Been there

How many times have you related a tale of woe to someone, and their response is a knowing, "Yep! Been there"? Solomon's complaint that there is "nothing new under the sun" surely applies to misfortune, too.

Well, at church this morning one of the readings was from Hebrews, 2:18: "Because he himself was tested through what he suffered, he is able to help those who are being tested." How apt. I think this above all is why I would find it difficult to be in any other religion. No religion fully explains the mystery of suffering. Not even the easy exit of atheism (where, since there is no higher purpose, there is no explanation needed) can give suffering meaning, because "life is just a random sequence of events some of which are by chance misfortunate" is not a meaning - it is a nihilist's aphorism.

But while Christianity cannot explain the mystery of suffering, it features a God who knows what suffering is. That makes him a "Do as I do" God and not a "Do as I say" God. Jesus is no Zeus looking down on suffering Greek peasants telling them to tough it out as he heads off for a night out at the heavenly pub with Bacchus. Jesus' experience of suffering is central to Christianity not just because of vicarious atonement, but because it is an important part of his "Fully human, fully divine" nature. He could not be fully human if he did not know suffering.

And that is what Christianity is. It is not a religion that explains away suffering, or makes grandiose claims about being able to end suffering through one's own works. It is a religion that grapples with suffering head on, with all of the messy implications. I think of Jesus telling his disciples of the exceeding generosity of the woman who dropped her one measly coin in the temple treasury, or the woman who wants nothing but to touch Jesus' cloak to end her years of hemorrhaging - suffering and misery are messy, but since Jesus understands it, he can give it meaning.

"Jesus wept" may be some of the most important words in scripture. Because they make of Revelation 21:4 ("He will wipe away from them every tear from their eyes. Death will be no more;neither will there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain, any more") a far less glib statement than would come from a far removed deity.