Suffering and S'mores
“Our hope for you is unshaken, for we know that as you share in our sufferings, you will also share in our comfort.”—2 Corinthians 1:7
Last night we made a fire in the backyard, melted some Hershey’s chocolate while roasting some marshmallows on skewers and then placed them between two graham crackers, making the delightful summer campfire treat—s’mores. As the adults conversed around the fire, and the children waited impatiently for the marshmallows to roast and the chocolate to melt, the subject of suffering began to flicker in my mind. We are all individuals, coming together with our separate and very distinct backgrounds, experiences, personalities, quirks, gifts, and talents to form the body of Christ—His church. But, it is not until we are placed in the fire of suffering do we melt, and our separate ingredients come together to form one unit, sweet and tasty s’mores of sanctification.
Paul understood what suffering did for us as individuals, as well as what it did for us as the body of Christ. Suffering enables us to understand our salvation in a more intimate fashion. By our sufferings, we are more acutely aware of His sufferings on the cross, what He went through for our salvation, and what we must go through to bring His good news to this lost and hostile world. We do suffer as individuals, but our suffering is never isolated or alone for we are part of the body of Christ. Paul wrote about this in his first letter to the Corinthians, “If one member suffers, all suffer together; if one member is honored, all rejoice together”—1 Corinthians 12:26.
We are melted together in the fire of suffering so that those who are lost might taste us, and by tasting us, taste Christ. In other words, it is in our suffering that we are made sweet, enticing this lost world to the truth of Christ. When the world sees us suffering for the name of Christ, enduring injustice, loss of prestige and privilege, experiencing discrimination, willing to be put down, go without, and even die—they take notice. There will be persecution, misunderstanding, and discrimination, but the more we endure, the more people are won to the great name of Christ.
May we melt together in the fire of suffering, becoming sweet to the lost, so that they too may taste and see that Christ is the Savior of the world. Amen.
Last night we made a fire in the backyard, melted some Hershey’s chocolate while roasting some marshmallows on skewers and then placed them between two graham crackers, making the delightful summer campfire treat—s’mores. As the adults conversed around the fire, and the children waited impatiently for the marshmallows to roast and the chocolate to melt, the subject of suffering began to flicker in my mind. We are all individuals, coming together with our separate and very distinct backgrounds, experiences, personalities, quirks, gifts, and talents to form the body of Christ—His church. But, it is not until we are placed in the fire of suffering do we melt, and our separate ingredients come together to form one unit, sweet and tasty s’mores of sanctification.
Paul understood what suffering did for us as individuals, as well as what it did for us as the body of Christ. Suffering enables us to understand our salvation in a more intimate fashion. By our sufferings, we are more acutely aware of His sufferings on the cross, what He went through for our salvation, and what we must go through to bring His good news to this lost and hostile world. We do suffer as individuals, but our suffering is never isolated or alone for we are part of the body of Christ. Paul wrote about this in his first letter to the Corinthians, “If one member suffers, all suffer together; if one member is honored, all rejoice together”—1 Corinthians 12:26.
We are melted together in the fire of suffering so that those who are lost might taste us, and by tasting us, taste Christ. In other words, it is in our suffering that we are made sweet, enticing this lost world to the truth of Christ. When the world sees us suffering for the name of Christ, enduring injustice, loss of prestige and privilege, experiencing discrimination, willing to be put down, go without, and even die—they take notice. There will be persecution, misunderstanding, and discrimination, but the more we endure, the more people are won to the great name of Christ.
May we melt together in the fire of suffering, becoming sweet to the lost, so that they too may taste and see that Christ is the Savior of the world. Amen.
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