Today’s author is Prince of Peace member, Scott Tunseth.
I mentioned in yesterday’s devotion that Romans 5:1-11 was a text we chose to have read at our wedding. Why exactly we (probably I) chose it is a bit shrouded by the mists of time, but I think it was chosen for two main reasons. First, it encapsulates or summarizes the gospel so well. And we wanted to make a statement that our lives together as married couple would be based on this understanding of the gospel. “Since we are justified by faith . . . we have peace with God and have access to the grace in which we stand” (5:1-2). It is a declarative sentence: We are justified by faith, and by grace we will live out that faith in service to the world.
Secondly, the text reminds us that no matter what we would face in our life together, including any suffering that was sure to come our way, the bond of faith we profess would not be broken. In fact, Paul says, “we boast in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not disappoint us, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts” (5:3-5).
Of course, at a twenty-two years old, neither of us could imagine what sufferings might come our way, including Kathy’s two bouts with cancer. But all in all, the challenges we have had to face seem minimal compared to the suffering and pain others have endured or are continuing to endure. And we must be careful not to glorify suffering in a way that victimizes. For example, we should not expect a woman who is enduring physical or mental abuse at the hands of a partner to read this passage as a call to passively endure unjust suffering. In fact, we are called to stand up for all who are victims of injustice and act to end their suffering if possible.
Dan Simundson, one of my seminary professors, wrote a wonderful little book called Faith under Fire. It’s really a book about suffering, a subject that is complex in the Bible and perhaps even more so in our everyday lives. In part, I think he chose the title because it points to how responding to suffering in our lives can be like going through a refiner’s fire. When we endure, our character is strengthened, and this refining can give way to renewed hope. It’s not easy, it’s not simple, and sadly, not every situation has a happy ending. But hope is often strengthened through times of testing.
Sometimes all we can do is hold on to the promise that Paul describes as “the hope of sharing the glory of God” (5:2). We have a God who endured the greatest suffering of all on the cross. We have a God who knows our pain and grieves when we suffer. May we endure in this promise.
Merciful God, send your Spirit to join us in the fires of suffering, to walk with us when the road is rough, to nurture your peace, the peace that passes all understanding. Amen.