If

we are honest, we’ll admit that we do not usually, if ever, hope

for suffering. We may be eager to experience the power of Christ’s

resurrection, but we are less passionate about wanting to experience

the agony of his death. Yet in several places in the New Testament

Paul expresses a desire to share in the sufferings of Christ (for

example, see Romans 8:17-18; 2 Corinthians 1:5-7; 2 Timothy

1:8).

Across

church history, many Christians have suffered for Jesus, whether they

wanted to or not. To this day, parts of the church are persecuted,

and in recent years we have seen or heard about horrifying spectacles

of Christians being beheaded for their faith. If we are blessed to

live free of such persecution, we tend to pray that things may stay

that way for us. We also pray that persecution will cease for sisters

and brothers who are hurting. Yet Paul speaks positively about

suffering for Jesus’ sake, and he invites others to join with him.

Of

course, in baptism we do die and rise with Christ (Romans 6:1-7).

Spiritually we affirm this. Physical suffering may or may not come,

but if it does, Paul indicates that it only draws us closer to Jesus.

This

may be another way of expressing what Paul wrote in Romans 8:31-39:

nothing can separate us from the love of God in Christ because Jesus

achieved salvation by suffering and dying for us.