This week we began a six week sermon series on the book, "Why?" by Adam Hamilton. Each week will stand alone so join us as you are able. Today we talked about what I find to be one of the most troublesome questions of all time - why do the innocent suffer? Why did God allow (blank) to happen. Fill in the blank with a natural disaster, a disaster made by man's bad choices, suffering caused by illness, a personal disaster. Whatever it is that touches you at this moment. How could a loving, caring, just God allow that to happen?
Hamilton argues that our disappointment, disillusionment, and in many cases turning away from God is the result of unrealistic assumptions we hold about how God works in the world. The Bible does not teach that if we follow God we will be rewarded, and if we don't we will be punished. In fact, the people of great faith in the Bible often suffered the most. When bad things happen you often hear people say that things happen for a reason, it is a part of God's plan. Hamilton logically argues that if we truly believe that then we believe that God not only allows, but intends bad things to happen.
Hamilton says that with three foundational ideas we can reconcile a loving and just God with suffering in the world. First, in Genesis 1:27-28 God puts humankind in charge of creation, charges us with doing what needs to be done, acting on God's behalf as it were. Second, we have free will, can choose right or wrong. And finally, as humans we are predisposed to sin, to choose "not God."
Whenever we start one of
these studies I always have to guard against this assumption that here
is the answer. If I don't consciously question and put on my
skeptical/cynical hat, I tend to latch on to everything the author says
as though it were a life preserver thrown to me after I was dropped in the
middle of the ocean. It isn't the answer, it is an answer. As United Methodists we believe it is not about the church providing you with answers, but equipping you to find your own answers, engaging you in a deeply personal and unique relationship with God.
While Hamilton's ideas make sense to me,I can't help thinking that in some respects blaming God by making it God's will or God's plan is also an escape or defense mechanism. It allows us to excuse the bad choices of others, and by extension, our own. We are absolved from responsibility. That also makes it easier to choose to not respond. Our pastor has said before that we can incarnate God for one another. It doesn't have to be in huge, self-sacrificing acts that grab headlines, but in the small, everyday interactions we have with one another. When bad things happen, it affords us an opportunity to choose (with our free will) to act on God's behalf (dominion) and offer comfort. If we can overcome that desire to not take responsibility.
At the end of the day, bad things happen. Does knowing why they happen make them any less painful? I'm not sure, I guess it depends on the event and the person. The older I get, the more I ponder these hard questions, the more I realize that for me, faith is about living with the questions instead of finding the answers. At least, that is what I tell myself. I keep coming back to the words of Rabbi Brad Hirschfeld in the documentary "Faith and Doubt at Ground Zero" when he says, "Live with the mystery." (I recommend the abbreviated version of his interview: The Question of God or the full version Interview: Rabbi Brad Hirschfeld.
I too am torn with the desire to have an "answer." More and more I am learning the living with the questions is hard enough and perhaps that is the best we can do. My hope is that after this sermon series, the church has some more tools that will allow them to do just that.
ReplyDeletePastor Suzanne