A Glorious Boast
Boasting is not a virtue usually encouraged during the season of Lent, but in this text there are two boasts.
The first is that we “boast in our hope of sharing the glory of God.” This makes sense. Imagine: sharing the glory of God! That is our hope; that is our expectation. It is not here yet but we have assurance it is not far off. We have assurance because (and note all the powerful, positive language and metaphor here) we are justified (made righteous) by faith, we have peace with God, we have obtained access to grace. All of this we have. It grounds our hope. Yes, it makes sense to boast (if you don’t like the word “boast”, substitute “glory in” which would be appropriate, too).
But then we also are to “boast in our sufferings.” No one “boasts” in their sufferings; no one “glories in” their sufferings. If they do, we call them masochistic. It sounds suspiciously like a message the powerful might want to impart to those who are oppressed: “Nothing wrong with suffering; don’t worry about it! You should boast about it!”
The intent, though, is not to excuse or ignore or promote suffering. It is a recognition that suffering really exists…and when it does, it is not because God is punishing you or has abandoned you or you deserve it but is, just like all those positive places in life, a place to recognize the wonders of God, a place to actually “boast.” Suffering, too, is the location of hope, a “hope that does not disappoint us”, a location where “God’s love has been poured into our hearts.”
It is understandable that suffering, great or small, can make one question a God of love. This text, out of step with so much of the messaging of the world, says it is the place where God’s love pours out. In that way it echoes Jesus’ words in the Beatitudes: “‘Blessed are you who are hungry now, for you will be filled. Blessed are you who weep now, for you will laugh” (Luke 6: 21).
As we draw near to Good Friday and the cross of Christ where we recognize Divine suffering, we also remember the final boast of the apostle Paul: “May I never boast of anything except the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ” (Galatians 6: 14).
We boast not of ourselves, our accomplishments, our knowledge or position or status, but we boast in our sufferings, knowing that you work through weakness, knowing that your way of divine suffering on the cross subverts and overcomes all the might and superheroes and guns our world holds so dear. We boast in the hope of the divine outpouring of love which even now is poured into our hearts, no matter what or whom we face. We glory in the Crucified One whose cross means abundant life for all. Amen.
Doug Goodwin