1 SAMUEL 16:1-13
PSALM 23
EPHESIANS 5:1-14
JOHN 9:1-38
Sermon 3/10/02
This
mornings Gospel opens with what I think is perhaps the most horrific question
in the Bible: Jesus saw a man blind from birth. His disciples ask him, Rabbi,
who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?
After
over a year of following Jesus around, watching him heal all sorts of people,
listening to him teach and preach, his disciples still dont get it and the author of the Gospel is not shy about telling
us that they didnt get it, both to remind us how stuck they were in old
thinking and, I think, to make sure we do
get it: sin is not the sole cause
for human suffering.
This
incident is a classic example of blame the victim as the answer to a puzzle
an answer a lot of people still use today, 2000 years later! How many people still believe that rape
victims had it coming to them because of their provocative dress, behavior
etc.? No one ever could be responsible for her or his own
rape, but some people like to blame the victim. How many victims of domestic violence blame themselves and
believe If only I was better, I wouldnt get hit. No one ever deserves to get hit, but some
people including some victims believe otherwise. And some children blame themselves if their parents divorce,
assuming a burden of guilt with no relationship to reality. Blame the victim has been around for a long
time to explain why things happen, and it still is alive as a theory which pours
salt in the wounds of hurting people every day.
Why
bad things happen to people is one of the most common theological questions
people have, and the hunger for answers is demonstrated by the number of people
who seem to accept a gruesome answer rather than let there be no answer. So let me share with you my reflections on
this crucial question.
I
believe there are four broad answers to why bad things happen: accidents, other peoples sins, ones own
sins, and mysteries.
Some
natural disasters and accidents are indeed accidents
with no cosmic purpose behind them that I can discern. If you drive down the street, skid on a
patch of ice and hit a tree, I dont believe that God put that patch of
ice on the road five seconds before you got there in order to punish you for
something. That may sound silly, but
youd be surprised how may people spend great emotional energy looking for a
reason or a purpose behind an accident, and some of whom settle into a lifetime
of anger against God for punishing them so unfairly.
Yes,
accidents hurt sometimes disastrously.
Yes, accidents happen to good people as well as bad people. But we live in the world, not in heaven, and
in the world there is what theologians call natural evil: earthquakes, tornadoes,
hurricanes, forest fires caused by lightning and so on and...accidents. Maybe someday well learn about a cosmic
purpose behind them, but based on Jesus attitude towards victims of accidents,
I dont think so. Its hard sometimes,
but let us accept the reality of accidents.
The
second category is other peoples sins. Most obviously, those who died in the World
Trade Center, the Pentagon and in the plane in Pennsylvania died because of
other peoples sins, namely the hijackers.
They did not die, as the
so-called Christian Jerry Falwell claimed, because God was punishing the United
States of America, a pre-Christian and pre-most of the Old Testament idea if
there ever was one. (The prophet
Ezekiel made clear in the 6th Century B.C. that each person dies for
their own sins or lives after turning from them but perhaps Jerry
Falwell hasnt gotten that far in the Bible yet.)
So,
for example, if youre driving down the street, buckled up and obeying all
laws, and you get hit by a drunk driver, your injuries are because of that
drivers sin: the person never should have gotten behind a wheel. The victim of rape or domestic violence is a
victim because of the other persons sin not any of their own.
The
third category is ones own sins. If someone smokes three packs of cigarettes
a day for 20 years and develops lung cancer, it doesnt make a lot of sense for
that person to complain Why did God do this to me? God didnt make them smoke.
They did it to themselves. And
yes, its addictive but there certainly is plenty of
information out on the dangers
and consequences and in even a moment when sober decision-making is possible
(and necessary), an addict can say, I need help and seek it.
The
final category is mysteries. This may sound like a cop-out, but honestly
there are tragedies which happen which are not explained by doctors and for
which I have no explanation, except that we live in a broken world which awaits
its ultimate, total and final healing by God and in the meantime there are
tragedies which make no sense at all, like children who die after being born
with inexplicable problems at birth, or adults inflicted with Alzheimers
disease.
There
are no glib or quickie answers to tragedies, nor should there be. But Christians should not avoid responding
in some way to tragedies. So let me
offer some suggestions. First, if
someone you know suffers a trauma or a tragedy, show up. That could mean
going to a funeral or visiting hours, making a phone call, sending a card,
doing something in response to
indicate your awareness and concern. If
you do go to visit someone in the hospital, make your visit short unless you are clearly and
specifically asked to stay. Some
people camp out in hospital rooms and make it even harder for patients to
rest. Thats not being caring.
Second,
after show up, shut up. Dont try
to come up with a glib answer to why, second-guess the doctors, tell the
victim it must be something they did or grandly announce that Its O.K. because
it must be Gods will. Please! Did God tell you that personally, and
then tell to drop that news on the suffering person? And also dont, please, say, It could have been worse. Even if thats true, so what! Isnt whatever happened bad enough? Lots of efforts at consolation are
anything but consoling. What is helpful
is non-judgmental listening to the
suffering person, continuing to stay in
touch and genuine offers to help. The person may really need the grass
mowed, childcare, errands run etc. but dont offer unless you really mean
it. And dont expect the effects of
trauma to wear of according to the timetable of the person who has not
suffered the trauma.
Sometimes people
say really dumb things to people (like are you O.K. now? one month after the
persons spouse or child has died) because the enormity of some pain is scary
to the other people. No, people whove
gone through that are not instantly O.K.
What does help,
in addition to showing up, listening non-judgmentally, offering to do chores if
appropriate, keeping in touch, and avoiding saying thoughtless, dumb things, is
telling people that you care about them and you will remember them in your
prayers. And if you say that, do
it.
And one more thing
helps: knowing that God does heal people. Illness, disability, suffering, pain, even death are contrary
to Gods ultimate will for the world.
All these things exist now, in the broken, fallen, sin-filled world we
live in, but pain does not have the last
word and will not endure forever.
Gods will and Gods love have the last word.
Indeed, we pray
Thy Kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. From this we can glean three things: First,
Gods will is done, perfectly and all
the time, in heaven. Second, Gods will
is not yet done perfectly and all the
time on earth. And third, when the
Kingdom of God comes, Gods will will
be done on earth, perfectly and all the time.
In the meantime, we live by faith, learning from the life of Christ that God does not punish people like the man born blind, but that God treats suffering as an enemy to be vanquished. It will ultimately be vanquished totally, but in the meantime we have seen the opening salvos of Gods love defeating pain in the Bible, especially in the ministry of Jesus.
When we see crocuses blooming as they are now, those who have experienced more than one Spring at this latitude know they are a sign that Spring is on the way, that in due time there will be a glorious array of blooming flowers, trees and a burgeoning harvest of food growing.
We today experience more miracles of healing by Jesus Christ: the work he did in his earthly ministry continues, and we here in this parish have witnessed great and glorious wonders of his love. We experience pain in our lives and in those around us which is real and powerful but the pain will not last forever. The miracles of healing, however, are like crocuses which foretell the eternal Spring which is to come.
So let us love those who suffer and endure with them, rejoice with those who rejoice over a blessing, and pray that we may be open to Gods healing in so many ways in our own lives and that we may be bearers of hope and healing to others. Especially to those who, like the man in this mornings Gospel may have been the victim of abusive theology as well as physical disasters. Let us be bearers of love, life and hope, and healing in all respects.
(The Rev.) Francis A. Hubbard
St. Barnabas Episcopal Church