I believe that one of the most important discoveries of Trinitarian theology in our time is the discovery of the suffering love of the suffering triune God. All cheap and easy talk about a God of sovereign power who is in control of a world in which there is so much poverty, suffering and injustice is obscene... The only gospel that makes sense and can help in what Moltmann calls our "godless and godforsaken" world is the good news of a god who loves enough to suffer with and for a suffering humanity.
But such a gospel, especially as it has caught on and become popular, has its dangers too. Too much talk about the "presence" of God in "solidarity" with suffering can become a way of hiding a deep skepticism about whether God is powerful enough to do anything about their suffering... People who suffer for one reason or another want more than just "God suffers with you and we Christians do too." They want to know whether there are a God and a people of God who can and will do anything to help them. Whether they know it or not, they want to hear about and experience the good news of a Trinitarian God who wills and preserves life, who liberates oppressed people from whatever or whoever oppresses them. They want to hear about and experience a crucified and risen Christ who is stronger than the powers of sickness, suffering, sin, and death. They want to hear about and experience the power of the Holy Spirit who brings new life where there is death and new beginnings where there are dead ends.
One of the biggest problems in theology today is how we can find our way between a theology of the suffering love of God that offers too little and a theology of the sovereign power of God that promises too much. I believe that the solution lies in thinking through the implications of what we said earlier about faith in the sovereignty of God as hope for the future - faith that God's loving and just will will be done.
(italics original, pp. 53-54, Shirley Guthrie, Always being reformed: faith for a fragmented world)
I just stumbled across this quotation by accident. It is from a man who turns out to be a significant American mainline Presbyterian. I think it is a great reflection of someone who has thought and lived deeply.
As I mused on it it struck me that the measure of whether we believe that God is both these things is prayer. You do not pray to someone who you think does not sympathise with your condition, but also you don't pray to someone who you think can do nothing about it. Therefore, one of the best ways we can communicate to a sufferer that God is both sympathetic and is powerful is praying for/with them.
What an amazing quote! Thanks Dave.
ReplyDeleteIt's a helpful (and timely) reminder to me the the sovereign power end of things is not all bad! There is a comfort here, but it is the one who wields that power, not the fact of it.
I like your prayer thought. That said, I'm always a little weary of looking for synthesis partly because in my mind at least it sets the two against each other when really they are one and the same thing in Christ.
Errr... synthesis is best found in Christ I reckon cause that stops us pitting one against the other in our own minds (which I do all the time). Christ's Spirit given power means he goes to the cross - Acts 4 - it was ordained, but that ordination involved suffering, self giving love.
Does that make sense?
Anyway, my main reason for commenting was to thank you for the helpful quote! It was a rebuke to me as I was despairing at a recent sermon I heard which totally went to town on sovereign power "I'm bigger than you".
Thanks Rich. I can rely on you to pull things back to Christ!
ReplyDeleteI agree the synthesis to this (as well as everything) is found in Christ, not just the eschaton (as Guthrie seems to say). Although Christ is the first-fruits of the eschaton so the two are not opposed.
Or was it some synthesis you were referring to? I'm not sure I 100% followed.
The only thing I'd add is that it is by the Spirit that Christ goes to the wilderness and then the cross, but the other side of the coin is that it is by the Spirit that he is risen from the dead to conquer. I would say that Christ conquers sin and suffering through the cross not in the cross. The consummation of Christ's work in the resurrection and ultimately in his second coming is important to keep in view. What difference, if any, that makes to your point I'm not sure!