Fallen Into Knowledge

Someday I would like to preach on the book of Jude, partly because I have never even heard reference to Jude in church before. The sermon would be about the ways in which speech can fracture communities (slander, bombastic speech, flattering, grumbling) or, alternatively, bring healing.

So also our beloved brother Paul wrote to you accordingto the wisdom given him, speaking of this as he does in his letters. There are some things in them hard to understand …

This always makes me chuckle. Even Peter thought that Paul was tough going.

One of first times I preached I was assigned a passage out of 1 Peter - specifically 1 Peter 3:8-22. I was all of 19 years old (if that), and I knew then that I didn’t really have much to say about suffering. I hadn’t experienced any, and I really didn’t know why we might seek it out. Suffice it to say, the sermon wasn’t any good.
I still haven’t experienced any real suffering, at least not the kind that we read about in the news (or hear about on the radio). But I am beginning to understand why we might seek it out. Today is good Friday, and I just got back from the Pearl Church’s service. We walked through the crucifixion narrative - as it were, with Christ.

For it is better to suffer for doing good, if suffering should be God’s will, than to suffer for evil.

If the world were not filled with evil, no one would suffer because of the good they had done. But, in this world, evil is the norm, not the exception. Therefore we enter into it, with Christ, for the purposes of bringing healing and redemption. When we enter into the world as Christ did, we must expect to share also in his suffering.

But rejoice insofar as you are sharing in God’s sufferings, so that you may also be glad and shout for joy when his glory is revealed.

Our suffering with Christ always also brings with it the expectation of Resurrection. Tonight we remember the crucifixion, and we look forward to Easter.