Worship

Where is God when bad things happen to good people? As a church, we recently asked our Sunday School classes to pose some questions they would like to have answered from the pulpit, and today we start a summer preaching series based on some of those questions. Questions around the known fact that bad things happen to the good and innocent, and how or whether God is there in those times, were the most common questions posed by our Sunday School classes, so that is where we’ll start our series.

Hear me church … this is a complicated issue. And it can be a very divisive issue. It is, in fact, a common argument against Christianity – if you worship such a loving God, why do bad things happen to good people? Why does he allow us to suffer those seeming injustices? Multiple books have been written on the subject. Seminary classes are devoted to it. We’re not going to resolve all the questions in a single Sunday sermon.

I want to be clear about two things. First, I want to be clear that I am not speaking today about why God allows bad things to happen to good people. That’s a different and even more difficult discussion.For now, remember that in Matthew 5:45, Jesus tells us that God causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. I have some further ideas about the “why?” question and will be happy to visit with you about them, but today I’m talking primarily about how or whether God is present when there is unearned suffering. Second, I want to be clear that I do not pretend to have all the answers. There is no neatly tied package to deliver here. What I hope is that you leave here today with a better understanding of what the Bible tells us about this and that I’ve provided you some resources to help you tackle these questions on your own.

Ok, on to the meat of this sermon.

I was going to talk today about the tens of thousands of Christians who died in the Lisbon earthquake of 1755, but unfortunately we’ve been presented a situation much closer to home. On July 4th In the Hill Country around the Guadalupe River— a devastating flood happened. At a bridge in Kerrville Texas, meteorologist Eric Graves reported that the official river level was 0 feet at midnight, then nearly 30 feet at 6 AM. This tragic flood swept away roads, homes, RV parks, and even cabins at Camp Mystic, after an astonishing 10–12 inches of rain poured down in just hours. 13 precious lives were lost, with several more still unaccounted for. On the front lines, heroes—first responders, volunteers, and state teams—are searching every creek, tree, and ravine, working tirelessly through rough terrain and rising waters. Camp Mystic, a place for youth that has existed for 100 years, also experienced tragedy in the flood. Twenty to twenty‑three girls, precious daughters aged 7–17, remain out of contact—some believed stranded, others still missing. The death toll from the tragedy stands so far at 43. Friends, I  can’t imagine the suffering of those left behind, the people who lived and lost scores of family and friends, some my daughter’s age. Where is God when that happens? Where is God when innocents are caught in war or, more personally, when we experience the loss of a cherished loved one?

Let’s go to the Bible, and to some folks who have been there before, and see what we can learn.

As Christians, we have every reason to believe that God knows about suffering because the Bible teaches us that God Himself, in the form of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, suffered. The Book of Hebrews tell us that Jesus “suffered when he was tempted,” In John 11:35, Jesus visits the family and tomb of his friend Lazarus and he“wept.” In Luke 22:42-43, we’re told that Jesus prayed for the cup to be taken from Him, which is to say, Jesus asked that He be spared the unearned suffering that He knew was to come, but as we know He also asked ultimately that God’s will, not His own, be done. These scriptures tell us that God knows about suffering.

Scripture also tells us that God is present when bad things happen to good people. Jesus said “In this world you will suffer tribulation, but take heart, I have overcome the world.”-John 16:33. And we know, from John 16:7, that despite Jesus’ physical departure from this world, the Holy Spirit remains here as our advocate, even when bad things happen to good people.

In his book, Walking with God in Pain and Suffering, Pastor Tim Keller writes that Christianity “continues to have superior assets and resources for facing evil, suffering, and death.” Our faith has the best story to offer when facing suffering. Keller tells us of a woman he calls Tess, who lost her Mom to cancer. In her mother’s final days, even as the cancer did incredible damage to her mind, Tess’s mom could still remember and recite scripture. As she buried her mother, Tess prayed to God that if she was ever faced with that kind of extremely difficult situation, that she too would be able to hold fast to scripture. Unfortunately, that extremely difficult situation arose shortly after her mother’s death. Tess’s infant son Wyatt would not wake up one morning. As the ambulance workers showed up and tried to revive the child, Tess and her husband went to God in prayer and asked the Lord to please revive their child. They prayed for healing, but Tess also prayed that if God didn’t heal Wyatt in this world, God “we are going to need you here, for we can’t grieve and face this alone!” Sadly, Wyatt was not revived. He had died of sudden infant syndrome. Despite her grieving, Tess says that she could remember the words of 1 Thessalonians 5 to “Give Thanks in all circumstances” and the words of Job 1:21, saying “the Lord gives, and the Lord takes away, blessed be the name of the Lord” And perhaps more importantly, Tess revealed that the story wasn’t over. Tess said: “ The end hasn’t been written. The Lord has shown us over and over again how He never intended for us to go through death alone. He gave us Himself, and He gave us the Body of Christ. The morning after Wyatt died, two of our friends showed up without calling to look after our other two children. Our Redeemer Church community mobilized an army of prayer warriors and help warriors. Meals were sent, our families flown in from Nicaragua, Arkansas, Texas, and Arizona, people gave up their apartments for our families, rented an apartment down the block, delivered meals to our nanny in Brooklyn, planned and executed the memorial service, printed bulletins, etc. Every single last detail was taken care of, in typical Type-A New Yorker style, with precision and excellence, and all without our knowledge or consent. And so we were allowed to descend to the very depths of our grief, experience it in all its agony, and emerge on the other side. When we emerged, our community had been transformed in unity through suffering, and we were pregnant.” Of course what happened was a tragedy and hurt her and her husband to their core, but, Tess tells us, she felt the presence of the Lord there, even in that tragedy.

Another story around God’s presence in the midst of unearned suffering comes from the Christian author Philip Yancey. In his book Disappointment with God, Yancey writes about his friend, Douglas. Douglas’s wife contracted breast cancer and then, during that crisis, while Douglas was driving one day, a drunk driver swerved over the center line and smashed head on into his car. Douglas received a massive blow to the head. His vision was affected and his ability to read was hindered. He could hardly walk down a flight of stairs without assistance. Yancy interviewed Douglas to find out if he was disappointed in God. Yancey writes: Douglas was silent for what seemed like a long time. He stroked his peppery, gray beard and gazed off beyond my right shoulder. Finally he said, ‘To tell you the truth, Philip, I didn’t feel any disappointment with God. I am just as upset as anyone over what has happened. I feel free to curse the unfairness of life and vent my grief and anger. But I believe God feels the same way about my accident and my wife, grieved and angry. I don’t blame Him for what happened. The reason is this: I learned—first through my wife’s illness and then especially through the accident, not to confuse God with life. I have learned to see beyond the physical reality in this world to the spiritual reality. We tend to think, ‘life should be fair because God is fair.’ But God is not life. And if I confuse God with the physical reality of life by expecting constant health, for example, then I set myself up for a crashing disappointment. God’s existence, even his love for me, does not depend upon my good health. Frankly, I’ve had more time and opportunity to work on my relationship with God during my impairment than before.” Douglas didn’t like what happened in his life, but he chose to remember that death is God’s enemy, and that God’s love is still true, not because of what happened to his wife and to his own health, but in spite of it!

The Bible gives incredible testimony to this presence of God in the midst of suffering. In Exodus 34:6, we find Moses on Mount Sinai, holding in his hands the two new stone tablets he’s crafted to hold the Ten Commandments. We’re told that “Yahweh (one of the names of God) passed before him and proclaimed, “Yahweh, Yahweh, a compassionate and gracious God,” The word compassion is two Latin words shoved together to form a new word. Com means “with”, and passion means “to suffer.” So to have compassion, is to suffer with. In a world that worshipped the gods of war, love, and other deities who did not get involved in the affairs of man: Yahweh is saying that He is the God who is not only gracious, but who also suffers with His people. That is the kind of God I want to worship and the kind of God I want you to experience! As Pastor Pete Hughes put it, the presence of God in the midst of suffering is not like a pain med that takes away pain. The presence of God is more like a nurse, a midwife who sits with a woman who is about to have a child. There is a lot of pain, and it may seem unfair, but the nurse is compassionate, and near, saying “I am here, hang in there, new life is coming.”

Finally, I want us to consider one of God’s names used in Ezekiel 48:34, “Yahweh Shammah.” Yahweh Shammah means Yahweh is there. God is there. God is there, in the form of His church, His Spirit, and His Son Jesus. The cross and empty tomb promises us there is resurrection life coming soon! That beyond the cross, still waters await. This knowledge doesn’t stop our suffering, but it gives us life and comfort in the midst of unearned suffering. Yahweh was there for Tess and for Douglas, at Camp Mystic, and Yahweh is there for you and me!

Is God there when bad things happen to good people? Yes, He is. We may not ever understand why bad things happen to good people, but we know that God knows of our suffering, that He is present, and that our suffering is not the end of the story. Even now, resurrection life is coming.

In the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit.

Amen