“Here, and here alone,
Is given thee to suffer for God’s sake.
Serve Him and love Him, praise Him, work for Him,
Grow near and nearer Him with all delight,
But then we shall not anymore be called
To suffer, which is our appointment here.
Canst thou not suffer, then, one hour or two?
If He should call thee from thy cross today,
Saying, It is finished!—that hard cross of thine
From which thou prayest for deliverance,
Thinkest thou not some passion of regret
Would overcome thee? Thou wouldst say, ‘So soon?
Let me go back and suffer yet awhile
More patiently:—I have not yet praised God.’”
A Christian is not called to an easy, comfortable, self-indulgent life, but to self-denial, sacrifice, cross bearing. When two of His disciples asked for the first places in His kingdom, the Master said to them: “Ye know not what ye ask. Are ye able to drink the cup I am about to drink?” Speaking of suffering wrongfully, Saint Peter says, “Hereunto were ye called” — that is, ye were called to suffer wrongfully. He is writing to servants or slaves. Ofttimes they would find their position very hard. Their masters would be severe, sometimes cruel. They are exhorted, however, to submit quietly, not only to the good and gentle, but also to the forward. “If when ye do well, and suffer for it, ye take it patiently, this is acceptable with God. For hereunto were ye called.
None of us are slaves, but many of us have to work under others, and the others are not always “good and gentle.” The problem in many lives is how to maintain the Christian spirit, how to be Christlike in one’s place under others who are unreasonable, exacting, unjust, or unkind. The New Testament teaching is that we are to do our work well, to manifest the patient, gentle spirit of Christ, whatever our hardships and wrongs may be. Back of the human masters stands another Master, and it is for Him we are really working. He is the One we are to seek to please in all that we do. This changes the character of all service. Our Maser would not be pleased if we did our work negligently, if we skimped it, or if we showed bitterness even under hard and unjust treatment.
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