Theologians call it the question of Theodicy. But most of us ask it anyway: “Why do bad things happen to good people?” Scriptures to be heard on the upcoming weekend begin to address this, or at least acknowledge that it’s a human/God sort of misunderstanding about “reward”. Those who sit in the pews need to know that they’re not the only ones asking this question, but God-fearing people from ancient times join them in questioning morals & ethics.
Our friend JOB, not a patient man, spends most of his story in complaining to God. His flocks and belongings have been taken, and his family are non-supportive. Complain, complain, complain! “Why me, Lord? I’ve been good!” And finally YHWH breaks the silence: “So where were YOU when I called up substance from Chaos? And locked up the sea and its monsters?” (38:1-11) Job cannot see beyond his nose, focusing on perceived injustice instead of God’s dazzling glory. “The chaos is still there, but so is God. And that is enough.”(Leane Pearce Reed, FEASTING on the WORD, B 3:151)
The author of II CORINTHIANS 6:1-13 lists the persecutions of Paul as his own: “Afflictions, hardships, calamities, beatings, imprisonments, riots, labor, sleepless nights, hunger…” But he’s still alive! And God’s in charge! “The former things have passed away.” “True joy grows not from the absence of hardships but from knowing God’s grace even within that hardship.” (John T. McFadden, ibid., 162)
MARK 4:25-41 tells (another) story about Jesus asleep in the storm-tossed boat while his friends try valiantly to sail on. “Hey, wake up and help us bail!” But God-in-Christ does better than that, he restores Peace to the elements and the chaos. There will be stormy winds, yet they do not have the final say; our lives are often tossed by one calamity after another, but God sees us through. “I’ve been good!”, we shout–nonetheless, injustice raises its ugly head to sock us whether or not we deserve it. And some of this passage can be realized as we join the disciples in asking, “Who is this?”
“(God) commanded and raised the stormy wind, which lifted up the waves of the sea. They mounted up to heaven, they went down to the depths; their courage melted away in their calamity… Then they cried to the Lord in their trouble, and he brought them out from their distress…. Let them extoll him in the congregation of the people, and praise him in the assembly of the elders. –from Psalm 107
In the process of unfolding, Horace Brown King
Please share this with your friends, and come join us every Tuesday to contemplate scriptural passages to be read on the upcoming weekend during worship; at horacebrownking.com
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