Whatever we think about the suffering of Christ and what the reality of his suffering is seem to be interpreted incorrectly.  We seem to have gotten our understanding wrong.  Some have errantly believed that Christ was punished by God, when in reality he was punished by different sources — not just for what he did, but specifically what he did for us.  He was supposed to capitulate to the temptations placed before him.  He was supposed to bend to the power and will of the religious status quo.  He was supposed to turn his back on those who needed him most to compromise his faith and his understanding of his call.  Yet, he did none of that.  He took upon himself the shame of being with the lowly, the humiliation of hanging out with sinners, the embarrassment of associating with those who were bound to always be denied by God.  And yet, in his refusal to bow to any authority other than God, he “caught the blues”.  He suffered — not for his sake — but for ours.  He bore the pain of persecution for our sake — not for his own.  He endured the suffering so that he could live victoriously — not for his sake — but for ours.  What Christ did, he did to benefit all.  If we are his imitators, then it becomes inescapable for us to love others even if it means we have to suffer for it — not for our benefit — but for others who were like us before Christ chose to suffer for us.  Suffering for the sake of God and God’s righteousness is a powerful witness to the imitation of Christ in our lives and to the power of God as Christ’s witness.

• What comes to your mind when you realize that Christ suffered and died for you?
• Does the idea that because Christ suffered for righteousness sake and that now that responsibility falls on Christian lives everywhere make you anxious about fully imitating Christ?

Todays Prayer

Today’s Prayer —
Loving God, Your gift of grace to me is sometimes overwhelming to me. Empower and strengthen me through times of suffering that I might faithfully imitate Christ in my living and suffering.

         When we perceive the simplicity of Paul’s words — “God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God” — we perceive them as a badge of honor earned by our Christ and placed upon us.  But there is a greater import than the words themselves reveal.  Just as Christ came among us as the righteousness of God and suffered because of it.  By extension of God’s grace and Christ’s righteousness we have inherited not only the glory of our Christ, but also the burden of suffering for the righteousness of God.  It’s not something we think about much.  Perhaps because of our aversion to suffering, pain, being falsely accused and other things that come when we live lives of faith, we pretend that the suffering we endure doesn’t impact us.  And yet as ambassadors of Christ, our lives become subject to the same persecutions and suffering that Christ had to endure.  We speak the same love language, share the same mercies of compassion, draw the attention from those who would rather see people hurt than healed, hungry than fed, homeless rather than housed, and many other ministries we do imitating our Christ.  It’s working to do ministry with the least of those Christ’s brothers and sisters while standing in the breach for the “have not’s” of our culture that draws the retribution of those who lack the compassion to help and not hurt people.  And that is the source of our suffering.  But the cause is our ongoing efforts of faith and faithfulness to imitate our Christ.

• Why do you think showing love and compassion to others causes some people to create situations of suffering for those who do?
• How does suffering for imitating Christ impact your willingness to continue being an ambassador for Christ?

Todays Prayer

Today’s Prayer —
Loving God, in the midst of doing what I can to imitate Christ with my life, help me to remain faithful during times of suffering and persecution.

         In an article published in “FaithWorks”, the issue of persecution was addressed concerning the suffering church.  In the article a list was compiled outlining the degrees of persecution one could face for the practice of religious faith.  They were listed in this order:

1. Disapproval    2.  Ridicule       3.  Pressure to conform      4.  Loss of Educational opportunities     5.  Economic sanctions    6.  Shunning     7.   Alienation from Community      8.  Loss of employment      9.  Loss of property.      10.   Physical abuse.         11.   Mob violence     12.  Harassment by officials     13.   Kidnapping      14.   Forced labor           15.   Imprisonment     16.  Physical torture      17.  Murder or execution

          It would be difficult — given the time difference between Paul’s relationship with the church and ours — if any of those on the above list impacted him.  I can imagine by number, 1, 2, 3, 6, 7, 10, 11, 12, 14, 15, and 16 all impacted Paul’s life.  Not that his list isn’t long enough, but we also — if we are living faithfully — can possibly face the same types of persecution which lead to our mental, emotional, and spiritual suffering.  And yet, the suffering is only redemptive if it emanates from our efforts to do what is right.  The suffering we experience only has true spiritual value if we suffer from our efforts to imitate Christ.  This type of suffering is not masochistic.  It is not suffering for suffering’s sake — because we take some great joy from suffering.  This suffering is endured because our greatest desire is to satisfy the will of our God by imitating Christ.

• Of the numbers listed in the list above, which ones have caused moments or times of suffering in your life?
• How have these times of suffering affected your faith and faithfulness to Christ?

Todays Prayer

Today’s Prayer —
Gracious Christ, help me to become more aware of the times I suffer because of my faithfulness to you. Humble me to find solace in my feeble attempts to live imitating Christ.