Last Sunday's Thought: Only the suffering God can help

For Dietrich Bonhoeffer the suffering God was not only a consolation in his own suffering. He also discovered that we are called ‘to share in the suffering of God in the world. Christians stand with God in God’s suffering’.

Christians sometimes make poor evangelists for a number of reasons, including excessive modesty and hesitancy or not knowing precisely what to say in response to questioners. Strictly speaking this response is incorrect, because Jesus tells us that when challenged by opponents we will not be left short of the right arguments (‘do not be anxious how or what you will speak, for it will be given to you…’ Matthew 10:19; ‘I will give you the right words and such wisdom that none of your opponents will be able to reply…’: Luke 21:15).

Nevertheless, it is always prudent to have prepared your answers in advance. I thought that by taking Selwyn Hughes, What to say when people need help. A short guide (repr. 2009), I would be able to provide brief summary answers in booklet form. Little did I realize the challenge I was taking on, for much depends on where one is coming from in terms of churchmanship and spirituality; but there is also the question of whether the words that one might offer are likely to do more harm than good. Prayer before each meeting with an individual needing help of whatever kind is indispensable: ‘O God, give me the power to use words that you would wish for, not those which I might blurt out’ – or words to this effect – are in order. 

But there are also issues which we are likely to be questioned about which are deeply controversial in the church: ‘I am attracted to members of the same sex.’ Christians are divided on this point. We each can only offer such advice as is morally consistent with our own position as Christians. How would we deal with a family member who declares his or her homosexuality? There is no case for espousing a principle which we would not apply in practice in such circumstances.

One question is perhaps the most challenging of all: why does God allow so much suffering? In a philosophical sense (theodicy), there is no definitive answer to this question, one which causes many people a great deal of personal anguish. The only answer that works for Christians is the answer of faith. In John 8:32-36, Jesus teaches us that ‘those who sin are slaves to their sin whether they realize it or not’ and ‘they cannot break away from their sin’. Paul takes the argument a stage further, and argues in Romans 6:17-22 that to be ‘set free from sin’, we have to ‘become slaves of righteousness’. Unlike real slaves, however, we do so ‘willingly, joyfully, naturally’, and not by coercion. In Jesus’ words, ‘you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free’ (John 8:32).

This does not mean that we will not encounter evil or suffering in this world; but we will be better able to deal with that we encounter. If Christians know anything about God from the cross, it is that the weakness of God is stronger than men (1 Corinthians 1:25). The cross does not make God a helpless victim of evil, but is the secret of his power and his triumph over evil (Richard Bauckham). This why, as Dietrich Bonhoeffer wrote from Nazi prison, ‘only the suffering God can help’ us.

Jürgen Moltmann writes: ‘The encounter with the suffering God in Christ is a great consolation in our personal life when we are losing beloved ones and have to mourn at their graves. The pain of grief lies in the feeling of losing someone and of being lost oneself. The consolation therefore lies in the experience of indestructible community with God. This is, however, only possible when the Godhead is not an unfeeling, indifferent heavenly power named “fate”, but rather the eternal love who feels and suffers with us. That makes it possible for us to experience in our sorrow, also God’s sorrow and in the pain of our love, God’s pain present. God loves with those who love, God weeps with those who weep, God sorrows with the sorrowful…’

Last Sunday's thought: on the distinction between believers and disciples

   ‘I chose you. And I appointed you to go and bear fruit, fruit that will last, so that the Father will give you whatever you ask him in my name’ (John 15:16).

         Are we just believers in Christ or are we disciples of Christ? There is an important distinction to be made between the ‘believer’ and the ‘disciple’. It is true that we would like there to be as many believers in Christ as possible. It is much preferable for there to be many genuine believers rather than just notional believers. St Paul tells us in 2 Corinthians 5, ‘Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creation: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new’ (2 Cor. 5:17). Or as the New Living Translation of 2007 has it, ‘The old life is gone; a new life has begun!’

         And yet Jesus makes this distinction between believers and disciples. Every disciple is a believer, we may claim. However, not every believer is a disciple. Being a disciple is something more. There is a greater maturity; there is a greater commitment; above all there is greater knowledge and with it, greater understanding of the issues at stake. There are, it has been suggested, at least four distinctions of a disciple: (1) abiding in the Word; (2) loving other disciples; (3) bearing fruit, and (4) being prepared to pay the price of following Jesus.

         ‘If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples’ (John 8:31). You must know and live in His Word to be His disciple. A Christian who does not know and abide in His word is a believer, but not a disciple. Some authorities (e.g. Andreas J. Köstenberger in The Encyclopedia of Christian Civilization [2011], i. 694) emphasise that discipleship refers to ‘a person’s life commitment to a body of teaching as exemplified by the teacher [or rabbi] himself’. By being in a privileged group around Jesus, the first disciples came to know ‘the truth’, and that the truth would make the believer free (John 8:32). For a disciple of Jesus, profound knowledge of, and reflection upon, his teaching is the starting point.

         As for the second distinction of discipleship, many Christians love one another in word but not in deed: they pay lip service to the command that ‘all men will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another’ (John 13:35). The self-giving or agape love taught by Jesus requires fidelity and sincerity. As Paul observed, we must ‘be devoted to one another in brotherly love’. We must ‘honour one another above ourselves’ (Rom. 12:10). Our attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus (Philippians 2:5). We must cease being self-centred and become Christ-centred.

         A believer in Christ may nevertheless be a fruitless believer. A fruitless disciple is a contradiction in terms. ‘By this is My Father glorified, that you bear much fruit, and so become – or prove to be – My disciples’ (John 15:8). The branch abiding in the vine and bearing fruit in John ch 15 is the believer becoming a disciple of Christ. Paul declared to the Romans that he wanted to ‘reap some harvest among’ them as he had ‘among the rest of the Gentiles’ (Rom. 1:13).

         The final distinction between a Christian and a disciple is a particularly hard one, and one where most of us fail: the Christian puts his family first, while the disciple puts Jesus first. Jesus made it clear that His disciples must put Him first above their own families or they could not be His disciples (e.g. Luke 18:29-30). There is no discipleship without cost, Paul says: we have to make ‘a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God’ (Rom 12:1). ‘…none of you can be My disciple who does not give up all’ (Luke 14:33) – that is, it is suggested, ‘all claims to human relationships, self, and possessions’. We are required to be good stewards of what God leaves us with, but we must remember it is on loan for His glory.

         For a time our primary duties may be to our families, because we have a duty of care for sick parents or we have to care for our children. As one pastor puts it, ‘... As God has added more children to my “quiver” (Psalm 127:5), it has become all the more important that I “redeem the time” – not merely “balance” time between family and work, but prioritize my family and in particular seek to share with my children the good and gracious things of the Lord.

But we are not called to do this all our lives. Our children grow up and leave the nest. In large measure we have discharged our duty of care. Then, we are no longer called to remain believers. Jesus calls each and every one of his believers to press on to meet that fourth test, willingness to accept sacrifices, in order to become His disciple.

‘Those who abide in me and I in them bear much fruit, because apart from me you can do nothing…’ ‘My Father is glorified by this, that you bear much fruit and become my disciples.’ In so doing, we receive Christ’s grace or love ourselves. A new life has begun and we move on to strengthen our common life in church, accepting one another’s failings in a spirit of love, and working towards change to the new life for the whole people of God. 

We remember that each one of us has been given a special gift. ‘Each of us was given grace according to the measure of Christ’s gift.’ The ‘measure of Christ’s gift’ in Eph. 4:7 is rendered in the Revised English Version as a ‘due portion in Christ’s bounty’. This is what we all receive through the love of Christ. It is not for us to hide that gift under a bushel. For us to ‘bear much fruit’ in becoming God’s disciples, it is for us to discern that special gift which each of us has and use it here and now in his service, in the mighty task of trying to build up God’s kingdom in this world and not the next.