Mtr Kelli Joyce

"Zion stretches out her hands, but there is no one to comfort her."

"...We were so utterly, unbearably crushed that we despaired of life itself. Indeed, we felt that we had received the sentence of death..."

"And Jesus said to them, ‘Neither will I tell you by what authority I am doing these things.’"

Dear friends in Christ,

I wish, quite often, that we served a God whose purposes were always as clear as a cloudless day, a God whose plans were written out in detail and delivered to us in advance, a God whose ways and thoughts were not especially higher than my own. It seems to me, at least, that things would be easier if God were simpler, smaller, and therefore within my power to understand fully. But the truth of the matter is, God's holiness and lovingkindness and power and justice are more than any of us can grasp - and, in a way, I know that this is right. The God who willed all of existence itself into being, who created each star and is the source of each breath - the God who loved mortals enough to become one - is not a God who can ever be fully captured by human imaginings and human language.

In our first two readings today, we read of God's people suffering. In Lamentations, the suffering is the result of years of arrogant and unrepentant sin. In Corinthians, it's exactly the opposite: the righteous recount suffering that they underwent on account of their righteousness. Suffering, then, cannot neatly be summed up as a sign of God's wrath or a sign of God's favor. There is no quick shortcut we can take to find the "true" meaning of troubles we endure. Christ, now as in the Gospels, refuses to provide pat answers or satisfying justifications.

Here is what I do know: God's love is eternal and unchanging. God is with us even when we feel desperately alone. God is stronger than death, has robbed death of its power in Christ, and calls us to "rely not on ourselves but on God, who raises the dead." I know that even when we do not understand God, we can always, always trust God.

In peace,
Mtr. Kelli