I enjoyed and was encouraged by that. '24 “A disciple is not above his teacher, nor a servant above his master. 25 It is enough for a disciple that he be like his teacher, and a servant like his master.' Your refrain of 'It is enough' kept pushing this into my mind.(or perhaps the parallel passage I think John 14) I have always thought that someone should write on this passage as a look at the problem of pain, but have never gotten around to it.
Our pain is justified by the fact of His suffering. I can't explain it but it is true. If He suffered then it is right for me to suffer, not for any extraneous cause but simply because being like Him is what I was made for.
I am so sorry for the late reply. SS notifications don’t seem to work half the time. I swear I wrote a response to you, but it’s not here?
You are precisely right re: our pain being justified by His suffering. It is Good and Right that we likewise suffer. Love bears all things, after all: and in a fallen world, most things are, to some extent, suffering.
We were made to bring healing unto others by being broken ourselves. As a beloved saint once wrote to me, we are bruised and crushed so as to be made bread for the hungry. For is that not what Christ did?
Yes. It is no coincidence that in Matthew 5 being salt and light follows hard on the heels of rejoicing in persecution. The salty flavor that the world needs from us is the taste of its own boot-heel, the taste of Elijah persecuted in the desert or Jeremiah's tears. Just as it is when Christ was 'lifted up' that He draws all men to Himself, so we require pain and loss as the medium of our message. The Law can be communicated by angels or simply written on tablets of stone, but the Gospel requires men who have sinned and suffered as its media.
11 Blessed are you when they revile and persecute you, and say all kinds of evil against you falsely for My sake. 12 Rejoice and be exceedingly glad, for great is your reward in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you. 13 “You are the salt of the earth; but if the salt loses its flavor, how shall it be seasoned? It is then good for nothing but[should say 'until' or 'unless' -jc] to be thrown out and trampled underfoot by men. 14 “You are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden.
“I am no expositor; and so I shall stop the sermon before it becomes one.”
I’m not so sure, Paul. All of us at some point of another are called to preach and do the good work that God has set before us- so far as I can tell, you do a pretty good job. Great read
Thank you. You are too kind. You are not the first to say this, either. If anything, I think I am more the Prophet archetype than Pastor. People don’t much like prophets. :)
Perhaps someday. I do not foresee seminary in my future, but there are other paths, of course. Credentialism shall not last forever—but the Church shall.
I am so sorry for you, GGG. I am old acquaintances with such despair. So very many countless days, waking--exhausted--restless, wondering, "Why even bother?" Do not be too unkind or uncharitable towards yourself, though; what you discount as mental health--something which you might classify as "in your control"--may very much be the work of the enemy. There are some whom he buffets far more harshly than others.
God does indeed have us here for a purpose. And not just "us," some grand abstract, but you, even you yourself, your particularly arteries and hair and fingerprints, the flash of your eyes' color, the sound of your voice. You are a grand work of Art in His Eyes. A magnum opus.
I will pray for you. May God flood your days with His Light and Life.
However it may seem, depression and despair are not signs of failure or weakness. They are normal and right responses to a sad and broken world and to the loss that comes from living life as a human being. It is our society's inability to accept and comfort those who mourn that is broken not the mourner. Remember that it is on the depressed and despairing that the Lord set His blessing, 'Blessed are those who mourn for they shall be comforted'.
I enjoyed and was encouraged by that. '24 “A disciple is not above his teacher, nor a servant above his master. 25 It is enough for a disciple that he be like his teacher, and a servant like his master.' Your refrain of 'It is enough' kept pushing this into my mind.(or perhaps the parallel passage I think John 14) I have always thought that someone should write on this passage as a look at the problem of pain, but have never gotten around to it.
Our pain is justified by the fact of His suffering. I can't explain it but it is true. If He suffered then it is right for me to suffer, not for any extraneous cause but simply because being like Him is what I was made for.
I am so sorry for the late reply. SS notifications don’t seem to work half the time. I swear I wrote a response to you, but it’s not here?
You are precisely right re: our pain being justified by His suffering. It is Good and Right that we likewise suffer. Love bears all things, after all: and in a fallen world, most things are, to some extent, suffering.
We were made to bring healing unto others by being broken ourselves. As a beloved saint once wrote to me, we are bruised and crushed so as to be made bread for the hungry. For is that not what Christ did?
Yes. It is no coincidence that in Matthew 5 being salt and light follows hard on the heels of rejoicing in persecution. The salty flavor that the world needs from us is the taste of its own boot-heel, the taste of Elijah persecuted in the desert or Jeremiah's tears. Just as it is when Christ was 'lifted up' that He draws all men to Himself, so we require pain and loss as the medium of our message. The Law can be communicated by angels or simply written on tablets of stone, but the Gospel requires men who have sinned and suffered as its media.
11 Blessed are you when they revile and persecute you, and say all kinds of evil against you falsely for My sake. 12 Rejoice and be exceedingly glad, for great is your reward in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you. 13 “You are the salt of the earth; but if the salt loses its flavor, how shall it be seasoned? It is then good for nothing but[should say 'until' or 'unless' -jc] to be thrown out and trampled underfoot by men. 14 “You are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden.
“I am no expositor; and so I shall stop the sermon before it becomes one.”
I’m not so sure, Paul. All of us at some point of another are called to preach and do the good work that God has set before us- so far as I can tell, you do a pretty good job. Great read
[I thought I was subbed to you?? Remedied...]
Thank you. You are too kind. You are not the first to say this, either. If anything, I think I am more the Prophet archetype than Pastor. People don’t much like prophets. :)
Perhaps someday. I do not foresee seminary in my future, but there are other paths, of course. Credentialism shall not last forever—but the Church shall.
I am so sorry for you, GGG. I am old acquaintances with such despair. So very many countless days, waking--exhausted--restless, wondering, "Why even bother?" Do not be too unkind or uncharitable towards yourself, though; what you discount as mental health--something which you might classify as "in your control"--may very much be the work of the enemy. There are some whom he buffets far more harshly than others.
God does indeed have us here for a purpose. And not just "us," some grand abstract, but you, even you yourself, your particularly arteries and hair and fingerprints, the flash of your eyes' color, the sound of your voice. You are a grand work of Art in His Eyes. A magnum opus.
I will pray for you. May God flood your days with His Light and Life.
However it may seem, depression and despair are not signs of failure or weakness. They are normal and right responses to a sad and broken world and to the loss that comes from living life as a human being. It is our society's inability to accept and comfort those who mourn that is broken not the mourner. Remember that it is on the depressed and despairing that the Lord set His blessing, 'Blessed are those who mourn for they shall be comforted'.
https://comfortwithtruth.substack.com/p/the-beatitudes-and-whats-up-with