Sermon - 2-26-23

20 min•0 plays•0 favorites

Religion

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Four days ago, on Ash Wednesday, I sent you a sermon about God creating earth creature Adam from the dust of the ground and breathing God’s breath into Adam to give life. And how God’s breath, God’s Spirit, connects with each one of us Today we pick up the story of Adam in the garden of Eden with his partner, the woman, and face the first question of evil and suffering in the bible. We then hear about Jesus in the wilderness and the temptation he faced These stories take us to the heart of an age-old question about human suffering. The questions I struggle most with as a hospital chaplain are Why do people suffer, and where is God in the midst of suffering? First, I think it’s important that we explore the meaning of suffering Suffering requires endurance or tolerance It is usually not a one-time experience But something that is persistently unpleasant, or even painful Suffering can be imposed by oneself, or by another Today, and throughout this season of Lent, we explore the reality of suffering as part of the human condition even Jesus, the Christ, experienced suffering And through Jesus, God also understands human suffering./ / / One year ago I was assigned Douglas John Hall’s book “God & Human Suffering” for class I loved his perspective on this question of suffering, and was happily surprised I’d have an opportunity to use his work, as the scriptures for today align well with Hall’s material. Hall presents that some forms of suffering belong in God’s creation of human beings Some forms of suffering are part of our design as humans Suffering comes along with our process of becoming. (p. 57) The creation story and Matthew’s gospel both engage Hall’s theory that life’s struggle, the process of becoming, involves suffering Hall presents four aspects of suffering that are part of human creation, the human condition Those are: <

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