No Simple Answers

PROPERS:         PROPER 25, YEAR B   

TEXT:                 JOB 42:1-6, 10-17; MARK 10:46-52

PREACHED AT HOLY TRINITY, PENSACOLA, ON SUNDAY, OCTOBER 28, 2018.

ONE SENTENCE:        The question of theodicy should not be why evil happens;                                     it should be, “why there is good.”      

                                    

            I did not get to preach last week.  The lessons for last Sunday included one of my most favorite passages of all – from Job, chapter 38.

            Job is included in the books of the Old Testament known as Wisdom Literature.  Wisdom Literatureincludes such material as the Proverbs, Ruth, Ecclesiastes, Esther, and the Song of Solomon.  Those books reflect the learned wisdom and insight of Jewish sages.

            Job is a fabulous story.  It raises the question, “Why do bad things happen to good people?”  It is basically a story about theodicy– God’s justice.

            The Book of Job begins with a wager between God and the Satan– the tempter who has been roaming the earth. God brags on his faithful servant Job, but allows the Satan free reign to do what he wishes to see if Job will curse God.

            Satan causes Job to lose everythinghe has – houses, family, flocks and herds, all in a day’s time. Job, a faithful man, is left in ashes, scraping boils on his skin with a broken piece of pottery.

            The ensuing chapters of the book detail conversations between Job and three men who have come to be known, ironically, as Job’s comforters.  

            The three comfortersattempt to blame Job or God for the tragedies which have befallen Job.  Surely, you are at fault for this! Certainly, you have some blame for these events!  You have been unfaithful in some way!

            But Job has not been unfaithful.  Ultimately, though, he challenges God, asking the Almighty to explain himself.

            This is where last week’s first lesson comes in.  It is some of the most beautiful imagery in all of the Bible:

“Then the Lord answered Job out of the whirlwind:  Who is this that darkens counsel by words without knowledge? Gird up your loins like a man, I will question you and you will declare to me.

“Where were you when I laid the foundations of the earth? Tell me, if you have understanding.  Who determined its measurements – surely you know! Or who stretched the line upon it?

“On what were its bases sunk, or who laid its cornerstone when the morning stars sang together and all the heavenly beings shouted for joy?”  (Job 38:1-7)

            God is essentially asking Job:  Who are you to ask these questions?  What do you know about the complexities of creation?

            Which brings us to the first lesson today, four chapters later.  A contrite and chastened Job responds to God:

“I know that you can do all things, and that no purpose of yours can be thwarted.

‘Who is this that hides counsel without knowledge?’ Therefore, I have uttered what I did not understand, things too wonderful for me, which I did not know. ‘Hear, and I will speak; I will question you, and you declare to me.’ I had heard of you by the hearing of the ear, but now my eye sees you; therefore, I despise myself, and repent in dust and ashes.” (Job 42:1-6)

            Job stands humbled and in awe before God.

            But a serious question is raised.  In fact, it is probably the most serious theological question of all:  Why do bad things happen to good people?

            I have pondered this question for much of my adult life – as have the greatest theologians of history.  I keep coming back to Job.

            Why do hurricanes strike vulnerable communities along a coastline?

            Why do evil men fly airliners into skyscrapers?

            Why do tsunamis scour coastal towns, claiming thousands?

            Why are innocent infants stricken with life-threatening illnesses?

            Why are faithful Jews massacred in their synagogue?

            Let me side-step those questions for a moment.

            The gospel lesson today tells of the healing of blind Bartimaeus.  It tells of Jesus and his disciples traveling through the oasis town of Jericho.  Bartimaeus cries out to Jesus and is healed of his blindness.

            The Gospel according to John tells a similar story.  It involves a man blind since birth.  His disciples raise a question of theodicy: “Tell us:  Who sinned, this man or his parents?”  The question assumed that the blindness was the result of some misdeed by the man or his parents.  In other words, a quid pro quo– this for that.

            Jesus tells his disciples that that is not the issue.  The situation is there so that the glory of God can be manifested. God’s glory will be shown in the healing of the man.

+ + + 

            I do not know why bad things happen to good people.  God’s response out of the whirlwindto Job is enough for me.  I cannot imagine the depths and heights of creation that are in God’s hands. I have to assume, at some point, that bad things will happen to me.  In fact, they already have – but I know they are part of human existence.

            The questions I must ask is these:  Why don’t more bad things happen? Why do we experience so many blessings?

            In this season approaching Thanksgiving… and in this season when we consider our many blessings as we ponder our gifts to the church’s mission… it is fair to ask those questions.

            I was at a meeting of clergy impacted by Hurricane Michael this past Monday. The clergy were sharing their experiences of the storm and its effects on them.  One priest summarized his view of the difficulties: “I have everything I need and some of what I want.”

            It is like the question, Is the glass half empty or half full? Or,why is life so shortor why is life so long?  Or, this: why am I experiencing these difficulties or why am I so blessed?

            There really is no satisfactory answer to these questions.  But, we are called by Job to recognize, we are all part of God’s infinite creation.