Behind the Sermon on Suffering

As a matter of course, I want to explain some things about my previous entry, this sermon on suffering. What started out as a class assignment (and not necessarily one I was enthralled with), actually took on a life of its own. As I sat down to write it, it proceeded to write itself. It was, for me, a catharsis of sorts.

And this is at the heart of what I wanted to share here... In writing out this sermon, in examining this short passage of Haggai, and trying to determine what this passage was saying, I had to deal with how do we look at God with eyes of faith, when so-called promises of redemption seem to fall flat. Haggai made some pretty audacious statements at the end of his prophetic work. And little came to pass in terms of its coming to fruition. I not only wondered how the people of God felt, I actually was wrestling with my own issues of disappointment with God, and wondered, what's next?

This sermon allowed me to work through some of those issues. And, as I struggled to understand the text beyond the text, I came to a quiet and silently provacative understanding that ultimately, God calls us to have faith in the silence that follows the text. That is where I am. That is the power of the sermon, at least for me. It ended up being a powerful sermon to preach in class, and as I finished giving it to my class, I knew I had glorified God.