bloggedy blog: the personal weblog of a music lover and aging punk wannabe

:: Monday, April 12, 2004 ::

Suffering and the "flesh"
Well I breezed through Lent with nary a concern this year. Mainly, because I chose to ignore the whole Lent business this time around. I skipped the whole lectio divina business -- it's so last year -- and pretty much indulged in whatever my fleshly heart desired (in moderation, of course). I mean, I bought myself a Rio Nitrus on Good Friday, for heaven's sake! How much more self-indulgent can one be?

But, Nitrus or not, I've been pondering the connection between suffering and the Christian faith, and how little suffering goes on in what passes for Christianity in America today. I certainly haven't experienced any suffering because of my faith.

What has drawn me to this issue of suffering? As I said, I more or less skipped Lent, the annual season of pilgrimage into the realm of suffering for many of us. And I haven't even seen The Passion of the Christ, so that can't be it. Actually, it began through a chance encounter with a Greek Orthodox monk's writings, and it occurred via this blog.

A reader of my punk chapter, posted here recently, left a link in the comments form that led me to this writing about a Russian Orthodox monk named Father Seraphim Rose. And this has shaped my thinking in recent days. In particular:
In his journal, Fr. Seraphim wrote: "Let us not, who would be Christians, expect anything else from it than to be crucified. For to be Christian is to be crucified, in this time and in any time since Christ came for the first time. His life is the example--and warning-- to us all. We must be crucified personally, mystically; for through crucifixion is the only path to resurrection. If we would rise with Christ, we must first be humbled with Him--even to the ultimate humiliation, being devoured and spit forth by the uncomprehending world.

"And we must be crucified outwardly, in the eyes of the world; for Christ's Kingdom is not of this world, and the world cannot bear it, even a single representative of it, even for a single moment. The world can only accept Antichrist, now or at any time.

"No wonder, then, that it is hard to be a Christian--it is not hard, it is impossible. No one can knowingly accept a way of life which, the more truly it is lived, leads the more surely to one's own destruction. And that is why we constantly rebel, try to make life easier, try to be half-Christian, try to make the best of both worlds. We must ultimately choose--our felicity lies in one world or the other, not in both.

"God give us the strength to pursue the path of crucifixion; there is no other way to be a Christian."

Ouch!

Fr. Saraphim's words have led me to ponder a few passages from Paul's writings. The first comes from Romans chapter 8: "The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God's children. Now if we are children, then we are heirs -- heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory" (verses 16-17). Here's a snippet that has been taken out of context many times, particularly by those who wish to preach a gospel of prosperity and blessing without the suffering of the cross. I've heard the first part of that scripture quoted countless times, but usually the last phrase -- the one about sharing in Christ's sufferings -- is omitted.

Related to that is another scripture from Romans 8: "[I]f Christ is in you, your body is dead because of sin, yet your spirit is alive because of righteousness. And if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit, who lives in you. Therefore, brothers, we have an obligation--but it is not to the sinful nature, to live according to it. For if you live according to the sinful nature, you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the misdeeds of the body, you will live, because those who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God."

A third passage from Paul's writing is from Philippians 3:10: "I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death."

So, I've been wondering: How much do I really want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection? Enough to share in his sufferings?

It's a question I've asked myself over and over lately. But I don't like the answer I keep getting.

:: Andrew 10:35 + ::
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