Pressing On Required

On Mother’s Day I expected the sermon where I attended church to be about mothers, motherhood, and the servant nature of mothering or something along those lines.  It wasn’t that exactly. Although every woman entering the sanctuary of the church was given a single red rose – and Mary the mother of Jesus was mentioned in the context of the sermon, there was not a lot said specifically about motherhood. To my listening ear it was a reminder that both in life and our faith one can expect to undergo difficult times and perseverance will be required.  The subject could is best summarized in the word “suffering “.

This was not typical fodder for Sunday morning sermons the exception being at Easter when the focus is on what Christ suffered. Suffering is not a topic of general conversations either unless there is a personal connection. Even if we do not know someone personally who is presently coping with a life changing event we cannot claim to be oblivious to the fact that huge numbers of people suffer daily around the globe. The fact that it is not present in our immediate world does not mean we have been granted some special immunity.

We like winners as we equate winning with success. The “problem” the minister said is that we “narrowly define what success is in our culture and it does not include those who suffer”. Christians, he said, equally seem to “prefer churches that are joyful, faithful and fruitful” (i.e. successful) to those that are “struggling through difficult times, upheaval and sorrow”.  I imagine most of us would agree with this assessment.

The truth is none of us is prepared for when life takes a sudden turn and no one suffers and remains the same (Romans 5:1-5). Jesus is said to have “learned obedience by what he suffered” (Hebrews 5:8). We would be helped to remember in our hour of distress that Jesus is our wounded healer and by his stripes we are healed (I Peter 2:24b). During such times—we have to keep on believing, keep on trusting, keep on praying and keep on keeping on-or as the minister put it, “We must keep on pressing on”.

Amen!