Posted 1003 days ago

Can We Bear the Pain?

By Christine Sine

Most of us will never know the kind of pain and suffering inflicted on those who are sold into slavery or forced into prostitution. Neither will we know the agony of parents who sell their children into indentured servitude because they cannot provide for them. What we should experience, however, is pain and horror because such practices exist.

We often equate pain with evil and flee from it whenever possible. However, just as physical pain is a necessary part of life that makes us aware of when something is wrong in our bodies, so too emotional pain raises our awareness of when something is wrong in the body of Christ. As Paul reminds us in 1 Corinthians 12:26: “If one part suffers, every part suffers with it; if one part is honored, every part rejoices with it.”

We serve a crucified God who was scarred and disfigured by our sins. Jesus, after his resurrection, was recognized by his scars and the suffering he endured to set us free. Part of the challenge of our faith is that Jesus calls us to follow him into the pain and suffering of our world. That means being willing to enter the world of prostitutes and slaves in order to set them free. The central message of Christianity is that through the death and resurrection of Christ the very worst experiences can be transformed into the very best of God.

We can respond to accounts of the brutalities and evil of our world recounted in this newsletter with despair, bitterness and indifference or we can respond with hope, love and compassion. Our hope is that through our prayers and our actions some of those caught in the horrible web of human trafficking may be set free and made whole. You may like to use the following liturgy as a prayer to assist you to reflect on this challenge and enable God to speak to you about how you can be part of the solution.

Liturgy

We give you thanks, Lord Jesus Christ,
You are in charge of all creation yet you came down and dwelt amongst us.
You came to be like us so that we could become like you
We give you thanks because you willingly shared the world’s chains,
You have been scarred and disfigured by the world’s sins
You came to be like us so that we could become like you
We give you thanks because you love those who are mistreated and sold into slavery
You love each of us deeply and ask us to love others with that same great love.
You came to be like us so that we could become like you

(Silence)

God who created us is with us
And with our brothers and sisters in chains and prostitution
Christ who saved us is with us
And with our brothers and sisters in chains and prostitution
The Holy Spirit who indwells us is with us
And with our brothers and sisters in chains and prostitution

Deut 15: 12- 15, 18 (The Message)

If a Hebrew man or Hebrew woman was sold to you and has served you for six years, in the seventh year you must set him or her free, released into a free life. And when you set them free don’t send them off empty-handed. Provide them with some animals, plenty of bread and wine and oil. Load them with provisions from all the blessings with which God, your God, has blessed you. Don’t for a minute forget that you were once slaves in Egypt and God, your God, redeemed you from that slave world.

For that reason, this day I command you to do this. 18 Don’t consider this an unreasonable hardship, this setting your slave free. After all, he’s worked six years for you at half the cost of a hired hand. Believe me, God, your God, will bless you in everything you do.

John 8: 1-11 (The Message)

Jesus went across to Mount Olives, but he was soon back in the Temple again. Swarms of people came to him. He sat down and taught them. The religion scholars and Pharisees led in a woman who had been caught in an act of adultery. They stood her in plain sight of everyone and said, “Teacher, this woman was caught red-handed in the act of adultery. Moses, in the Law, gives orders to stone such persons. What do you say?” They were trying to trap him into saying something incriminating so they could bring charges against him.

Jesus bent down and wrote with his finger in the dirt. They kept at him, badgering him. He straightened up and said, “The sinless one among you, go first: Throw the stone.” Bending down again, he wrote some more in the dirt.

Hearing that, they walked away, one after another, beginning with the oldest. The woman was left alone. Jesus stood up and spoke to her. “Woman, where are they? Does no one condemn you?” “No one, Master.” “Neither do I,” said Jesus. “Go on your way. From now on, don’t sin.”

Have mercy on us son of the living God
Light of the world,
Redeemer of all creation
Reconciler of all peoples,
Christ crucified, eternal God
Have mercy on us, forgive our sins, redeem our lives

God we have never walked in chains, we have never been forced into prostitution,
We have never been denied our childhoods but we want to identify with those who have.
God their chains are heavier than we thought forgive us for our indifference
Jesus you were despised and rejected by others just like those who are in chains
You were spat on and cast by the wayside in the same way we reject prostitutes
God their chains are heavier than we thought forgive us for ways we judge and condemn
Jesus you were scarred and disfigured because of our sins and theirs
You became unlovely for us so that we might see you in the unlovely faces of others
God their chains are heavier than we thought forgive us for failing to see you in their faces

Christ Jesus you hung upon a cross and died for us
So that we might live for you
Your body was broken and your blood shed
So that we might be healed and made whole
You were faithful unto death
So that we might be faithful unto life
You call us to be part of your eternal family
One people together with all the enslaved and mistreated of our world

We are redeemed by your blood
We are healed by your love
We are united by your covenant of peace
In you we move from death to eternal life

Jesus forgive our sins as we remember those who are enslaved.
Forgive the sins we remember and the sins we have forgotten.
Forgive the wrong actions we have committed and the right actions we have omitted.
Forgive our harsh judgments of others and our leniency towards ourselves
Forgive the pain we have caused others and the indulgence we have shown ourselves
Jesus, have pity on us and make us whole

God we reach within
To uncover the sins that bind us,
God we reach without
To expose the brokenness of our world
God we reach to you
To be filled with your love and compassion

May the Creator bless and keep you
May the beloved compassion face you and have mercy upon you;
May the eternal Spirit’s countenance be turned to you and give you peace;
May the Three in One bless you
Amen

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