God Feels Our Pain

God Feels Our Pain

Where is God when… ? - Part 1

Sunday, November 5, 2023
Luke 10:25-37; 2 Corinthians 1:3-4

A Samaritan, who was on a journey, came to where the man was. But when he saw him, he was moved with compassion.  The Samaritan went to him and bandaged his wounds.

Luke 10:33-34 (CEB)

May the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ be blessed! He is the compassionate Father and God of all comfort.  He’s the one who comforts us in all our trouble so that we can comfort other people who are in every kind of trouble. We offer the same comfort that we ourselves received from God.

2 Corinthians 1:3-4 (CEB)

Listen to this Week’s Sermon here:

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All Saints Day often brings up a mixture of emotions, from joyful memories to tremendous grief in the absence of those who have gone before us.  The stark reminder of death is difficult to process and often avoided in a world so overwhelmed by human suffering. 

So where is God in the midst of all this death and suffering?  Over the coming weeks we will wrestle with why God cannot simply put an end to pain or death or even evil.  For now we must begin with a key aspect of God’s character, that no matter what it may seem, God is a God of compassion.

Compassion is not simply feeling sorry for someone in their grief, but actually empathizing with them in suffering. 

Psychologist Brene Brown says empathy involves “listening, holding space, withholding judgment, emotionally connecting, and communicating the incredibly healing message, ‘You’re not alone.’” Empathizers are fellow sufferers who understand. I distinguish empathy from pity. To pity is to feel sorry for others at a distance. The one who pities remains detached and says, “That’s just too bad for her.” “Ain’t that a shame?” “Bless your heart.” Or “Sucks to be him!”

Tom Oord, God Can’t, 49.

When the Samaritan in Jesus’ parable sees the dying man on the road, he was “moved with compassion.”  It is hard to be moved with compassion from afar.  As we draw near to the suffering, our capacity for compassion and empathy increases. 

This is equally true of God.  In 2 Corinthians 1, Paul describes God as a God of compassion and the source of all comfort.  Unlike humans, God does not suffer from compassion fatigue, but always draws near to the hurting and brokenhearted.  God doesn’t merely see our suffering from a distance, but God feels our pain and can handle it.  God’s empathy and compassion always moves God toward expressing love in a variety of ways. 

John Wesley calls our mysterious perceptions of God’s presence “spiritual sensations” because the Spirit communicates with us beyond our five senses.  Jesus sends the Spirit as the Comforter.  The Spirit often uses human comforters as conduits of God’s presence to those in pain.  God demonstrates compassion through communities of compassionate people. 

Sometimes we feel God’s love and compassion more than others, but even when we can’t, God always feels our pain and is moved to extend love and mercy toward all who are hurting.  If the cross shows us anything, it is that God is a God who understands… a God who always with us in our suffering and who deeply feels our pain.

#BeUMC - Grace Beyond Understanding

Grace Beyond Understanding

#BeUMC - Part 1

Sunday, June 25 , 2023
Luke 23:32-43

“One of the criminals hanging next to Jesus insulted him: ‘Aren’t you the Christ? Save yourself and us!’

Responding, the other criminal spoke harshly to him, ‘Don’t you fear God, seeing that you’ve also been sentenced to die? We are rightly condemned, for we are receiving the appropriate sentence for what we did. But this man has done nothing wrong.’

Then he said, ‘Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.’ Jesus replied, ‘I assure you that today you will be with me in paradise.’”

Luke 23:39-43 (CEB)

This week’s message and blog post comes from special guets preacher, Rev. Tangela Cameron.

Listen here:

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God’s love is the center of the gospel. It is the crux from which everything else radiates, because without God’s love for humanity, there would be no Jesus, no Bible, and no Christianity. It is the center. Yet, the depth of God’s love is deeply perplexing. Everything about it is counterculture to our world.

This scripture is one of my favorites, and I find myself turning to it often as I work with my hospice and palliative care patients. A lot of questions arise at the end of life. There are not as many “whys?” as one might expect, but there are often questions, concerns, and worries around forgiveness. Primarily forgiveness from God, but also from family, friends, and others. My family raised me in the Baptist tradition. My experience with Baptist theology was fear-based. I remember others in Youth discussing baptism and how important it was to ensure we “didn’t go to Hell”.

I am not convinced that fear endears one to God. In my personal experience, choosing the route of fear, “turn or burn” theology, has driven more away from God/the church than towards. I came to The United Methodist Church as a teenager and remained United Methodist, because in my opinion, the theology showed me God’s truth: grace born out of love. Recently, a patient told me he did not “deserve” forgiveness. I did not ask, nor did he disclose, the things he thought were so heinous they would prevent God from extending mercy.

Regardless, it really did not matter what he did or did not do, because God did not set parameters of deservedness on grace or love. Instead, Jesus looks into the face of this criminal (or rebel, in other translations) next to him, who one might say is the least likely to understand what is happening amongst them and pronounces eternal forgiveness and restoration.

Grace does not make sense, because it is not about deserving anything. Grace is an outpouring of God’s love. Why? Because, God chose to. That is the one and only answer. Thanks be to God that God pours forth that which none of us deserves by any human measure. May we go forth and share likewise with the world.

Consider this: How does this passage stretch you? Are the merits by which we disperse grace and mercy to others of humanity’s scale of worthiness or are they of God?