Suffering, A Sermon

This month of January, I would like to look at "suffering". I will begin with this article, and then in the next 3 weeks, share a sermon I wrote detailing my views on suffering.

Many of you might know, that I am disabled, have been since the age of 4 with polio, but I overcame and becomes a teacher and then a pastor. But now am disabled a second time with a disability, post polio syndrome, which means now I am in a wheelchair, cannot talk very well and need help with bathing and dressing. This month I would like to share my feelings and views on what it means for a Christian to suffer.

"Suffering like Job's."

Romans 8:18-25

A Sermon

Part 3

The will of God is love and that love was and still is expressed in the cross, in the brokenness of life. The theology of glory which says God can only be found, or most easily found in the good, in the rich,in the blessed,in the healthy, denies the human condition of sin and brokenness which Christ conquered for us on the cross. If God is only found in a "bed of roses","only found in miracle cures, "" only found where people are experiencing the "goodness of life","only found where people are blessed beyond their means with material goods"..."only found in a high emotional experience of faith"... only found in a theology of glory which is presented very dramatically by many of the TV personalities...... then I wonder: why do we have a cross as the focal point of our faith.? Good Friday shows us very clearly our need of a Savior, that I cannot save or redeem myself, that is God's work not mine. For if God is found only in all the glorious moments of life, then many of us would be without a God. However, I believe with my whole soul, that God is not only found in the "glory" of life, but He is, at the same time found in the brokenness of life, in and through a theology of the cross. I should not and I will not feel guilty because somehow the preconceived " glory of God" that others feel should be present in my life as expressed in total healing is not. I am and you are whole even in our brokenness. Christ was whole, God's Son was whole on the cross.

I am tired of those who play games with my faith by accusing me

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