These situations bring out the age old question...why do bad things happen to good people? Wish there was a simple and easy answer. Wish I could make it all go away. Fix it. But of course, that's just wishful thinking.
I was thinking about this and did some googling and reading. Pretty good article here. For me, the logical answer is based in religion. Seeking answers. Seeking comfort. Seeking rationalization. Ultimately renewing faith. That's what we do. For me, as a Christian, this works. Gives me something to hang on to. Some way of going on.
We have a good friend who used to be our parish Priest and has moved on to another church. He is an inspiring and gifted messenger of God. He sends out his sermons to a list of the faithful every Sunday. Coincidentally (or not?) his sermon this week is titled, "Believing in a World Like This". Wow! For me at least it offers some measure of comfort so I'm providing here in its entirety in hopes that if you're suffering a loss, a challenge, despair...maybe this can offer comfort to you also.
Believing in a World like This
But what does it mean to believe in God in a world like this? For some of us, belief may not come easy. I think of the people who come to the parish office seeking a food voucher. They are wearing worn-out clothing; some have body odour or smell of heavy tobacco use, others are overweight and have serious health problems, and most are simply unable to work or hold a steady job. They live from month to month, from one government check to another, barely making it, sometimes going without a meal, and often struggling to survive by eating all the wrong food. What does it mean for these people to believe in God?
Other people have trouble believing in God because they have experienced one bad break after another, one heartache after another, one disappointment or failure after another. I think of the man who thought he was marrying the woman of his dreams that turned out to be a nightmare. I think of the parents who were brought to the brink of bankruptcy because of the actions of their son. I think of the young man whose parents could not afford to send him to the college. I think of the middle age woman who was unable to conceive and bear a child, though she tried desperately to have one for many years. I think of the man who lost his job at the age of 52 after his company moved the plant to Mexico, and he wondered what type of job would he ever hold again and how he would provide for his wife and three children. You can think of your own scenario, I am sure. There are too many people who have had too much heartbreak for belief in God to come easy.
But perhaps we have to back up and re-define our use of the word “God.” God is a generic word – like aspirin. People use the word to mean any number of things, but when Christians refer to God, we mean the God of Jesus Christ; the God who suffered, died and was buried but rose on the third day; the God who knows our pains and sorrows, and bears our burdens. This is a wounded God, a crucified God – a God who knows hurt and pain and grief. This is not the God of the Silicon Valley elite or Hollywood movie stars. This is not the God of the rich and famous, the successful and powerful. This is the God who knows rejection, failure, and disappointment. This God triumphs in the resurrection but only after he suffered and died on the cross.
This, dear people, is the God of Jesus – the God Thomas confronts eight days after the resurrection. Thomas expected a God who would vanquish his enemies, a God who would never feel forsaken or know sorrow – a God without any scars or wounds. Yet there stands the risen Jesus who has been to hell and back, showing him his wounds and asking him to believe in him. Years ago I heard a man describe two paintings in his home. One was of the figure in Jesus’ story of the rich man whose crops produced so abundantly that he decided to pull down his barns and build bigger ones, and said to his soul, “Soul, eat, drink, and have a great time, for tomorrow you die.” The caption under this painting said: “The Failure That Looked like Success.” The other painting, the companion painting, was of Jesus dying on the cross, and the crown of thorns on his head, his chin drooping against his chest, the crude nails in his hands, and all his friends off somewhere in hiding. The caption under this picture said: “The Success That Looked like Failure.” Do you see what this means for you and me anytime we feel hard pressed or beaten down? It means that we have a God who has experienced the worst things that can happen to human beings – evil, suffering and death – and has overcome them all. This God knows what it is like to be an outcast, marginalized, and rejected, yet triumphs over every power that would destroy our human worth. “Human hope is the greatest power in life and the only thing that defeats death,” someone once wrote. Well, in Jesus hope has conquered despair, life has defeated death, and love has overcome hate. Whatever the world throws at us, we know that in the end God’s victory in Jesus is final and complete. If you believe this, then you can rebound from any adversity that comes your way. As a parish priest, I have always been inspired by John Wesley, and his determination to preach the gospel despite intense opposition from the leaders of the Established Church. In his diary Wesley writes: “Sunday, A.M., May 5: Preached in St. Anne’s. Was asked not to come back anymore... Sunday, P.M., May 5 Preached in St. John’s. Wardens said “Get out and stay out... Sunday, A.M., May 12 Preached in St. Jude’s. Can’t go back there, either... Sunday, A.M., May 19 Preached in St. Somebody Else’s. Wardens called special meeting and said I couldn’t return... Sunday, P.M., May 19 Preached on street. Kicked off the street... Sunday, A.M., May 26 Preached in meadow. Chased out of meadow as bull was turned loose during service... Sunday, A.M., June 2 Preached out at the edge of town. Kicked off the highway... Sunday, P.M., June 2 Afternoon, preached in a pasture. Ten thousand people came out to hear me.” Winston Churchill, who knew something about adversity, said that there are six words for success: Never, never, never, never give up. Yes, life can throw hard punches at us, knock the wind right out of us, and make us feel helpless, hopeless and alone. Our health can fail us, our friends can disappoint us, and the things we counted on for security can collapse right under us. I think of Dave Dravecky, the former pitcher for the San Francisco Giants. At the peak of his career in 1991 he lost his pitching arm to cancer. Those who watched his 1989 comeback will never forget the Montreal game. Dave’s left arm snapped with a deafening crack that could be heard in the stands. It is bad enough to have cancer, let alone face the amputation of an arm, but then on top of that, to lose a promising career as a major league baseball player. Dave Dravecky was honest enough to admit that he faced his own doubts and that faith was not always easy. And yet, he wrote, “I am convinced there is a God. That no matter what happens to me, there is a purpose for it and behind that purpose stands a loving, caring God.” I dare say that Dave Dravecky has probably done more good with one arm than he ever did with two arms because he has inspired and uplifted people to cope with their own pain and suffering. If the resurrection means anything, it means that life is not over when tragedy comes our way, because it is then that the power of God is manifest in our lives, helping us to walk through the valley of the shadow of death into the realm of glorious light. You and I may never face the adversity of John Wesley or Dave Dravecky, and yet we can keep the faith that God will see us through whatever challenge or trial comes our way. We can focus on Jesus, knowing that in the end God’s “will be done on earth as it is in heaven.” We can face the heartaches of life knowing that God is with us every step of the way. Yes, life can be tough, but God will uphold us with everlasting arms. There is simply no adversity that we cannot face in the power of Christ’s resurrection. Years ago when I was visiting my friend in England, a neighbour came over for tea and spoke of his experience in a Japanese prisoner-of-war camp during World War II. It was a place of unbearable torture and human degradation. The prisoners were treated horribly and their lives seemed not worth living. One of the prisoners, who sang in a church choir before he went into the military, would sometimes hum songs to himself as the prisoners were being led out to the fields to work each day. Walking along in the sweltering heat, miserable, unfed, unwashed, he would sing. He often hummed William Blake’s great poem “Jerusalem” put to music by the British church composer Sir Charles Hubert Parry. The Japanese guards did not know the tune, so the song meant nothing to them. But to the prisoners, the tune evoked freedom, hope and new life.
I will not cease from mental flight,
Nor shall my sword sleep in my hand,
Till we have built Jerusalem
In England’s green and pleasant land.
Soon, the whole camp was humming the tune each day on the way out to work, with the guards oblivious to the revolutionary significance of this defiant gesture. So what does it mean to believe in God in a world like this? Well, if you are a Christian who believes in the resurrection of Jesus, then it means affirming that the best is yet to come, that evil and death never have the last word in our lives, and that God will always make a way where there is no way. So don’t despair. Don’t become cynical or bitter. Don’t admit defeat. Focus on Jesus, keep the faith, persevere, and live in the power of the resurrection, triumphantly, joyfully and hopefully, today and forever.
No comments:
Post a Comment