Learning Obedience

Lamentations 3:31-42; Hebrews 5:1-10

Rev. Chris Harbin, Rocks Baptist Church—Pamplin, VA

06 November 2005

Obedience is not our most cherished vocabulary word—at least not regarding our own actions. We desire more naturally to command than obey. There is another word in today’s texts that sounds yet more odious. Alongside obedience, the Bible speaks of suffering. We well know of Jesus’ obedience and suffering, but cringe to think that obedience and suffering should be part of our existence as well. Is suffering really a necessary aspect of the path to obedience and submission?

The nation of Judah was in a desperate plight. Lamentations records lament in the despairing state of affairs of a people ravaged by judgment and calamity. There was no sense in arguing that they did not deserve their plight. They had ignored Yahweh’s will for generations, forsaking the import of their identity as the People of Yahweh. After warnings upon warnings, now they faced deportation, famine, and the rankling knowledge that they should have heeded the prophetic warnings.

During the years of warning, they had opportunity to trust God and learn obedience. They had not taken that opportunity to heart. Entrusting their lives to God seemed like some nebulous, uncertain quantity. They could not see how it would make any difference. They took their chances, hedging their bets in sacrifice to a host of deities. They hoped to turn the foreign gods to their side in the looming advance of Assyrian and Babylonian empire. Egypt had never succumbed to remote control, granting a false sense of security in alignment with Egypt.

In those days of looming chaos, they felt it best to keep their options open. They wanted Yahweh’s protection, but they wanted it on their own terms. They wanted no strings attached—blessings only, please! They wanted all the rights and privileges of freedom with no entanglement of responsibility toward Yahweh. God was supposed to be there to protect them. They would count on God’s mercy and grace, all the while avoiding their share in the prized covenant. They tried hard to ignore the issue of being responsibility, for that would mean submission and obedience.

I have shared with several of you my thoughts on the upcoming referendum on alcohol by the drink. I fail to see much benefit should the resolution go forward. Likewise, I fail to see that we gain much by its defeat. The rhetoric I have heard against the resolution to allow “liquor by the drink” speaks exclusively of “the evils of alcohol.” In so doing, alcohol is credited with many things it is incapable of accomplishing. Alcohol is made the evil instigator of relational, social, financial, and health problems, and even an agent of death. Alcohol is not responsible for such things. We are. Alcohol cannot kill. Irresponsible human beings kill. Banning alcohol fails to address the larger issue of societal decay, as we have swept aside personal responsibility for our actions. Should we pass or block the pending legislation will matter little, for we have not addressed the issue of greater importance. We have created a new society that accepts no responsibility. When we blame our ills on inanimate things, we ignore responsibility and suffer the consequences.

Judah blamed her circumstances on anything but her own disobedience. She well knew she had failed, but only now in Lamentations do we hear recognition of her failure. It is too little, too late. Shoving aside her own responsibility did not change the fact of her disobedience. She had not learned to obey in the proper time. She would begin learning obedience in the strain of exile.

If suffering was necessary for Judah to learn responsible obedience, Hebrews gives us a different look at responsibility, obedience, and suffering. Judah learned to obey in suffering the consequences of her disobedience and irresponsible action. Hebrews tells us that Jesus learned obedience through suffering, and yet with no disobedience in the mix.

The text says that Jesus’ prayers were heard because of his submission and that he learned obedience through suffering. If we read those words with their full force, we should be shocked. We are not shocked, perhaps, only because we have heard them so often without attending to their meaning. We accept as a given that Jesus suffered. We accept as a given that Jesus was obedient. We accept as a given that Jesus was in submission to God’s will. We are repulsed by the idea that Jesus learned to obey God from the experience of suffering.

One of the trickiest problems in theology has to do with understanding the presence of evil and suffering in light of God’s power and love. While this verse does not solve the whole issue of theodicy, it points us toward some level of acceptance of suffering as something other than evil. It states for us that even Jesus had to learn obedience. Furthermore, it states that Jesus learned obedience through what he suffered. If we think about it, this makes suffering somehow necessary and beneficial.

So much for the basic philosophical aims of our health care system! The energy and drive that has fueled the enormous strides and growth of our health industry are built on the premise that suffering is evil and must be halted at any cost. We categorically deny that suffering is an inalienable aspect of life that can produce beneficial results in our lives. Shall we then, scrap the healthcare system? That would be the same as shoving human responsibility upon something as inanimate as alcohol. Rather, we face the fact of our responsibility to learn obedience in the midst of life’s suffering, turmoil, and distress.

The devastation of Hurricane Katrina was horrible. Over half the counties of Mississippi have been declared federal disaster areas. Rita and Wilma brought much destruction with them as well. We need not look upon these hurricanes as good. In their wake, however, many learned to obey and lean upon God’s direction, providence, and love. As we confront the realities of suffering in our lives, we are afforded the opportunity to learn and grow. As a child learns to balance and walk through a process that includes falling down, we are only challenged to grow as we face difficulties that would force us to make new decisions and step into the unknown.

Like Israel and Judah of old, we tend to focus on the things of this world. We attend much to housing, comfort, economics, entertainment, health, and freedom. God is much more interested in the quality of our character, obedience, and responsibility. These are not things we are born with. As Jesus, we must learn submission and obedience. In our suffering, we learn to reach out to others in their time of need and distress.

We strive against suffering, but we must not lose sight of our responsibility to learn from it. More than something to avoid, suffering provides opportunities to learn obedience and dependence upon God. It gives us the chance to accept and exercise our responsibility as God’s servants, laying our lives in submission to God’s will. Judah waited too late to begin learning obedience. When the book of our lives is written, how will it read?

—©Copyright 2005 Christopher B. Harbin

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