Rev. Denny Smith

Rev. Denny Smith
Long time contributor to Cherokee Scout newspaper

Reverend Denny Smith contributes a weekly column in the Cherokee Scout newspaper of Murphy, NC. These Christian based mini sermons reflect ideologies learned at Christian Love Ministries in Murphy. CLM is a non-profit Christian drug and alcohol treatment center founded in 1986 by Rev. Smith.

Tuesday, May 19, 2009

Every Living Thing is Suffering

I try hard not to whine, but the first thought I remember having this morning was “I’m so tired of being in pain.” I’m fortunate to be alive. I broke my neck in a car-wreck thirty years ago, and I live with chronic pain. I’ve learned to thank God that I’m alive, rather than to give in to self-pity. The Bible says: “the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together” (Romans 8:22). Every living thing on this planet is suffering.

The Living Bible paraphrase of that verse says; “even the things of nature, like animals and plants suffer in sickness and death.” We have a big old daddy Canada Goose that limps terribly every step he takes, protecting and teaching the little brood of 5 hatchlings he and his mate have how to survive on planet earth. He and his wife return to our pond every year. We know it’s the same pair because of his limp. My son found a small box turtle Tuesday of this week. It’s shell was badly broken in three places where it had been injured. It’s not going to die from its injuries, but it makes me hurt to look at it, knowing that it too, lives in pain.

There’s a strange kind of comfort that comes when we realize we are not the only ones hurting: “there hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man” (1st Corinthians 10:13). Everyone, and everything suffers. That’s why “all creation is waiting patiently and hopefully for that future day when God will resurrect His children. For on that day thorns and thistles, sin, death, and decay- the things that overcame the world against its will at God’s command- will all disappear, and the world around us will share in the glorious freedom from sin which God’s children enjoy” (Romans 8:19-21 Living Bible Paraphrase).

God’s children have always suffered. Can you imagine what the Apostle Paul must have looked like with his shirt off? “5 times received I forty stripes save one. Thrice was I beaten with rods. Once was I stoned, thrice I suffered shipwreck” (read 2 Corinthians 11:23-28). Beaten with a cat of nine tails for 39 licks usually killed a person. Paul went through that 5 times! Paul was ultimately beheaded by two Roman esquires, Ferega and Parthemius in 67 a.d. (Foxes book of Marytrs). Jerome says Peter was crucified upside down. Bartholomew was beaten, crucified, and beheaded in Albinopolis, Armenia. Andrew also was crucified. Matthew was killed with a spear by Hercanus, the king of Ethiopia.

James was thrown off the highest wall of the Temple in Jerusalem. That didn’t kill him, so a huge pole that was used to stir laundry in boiling pots was used to beat him to death. They buried him right there where he fell. The other James was crucified in Egypt during the reign of Trajun, the Roman emporer. Hebrews 11:35-38 says many were “tortured, mocked, scourged, slain with the sword and even sawn asunder (sawed in half!). Every living thing suffers. Some more than other.

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