Charles K. Robinson - "Does God Suffer, Too?" (June 3, 1979)
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Transcript
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Voiceover | Duke University Chapel, | 0:04 |
Service of Worship, | 0:05 | |
June 3rd, 1979. | 0:06 | |
(orchestra music) | 0:11 | |
♪ "Oh Jesus Christ--" ♪ | 10:41 | |
(choir singing) | 10:43 | |
(orchestra music) | 11:22 | |
(choir singing) | 11:54 | |
(orchestra music) | 14:13 | |
Priest | Let the wicked forsake his way, | 14:35 |
and the unrighteous his thoughts. | 14:39 | |
And let that person return to the lord. | 14:42 | |
If we confess our sins, god is faithful and just | 14:46 | |
He will cleanse us | 14:51 | |
and give us a new heart | 14:52 | |
and a new beginning. | 14:54 | |
Let us pray together. | 14:56 | |
Almighty and most merciful Lord our God. | 15:00 | |
We have erred, and strayed from thy ways like lost sheep. | 15:05 | |
We have followed too much the devices | 15:10 | |
and desires of our own hearts. | 15:13 | |
We have offended against thy holy laws. | 15:15 | |
We have left undone those things | 15:19 | |
which we ought to have done; | 15:22 | |
And we have done those things | 15:24 | |
which we ought not to have done. | 15:26 | |
But thou, O Lord, have mercy upon us. | 15:29 | |
Spare thou those, O God, who confess their faults. | 15:33 | |
Restore thou those who are penitent; | 15:38 | |
According to thy promises | 15:41 | |
declared unto mankind in Christ Jesus our Lord. | 15:43 | |
And grant, O most merciful God, for his sake, | 15:48 | |
That we may hereafter live a godly, righteous, | 15:53 | |
and sober life, | 15:58 | |
To the glory of thy holy Name. | 15:59 | |
Amen. | 16:03 | |
The Lord redeems the life of his servants. | 16:20 | |
None of those who take refuge will be condemned. | 16:24 | |
Fellow disciples of Christ, | 16:28 | |
I declare and assure you that through him we are forgiven. | 16:31 | |
Praise be to God. | 16:37 | |
Amen. | 16:39 | |
Let us pray. | 17:03 | |
God, you who make the blind see and the lame walk, | 17:07 | |
and who free those who are in prison. | 17:12 | |
Empower us with your word | 17:16 | |
so that we may be delivered from blindness from prejudice | 17:19 | |
and evil habits. | 17:24 | |
The fear of other persons | 17:26 | |
and from every kind of bondage. | 17:28 | |
Enable us to hear and be transformed for your sake. | 17:32 | |
Amen. | 17:37 | |
The Old Testament reading this morning | 17:40 | |
comes to us from the book of Exodus, | 17:42 | |
the third chapter beginning with the first verse. | 17:46 | |
Now Moses was keeping the flock | 17:53 | |
of his father-in-law Jethro, the priest of Midian. | 17:55 | |
And he led his flock to the west side of the wilderness | 17:58 | |
and came to Horeb, the mountain of God. | 17:59 | |
And the angel of the Lord appeared to him | 18:00 | |
in a flame of fire out of the midst of a bush. | 18:02 | |
He looked, and behold, the bush was burning, | 18:03 | |
yet it was not consumed. | 18:04 | |
And Moses said, "I will turn aside and see this great sight, | 18:20 | |
why the bush is not burnt." | 18:25 | |
When the Lord saw that he turned aside to see, | 18:29 | |
God called to him out of the bush, "Moses, Moses!" | 18:33 | |
And he said, "Here am I." | 18:39 | |
Then he said, "Do not come near, | 18:43 | |
put off your shoes from your feet, | 18:47 | |
for the place on which you are standing is holy ground." | 18:49 | |
And he said, "I am the God of your father, | 18:53 | |
the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob." | 18:57 | |
And Moses hid his face, for he was afraid to look at God. | 19:03 | |
Then the Lord said, "I have seen the affliction | 19:09 | |
of my people who are in Egypt | 19:13 | |
and I have heard their cry because of their taskmasters. | 19:16 | |
I know their sufferings, | 19:20 | |
and I have come down to deliver them. | 19:22 | |
The reading from the Episol | 19:29 | |
comes from the letter to the Hebrews, | 19:32 | |
the second chapter, the 10th verse. | 19:36 | |
For it was fitting that he for whom | 19:41 | |
and by whom all things exist, | 19:44 | |
in bringing many sons to glory, | 19:47 | |
should make the pioneer of their salvation perfect | 19:50 | |
through suffering. | 19:54 | |
May God give us understanding to this, his word. | 19:56 | |
(orchestra music) | 20:04 | |
(choir singing) | 20:34 | |
Will the congregation rise for the reading of the Gospel. | 23:10 | |
The Gospel reading comes from the 9th Chapter of Luke, | 23:22 | |
beginning with the 18th verse. | 23:26 | |
Now it happened that as he was praying alone, | 23:30 | |
the discipals were with him | 23:32 | |
And he asked them, "Who do the people say that I am?" | 23:35 | |
And they answered, "John the Baptist. | 23:40 | |
But others say, Elijah, and others, | 23:44 | |
that one of the prophets of old has risen." | 23:47 | |
And he said to them, "But who do you say that I am?" | 23:50 | |
And Peter answered, "The Christ of God." | 23:54 | |
But he charged and commanded them to tell this to no one, | 23:59 | |
saying, "The Son of Man must suffer many things | 24:02 | |
and be rejected by the elders and chief priests and scribes, | 24:08 | |
and be killed, and on the third day be raised." | 24:14 | |
Amen. | 24:20 | |
(orchestra music) | 24:26 | |
(choir singing) | ||
Priest | Let us pray. | 25:39 |
Let the words of my mouth | 25:46 | |
and the meditations of our hearts | 25:49 | |
be acceptable in by sight. | 25:53 | |
O Lord, our strength and our redeemer. | 25:58 | |
Amen. | 26:02 | |
Suffering is a reality - | 26:14 | |
a rather wide spread reality. | 26:19 | |
Suffering is a mystery - | 26:26 | |
- | a rather profound mystery. | 26:34 |
Whatever the meaning of Christian faith may be, | 26:42 | |
it is clear that Christian faith, | 26:48 | |
in some manner, | 26:52 | |
has something to do with suffering. | 26:55 | |
And that fact is clear to Christian faith, | 27:03 | |
if, for no other reason, | 27:05 | |
because the one whom Christians acknowledge | 27:08 | |
as Lord and Savior, | 27:14 | |
was a person who did suffer. | 27:17 | |
The Epistle text this morning | 27:30 | |
suggests that | 27:35 | |
something about the nature of God | 27:39 | |
makes it appropriate that, | 27:46 | |
when the Messiah finally came, | 27:48 | |
the one who was to bring and did bring salvation, | 27:54 | |
that indeed, that Messiah must suffer. | 28:00 | |
The text from Hebrews affirms that | 28:06 | |
it was fitting, | 28:09 | |
that it's somehow appropriate, | 28:11 | |
was fitting, | 28:12 | |
that he, | 28:14 | |
he, meaning the only living God, | 28:16 | |
for whom and by whom all things exist, | 28:20 | |
that he, that only God | 28:25 | |
should make the pioneer of salvation | 28:27 | |
perfect through suffering. | 28:32 | |
That verse by itself does not tell us | 28:42 | |
all that was in the mind of the author of this Epistle. | 28:44 | |
But it does make it clear that the author | 28:49 | |
is telling us that if we want to have | 28:51 | |
some understanding | 28:54 | |
of why it is | 29:02 | |
that God's very own Messiah | 29:06 | |
had to suffer. | 29:10 | |
That we need to examine | 29:18 | |
our understanding of God. | 29:21 | |
In short, that already in the Old Testament, | 29:27 | |
sensitively understood, | 29:31 | |
there were also, there already be | 29:34 | |
some clues, some glimmers about the nature of God | 29:36 | |
that suggest why it would indeed be fitting | 29:42 | |
that the God of the Old Testament, | 29:48 | |
the God of the Hebrew people, | 29:50 | |
the God of all creation, | 29:52 | |
would need to make his own Messiah | 29:55 | |
perfect through suffering. | 30:00 | |
And indeed, a few passages in the scriptures of Israel, | 30:07 | |
a few passages in the Old Testament, | 30:11 | |
are more central to biblical faith, | 30:16 | |
both Jewish and Christian, | 30:21 | |
than the passage that was read in our hearing this morning. | 30:24 | |
God says to Moses: | 30:34 | |
"I have seen | 30:41 | |
the affliction of my people. | 30:44 | |
"I have heard their cry. | 30:52 | |
I know their sufferings, | 31:00 | |
and I have come down to deliver." | 31:08 | |
The God of the Old Testament, | 31:18 | |
the God of Israel, | 31:22 | |
the God of Abraham, of Isaac, of Jacob, | 31:24 | |
and of Moses | 31:29 | |
is a God who is aware | 31:33 | |
that there is suffering in the world. | 31:37 | |
A God who hears. | 31:44 | |
A God who sees. | 31:49 | |
And when our biblical text says, | 31:57 | |
as it often does in the Old Testament, | 32:00 | |
"I know their sufferings," | 32:04 | |
I remind you, that the word - "know" - | 32:06 | |
used in that way, | 32:11 | |
does not simply mean that God is aware of the fact that, | 32:12 | |
does not simply mean that God has computerized | 32:19 | |
all of the information. | 32:23 | |
No, this verb "to know" | 32:25 | |
is the same verb that is used in such a passage | 32:28 | |
as "So-and-so knew his wife, | 32:31 | |
and she conceived and bore a child." | 32:34 | |
To know in this Hebraic sense | 32:38 | |
does not just mean abstract knowledge. | 32:43 | |
It means to know through experience, | 32:46 | |
to know through relationship, | 32:51 | |
to know intimately. | 32:53 | |
When God says to Moses, | 32:59 | |
"I know | 33:05 | |
your sufferings." | 33:10 | |
It means that God experiences those sufferings | 33:18 | |
as God's own. | 33:21 | |
That God shares in suffering. | 33:25 | |
That God is willing to participate | 33:33 | |
intimately, inwardly, experientially, | 33:41 | |
in the sufferings of God's creatures. | 33:45 | |
This basic text | 33:56 | |
from Exodus | 34:01 | |
and many, many other passages in scriptures of Israel, | 34:07 | |
suggest to us, | 34:13 | |
proclaim to us, | 34:17 | |
an odd God. | 34:23 | |
One might think, if one were to think about it, | 34:29 | |
that God would not want to, | 34:34 | |
certainly would not need to | 34:40 | |
be concerned about the sufferings of God's creatures, | 34:46 | |
that God would not have to share in suffering. | 34:52 | |
After all, God is the most high, exalted above all, | 34:57 | |
blessed forever. | 35:03 | |
Yes, the biblical view of God is an odd view, | 35:16 | |
a view that does not claim to have been discovered | 35:21 | |
by human reasoning powers; | 35:24 | |
a view that did not come into human history | 35:28 | |
as the result of philosophy or science. | 35:30 | |
Rather, a view of God that came into human history, | 35:37 | |
claiming to have been revealed, | 35:45 | |
disclosed by God. | 35:49 | |
A surprising view of God - | 35:56 | |
as a God who knows, | 36:00 | |
a God who cares, | 36:04 | |
a God who, | 36:08 | |
even though he is the blessed most high God, | 36:12 | |
who comes down to share in human life, | 36:14 | |
even in human suffering, | 36:20 | |
a God who comes down to deliver. | 36:22 | |
The biblical view of God, | 36:34 | |
whether it's right or whether it's wrong, | 36:39 | |
hmm, | 36:43 | |
at least one point is clear: | 36:44 | |
the biblical view of God, | 36:47 | |
right or wrong, | 36:49 | |
is simply the view of a God who, | 36:51 | |
though one would think God did not need to, | 36:55 | |
a God who | 36:58 | |
shares in the sufferings of God's creatures. | 37:03 | |
A God who, being God, | 37:09 | |
suffers, | 37:14 | |
and indeed suffers more than any creature as a creature | 37:16 | |
can suffer. | 37:21 | |
A God who shares in human suffering | 37:25 | |
and who does that for a purpose: | 37:32 | |
In order that he may deliver, | 37:41 | |
in order that he may help, | 37:46 | |
in order that he may keep, | 37:49 | |
in order that he may save. | 37:55 | |
A God who takes on | 38:02 | |
the burden | 38:05 | |
of God's own creation. | 38:11 | |
Now, we could say all of these things differently | 38:18 | |
and more briefly | 38:21 | |
by saying that | 38:27 | |
the God of the Bible | 38:31 | |
is a God of love. | 38:36 | |
The trouble with that word, though, | 38:51 | |
is that it gets kicked around in so many different ways. | 38:54 | |
But God's love is a love | 39:09 | |
that is willing to share | 39:13 | |
the suffering of others | 39:17 | |
in order to help. | 39:22 | |
God's love is different than any ordinary human life. | 39:33 | |
If anyone thinks | 39:43 | |
that one can love | 39:50 | |
without being willing to suffer, | 39:56 | |
one is under a strange delusion. | 40:01 | |
Even God apparently cannot love | 40:06 | |
and love effectively | 40:09 | |
without being willing to suffer. | 40:11 | |
And love is what it is all about. | 40:21 | |
Love is why we are here. | 40:26 | |
It was love that moved God to bring us into existence | 40:30 | |
in the first place. | 40:36 | |
It is God's love that sustains our lives. | 40:39 | |
It is God's love that endeavors to move us out | 40:44 | |
in sharing God's compassion for others. | 40:52 | |
Love is the purpose of our lives. | 40:57 | |
Love is the goal toward which we are moving. | 41:01 | |
Love is our future | 41:05 | |
even beyond this life. | 41:07 | |
The central reality of all reality, | 41:17 | |
on earth and in heaven is | 41:25 | |
despite | 41:31 | |
overwhelming suffering and evil | 41:36 | |
on all sides. | 41:40 | |
The central reality of all reality | 41:43 | |
is the reality of God's love. | 41:46 | |
And the central movement of biblical faith, | 41:55 | |
Old or New Testament, | 41:59 | |
lies in the acknowledgement that the ultimate reality | 42:04 | |
is an overwhelming, | 42:09 | |
gentle, | 42:13 | |
persuasive, | 42:15 | |
caring, | 42:17 | |
suffering | 42:19 | |
love. | 42:20 | |
In the familiar Gospel text this morning, | 42:30 | |
after Peter acknowledges | 42:36 | |
that Jesus | 42:39 | |
is indeed the Christ, the Messiah, | 42:43 | |
Jesus immediately begins to cry, | 42:49 | |
to teach his own disciples | 42:55 | |
the shocking truth that | 43:00 | |
the Son of Man must suffer. | 43:02 | |
The Messiah had to suffer because the Messiah | 43:13 | |
is God's Messiah | 43:17 | |
and because God loves | 43:19 | |
and because God's love means that God | 43:21 | |
must share in our sufferings. | 43:28 | |
And so indeed, when the Messiah finally came, | 43:34 | |
on the issue of suffering, | 43:38 | |
it was not that the Messiah suffered less | 43:40 | |
than other people, | 43:47 | |
but rather that the Messiah suffered | 43:51 | |
more deeply and profoundly | 43:53 | |
than other people - | 43:57 | |
a suffering beyond language. | 44:01 | |
As we think back about the words of God to Moses, | 44:12 | |
we may ask ourselves, | 44:20 | |
Are we, in any measure all, | 44:26 | |
like the God of the Bible?" | 44:30 | |
Are we willing to see | 44:36 | |
the affliction of people? | 44:42 | |
Are we able to hear their cries? | 44:49 | |
Can we bear the burden | 45:02 | |
of knowing their sufferings | 45:06 | |
in order to cry to help? | 45:14 | |
In an important sense, | 45:21 | |
the answer to that question is "No." | 45:22 | |
But more importantly, | 45:29 | |
there is a power | 45:37 | |
that is not our power. | 45:42 | |
There is a power that is God's power. | 45:46 | |
There is a power that is made perfect | 45:53 | |
in weakness. | 46:00 | |
There is a power | 46:04 | |
that made the Messiah, | 46:08 | |
the pioneer of salvation, | 46:13 | |
perfect through suffering, | 46:17 | |
and that power is a love beyond all human imagination, | 46:22 | |
and that power is offered to us moment by moment, | 46:26 | |
if and insofar as we are willing | 46:33 | |
to accept it. | 46:36 | |
A power that can open our eyes, | 46:43 | |
and open our ears, and open our knowing | 46:47 | |
to somebody else's suffering beside my own. | 46:51 | |
And a power that will lead us through suffering | 46:58 | |
into a joy beyond all comparison. | 47:05 | |
In the name of the Father, | 47:13 | |
and of the Son, | 47:14 | |
and of the Holy Spirit, | 47:15 | |
Amen. | 47:18 | |
(orchestra music) | 47:28 | |
(choir singing) | ||
Priest | Let us affirm what we believe. | 49:38 |
We believe in God | 49:42 | |
who has created and is creating, | 49:44 | |
who has come in the truly human Jesus, | 49:47 | |
to reconcile and make new, | 49:51 | |
who works in us and others by the spirit. | 49:54 | |
We trust God | 49:58 | |
who calls us to be the church, | 50:00 | |
to celebrate life and it's fullness, | 50:03 | |
to love and serve others, | 50:06 | |
to seek justice and resit, | 50:09 | |
to proclaim Jesus, | 50:13 | |
Crucified and risen, | 50:15 | |
our judge and our hope, | 50:17 | |
in life, in death, in life beyond death, | 50:20 | |
God is with us. | 50:25 | |
We are not alone. | 50:27 | |
Thanks be to God. | 50:29 | |
You may be seated. | 50:33 | |
We welcome you to the Service of Worship | 50:43 | |
at the Duke Chapel. | 50:46 | |
Following the service of worship, | 50:48 | |
there will be a short celebration of communion | 50:49 | |
in Memorial Chapel, left here. | 50:53 | |
The lord be with you. | 51:00 | |
Let us pray. | 51:04 | |
O God our help in ages past, | 51:09 | |
we thank you for caring for people so much, | 51:13 | |
that you gave your son to show us the way | 51:17 | |
that life should be lived. | 51:20 | |
And to assure us that you love us. | 51:22 | |
Empower us, we pray with your spirit. | 51:26 | |
Enable us to be healers, reconcilers, | 51:31 | |
and servants of your children in need. | 51:34 | |
As we attempt to solve our own personal and family problems, | 51:38 | |
in this new era of scarcity. | 51:43 | |
Keep reminding us that we are the ones, | 51:47 | |
to whom so much has been given. | 51:50 | |
And that ingratitude we should give of ourselves, | 51:53 | |
enthusiastically and generously. | 51:57 | |
Give us the courage to resist the insidious propaganda | 52:02 | |
of this idolatrous age. | 52:07 | |
Remind us that better things | 52:10 | |
do not necessarily make better living. | 52:12 | |
That a persons worth is not to be measured | 52:17 | |
by the property he owns, nor by the job she holds. | 52:19 | |
That our purpose in life is not to grab | 52:26 | |
all the gusto we can get. | 52:28 | |
That we have no alienable right | 52:31 | |
to continue consuming much more than our fair share | 52:34 | |
of the earths dwindling resources. | 52:38 | |
Help us to let go, | 52:42 | |
to step down, | 52:45 | |
to live more simply, | 52:47 | |
and yet, more abundantly. | 52:49 | |
By relying on your power. | 52:52 | |
By accepting the love which you freely give. | 52:55 | |
For the sick and the lonely. | 53:00 | |
For the bereaved and the depressed. | 53:03 | |
For the hungry and the poor. | 53:06 | |
For those who this minute are being tortured | 53:09 | |
for what they believe is right and good. | 53:13 | |
For those so so weary that they know not how to pray. | 53:17 | |
Lord help us to pray now as Jesus taught us saying, | 53:22 | |
Our father who art in heaven, | 53:27 | |
hallowed be thy name. | 53:31 | |
Thy kingdom come. | 53:33 | |
Thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. | 53:35 | |
Give us this day our daily bread; | 53:40 | |
and forgive us our trespasses, | 53:43 | |
as we forgive those who trespass against us; | 53:46 | |
and lead us not into temptation, | 53:49 | |
but deliver us from evil. | 53:52 | |
For thine is the Kingdom, | 53:56 | |
and the power, and the glory forever. | 53:57 | |
Amen. | 54:02 | |
(orchestra playing) | 54:11 | |
(choir singing) | 55:30 | |
(orchestra playing) | 58:01 | |
(choir singing) | 59:03 | |
Lord God we thank you for all things that are good. | 1:00:10 | |
We return a small portion of your bounty to you. | 1:00:15 | |
That your work may be done in this place | 1:00:19 | |
and in the farther community. | 1:00:22 | |
May we always remember | 1:00:25 | |
that only by your power | 1:00:27 | |
do we live and are we able to serve you. | 1:00:29 | |
Amen. | 1:00:33 | |
(orchestra music) | 1:00:35 | |
(choir singing) | 1:01:06 | |
May the love of God the father, | 1:04:48 | |
the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, | 1:04:50 | |
the fellowship of the holy spirit, | 1:04:53 | |
be and abide with you, | 1:04:55 | |
now and forever. | 1:04:57 | |
Amen. | 1:04:59 | |
(choir singing) | 1:05:10 | |
(orchestra music) | 1:06:04 |