SUFFERING IN SILENCE

Jeremiah 48:1-49:22; 2 Timothy 4:1-22; Psalm 95:1-96:13; Proverbs 26:9-12

“’…His pride is very great. We know of his lofty pride, his arrogance, and his haughty heart. I know about his insolence,’ says the Lord, ‘but his boasts are empty—as empty as his deeds.’…You are proud of your fertile valleys, but they will soon be ruined. You trusted in your wealth, you rebellious daughter, and thought no one could ever harm you.”

“Preach the word of God. Be prepared, whether the time is favorable or not. Patiently correct, rebuke, and encourage your people with good teaching. For a time is coming when people will no longer listen to sound and wholesome teaching. They will follow their own desires and will look for teachers who will tell them whatever their itching ears want to hear. They will reject the truth and chase after myths. But you should keep a clear mind in every situation. Don’t be afraid of suffering for the Lord. Work at telling others the Good News, and fully carry out the ministry God has given you. ”

“Come, let us worship and bow down. Let us kneel before the Lord our maker, for he is our God. We are the people he watches over, the flock under his care. If only you would listen to his voice today!”

“As a dog returns to its vomit, so a fool repeats his foolishness. There is more hope for fools than for people who think they are wise.”

There are some harsh words in today’s Scriptures, some fairly unsympathetic verses read in light of what has just happened. But I think, maybe, it is sometimes important for Christians to feel a measure of tough love from our Savior. Occasionally, we just have to have that kind of stark clarity before the truth can really set in. Life is not all roses and blue skies. Storms happen. If we are not prepared, not secure, not fully grounded and connected to the Body, they can blow us away whether we say we follow Christ, or not.

I was raised to believe that the measure of a man – or woman, for that matter – was best taken by their ability to get things done on their own. Where did we get that idea? Our aversion to getting help is not just self-limiting, but a logical impossibility, when one actually starts to think about it. Any time we begin to think we can do something on our own, the temptation is to think we must do everything on our own. That viewpoint inevitably brings Satan one step closer to victory.

This week, a woman threw herself off the seventh story of the parking garage of our office building. There was a bit of a clamor inside, but literally and figuratively, as we continued working feverishly on the 21^st floor getting ready for trial, we were pretty much above it all. Horrifyingly, the entire trial team’s reaction to the matter was not much more than, “Looks like we had another leaper. (We get one about once a year.) Must have been another transient from the bus station. Very sad.” Back to work we went, focused on our respective tasks.

That night, I learned the poor soul we figured was a transient actually was someone I knew from our church and had personally worked with a number of years ago. There is no doubt family and friends are beyond devastated. Anyone who has ever experienced anything close to such a tragedy knows what followed. There’s an inevitable need to search for answers that just do not exist. There may be any number of “reasons,” but no good, solid or logical explanations. Personally, the one question that continues to dog me is, how did we all miss this? How could the supposedly loving Body of Christ not see that much pain in one of its members? Week after week, we all saw her in the halls of church. We knew her as a sweet person with a heart for others, someone who was willing to make personal sacrifices, usually before those she helped knew they needed it. About all I can come up with at this moment is that, somewhere along the way, she just ran out of gas. One more question immediately follows. I wonder if she reached out to any of us and we did not understand the depth of her need, or if she just sentenced herself to suffering in silence and did not have the capacity to handle it.

Oh, my Lord! Save us, your people, from the idea that we are in this alone. Intervene supernaturally, if need be, to insure we do not live life in a way that denies your power because it isolates our hearts from those who might save us. I pray your grace, blessing and healing hand over the family of our dear departed. Bring them a peace that in fact does surpass all understanding, that is even more illogical and powerful than the sadness which torments them. And, if nothing else, Father, soften all our hearts, that this death may not be in vain. Remind us anew of your personal presence and fierce desire to be with us. Open our souls again to the warmth of your touch. Let us be certain that there are those to whom we can reach out and seek help when the loads of life become too much for us to bear on our own. Lift us up, Abba, into the very lap of your comfort.