Sufferings

Orthodoxy: The Narrow Path
Ronald Clausen

12
SUFFERINGS

"The state of those who are
progressing towards perfection
is a state of struggle--intense,
laborious and full of tribulation.
This state of progressing--is the narrow path."
-St. Theophan the Recluse-

Paul said: That I may know Him, and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings, being made conformable unto His death (Philippians 3:10). The concept of having fellowship with Christ's sufferings was alien to my Christianity, but this was now being presented to me in a new light in the writings of the Orthodox Church. This opened my eyes to what the Scriptures taught on this. It was not only honorable to suffer but even greater to suffer unjustly:

"For this is thankworthy, if a man for conscience toward God endure grief, suffering wrongfully. For what glory is it, if when ye be buffeted for your faults, ye shall take it patiently? but if, when ye do well, and suffer for it, ye take it patiently, this is acceptable with God. For even hereunto were ye called: because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that ye should follow his steps."
(1 Peter 2:19-21)


The Scriptures say of Christ, that though He was a Son, yet He learned obedience by the things which He suffered. And having been perfected, He became the author of eternal salvation to all who obey Him (Hebrews 5:8-9) and but we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels for the suffering of death...and by whom are all things, in bringing many sons unto glory, to make the captain of their salvation perfect through sufferings (Hebrews 2:9-10). Now we have a promise from God that we will be heirs of God, and joint heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together (Romans 8:17). He is our example. We should walk in His steps.


This has always been the understanding and teaching of the Orthodox Church. From the protomartyr Stephen on, Christians have suffered and died for the cause of Christ, sharing in His death. This has never in the Church been something despised but praiseworthy. Ignatius was one facing such a martyrdom. Listen to his attitude:

"I am writing to all the churches and I command all men: I am voluntarily dying for God if you do not hinder me. I exhort you not to be an 'inopportune favor' to me. (Let me be food for the wild beasts, through which I can attain to God. I am the wheat of God and I am ground by that I may be found the pure bread of Christ.) Instead, entice the wild beasts so that they may become my tomb and leave no trace of my body, so that when I fall asleep I may not burden anyone. Then I shall be truly a disciple of Jesus Christ, when the world will not see my body at all. Pray to Christ for me that through these means I may be found a sacrifice to God. I do not give you orders as Peter and Paul did. They were Apostles; I am a convict. They were free; I am still a slave. But if I suffer I shall be Christ's freedman and in Him I shall rise free. Now I am learning in bonds to desire nothing."
(Epistle of Ignatius to the Romans 4:1-3)


Martyrdom was the ultimate way to have fellowship with His sufferings, being made conformable unto His death (Philippians 3:10). Ignatius knew that for our light affliction which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory (2 Corinthians 4:17). Polycarp also faced this glorious end:

"Without delay the material prepared for the pyre was set about him. And as they were also about to nail him, he said: 'Let me be as I am; for he who makes it possible for me to endure the fire will also make it possible for me to remain on the pyre unmoved without the security of nails.' They did not nail him, but set about binding him. Now when he had put his hands behind him and had been bound, like a splendid ram from a great flock (ready) for sacrifice, prepared as a burnt offering acceptable unto God, he looked up to heaven and said:

'Lord God Almighty, Father of your beloved and blessed Son Jesus Christ through whom we have received knowledge of you, God of angels and powers and every created thing and all the race of the just who dwell before you, I bless you because you have considered me worthy of this day and hour to receive a portion, among the number of the martyrs, in the cup of your Christ unto the resurrection of eternal life both of soul and body in the incorruption of the Holy Spirit, among whom may I be received today as a rich and acceptable sacrifice, just as you have prepared beforehand, and revealed beforehand, and fulfilled, O undeceiving and true God. For this reason and for all these things I praise you, I bless you, I glorify you, through the eternal and heavenly high priest Jesus Christ your beloved Son through whom to you with him and the Holy Spirit be glory now and forever. Amen.'

When he had lifted up the 'Amen' and finished the prayer, the men attending to the fire lit it. And when a great flame shot up, we, to whom it was given to see, saw a miracle; and we were preserved to tell the rest what happened. For the fire took the form of an arch like the sail of a ship filled by the wind and encircled the body of the martyr like a wall. And he was in the center of it not like burning flesh but like baking bread or like gold and silver being refined in a furnace; for we also perceived a fragrant odor like the scent of incense or some other precious spice.

At last when the lawless pagans saw that his body could not be consumed by fire, they ordered the executioner to go up to him and plunge a dagger into him. And when he had done this, a dove and a large quantity of blood came out so that it quenched the fire and the whole crowd was amazed that there was so great a difference between unbelievers and the elect. Of the elect was he indeed one, this most wonderful Polycarp--a man who in our times showed himself an apostolic and prophetic teacher and bishop of the catholic church in Smyrna. For every word that he uttered was fulfilled and will be fulfilled."
(The Martyrdom of Polycarp 13:3-16:2)


All through the history of the Church there has been horrible persecutions against Christ's body. For Christ forewarned us that ye shall be hated of all men for my name's sake: but he that endureth to the end shall be saved (Matt. 10:22). The enemy of God devised incomprehensible tortures against God's people who endured them with joy. Here is one such example from the writings of Eusebius:

"But words cannot describe the outrageous agonies endured by the martyrs in the Thebais. They were torn to bits from head to foot with potsherds like claws till death released them. Women were tied by one foot and hoisted high in the air, head downwards, their bodies completely naked without a morsel of clothing, presenting thus the most shameful, brutal, and inhuman of all spectacles to everyone watching. Others again were tied to trees and stumps and died horribly; for with the aid of machinery they drew together the very stoutest boughs, fastened one of the martyr's legs to each, and then let the boughs fly back to their normal position; thus they managed to tear apart the limbs of their victims in a moment. In this way they carried on, not for a few days or weeks, but year after year. . . I was in these places, and saw many of the executions for myself. Some of the victims suffered death by beheading, others punishment by fire. So many were killed on a single day that the ax, blunted and worn out by the slaughter, was broken in pieces, while the exhausted executioners had to be periodically relieved. All the time I observed a most wonderful eagerness and a truly divine power and enthusiasm in those who had put their trust in the Christ of God. No sooner had the first batch been sentenced, than others from every side would jump on to the platform in front of the judge and proclaim themselves Christians. They paid no heed to torture in all its terrifying forms, but undaunted spoke boldly of their devotion to the God of the universe and with joy, laughter, and gaiety received the final sentence of death: they sang and sent up hymns of thanksgiving to the God of the universe till their very last breath."
(Eusebius: The History of the Church, Penguin Classics, p. 265, translated by G. A. Williamson)


The Orthodox Church teaches us that sufferings will come so that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our mortal flesh (2 Corinthians 4:11); and we will suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together (Romans 8:17); and when ye be buffeted for your faults, ye shall take it patiently? but if, when ye do well, and suffer for it, ye take it patiently, this is acceptable with God (1 Peter 2:20). We are exhorted to suffer all things patiently for Jesus said, in your patience possess ye your souls (Luke 21:19).


This teaching of patient endurance is affirmed by the Orthodox Church. Listen to the words of Elder Anthony of Optina:

"To my Most Honorable and Kind Benefactress and Much-suffering Slave of Christ, N.. Be strong in the Lord! Your greatly ailing and comfortless state of health causes my heart to grieve with you. Because of my duty of love and compassion, I have prayed for you daily and entreat the Lord God that He grant you Christian patience in your illness, and alleviation. But if your illness continues to the present time, this is not because God has not heard the prayers that have been offered to Him, but because He leaves certain ones without healing so as to more readily benefit the sufferer. Through temporal suffering a sinful man not only is freed from eternal torments for his sins, but is also granted salvation and made an heir of the Heavenly Kingdom. The Lord God in His profound wisdom truly arranges all things through His love for mankind and grants to everyone that which is profitable. It is our duty not to question why something happens this way and not that, but with childlike submissiveness to devote ourselves to the holy will of our heavenly Father and say from the depths of our soul: Holy Father, Thy will be done! With this in mind, if one looks at a healthy man and looks at a man who has suffered long, and observes the state of soul of the one and the other, then which one of them can be called blessed or accursed - the healthy man or the suffering man? For example, how many times during your illness have you brought repentance for your sins before the Lord God and before your spiritual father and received Communion of the Holy Mysteries? Meanwhile, the healthy man rarely thinks about his sins; and if he happens to make preparation for Communion once a year, it is due not so much to his fervency as to propriety, so that he may say: 'I have confessed and received Communion.' But his confession would be like that of a dumb man, that is, it would seem that there was nothing weighing on his soul. How many times have you in your illness heaved heavy sighs from the depths of your soul before God, every one of which the Lord sees and hears? But with the healthy it is not at all this way. If they sigh, it is usually because they haven't seen someone for a long time or because it has been long since they have received news about something. In your illness you have often moistened your face with your tears, but healthy people waste soap on their face daily instead of using tears to clean it, and not a word is mentioned about the soul. In your illness you have often turned your eyes with prayer to the icon of Christ the Savior and to His Most Pure Mother, but healthy ladies or girls, instead of gazing at an icon, look hundred times a day at themselves in the mirror, and rarely pray hard or cross themselves as they should. For these reasons you are more blessed in your ailing condition than all the healthy ones around you..."
(Elder Anthony of Optina, p. 226-227, Fr. Clement Sederholm)


Suffering will come for if we suffer, we shall also reign with him (2 Timothy 2:12). This is the Apostolic Teaching. This is not the teachings of all streams of Protestantism. There is a range of teaching between: 'God does not heal your afflictions today'; to 'it is not right to have afflictions'. Here is one example of this by a 'faith teacher':

"...how can you glorify God in your body, when it doesn't function right? How can you glorify God? How can He get glory when your body doesn't even work? . . . What makes you think the Holy Ghost wants to live inside a body where He can't see out through the windows and He can't hear with the ears? What makes you think the Holy Spirit wants to live inside of a physical body where the limbs and the organs and the cells do not function right? . . . And what makes you think He wants to live in a temple where He can't see out of the eyes, and He can't walk with the feet, and He can't move with the hand? . . . The only eyes that He has that are in the earth realm are the eyes that are in the body. If He can't see out of them then God's gonna be limited . . ."
(Christianity in Crisis, p. 259-260, by Hank Hanegraaff)

This is an extreme position in the Protestant Church but it is a teaching that seems to be popular in some Charismatic Churches. Let us not forget that it was Lazarus, the suffering beggar who laid at the gate as dogs licked his sores, that was taken by Angels to Abraham's bosom and it was the rich man, who lived in luxury, that suffered torments in Hades (Luke 16:19-31).


In the Orthodox Church I found the true teachings on suffering and afflictions. It is all about picking up your cross and following Him and His example. St. Macarius the Great exhorts us in the Apostolic Teaching:

"If for you disgrace is like praise, poverty like wealth, insufficiency like abundance, then you will not die."
(Saints Barsanuphius & John, Guidance Toward Spiritual Life, p. 140, Selected and translated by Fr. Seraphim Rose)

St. Macarius the Great also instructs us in the right attitude of prayer:

"Asked how to pray, he replied: 'It is enough if you will often repeat from your whole heart: Lord, as it pleases Thee and as Thou Knowest, have mercy on me. And if temptation comes upon you: Lord, help me! The Lord knows what is profitable for us and has mercy on us'."
(Saints Barsanuphius & John, Guidance Toward Spiritual Life, p. 140, Selected and translated by Fr. Seraphim Rose)

The Orthodox Church has given me the proper attitude towards suffering. As the Lord wills I am now choosing, rather to suffer affliction with the people of God, than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season (Hebrews 11:25). May He not give me the full measure of what I deserve to suffer for my sins, but may He take pity on me an unworthy sinner. I hope and wait for His mercy. For though He slay me, yet will I trust in Him (Job 13:15).

Conclusion