Devotion for the Friday of the First Week in Advent

THEME FOR THE WEEK: HOPE

Devotion for the Friday of the First Week in Advent (day 6)

READING: Romans 5:1–11 (NRSV)

¹ Therefore, since we are justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, ² through whom we have obtained access to this grace in which we stand; and we boast in our hope of sharing the glory of God. ³ And not only that, but we also boast in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, ⁴ and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, ⁵ and hope does not disappoint us, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit that has been given to us. ⁶ For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. ⁷ Indeed, rarely will anyone die for a righteous person—though perhaps for a good person someone might actually dare to die. ⁸ But God proves his love for us in that while we still were sinners Christ died for us. ⁹ Much more surely then, now that we have been justified by his blood, will we be saved through him from the wrath of God. ¹⁰ For if while we were enemies, we were reconciled to God through the death of his Son, much more surely, having been reconciled, will we be saved by his life. ¹¹ But more than that, we even boast in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation.

REFLECTION:

Suffering is something most of us don’t like to think about and try to avoid, almost at all costs. Much of our medical care is designed to help us avoid suffering. We get replacement joints, have surgeries and do all kinds of preventive care to help keep suffering at bay.

But what happens when you finally have to face something that beyond a shadow of a doubt will cause you pain and suffering? What happens when the doctor gives you a diagnosis that strikes fear in your heart? What happens when the inevitable occurs and you are truly in the depths of despair and suffering?

Where do you go? Do you try to run away? Is there fear? Is there anger? Is there questioning: “Lord why did this have to happen to me?” Do you ever get to the stage of acceptance? If you do get to acceptance is it something more than numbness?

St. Paul’s explanation in this passage from Romans provides a different look at suffering. “Suffering produces endurance and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not disappoint.” According to St. Paul’s words, hope ultimately emerges from suffering. This hope emerges through the action of the Holy Spirit in conveying God’s love to you in the midst of our despair. It is not actually your suffering that generates the hope; rather, it is God’s action toward you when you are suffering that creates the hope. The God of the cross is a God who can be found in the midst of human despair. A God whose Son has been crucified is a God who comes into situations of suffering, and who brings hope into the most desperate places.

Suffering leads to hope because God cares about you enough to come down to you and bring you the hope of the resurrection. God will ultimately heal in the ways that God knows best. Hope does not disappoint!

Prayer:

Lord God, be present with us when the diagnosis is grim, when the suffering is beyond comprehension, and when the future seems filled with despair. God bring the hope of the resurrection into our lives when hope seems so distant. Amen