“Why
is there so much pain, death, illness, poverty and no kindness if
there is a God?”
Song:
I
the Lord of sea and sky
I,
the Lord of Sea and Sky (Here I Am, Lord - 3vv+refrain) [with lyrics
for congregations] - YouTube
Prayer:
God
our Father, life pulls us in many directions, and presents many
possibilities
Sometimes,
we don’t know which way to turn.
There
are many claims on our time, so many demands for our attention, that
the very range of choices before us drives us to distraction.
It
is then that we need you.
Yours
in the ultimate claim on our lives; help us to listen for it in all
the other claims that are made on us.
Because
we cannot do everything, help us to get our priorities right, to know
what you want us to do know, and what we have to leave.
May
the stress and strain of life not break us, but make us stronger,
For
Jesus’ sake,
Amen.
Taken
from “More contemporary prayers”
Reading:
Psalm 6:
Song:
Beauty
for brokenness
Beauty
for Brokenness - Lyric Video - YouTube
Reading:
John’s gospel, chapter 9: verses 1 to 14
Reading:
Romans
chapter
1:
verses
18 to
32
The
Message
I
would like to recommend “The Message” translation, available
online, but any translation you prefer will do.
Song:
At
even, ere the sun was set
At
Even, Ere the Sun Was Set - YouTube
“Why
is there so much pain, death, illness, poverty and no kindness if
there is a God?”
Some
weeks ago, our church was part of a group which ran a stall in the
local fayre.
At
this stall we asked people,
“if you could ask God a question, what would it be.” Once we
had collated the answers, this was the most popular.
Two
parts are relatively easy to deal with.
Firstly,
Death is a part of life. It has been said that the only two things
certain in life are taxation and death.
The
modern society does not talk about death much. In the Victorian era,
death was so common, that it was accepted and talked about.
Nowadays, because we have made such advances in medicine, death has
been delayed for most of us, and we don’t talk about it as much.
Indeed, people in the affluent west have come to expect that medicine
can overcome every malady, and prevent death entirely.
But,
like it or not, we are all going to die eventually. But the age to
which we can expect to live is now much greater than in history.
Since the beginning of the Victorian era, life expectancy in this
country has roughly doubled. This means that we notice early and
unexpected deaths more. Because medical science has developed what
we now call palliative care, messy and unpleasant deaths are more
noticeable than they used to be, but in fact are generally rarer.
Of
course, there are unexpected deaths, and death caused by others.
This, I will deal with later, along with other types of suffering
As
Christians, we believe that Jesus’ death and resurrection mean that
death is the transition from this world to the next. That death is
not to feared, because its power has been conquered.
Secondly,
To
say that there is no kindness in the world is to overlook a great
deal. If
you have encountered the book, or film “Pollyanna” you may be
familiar with one of two quotes, or even both of them. The book
contains the quote "When
you look for the bad, expecting it, you will get it". The
film, on the other hand contains the quote "When you look
for the bad in mankind expecting to find it, you surely will"
This is attributed to Abraham Lincoln. Pollyanna, on the other hand,
played “The glad game” when she always looked for the best, and
rejoiced in it.
If
we look for the best, then
we need to look no further than the medical advances mentioned
earlier. Let’s not forget that all these advances are discoveries
about the world, and who we believe made the world. The more we
discover about God’s creation, the more we have to be glad about.
If we take a close look at the world, now and in history, there are
many examples of people who spend their lives being helpful to
others. I believe that to say that there is no kindness in the world
is the result of not looking for it. Of course, there is always
scope for more. That is up to us; when Jesus urged us to be salt and
light he is urging us to improve the world, and the reason for this
is given in Matthew’s gospel “In
the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may
see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.”
By doing these deeds, we are making God evident to people.
This
leaves us with pain, illness and poverty, and unexpected death.
These, I will call “Suffering”.
There
are different
sorts of suffering, which
seem to have different causes:
Illness;
both
physical
and mental. There
seems to be a lot of illness around, is there really more than there
used to be? Or are we just better informed? Certainly, as I
mentioned earlier, nowadays we seem to be able to cure, or at least
treat, many more illnesses than we could. As a boy, I lived in a
town where there were people who had been crippled by polio; people
who were clearly affected by rickets; older people talked of
diphtheria. There was an outbreak of smallpox, and a mass
vaccination programme in the West Riding area. Tuberculosis and
brucellosis were around, especially in agricultural areas. Many
occupational conditions have reduced in occurrence
as our understanding of the causes has increased. Most
of these diseases are now mercifully rare, and for that we should
give thanks.
As
I mentioned when the Christian Ethics and Social Action Committee
“Values Day” material looked at mental health, and out attitudes
to it, there are many people who inhabit “Dark Places”. Our job
as Christians is to bring light into these people’s lives.
“Natural
disasters”. It
is sometimes to describe things over which we appear not to control
in this way. We certainly seem to hear about more of them than
before, perhaps we have more news reports, or perhaps the pictures
are more vivid than the old typescript descriptions in the newspaper,
days after the event. Certainly, the events as we now hear about
them seem to be getting bigger, and more severe.
People
suffering as a results of the actions of others. We cannot live in
the modern world, and not see people suffering as a result of what
other people do. All manner of crimes are committed, against
property, and against people. Whilst some may seem trivial, they can
have a serious effect on a person, especially their health.
People
dying as a result of the actions of others. The largest numbers of
these are as a result of war. Contrary to what you might think if
you watch the news, the numbers of people dying as a result of war
are now much smaller than for most of history, but they are still
unacceptable.
People
suffering as a result of their own actions. There
have always been people who will do things which result in their own
harm. There
is little that can be said about this, other than that many of them
should have known better.
It
might seem that I have not really attempted to answer the question so
far. Indeed, I have simply attempted to identify the problems
better. Up to now, there has not been any common thread apparent,
but I believe that we have one to offer as an answer.
The
author and theologian C.S. Lewis wrote this; “My
argument against God was that the universe seemed so cruel and
unjust. But how had I got this idea of just and unjust? A person
does not call a line crooked unless he has some idea of a straight
line. What was I comparing this universe with when I called it
unjust?”
The
“straight line” with which we can compare the world, is the
perfect world created by God. When God created humans, he gave them
the freedom of will, the freedom to make choices. Whilst undoubtedly
this allows people to create evil, it also allows them to create
love, goodness and joy. Unfortunately,
many more have chosen the former (evil) and rather fewer have chosen
to create love, goodness and joy. This simple choice then is at the
root of the problem of suffering.
Paul
was well aware of this nearly 2000 years ago; “Since
they didn’t bother to acknowledge God, God quit bothering them and
let them run loose. And then all hell broke loose: rampant evil,
grabbing and grasping, vicious backstabbing. They made life hell on
earth with their envy, wanton killing, bickering, and cheating. Look
at them: mean-spirited, venomous, fork-tongued God-bashers. Bullies,
swaggerers, insufferable windbags! They keep inventing new ways of
wrecking lives. They ditch their parents when they get in the way.
Stupid, slimy, cruel, cold-blooded. And it’s not as if they don’t
know better. They know perfectly well they’re spitting in God’s
face. And they don’t care—worse, they hand out prizes to those
who do the worst things best!
Paul
refers to sins in many places of his writings, but envy in one of the
commonest. If you think about the sufferings that we looked at
earlier, many of them can be considered to have envy at their root.
The desire to possess something that one does not own is behind much
crime, and many wars.
When
Jesus was confronted by the man born blind, he said that “this
happened so that the works of God might be displayed in him.” and
then proceeded to heal him. There are many people in the world who
are suffering, and in whom “the works of God might be displayed”,
but they are denied the opportunity of experiencing the wonders of
God’s work by greedy, grasping people. As long as incalculable
sums are spent on weapons, there will be a shortage of funds for
healthcare.
Natural
disasters pose a problem, in the past they were often described as
“Acts of God” especially by insurance companies, anxious to avoid
paying out! Many of them seem to be made worse by the greed of
people. People continuing to live in earthquake zones, flood plains,
and in the shadow of volcanoes because they can get wealthy in these
places. People who are forced to live in such places so that other
people can get wealthy on their backs are similarly trapped.
The
weather increasingly seems to be causing problems. In many places
the climate seems to be changing for the worse. Storms, floods and
related problems are causing increasing difficulties. Of
course, there have always been such events, my town was flooded 50
years ago when we had a freak storm in July, we came home from
holiday to find my brother bailing out the cellar with a bucket. But
people continue to live in these places. About 16 years ago,
Sheffield, and much of the Don Valley downstream was flooded. But we
still live and work here! Placing our faith in the newly improved
flood defences.
In
the case of such disasters, it seems that at least a portion of the
blame can be laid at the door of humanities lack of concern for the
perfect world created by God. In the book of Genesis we were made
stewards of creation, but our stewardship is looking poor at the
moment. How much of this is down to greed?
Finally,
we must think of People choosing to
suffer/sacrifice themselves for others.
This is a sermon in its own right, but
it can only be given a brief treatment today. We
must remember that is was through Jesus’ suffering that God sought
to put the world right; to repair the broken relationship between
humanity and God. In the first letter of Peter, the writer assures
us that we will all have to undergo suffering because of our beliefs,
that it will not always be easy, and that our suffering is following
in the footsteps of Jesus. Our
suffering for our faith, is our share in God’s purpose to improve
the world.
When
we suffer, we need to remember that God will not ask us to suffer
anything that He has not already suffered. When God chooses not to
deliver us from suffering, he is there,
suffering alongside us.
I’ll
finish with another quote from C.S.Lewis which I think goes a long
way to answering the question.
'There
are two kinds of people: those who say to God, 'Thy will be done,'
and those to whom God says, 'All right, then, have it your way.''
Song:
Thou whose almighty word
Thou
whose almighty word - YouTube
Prayer:
Father,
what happens to us is a great test of character, and our trials leave
us the worse or the better, depending on how we react to them.
We
thank you for Jesus: he was made perfect through sufferings.
Help
us, too, to use our trials and sufferings positively, to face
difficult situations and to make the best of them.
Father
give us sympathetic understanding now as we pray for those in
situations of stress and strain.
We
pray for those suddenly thrust into a new situation and having to
adapt themselves to a new way of life. Help them to discover what
changes in themselves you want them to make.
We
pray for those who feel their lives are spent in a backwater,
unrecognised and unacknowledged. Keep them lively and alert, and
bring them to see how their faithfulness has its part in your plan.
We
pray for people with work problems. Save them from being embittered,
and, if they cannot escape, give them the courage they need.
We
pray for all those who are under great pressure. Give them the
strength they need to see them through.
Father,
we thank you for all your people in the past who have come through
hard experiences and proved their faith. Help us, too, to persevere
to the end, and to use our trials positively and creatively to your
glory.
Amen.
Song:
Come let us sing of a wonderful love
Come,
let us Sing of a Wonderful Love - YouTube
