The Lord will not reject forever. Although he causes grief, he will have compassion according to the abundance of his steadfast love; for he does not willingly afflict or grieve anyone. (Lam 3:31-33)

I was going to start out by saying “Lately I have been pondering on the question of evil, and specifically on why it happens to...”, but of course isn't this the most obvious question in the history of religious belief? Believers in God have been asking the same question for thousands of years, with varying answers. Sin, Satan, free will, universal laws, “the fall”, or the famous answer to Job “Where were you...” (see Job 38) have all been posited as solutions to the problem of why bad things happen to good people. I have come across a rather interesting take on the problem in my reading. Basically, the idea is that God made the universe according to certain laws, which were determined by him to be the best set of laws for the world to function in the best way, overall. Unfortunately, sometimes this means you or I will get the short end of the stick. Agnostics have then asked why can't God just override these laws to fix the problems when they come up? Apologists then retort that if God were to get us out of every jam we encounter, whether through a fault of our own or not, and we knew this, then our free will would be meaningless, since we would no longer have to believe in God of our own volition. We would have proof and so would no longer need to believe. Faith through free will means “Blessed are those who have not seen, and yet believe.” (see John 20) You know, the hard way. A fix-it God would also mean we could in essence hurl ourselves off the pinnacle of the temple (see Luke 4) and be rescued each time. Jesus said in this regard that we must not put God to the test.

Jesus himself addressed the issue of the good and the bad as recorded in Luke 13. He basically said that good and bad in people does not translate to good and bad happening to them. But he also added, twice, “No, I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all perish just as they did." (vv.13:3, 13:5) In other words, one cannot take for granted the grace of God, ever! Always wait upon the favor of the Lord, but set no deadline for it coming to you. Are these comforting words? Maybe not. Dietrich Bonhoeffer famously said, “When Christ calls a man, he bids him come and die.” We must ever be ready to follow in the footsteps of our professed Lord and Savior, or else we are not really his followers. Some are called to do this now, some later. Some are called to do this daily, others seldom. This is a true mystery which we will not receive an answer to in this life. As painful as it may be, God's redemption does not reach all simultaneously. To all outward appearances, it eludes many in this world, up until the day they die. But to suggest that this is the final word is atheism in its true sense. This world is not the only reality. As Jesus told us (John 18:36), his kingdom is not of this world. Then why do we search for it here on earth? We who live in the 21st century are not patient people. Everything happens in the blink of an eye these days, even faster than we would like or can cope with sometimes. To wait on the Lord is an impossibility for us. We can only pray that God understands our impatience, and that ultimately our trust in him will win out over the input/output automated world in which we currently reside. After all, as St. Peter confessed, "Lord, to whom can we go? You have the words of eternal life.” (John 6:68)

But this I call to mind, and therefore I have hope: The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases, his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. "The Lord is my portion," says my soul, "therefore I will hope in him." The Lord is good to those who wait for him, to the soul that seeks him. It is good that one should wait quietly for the salvation of the Lord. (Lam 3:21-26)

Contributed by David
Monday August 29, 2011
Liturgical Year A: Week 40
Liturgical Color: Green
Sunday Gospel reading:
Lectionary 22 (Proper 15)
Eleventh Sunday after Pentecost