February 19, 2006

Why Do We Keep on Suffering?

Jeremiah 15:15-21
Romans 12:9-21
Matthew 16:21-28

Life for Jeremiah has been one long hassle. He's a marked man, continually at odds with his community, cursed at, ridiculed, reviled, and rebuffed. He cries out to God in so many words: "Lord, surely you are aware of what is going on; surely you understand what is happening to me. Will you please take active notice? After all, I have been your faithful servant, you know. It's for your sake I've had to take all this garbage. I've kept my nose to the grindstone when everyone else was partying and having a good time, and look at the thanks I get! Why do I keep on suffering? Why is my pain unceasing? Lord, you are like a flowing stream that dries up in the heat of summer when it's needed most. Where are you, God?"

Who among us has not felt like Jeremiah at times? Suffering is a universal phenomenon and the questions of why suffering exists and God's role in suffering have been debated by theologians and others for centuries. The subject has even come up in comic strips. Charlie Brown is pitching his team to another disaster, and his catcher, Schroeder, has a conference with him on the mound. Charlie Brown says to him, "We're getting slaughtered again, Schroeder... I don't know what to do. Why do we have to suffer like this?" Schroeder, great biblical scholar that he is, quotes Job: "Human beings are born to trouble just as sparks fly upward." Then, opinionated Lucy tosses in her two cents worth. "If a person has had bad luck it's because they've done something wrong, that's what I always say!" Schroeder responds, "I think a person who never suffers never matures ... suffering is actually very important." And Lucy, always getting in the last word, says, "Who wants to suffer? Don't be ridiculous!" (i)

Why do we keep on suffering? Let's explore this question together. Many people agree with Lucy - if we're suffering, it's because we've done something wrong. You get what you deserve, and if you're suffering, you must have brought it on yourself. For sure, we are sometimes responsible for our suffering, bringing it on by our own irresponsible behavior. But sometimes it doesn't seem like it's our fault. Those who look for religious reasons might say that suffering is punishment for our sins, a punishment carried out by a severe and judging God. Some parents, say to their children, wrongly I believe, "If you aren't good, God's going to punish you!" Since no one is as good as we know God wants us to be, we've got to take God's punishment for our sinfulness. You mess up - God punishes you by making you suffer.

But there are problems with this position. At times we suffer through absolutely no fault of our own. Hurricanes, earthquakes, plane crashes, many diseases, etc. - we cannot blame ourselves for these kinds of tragedies. And blaming God for every dilemma that comes along doesn't work either. After all, who could love a God who would be so vindictive? Not only that, it's terrible theology. God doesn't cause a hurricane to happen to get back at Joe Schmoe for some sin he has committed. God doesn't cause the crash of a big airliner with 300 people aboard just because one of the passengers behaved in a way God doesn't approve. God doesn't afflict us with a terrible disease just because we've indulged in a real or imagined sin. I don't believe God operates in this way.

A similar explanation of suffering is that, assuming people get what they deserve, in time the righteous will be vindicated and evil-doers punished. This may sound good, but at least in this lifetime, I think it's just wishful thinking. I do believe in an after-life where all pain and suffering end, where there is peace and harmony, where those who are faithful live in joy, love, and contentment. But to think or believe that good will always triumph and evil will always be defeated in the here and now is probably misguided optimism. Life just isn't that neat and tidy.

Some people believe that even when good people suffer, still God must have a reason. It has to be God's will. But if you are the one suffering - an agonizing illness, or the loss of a loved one, or the painful break-up of a marriage, or being fired from a job, or whatever, if you're the one suffering, hearing that it must be God's will isn't very comforting. And I don't believe these things are God's will.

Sometimes the reason given for suffering is that God is trying to teach us a lesson. Tell that to an alcoholic old man who let his two-year old granddaughter out of his sight just long enough for her to run out in the road and get killed by a passing car - this happened in a neighborhood we lived in once. Can you really believe that God caused the death of that child so that the grandfather, and the parents, and the neighbors all would learn to be more careful in watching our small children in the future? I can't believe that. The price for learning that lesson is just too high. The God I worship would not do that.

Still others believe that the misfortunes or tragedies of life that cause us to suffer are tests - God tests us to see how faithful we'll be, like in the Abraham and Isaac story. A well-known football coach once said, "I know God doesn't send us more trouble than we can handle, but sometimes I think God over-estimates my ability." (ii) Yes, suffering can be a growing, enriching, maturing experience for some people, but others become cynical, jealous, bitter, and broken. Does this mean they've failed the test? And what does that mean?

Another explanation of suffering is that it's part of God's plan to liberate us from a world of pain and lead us to a better place. We should be grateful to God for the suffering we have to endure, and only our selfishness and unfaithfulness prevent us from seeing the good in the bad, from recognizing the silver lining in every cloud. Part of this I agree with. That God wants for us freedom from pain, that God would lead us to a better place, both in this world and in the life to come, I believe that. And I hope you do also. But that God causes the suffering to enable us to get to that better place, I don't believe that.

The basic problem with the question "Why do we keep on suffering?" is our assumption that God causes suffering, or at least allows or encourages it to happen. Could it be that God does not cause our suffering? Could it be that God is not capable of preventing suffering? That may sound like heresy, but I'm quite serious. Think of other things God is incapable of, or so we believe: God cannot deceive, or break promises, or exhibit cruelty. God is incapable of hating people, for God is love. In other words, God has chosen to be restricted, to be limited in some ways. God has set the ground rules for the universe and has created a world where suffering exists, where pain is part of the price we pay for being alive, for being human. God allows suffering to be a part of the created order, but God does not cause the suffering of this person or that one.

At times nature goes haywire, or so we think, and natural disasters occur - calling them "acts of God" is probably taking the Lord's name in vain. The true "acts of God" in such situations are when people are given the courage to rebuild their lives after such tragedies, and when others rush in to help them in their time of need. (iii) At other times, individuals or groups of people, sometimes even nations, go haywire and abuse their God-given freedoms and hurt themselves or others. But God does not intervene to take away these freedoms, for God has chosen to give us free will, and we are responsible for how we use it.

Just as God does not will that a child be run over by a car, so God does not will preferential treatment either. This is where Jeremiah gets it wrong. He has been a loyal and faithful servant of God, he doesn't deserve to suffer, and he expects, indeed demands, that God stop his suffering. But God doesn't usually work this way, even for faithful prophets. And this is where Peter gets it wrong also. Jesus has just told the disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer and die. And Peter vehemently reacts, "No way, Jesus! This must never happen to you!" Jesus doesn't deserve to suffer and die, and Peter expects God to intervene and prevent it from happening. But God doesn't work this way, even for God's beloved Son.

Perhaps we've been asking the wrong question. Rather than "Why do I keep on suffering?" - a better question might be: "How do I survive suffering and find courage?" or "How can I take this life-shattering trauma and make it a basis for growing?" Rabbi Harold Kuschner, author of the best-seller, "When Bad Things Happen to Good People," tells a story which helps answer these questions. It's an old Chinese tale about a woman whose only son has died. In her grief she goes to a holy man and asks, "What prayers, what magical incantations do you have to bring my son back to life?" The holy man responds to her with this request: "Fetch me a mustard seed from a home that has never known sorrow, and we will use it to drive the sorrow out of your life."

The woman sets off at once in search of the magic mustard seed. She comes first to a splendid mansion, knocks on the door and says to the occupants, "I am looking for a home that has never known sorrow. Is this such a place? It is very important to me." "You've certainly come to the wrong place," they reply, and then they begin to describe all the tragic things that have recently befallen them. The woman thinks to herself, "Who is better able to help these unfortunate people than I, who have had misfortunes of my own?" So she stays awhile to comfort them. Then she continues on in her search for a home that has never known sorrow. But wherever she turns, in hovels or in palaces, she finds one tale after another of sadness and misfortune, and she responds to each of them. Ultimately she becomes so involved in ministering to other people's grief, that she forgets all about her quest for the magic mustard seed, and never notices that in fact the sorrow in her own life has been driven out, just as the holy man had said. (iv)

Probably the best way to survive suffering and find courage to continue living and growing is to rely on and trust in God. But we may think, "If God couldn't help eliminate the suffering, how can God help me now?" Again, Rabbi Kuschner has some helpful answers: "We can't pray that [God] will make our lives free of problems; this won't happen, and it is probably just as well. We can't ask [God] to make us and those we love immune to disease, because [God] can't do that. We can't ask [God] to weave a magical spell around us so that bad things will only happen to other people, and never to us ... But people who pray for courage, for strength to bear the unbearable, for the grace to remember what they have left, instead of what they have lost, very often find their prayers answered. They discover they have more strength and more courage than they ever knew themselves to have." (v) These are wise and truthful words.

The reason why this is true is that our God is a suffering God. When we suffer, God suffers with us. Our anger is God's anger working through us. Our sorrow is God's sorrow. The comforting word that the Lord gives to Jeremiah, after God tells him to repent and shape up, is this: "I am with you to save you and deliver you." And this is a word for us also. God not only shares in our suffering, but also encourages us to share in the suffering of our brothers and sisters near and far. We know this because we know Jesus, who discloses God's suffering love.

And so, the final word on suffering is a word of joy and hope. The joy of the new life which is ours in Christ, however, is not without suffering, because, like it or not, the highest joys rarely come without pain. It's been said that "no flower can bloom in paradise which is not transplanted from Gethsemane," (vi) the garden where Jesus prayed near the end of his life. And as Jesus earlier said, to find our life we must lose it, and take up our cross. It is only through crucifixion that resurrection can come. This is the gospel truth, filled with hope. May it be so for each of us. Amen.

The Pilgrim Church of Duxbury
Rev. Kenneth C. Landall

i Pulpit Resource, 4/26/81.
ii Lou Holtzman, ibid.
iii Harold S. Kuschner, "When Bad Things Happen to Good People," pp. 59-60.
iv Ibid.
v Ibid.
vi Parables, Etc., 3.10.7.