not an end in itself and that the goal of faith is not endurance of suffering. Endurance is not the goal. Rather, endurance is the means through which God conforms us to the image of Christ, as it says at the beginning of James 1: "Consider it pure joy whenever you face trials of various kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance (endurance). Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete (perfect in Greek!) lacking in nothing."
So in James, suffering becomes sacramental when faith is tested to develop endurance, and that endurance leads us into conformity to (and fellowship with!) Christ. Endurance isn't the goal of faith. Communion with God in Christ is the goal of faith. Faith is strengthened and deepened and made more effective through suffering. And the fire of suffering is used by God to forge saints. That's what I was getting at.
When suffering is used by God to transform us and conform us to Christ's image, then we become a sign to others of Christ. Suffering becomes sacramental in a missional way as others see us imaging Christ through endurance, through the sanctifying effect that faithful suffering has.
I agree that the life of faith is not only a life of suffering! Praise God! And I agree that faith leads us toward the final joy of seeing our Lord face to face. I also think that there can be joy even in the midst of present suffering, not because the suffering is pleasant, but because we must cling to Christ to endure the suffering. He meets us in it when we suffer faithfully, and there is joy in that because He IS our joy.
Some additional wisdom on this important topic from Andrew White, the Anglican bishop who founded a mission church in Baghdad following the Iraq war: "Forgiveness is the only thing that prevents the pain of the past from determining what the future is going to be".
One question. Admittedly it's a belated question I should have asked before reading "the sacramental substack". What is sacramental?
My 5yo articulation before reading this article is that something is sacramental if it allows us to identify and partake with Christ and so draw closer to him. In that sense communion is sacramental as is the suffering described (the descent to hell, the wrestling with God, providing forgiveness, etc).
But also in this article I am struck by the necessity of faith. If something is sacramental, it is a participation in something greater than we understand. There's the tension of what we are called to do vs what we are able to do and faith is the means to invite Christ in so we can do it with him and through him.
But if that's the case, is suffering particularly sacramental? In everyday life we are called to forgive, encourage, endure, give, love, etc. If all of these require a certain extent of faith to overcome our natural tendencies to self-preservation and -gratification and in so doing experience the grace of God are these also sacramental?
Hey Darryl, great questions. Thanks for asking! I'll offer a response, but if I don't scratch where you're itching here, please say so.
You're not the first person to ask, "What is sacramental," which tells me I need to write something to clarify what we mean by it. I think what you articulate is pretty close to what I mean by sacramental. In the first real post, I make the case that everything is sacramental, or at least potentially so (https://sacramental.substack.com/p/on-developing-a-sacramental-vision). To the extent that we allow the suffering we experience or the common annoyances (or the happy moments too!) to draw us deeper into fellowship with God, these things become sacramental for us.
Where I think suffering is maybe particularly sacramental is that it's the direction Jesus went in His life. We know the Lord is IN suffering because He suffered for our sake, for love. When we are able to suffer in communion with Him (Yes! By faith!), He seems to use that suffering to draw us deeper into Himself and transform us in the process. Suffering is at least a means through which we can be "crucified with Christ' (Gal. 2:20), and so our conformity to Him is sped up in the process.
That is, as long as we cling to Him by faith through it. If we allow suffering to embitter us and make us cynical, it can distance us from Him. But then again, maybe that's also sacramental. After all, Paul says if we receive the sacrament in an "unworthy manner" we eat and drink judgment on ourselves. So in a sense, suffering without faith becomes a form of judgment, rather than a means of grace. I'll have to think that one through more though….
Another question/comment:
I understand the extent of Dianne's forgiveness demonstrates the depth of her faith. And we should all desire to have such faith that if we were faced with a similar challenges we could emerge on the other side with such forgiveness.
And yet it feels incomplete to think of our faith as simply allowing us to endure great suffering and live uprightly in a profoundly broken world. Such faith would mostly be good for this life only. But shouldn't the real goal of our faith and endurance be to train our appetites and desires for God so that our joy is complete and upon meeting Him?
Perhaps endurance is a byproduct and not the objective of our faith. After all isn't what allowed Christ to suffer was the joy set before him? And didn't Paul say we are most to be pitied and our faith in vain if there is no resurrection to be with Christ?
I don't think you mean that the goal of our faith should be to suffer well and you probably meant to write a meditation on forgiveness. And I agree the more we have faith, the better we can endure suffering. But its good to remind ourselves that a life of faith is not only a life of suffering. It's a life preparing for greater joy.
I totally agree that suffering is not an end in itself and that the goal of faith is not endurance of suffering. Endurance is not the goal. Rather, endurance is the means through which God conforms us to the image of Christ, as it says at the beginning of James 1: "Consider it pure joy whenever you face trials of various kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance (endurance). Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete (perfect in Greek!) lacking in nothing."
So in James, suffering becomes sacramental when faith is tested to develop endurance, and that endurance leads us into conformity to (and fellowship with!) Christ. Endurance isn't the goal of faith. Communion with God in Christ is the goal of faith. Faith is strengthened and deepened and made more effective through suffering. And the fire of suffering is used by God to forge saints. That's what I was getting at.
When suffering is used by God to transform us and conform us to Christ's image, then we become a sign to others of Christ. Suffering becomes sacramental in a missional way as others see us imaging Christ through endurance, through the sanctifying effect that faithful suffering has.
I agree that the life of faith is not only a life of suffering! Praise God! And I agree that faith leads us toward the final joy of seeing our Lord face to face. I also think that there can be joy even in the midst of present suffering, not because the suffering is pleasant, but because we must cling to Christ to endure the suffering. He meets us in it when we suffer faithfully, and there is joy in that because He IS our joy.
Some additional wisdom on this important topic from Andrew White, the Anglican bishop who founded a mission church in Baghdad following the Iraq war: "Forgiveness is the only thing that prevents the pain of the past from determining what the future is going to be".
Love that quote, Pat. Thanks for sharing!
One question. Admittedly it's a belated question I should have asked before reading "the sacramental substack". What is sacramental?
My 5yo articulation before reading this article is that something is sacramental if it allows us to identify and partake with Christ and so draw closer to him. In that sense communion is sacramental as is the suffering described (the descent to hell, the wrestling with God, providing forgiveness, etc).
But also in this article I am struck by the necessity of faith. If something is sacramental, it is a participation in something greater than we understand. There's the tension of what we are called to do vs what we are able to do and faith is the means to invite Christ in so we can do it with him and through him.
But if that's the case, is suffering particularly sacramental? In everyday life we are called to forgive, encourage, endure, give, love, etc. If all of these require a certain extent of faith to overcome our natural tendencies to self-preservation and -gratification and in so doing experience the grace of God are these also sacramental?
Hey Darryl, great questions. Thanks for asking! I'll offer a response, but if I don't scratch where you're itching here, please say so.
You're not the first person to ask, "What is sacramental," which tells me I need to write something to clarify what we mean by it. I think what you articulate is pretty close to what I mean by sacramental. In the first real post, I make the case that everything is sacramental, or at least potentially so (https://sacramental.substack.com/p/on-developing-a-sacramental-vision). To the extent that we allow the suffering we experience or the common annoyances (or the happy moments too!) to draw us deeper into fellowship with God, these things become sacramental for us.
Where I think suffering is maybe particularly sacramental is that it's the direction Jesus went in His life. We know the Lord is IN suffering because He suffered for our sake, for love. When we are able to suffer in communion with Him (Yes! By faith!), He seems to use that suffering to draw us deeper into Himself and transform us in the process. Suffering is at least a means through which we can be "crucified with Christ' (Gal. 2:20), and so our conformity to Him is sped up in the process.
That is, as long as we cling to Him by faith through it. If we allow suffering to embitter us and make us cynical, it can distance us from Him. But then again, maybe that's also sacramental. After all, Paul says if we receive the sacrament in an "unworthy manner" we eat and drink judgment on ourselves. So in a sense, suffering without faith becomes a form of judgment, rather than a means of grace. I'll have to think that one through more though….