“Rejoice insofar as you are sharing Christ’s sufferings,” Peter says in his letter to early Christians.” - Youth Sunday - Easter VII - Year A - May 4, 2008

Steven Lambeth

In the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen.

As I have found throughout my eighteen years in this world, and as I’m sure all of you have found, one of the hardest things in the world to do is to rejoice while you suffer, to seek happiness when you are surrounded by despair.   This is the challenge Peter has made to the exiles of the first century, and a challenge I give to myself and to you.  These followers of Christianity to whom Peter is writing are in exile; they have been cast out of their homes and stripped of their possessions simply for having faith, and for doing what they know inherently is right.  Imagine a world where by following the path to salvation, you give up everything you have known.

Being oppressed because of a devout faith must have created feelings of being lost and invoked a lot of doubt in the minds of these early Christians.  By following what the people knew was right and would lead to a better life, they seemed to have gotten stuck with a life that was much worse.  I’m sure this brought about a lot of questions and tensions in the hearts and souls of these exiled Christians.  Why would a good and kind God let these people suffer such a terrible fate?  This seems to contradict the very essence of Christianity and God and Jesus.

I know that if I was put in the situation of the exiled Christians, I, too, would undoubtedly question my beliefs.  I know this because, when my mother was diagnosed with ovarian cancer shortly after my sixteenth birthday, I had many questions myself.  Where is God in this time of crisis? Where do I fit into his plan?  My mother had always been the strong figure in my family and always seemed invulnerable.  All of the sudden, it was apparent that my mother was actually incredibly vulnerable.  My mother and I undertook a sort of role reversal; where my mother had always taken care of me; it was now my turn to help take care of her.

This is why Peter wrote his letter to the troubled early Christians, to provide them with an answer to their questions and to console these people in their time of suffering.  He tells the exiles to humble themselves so that God may exalt them in good time.  This advice is exactly what the early Christians needed to hear, and is a reminder that their suffering is for a purpose: they will be exalted in time.  The worst that could happen to these Christians has already happened, and by continuing on their path, they will reach salvation. 

I believe, however, that the most important word of advice Peter gives to the exiles and to us is to cast our anxiety on God.  The future is and always will be uncertain, but by trusting that God will make the next day better than the last, you will be provided a sense of relief at the end of the day.  For me, the hardest part of dealing with a loved one being sick is coping with the anxiety.  It is tough to face the fact that someone close to you is suffering, and even worse that they could have their life taken by disease.  The only thing for me to do in a situation such as this is to pray and to trust that God will be with the sick. 

Throughout this time of uncertainty, I have often felt lost and have not known what to do.  My parents have always laid out a path for me to follow, however that plan never included my mother being sick.  For the first time in my life, I was left with many tough decisions that were not guided by my parents’ insight.  I have felt alone, with many questions whose answers were not in plain view.  These questions rooted themselves deep inside of me, and I was left to wrestle with them for days and weeks at a time.  My mother’s cancer, mixed with my uncertain future as I move to a new school with new friends, has often times left me very anxious.

Despite my uncertainty and anxiety, one thing has remained constant throughout this hard time in my life.  Since I got over the initial shock of my mother’s illness, my attitude and reasoning have strengthened.  The internal struggle I have faced has left me a stronger and more mentally sound person.  I have learned to deal with the problems I face without complaint or reliance on others.  That is not to say that I haven’t thought what life would be like had my mother never gotten cancer, or if modern science had found a cure for cancer.  One thing I have realized though is that we always will face troubles and hardships; there is no avoiding these bumps in the road.  However, I have found that complaining about my problems has never solved anything.  It is best for me rather to try and understand my problems so that I can learn how to deal with them and figure out how to resolve them.  And the first step to understanding these problems is as Peter says to cast all your anxiety on God.

 Just a few days ago, I found myself jumping on a trampoline with a few friends.  Having not done this in a while, I took a step back to think about why it is that my friends and I were so compelled to play on a trampoline when none of us had done so in quite a while.  It occurred to me that all of us saw this trampoline as a part of our childhood, and as we have been thrust into growing up,  going to college, and gaining new responsibilities, we have all felt this need to hang on to our childhood.  Things will not be the same from graduation on, as we will become more of adults and less of children.  With no parents to bail us out when we err in our paths, the idea of college can create a bit of anxiety.

I have always had a close group of friends between my Journey to Adulthood group and friends from home and school who have always been there, along with my family, as the reassuring words of Peter for me.  As Peter consoled the early Christians in their anxious moments, I, too, have been blessed with encouraging voices.  My family and friends have extended their help to cheer me up when I’m down, and to celebrate with me when I’m up.  When I’ve needed advice, my family and friends have been there.  It is hard to face the fact that just next fall I will have a new group of friends and less guidance from my parents.  On top of that, it is even harder to believe that all of my actions from then out will actually count for something later in life.  Whereas when I have erred in the past, I have found myself stuck at the house or on campus for a weekend--now the consequences will be much more grave. This is a very scary idea for me, and all that I can do is trust that God will guide me on my path when I can no longer rely on my parents and teachers to always tell me what is wrong and what is right.

 Five, ten, maybe fifteen years from now, I will look back on this time and think that this was a defining time for my character. Maybe I will  go into detail on how this time changed me, and what effects this time had on my life.  However, the truth is that here, now, I do not know how exactly the events taking place in my life are shaping me as a person, as was the case with the exiles.  I will recognize, however, that by facing my problems I have been able to become a stronger person with more sound decision-making skills.  And the first step in this growing process was to remove my anxiety, to trust that God will make the next day better than the last.

 “Rejoice insofar as you are sharing Christ’s sufferings…be glad and shout for joy when his glory is revealed.”

Amen