Aching for Resurrection
LETTER BY GRACE POUCH
I’m digging out — along with many in the southeast — from Hurricane Helene’s devastation. For us there was only minor property damage. Others experienced catastrophic loss.
Recorded just a few weeks ago for the Life with God podcast, Nathan Foster and Winn Collier, Director of the Eugene Peterson Center at Western Theological Seminary, had a profoundly helpful conversation (published today) about hardship and loss.
One of their points was this: A catastrophe can be a direct hit to a wobbly gospel.
If we thought following Jesus was the key to prosperity, to escaping from life’s tragedies and losses, soon enough we will find out that this is not so.
Jesus himself and his closest followers, and so many saints throughout history, show us that even a life deeply rooted in the Kingdom of God will experience storms (literally and figuratively).
The odd reality for us who are sheep of the Good Shepherd is that great joy and dark valleys coexist. Things will not turn out just the way we want them to, but somehow his goodness and mercy still follow us, all the days of our lives.
There are no tidy answers — maybe no answers at all — for why terrible things happen. But, Winn Collier says on the episode that there is always a response: Jesus is Lord.
His triumph over death is “a sturdy place to stand.”
Collier goes on to explain this unshakable place. The Resurrection means no evil, no catastrophe, can withstand God’s redemptive power and love. It is the “hope that will not disappoint.”
What then to do with our very real disappointments and heartaches? Do we swipe them away as unimportant in light of the truth? Do we anesthetize them or pretend we don’t feel?
No. We ache for resurrection. We bring that ache to the Lord. Even better, we bring that ache to the Lord in communion with our brothers and sisters in Christ. Giving voice to our lament, we invite God into our very real pain.
In our darkest despair…
In our most vulnerable need…
In our most daunting hardship…
We can pray our true feelings to God and receive his word: I am with you. I am for you. I will make all things well.
Grace Pouch
Content Manager
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LET’S DIVE IN...
CURATED BY GRACE POUCH
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1.
On Life with God, Director of the Eugene Peterson Center for Christian Imagination Winn Collier talks with Nathan Foster about hardships that shatter false hopes and the one reality that provides a sturdy place to stand.
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2.
When we have no words, short written prayers can help us bring our heartache to God. Read “Against Raging Hurricane Storms” and other prayers for times of calamity, hurt, and exhaustion from David Taylor’s Prayers for the Pilgrimage: A Book of Collects for All of Life.
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3.
“Suffering shatters the illusion that happiness comes from outward things…” In an interview back in 2005, James Bryan Smith and Bill Vaswig shared insights on heartache and hope.
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4.
How should Christians act when they are going through dark times? A 2018 sermon by Tim Keller takes us into the cry of Psalm 88: Why Lord?
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5.
Read Dietrich Bonhoeffer’s powerful poem “Who Am I?” (or listen here) in which he seeks to know himself as God’s beloved in the midst of imprisonment under the Nazi regime.
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6.
Prayer is not an escape from reality but a movement into the messiness of everyday life (including suffering) with God. John Mark Comer, Christine Caine, Tim Mackie, Pete Greig, and Tyler Staton discuss unceasing prayer in this video.
Grace Pouch
Content Manager
WORTH QUOTING
“The weight of this sad time we must obey,
Speak what we feel, not what we ought to say. ”
– Shakespeare
King Lear
(source)
TO CONTEMPLATE
(source)
Pretty Place Chapel in Greenville County, SC.
An internet photo shows Pretty Place Chapel after hurricane Helene ripped off half of the roof. The cloudy void beyond the cross is usually a beautiful mountain vista. Throughout the southeast, death and destruction have ripped through communities. Our hearts and our vision are clouded with grief. Be near to us, Lord, as we weep for those who have died. Be near to us as we part with homes, land, trees, and places of beauty. Be our foundation, “though the earth give way and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea.” (Psalm 46:2)
TO PONDER
If you grew up singing hymns, you might recognize the stanzas below. Consider humming, singing, or listening to the song as you ponder these words. Form them into a prayer for whatever sorrows might be on your heart today. Ask God your deep questions. Pour out your heartache. Let him be near you.
Fear not, I am with thee, O be not dismayed,
for I am thy God, and will still give thee aid;
I’ll strengthen thee, help thee, and cause thee to stand,
upheld by my righteous, omnipotent hand.
When through the deep waters I call thee to go,
the rivers of sorrow shall not overflow;
for I will be near thee, thy troubles to bless,
and sanctify to thee thy deepest distress.
The soul that on Jesus hath leaned for repose,
I will not, I will not desert to its foes;
that soul, though all hell should endeavor to shake,
I’ll never, no, never, no, never forsake.
-Attributed to R. Keen