The question of suffering may absorb the minds of theologians & philosophers, but it is not an issue to be debated. Nor is it a problem to be solved. Rather, suffering is a reality to be entered into with compassion and mercy in the name of Christ. When we encounter those who suffer, the Gospel calls us to give our lives and resources to serve & heal. And when we are faced with suffering of our own, the Gospel gives us the assurance of God’s presence & grace, and a community of companions to journey with us. This is the call of the readings this week.
The overwhelming awareness in this week’s Scripture passages is of the reality of suffering, and the pain and indignity that it brings. In Job, the suffering of Job is made worse by his sense of abandonment by God, and his longing to put his case before God. In Psalm 22 the sense of abandonment is echoed, as the Psalmist speaks of being persecuted, without any sense of God’s presence or rescue.
In Hebrews we find the assurance that Jesus is trustworthy because he was tempted as we are and overcame, and because he offers us mercy.
Finally in the Gospel, after graphically revealing how hard it is for the wealthy to embrace the sacrificial life of God’s Reign, Jesus assures his disciples that their sacrifice – and the persecution which they will certainly experience – is not in vain, and that God will restore good things to them.
A huge part of the struggle for those who suffer is the sense of loneliness, isolation and unwantedness that is brought on by the pain, and that heightens it. Even Jesus shared this experience. However, underlying all of it, is the assurance of God’s compassion and the mercy that God offers. And, in Jesus’ words in Marks’ Gospel, there is the call for us to be agents of God’s mercy, grace and friendship.
May we never use our worship as an escape from suffering, but allow it to drive us to be the presence and compassion of God to those who suffer wherever we may.