The Joy of Suffering

Once upon a time, in the side of a mountain far away, there was a huge cave. Now this was not just any normal cave in any normal mountain, but a very special cave. It was called, “The Cave of Joy.” The cavern was huge, rising up with a vaulted ceiling like some great cathedral, with light streaming in through overhead holes like skylights. Inside this huge cave there were large basins of stone, arranged in a large circle, each filled with what looked like sparkling, pure water. Before each basin was a sign, carved in all the languages of the world, telling what was inside that basin. In the very center of the room was a single stalagmite, on which rested a dove.

Most of the animals didn’t even know that the Cave of Joy existed, let alone know the way to get there. Most just spent their lives wandering around the mountain or flying past it, unaware of the cave or the joys it held. Only when the dove cooed would some hear its call, and respond to the invitation to come to the cave.

And so it happened one day, that the dove sang out its invitation, and its call was heard by a sparrow flying by. The sparrow had never heard any call so sweet, so it turned in the air and followed the beckoning call straight to the cave’s entrance, landed, and walked inside. It went right to the center to stand before the dove, marveling at the peacefulness of the cave and the ring of basins surrounding it. The dove welcomed the sparrow and said, “We’ve been waiting for you for a long time. Around you are basins filled with all the joys the heavens can offer. Help yourself and drink deeply of them.”

The sparrow turned and hopped over to the first basin, and read the sign before it, and since it was in all the languages of the world, including Sparrow, that bird could understand. The sign read, “The Joy of Forgiveness.” The sparrow drank, and was filled with joy at knowing its sins were all forgiven. The next basin was “The Joy of Eternal Life”, and drinking from that, the sparrow rejoiced at knowing that it would live forever. Next, “The Joy of Fellowship” with those who had already come to the cave, then “The Joy of Praise” and the sparrow sang out with a song louder and cheerier than it had ever sung, joined by the cooing of the dove.

And so it went, the sparrow drinking from the various basins the sweet waters of joy, until it came to the final basin, and there it stopped. The sparrow read the sign out loud: “The Joy Nobody Wants,” and then turned with a puzzled look on its beak, and asked the dove, “What is this?” The dove replied, “Just what it says. The Joy Nobody Wants is the Joy of Suffering.”

The sparrow asked, “Does anyone ever drink from it?” “Oh yes,” said the dove. “Eventually, everyone does. But most hesitate, like you; only a certain Lamb came and drank fully of it without hesitation.”

The sparrow considered the dove’s words, and though it couldn’t understand how joy could come from suffering, it reasoned that the sign “Joy” must be true, and so the sparrow landed on the rim of the basin and drank of the water of “The Joy of Suffering.”

What a mistake! The water was bitter and burned in the mouth, and at once the bird’s little stomach began to hurt. It couldn’t understand how the sign had promised joy, when there was nothing enjoyable about it. The sparrow hopped off the basin, bid the dove goodbye, and took off flying for the cave’s entrance. But instead of flying straight and clean through the air, the sparrow somehow veered off to one side and smashed into the cave wall, breaking one wing. Now it couldn’t fly! So instead of soaring out into the sky, the injured bird had to hop and walk slowly and painfully down the mountain.

And so it did, looking up occasionally to see other birds flying overhead, soaring effortlessly in the sky. “Why me?” the sparrow asked, “Those birds don’t even know about the Cave of Joy! How come they’re flying free and happily while I’m down here, hurting and broken?” But even as it asked those questions, the other Joys came to mind, and the sparrow felt less and less sorry for itself, and more sorry for the birds who didn’t know about the Cave of Joy.

After a couple long, painful hours of hopping down the mountain, the sparrow came upon a nest of chickadees – or what had been a nest; the nest had been raided by blue-jays and most of the sticks and grasses had been taken by the jays for their own nest. The two chickadees sat despairing, until the sparrow came up and offered to help. “What can you do? Your wing is broken! And why do you want to help us when you’ve got your own problems?” The sparrow replied, “Because I’ve learned about the Joy of Serving Others.” And with that, the sparrow told them about the Cave of Joy, and urged them to follow the call of the dove when they heard it. The chickadees rebuilt their nest with the help of the sparrow who couldn’t fly but could pull up grass and weeds for them to use. The job finished, the sparrow continued on

Further down the mountain, the sparrow came upon a crow, sitting by the path. It too had a broken wing, having been shot by a near-sighted duck hunter. The crow had its head in its one good wing, crying over its fate. “Why me? What did I do to deserve this? Now, I’ll never fly again!” The sparrow spoke gently to the crow, “Don’t take it so hard! There is hope you know, and you’re still alive!” Without looking, the crow complained, “That’s easy for you to say!” But the sparrow answered, “Yes it’s easy, but not for the reason you think.” The crow looked up and was astonished to see the broken wing of the sparrow, and for the next hour the crow listened attentively to the sparrow’s story of the cave, even as the sparrow helped to patch its wound. “Do you think I can go there, too?” asked the crow. “I’m sure you can; every language was there, even crow! Just listen for the call of the dove.” And with that, the sparrow continued its journey, filled with the Joys of Witnessing and Friendship.

By now, the sparrow was very hungry. It hadn’t eaten all day, and its stomach growled with pain. So what should the sparrow encounter next but a mother robin standing next to a pile of delicious, writhing worms. I don’t know if sparrows really drool, but if they do, this one did! But then the robin asked it, “Please kind sparrow, guard these worms for me while I fly one to my babies in the nest! If I leave them unguarded they might get away or be snatched by someone else.” The sparrow considered its own hunger, but then thought, “I’ve endured the pain in my wing all day, certainly I can suffer hunger for the sake of those baby birds.” So the sparrow agreed and stood watch, and not one of those delicious, wiggling worms got away – nor did any end up in the sparrow’s hungry belly. Yet, through the pain of the hunger, the sparrow felt the Joy of Giving, and knew it was sweeter than the Joy of Receiving.

Finally, as the sun was about to set, the sparrow arrived at a rock from which it could see its home valley just before it. It would be good to get home, and what an adventure it had to tell to its family and friends. What joys it had learned in that Cave! But even as it pondered what had happened, it realized that if it had not drunk from the Joy of Suffering, it would not have broken its wing, and therefore would have flown out of the cave and into the sky, high above those other birds who were struggling on the ground. It would never have known them or the Joy of Serving Others. They would not have heard about the Cave of Joy and the Dove’s call, or might not have believed it, unless one sparrow with a broken wing had endured its own suffering to reach out to them. And so the sparrow knew deep in its heart, the “Joy that Nobody Wanted,” was the “Joy of Suffering.”

What happened next? I don’t really know. Some say the wing healed miraculously at that moment, and the sparrow returned to the air with the “Joy of the Creator’s Power.” Others say the sparrow just hopped on home and lived a life of quiet testimony. But others say the sparrow came upon a nest of baby killdeer in danger of a hungry fox, and that it gave its life, using its broken wing to lure the fox away, and showed the Joy of No Greater Love.

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Of course, this story is not about a bird – it’s about you and me. You and I are called out of the world by the Holy Spirit to believe in Jesus Christ and receive the joy and the reality of forgiveness, fellowship with other believers, and eternal life. We do live a life of joy, because we know God through his Son, and have the assurance of unending joy to come in the presence of our Creator.

But as the dove warned, all of us drink of the Joy of Suffering sooner or later. In fact, the Bible says that it is a characteristic of the Christian life that we suffer. We suffer from illness, accident, and evil actions by other people; we suffer from our own mistakes; and because of love, we suffer for other people as we grieve with them, share their burdens, and sacrifice ourselves to show the love of Jesus Christ.

Yet though we do suffer, we are not defeated. Instead, we are called to rejoice in our sufferings for what the Lord can do through them. In Romans 5:3 the Apostle Paul says that we rejoice and even boast in our sufferings, because the Lord will use our suffering to produce perseverance in us, and from perseverance, character, and from character, hope. As we endure hardships and pain, the strength of our faith and character is revealed, to us as well as to others. We all know people who have endured suffering far greater than we can imagine – yet they gave testimony to the love of Christ and the power of God through their suffering: a woman who on her deathbed praised God for allowing her family to see her faith through her suffering; a man who died of cancer, yet at peace, while his family was amazed at the new, loving and peaceful man he had become after receiving Christ just weeks before his death; and the modern day martyrs imprisoned and murdered for Christ.

Whatever suffering you are experiencing now, or may in the future, remember the apostle Paul. Consider everything he went through – we heard the list from 2 Corinthians – floggings, beatings, stonings, shipwrecks, imprisonment, hunger and thirst, and finally, being beheaded for his faith – and then remember what he said about suffering: that we rejoice in them.

Remember too our Savior, the Lamb who drank deeply from the Joy of Suffering, who took upon himself incredible suffering for your sake and mine, that we might have the Joy of Eternal Life.

And about that sparrow – Jesus taught us that not even a sparrow falls to the ground without the Father knowing it, and that you and I are worth much more to God than any sparrow! No grief, no pain, no suffering escapes our Lord. Nor does he allow us to go through it alone.

Now, may the Lord bless you and keep you, the Lord make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you, the Lord lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace. Amen.

Read: Job 2:1-10; Romans 5:1-5; 2 Corinthians 1:3-7