{"id":1332,"date":"2001-03-18T22:16:40","date_gmt":"2001-03-18T22:16:40","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.followgreg.com\/revdonaldng\/?p=1332"},"modified":"2020-12-02T22:04:32","modified_gmt":"2020-12-02T22:04:32","slug":"stuff-happens","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.followgreg.com\/revdonaldng\/stuff-happens\/","title":{"rendered":"Stuff Happens"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

1 Corinthians 10:1-13<\/a>; Luke 13:1-9<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

March 18, 2001<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sermon preached by Rev. Donald Ng at the First Chinese Baptist Church of San Francisco.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

An errant 500-pound bomb dropped by a Navy fighter over Kuwait on Monday tore apart an observation post filled with military personnel, killing six and seriously wounding seven others, U.S. officials said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Airplane crashes\u2014no survivors. Wildfires leave hundreds homeless. Hurricane causes millions of dollars of destruction. A 15-year old boy kills two students and wounded 13 others in San Diego. Every week, we read about a new threat to our fragile environment. Terrorists threatening or killing more innocent people.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It seems that stuff happens!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Karl Barth taught Christians to carry a Bible in one hand and a newspaper in the other. Maybe if Barth was with us today, he would say read your Bible in your Palm Pilot and keep an eye on CNN. Yet the problem is that while at times it is difficult to understand what God is saying to us through the Bible, it is much harder for us to understand what God is saying to us through the events that we watch on the Headline News.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In fact, the news for the past couple of weeks have featured tragedies in the world that have left us wondering where is God in the midst of all of this. Has God gone to sleep or taken an early vacation?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Why do bad stuff happens?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Theologians refer to this issue as \u201ctheodicy.\u201d The problem of \u201ctheodicy\u201d is framed like this: If God is good and all-powerful, how can evil exist? Because if evil does exist, that seems to imply that either God is not good or else God is not all-powerful.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In Thornton Wilder\u2019s classic story, Bridge Over San Luis Rey<\/em>, he begins with the collapse of an ancient bridge in eighteen century Peru which sent five people to their deaths. A Franciscan monk, Brother Juniper, witnesses this tragedy and is determined to discover the reason God singled out these five for premature death.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u00a0He tells himself, \u201cIf there were any plan in the universe at all, if there were any pattern in a human life, surely it could be discovered mysteriously latent in those lives so suddenly cut off. Either we live by accident and die by accident, or we live by plan and die by plan.\u201d The remainder of the book is the life stories of these five people leading up to the moment they crossed the bridge.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Brother Juniper\u2019s quest to find an answer is a failed one. After adding up the totals for victims and survivors, he discovers that the dead were far more worthy of saving than those who lived.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Not long ago, Rabbi Harold Kushner wrote a book, When Bad Things Happen to Good People<\/em>. He tries to figure out why bad stuff happens. Specifically he tries to figure out why he and his wife, fierce and faithful Jews, have lost their 13-year old son to a disease that ages a body overnight and leads to painful and premature death. Kushner\u2019s answer to this basic question about suffering is interesting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He decides that God cannot be both all powerful and all loving. His thinking goes something like this. If God is all powerful, then that means that God causes all the suffering and agony in the world. Such a God, for Kushner, is unthinkable. So, the answer must be that God is not all powerful. This all loving, always compassionate God is unable to prevent suffering and pain. Instead, God chooses always to be with us in the midst of the agony\u2014sharing the pain of what a powerless God has been unable to prevent. Kushner\u2019s answer is intriguing. But from a Christian perspective, he does not go quite deep enough.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Why, Jesus?<\/h6>\n\n\n\n

In the Gospel lesson for today, we see that people asked Jesus the same questions that we are asking today. Why, Jesus? Why were those particular Galileans murdered by Pilate in an act of terrorism with their blood mixed in with other sacrifices? Were they bad people? Were their sins greater than other people\u2019s? Why, Jesus?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And why were those eighteen innocent people killed when the Tower of Siloam toppled onto an unsuspecting crowd? Had those folks done something particularly awful that led God to punish them? Each one of us could probably add our own examples?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Why, God? Why did my two brothers in the prime years of their lives died from sudden heart attacks before they even had the chance to enjoy life? Why did my father die so early in his life that his many grandchildren and great grandchildren never knew him? Why, God? Was it my fault? Was I being punished?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Why after giving the command of \u201cCleared, hot\u201d to the F\/A-18 pilot to release the bombs did God didn\u2019t just grant a few more seconds for the pilot to hear, \u201cAbort, abort,\u201d so that it would not be too late to save innocent people?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Were those people picked out through some sort of divine lottery to endure tragedy and injury, and death? Jesus, come on. Tell me, tell us, why?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jesus Answers<\/h6>\n\n\n\n

Jesus, \u201cWhy do bad stuff happens to good people?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We want to have a discussion with Jesus about the sources and reasons for tragedy. We want a justification of the ways God treats humanity. But Jesus does not answer the \u201ctheodicy\u201d question. Jesus refuses to have any of this and instead moves us to a discussion about our sin and our need to repent. We want to talk about the misdeeds of God in creating a world where there is suffering and pain. But Jesus forces us to talk about our misdeeds and our need to confess and to change.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Instead of focusing solely on what we should believe about evil, Jesus wants us to focus on our own lives in light of the fact that evil exists. Jesus does not make evil the center of our attention.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When Jesus answers these questions this morning, we hear both good news and bad news. The good news is simple\u2014you don\u2019t suffer because of your sin. The people you love don\u2019t suffer because of your sin. God just doesn\u2019t cause bad things to happen to good people.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But having delivered this good news, Jesus counters with what sounds like bad news\u2014or at least troubling news. God doesn\u2019t punish us or make us suffer arbitrarily. BUT, Jesus does say, if you do not repent, you, too will perish\u2014like the unfortunate victims of Pilate, like the unlucky people buried under the Tower of Siloam.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Building up Credits<\/h6>\n\n\n\n

Sometimes we think that if we were able to build up enough credits or assets, we might be able to avoid bad stuff from happening to us. We find ourselves believing that if we came to church faithfully or read the Bible daily or pray or even perform random acts of kindness that we are accumulating enough credits to receive God\u2019s protection.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Paul in his letter to the new Corinthian Christians was warning them that even though they are baptized, even though they share in the Lord\u2019s Supper, they still sin. He reminds them of the story of Israel\u2019s wanderings in the desert. The Corinthians\u2019 ancestors all passed through the Red Sea, all were baptized by Moses, all ate the same spiritual food, and all drank the same spiritual drink; but what happened? Even with all of this spiritual reinforcement, the Israelites let God down so God was not pleased with most of them. They were struck down in the wilderness. Some really bad stuff happened to them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Paul noticed that the Corinthian Christians thought that since they were baptized and since they participated in the Lord\u2019s Supper, they were immune from bad stuff happening to them. They felt they can go around following other idols, eating, drinking, and playing around with other women, testing and questioning God, and complaining about everything, and not worry. They thought that since their spiritual life has been taken care of by being a Christian, the body can be misused in having fun. Paul says, \u201cNot so.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Paul says, \u201cIf you think you are standing, watch out that you do not fall.\u201d Even when you think that you have gotten all your assurances and good luck charms in place, Paul says, \u201cYou think that you are standing, but watch out, bad stuff can still happen to you.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Stuff Happens because God\u2019s Creativity<\/h6>\n\n\n\n

We want to know why bad stuff happens to good people. The answer to this theodicy problem is found in who Jesus is.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you think about it, Jesus personifies this question. Why did the worst thing of all happen to this very best person, Jesus? Yet, both in his words found in Luke and in his example on the cross\u2014Jesus refuses to honor or answer the question why? You see, for Jesus, the why question is not important. In the mind and experience of Jesus, stuff just happens.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In a world shaped by God\u2019s creativity\u2014freedom is central to the energy of that creativity. And freedom means that God gives up some control and power\u2014not because God is impotent, but because God is loving. In other words, an all powerful God allows evil and suffering in order to preserve the freedom of creation. Stuff happens in the creative energy, the randomness, the freedom of natural law. Stuff happens in the perverse human freedom of moral law. And being true to the promise of freedom\u2014God does not intervene. But that doesn\u2019t mean that God doesn\u2019t care. Or that God is absent. Far from it. In fact, it was human fear and intrigue and jealousy and ambition that end up nailing God to the cross. And what does God do? God embraces the suffering. God endures the suffering. God confronts the suffering. And God transforms the suffering\u2014into the creativity of new life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The question is not \u201cwhy?\u201d\u2014\u201cWhy do bad things happen to good people?\u201d The question is how? How do we live and how do we endure in a world where stuff simply happens?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Repentance<\/h6>\n\n\n\n

Jesus tells us to repent from our sins and to turn to God. \u201cRepent\u2014or you will perish like they did.\u201d Repent means to turn.  Turn away from the \u201cwhy\u201d question and turn toward the \u201chow\u201d question. Turn away from blaming\u2014blaming those in authority, or blaming God, or blaming the victims. Instead turn.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When we turn our lives around, how should we act? There are four aspects of true repentance:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

            First, true repentance means comprehension that something wrong has been done. Like the prodigal son who \u201ccomes to himself,\u201d he realizes that he has done wrong. Recognition of sin is the first honest step in repentance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

            Secondly, just recognition alone is not repentance. There must be some movement toward cleansing. Fasting is a physical, visible way of expressing our grief at our sin. These physical acts of humility may not be necessary for God to forgive, but they do seem necessary for us to realize the full benefits of our forgiveness. We do something to show our forgiveness from God.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Third, when we have these initial gestures happening in us, they produce a new yearning for God, a realization that without a gracious God, we are lost. We want to turn, return to God, once again to be rightly related to God.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Like Zacchaeus, once he turned to God, he wanted to have Jesus in his house as a sign of grace that has been joyfully received.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

            And lastly, we have changed lives. Repentance is more than a feeling. We must bear fruit. Our changed lives proved their repentance by our deeds.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

With true repentance, we stay close. Stay close to God. Stay grounded and connected to God\u2019s grace. Because when stuff happens\u2014and certainly it will\u2014God can and will sustain you. God will hang from the crosses of your tragedy and your deception, your doubt, and your despair. God will weep with you. And God will never, never<\/em>, abandon you. You and I will suffer. You and I will die. But you and I will not perish\u2014unloved and alone\u2014when and if you and I turn and stay close to God.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Fig Tree<\/h6>\n\n\n\n

At the end of Jesus\u2019 teaching, he tells a parable about the fig tree. He tells this story in order to remind us just what kind of God we have. God is not like a landowner who rips us out and throws us away when we don\u2019t produce good fruit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

No, instead, God is like a wise and patient gardener\u2014who gives us a second and a third and a fourth chance to root ourselves in holy ways. This gardener God prunes, digs around our roots and fertilizes us. Then God waits\u2014waits for the seeds of divine creativity in us to finally blossom into fruitful life for the world.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Our God is a gardener who has all the time in the world for us to grow into spiritual maturity and ripeness. And, who knows? In God\u2019s wisdom, the \u201cstuff\u201d that happens\u2014the seemingly unfair pain and suffering and distress in the world\u2014this \u201cstuff\u201d may just be the manure that gives nourishment to make our barren fig tree lives bear fruit!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This is a real story about Martin Gray who was a survivor of the Holocaust. Following the war, he married, raised a family, and became successful in business. But then, once again, tragedy struck his life. One day his wife and children were all killed in a forest fire that swept through their home in south France.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He was distraught after this senseless loss, and friends encouraged him to launch an investigation into how and why this horror had happened. Instead, Martin Gray began a passionate movement to protect nature from future fires. He explained to his friends that an investigation would focus only on blame\u2014on accusing other people of being responsible for his misery. He wasn\u2019t interested in asking \u201cwhy?\u201d He was only interested in asking \u201cnow what?\u201d \u201cHow can I live into the future\u2014in life affirming, and not life denying ways? How can I live for something\u2014and not just against something?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Today, Jesus presents us with the central dilemma\u2014the choice\u2014of Lent. Are we stuck in the past\u2014or do we believe in the future? Are we living against something\u2014or are we living for something? Do we want answers\u2014or do we want God? Are we stuck with all the stuff that has happened in our lives or are we ready to repent and turn to God?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Today, Jesus is offering to lift us from our sea of sorrow, from our confusion, from our pain and suffering. Jesus is offering to lift us and turn us toward the mercy and grace of God. This is the Good News of the gospel!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Let us pray.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dear Lord, we come this morning to present all of the pain and suffering that we have experienced in life; all of the questions and confusion that haunt us at night; all of our worries and despair about what may be in stored for us and we ask for your forgiveness. We are sorry for the times when we lost faith in you and ask that you grant us the grace to be your people. We pray in the name of Christ who gave of himself so that we may have everlasting life. Amen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

1 Corinthians 10:1-13; Luke 13:1-9 March 18, 2001 Sermon preached by Rev. Donald Ng at the First Chinese Baptist Church of San Francisco. An errant 500-pound bomb dropped by aContinue readingStuff Happens<\/span><\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_coblocks_attr":"","_coblocks_dimensions":"","_coblocks_responsive_height":"","_coblocks_accordion_ie_support":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[41,11,18],"class_list":["post-1332","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-donald-ng-sermons","tag-corinthians","tag-fcbc","tag-luke"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.followgreg.com\/revdonaldng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1332","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.followgreg.com\/revdonaldng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.followgreg.com\/revdonaldng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.followgreg.com\/revdonaldng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.followgreg.com\/revdonaldng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1332"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"http:\/\/www.followgreg.com\/revdonaldng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1332\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2470,"href":"http:\/\/www.followgreg.com\/revdonaldng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1332\/revisions\/2470"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.followgreg.com\/revdonaldng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1332"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.followgreg.com\/revdonaldng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1332"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.followgreg.com\/revdonaldng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1332"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}