Saturday Night Theologian
5 October 2003

Job 1:1; 2:1-10

Why do bad things happen to good people? Why is there so much suffering in the world? If God is good and also all-powerful, how can he allow evil to exist? These questions deal with the issue of theodicy, or the justice of God, and they are issues that people have wondered about since the time when the idea of monotheism arose. Polytheistic religions have no such questions, first because their deities aren't necessarily seen as good, and second because no one god or goddess is all-powerful. Monotheistic religions that rely heavily on ritual as a means of appeasing God can get around the problem by proclaiming that the person who suffers has broken some taboo or hasn't performed the required ritual in the right way. Another way that people within a monotheistic system can avoid the issue is by assuming that the person who suffers (or some family member; cf. John 9:2) has sinned and is therefore deserving of punishment. Such attempts to rationalize human suffering fail when applied to the book of Job (as they do when applied to real life situations as well). The author of the book states unequivocally in the first verse that Job was "blameless and upright, one who feared God and turned away from evil." He did not suffer because of his sins. That is not to say that Job was perfect, though some translations use the word in 1:1, notably the KJV. However, according to any system of justice based on merit, Job did not deserve to suffer the loss of his family, property, and health as he did in the story. One of the main themes of the books of Job and Ecclesiastes, books that present alternatives to the traditional wisdom perspective found in Proverbs, is that we don't live in a moral cause-and-effect universe. So we return to the initial question: why do bad things happen to good people? The first two chapters of Job suggest three answers to that question. First, good people sometimes suffer because of sin. Notice that I did not say that they suffer because of their own sin. Job suffered because of other people's sin. The Sabeans stole Job's oxen and donkeys, and the Chaldeans stole Job's camels, and both groups killed some of Job's servants. Job suffered because of the sins of the Sabeans and the Chaldeans. Second, good people sometimes suffer because of natural disasters. The fire of God (lightning?) burned up Job's sheep and some more servants, and a great wind caused the house to collapse where Job's children were eating, killing them all. Lightning strikes, hurricanes, tornadoes, earthquakes, blizzards, heat waves, floods--these are all natural disasters that affect good and bad alike. It's important to note that these two causes of suffering are not mutually exclusive; suffering caused by natural disasters can also be caused in part by sin. When Hurricane Mitch hit Honduras in 1998, thousands of people were living in squalid conditions on the sides of hills in the capital of Tegucigalpa. Huge mudslides buried these people alive. That people should live in such conditions when the world has the riches to provide decent housing for everyone is an indication of structural sin, which combined with a natural disaster to magnify the suffering of the poor. Ask yourself a question: will more people die when a hurricane hits Florida or when one hits Bangladesh? Why? Poverty is a structural sin that makes natural disasters worse than they otherwise would be. Third, good people sometimes suffer for unknown, and ultimately unknowable, reasons. The scene in heaven where Satan accuses Job and God lets Satan do his worst to Job is obviously a literary device (how would the author find out about Satan's challenge to God?), but it raises an important question: is God a capricious God who plays games with the lives of people? If so, then what do we mean when we say that God is good? Believers must be content at times to accept suffering without knowing a reason, if there even is one. Suffering and death are natural parts of life, as are joy and contentment. We frequently ask why God lets us suffer, but do we ever ask why God lets us rejoice? What have I done that God should bless me with the family, health, and possessions that I have? How can a good God overlook my sins and failures? The mysteries of life are great, but I have confidence that the God I serve is aware of everything that happens to me and cares about me deeply. In the end, that's more important to me than knowing why things happen.

Psalm 26

Legend says that one day Martin Luther was reading the book of Romans, when he ran across Romans 1:17, which read, "The just by faith shall live." Alongside the words "by faith" he wrote in the margin, "sola" (alone). Luther had learned the liberating principle of justification by faith, which freed him from a life of worrying about how he might justify himself before God. Those of us who live after Luther's great discovery--or rediscovery--often forget the power of those words. When we're faced with hard times, like the psalmist we try to justify ourselves to God. "Vindicate me, O Lord, for I have walked in my integrity, and I have trusted in the Lord without wavering." The word translated "integrity" is related to the word rendered "blameless" in Job 1:1. The psalmist asks God for a favorable verdict, for deliverance from some difficulty. God should favor him, he argues, because he is faithful to God. He does not associate with the wicked. He performs the required sacrifices with an attitude of thanksgiving and praise. These are all excellent virtues, but they are not enough in and of themselves. Furthermore, relying on one's own integrity is always dangerous, as even Job, who was described as upright and blameless, found out at the end of the book. "I have trusted in the Lord without wavering," the psalmist says. Faith is good, but a faith that never wavers may be an untested faith. When we're confronted with challenges and difficulties in life, our faith may indeed falter, but if it's true, we emerge from our trials with a stronger, more vibrant faith. Walter Brueggemann, in his book The Message of the Psalms, talks about psalms of orientation, disorientation, and new orientation. In the psalms of new orientation, the psalmist has seen his faith tested, he's observed God's faithfulness in the midst of trial, and he's come to have a deeper faith in God. A faith that never wavers is either a faith that is untested or a faith that has not been thought about deeply. The psalmist's contention that he does not sit with the worthless or consort with hypocrites makes me wonder who he hangs around with! Everyone is a spiritual failure and a hypocrite from time to time. The psalmist's point, undoubtedly, is that his isolation from the wicked allows him to remain pure in his devotion to God. There's certainly an advantage to spiritual isolation from the world, especially for new believers, who need to see positive examples around them. However, the mature believer knows how to be in the world but not of it. She knows how to share her witness by living a life of integrity and compassion among people who don't always care. She knows that by living in the world, she might have a chance to improve someone's lot, to share God's love, to be a positive example. The psalmist says that he loves to worship God and to render spiritual service to God. Worshiping God is a necessary part of the Christian life, but it is possible to confuse ritual with relationship. Rituals can be good things, because they are symbols of spiritual truths, but they can also become routine and meaningless. Some churches observe communion every Sunday; others do it as infrequently as once every few months. For some who receive communion every week, the bread and wine remain a powerful symbol of Christ's transforming presence; others observe the Lord's Supper by rote. Some who observe the Eucharistic meal once a quarter sense the power of God in the elements; others make no special effort to attend service on the Sunday on which communion is to be observed, for it is no more meaningful to them than any other service. The important factor in worship is not mere presence but participation. Those who recite the words of the psalmist, yesterday and today, are saying words that, if spoken truthfully, can indicate a life dedicated to God. However, the life of the faithful believer does not follow a set of rules and regulations for what is right and what is wrong. Such people are humbly confident in their relationship with God, one that is based on faith in God's goodness and a recognition of our unworthiness, despite our best efforts. Vindicate me, O Lord, not because I am upright--sometimes I am, sometimes I'm not. Vindicate me because you are faithful, even when I'm not, and because I trust you.

Hebrews 1:1-4; 2:5-12

The lyrical language of the King James Version reaches some of its greatest heights in the first verse of Hebrews: "God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets." The exotic sound of this rendering to the modern ear somewhat parallels the effect on the reader of the Greek text, where "sundry times" and "divers manners" render two Greek words that are the first of five words beginning with the "p" sound in the verse. Like many a modern minister, the anonymous Greek author used alliteration to draw his readers' attention to his text. In the three verses that follow, he states his belief that the times in which he and his readers live are the last days (or, the eschaton). That the days in which they are living are special is evident because of the appearance of God's Son. The Son is called God's heir, an indication of his worthiness and special place in God's mind. The Son is identified as the instrument of creation, a probable allusion to the Stoics' concept of the Logos, or Reason, as the instrument of creation. The Son is a reflection of the glory of God that burned in the bush and shone on Moses' face. More than that, the Son is the "exact imprint" (the Greek word is character) of God's being. The Son sustains all things by his powerful word, another reference to the Logos, although a different term for "word" is used. Having performed the necessary sacrifices to purge sins, the Son is now seated at the right hand of God. Clearly the author of Hebrews has a high Christology, that is, he stresses the closeness of the Father and the Son in this passage. Yet, he doesn't completely identify the two, and later in the book he will emphasize Jesus' humanity as well. The classical concept of the Trinity was not formulated completely until the fourth century or so, but it was built in large part on passages like this paean to the Son. The author spends the rest of chapter 1 and the first part of chapter 2 demonstrating for his readers the superiority of the Son to the angels. In 2:6-8 he quotes Psalm 8:4-6 in the version found in the Greek Septuagint. Unfortunately, in the NRSV translators' zeal to produce a gender-neutral text, they have obscured the meaning of the passage. Generally speaking, I favor gender-neutral translations, but the NRSV gives the impression that the author is speaking of humanity as made for a little while lower than the angels, and of humanity under whose feet all things are subjected. That is a valid interpretation of the psalm but not of Hebrews' use of the psalm. The author of Hebrews is clearly continuing his point that Jesus, who was for a while lower than the angels, has now been crowned with glory and is superior not only to the angels but to the rest of the created order as well. Having sifted through the details of the author's presentation of Christ, we are left with the question, what application does it have for today's Christian? First, as Christians, we recognize that Jesus' message was consistent with the traditions of the Old Testament prophets, but he preached a vision that was even more profound. He offered a message of hope for all nations and he brought the divine creator of the universe within reach of mere mortals. Second, it is important to live as though these were the last days, as they may well be. We need a sense of urgency as we go about our business. The world may last another several billion years, until the sun goes supernova, or humanity may wipe itself out within the next decade through the foolish development and deployment of more and more deadly weapons, under the pretence of national defense. Third, we have access to God the Father because of Jesus the Son. "The one who sanctifies and those who are sanctified all have one Father."

Mark 10:2-16

In many churches today divorce is the unpardonable sin. Some churches, for example, exclude divorcees from the pastorate or the diaconate. If you're a repentant drug dealer or tax evader or even murderer, the church will forgive you and might call you to serve as a deacon or even pastor (particularly if you have a moving testimony), but if you're divorced, forget it. Divorce has grown more common and accepted in society as a whole, and once again society leads and the church follows, when it should be the other way around. Too many Christians are tied more closely to the letter of the text than to the spirit. Jesus' statements about divorce should be seen in light of his teaching that anyone who has been angry with his fellow believer is guilty of murder. Jesus does oppose the flippant attitude that many today have of marriage. Marriage is a commitment, and marriage partners should love and respect one another as they try to work through the difficulties that every marriage has. Jesus particularly admonishes men, who usually provided the kind of economic security that few women of the time were able to, not to divorce their wives at the drop of a hat. On the other hand, Jesus does not condemn those who have gone through a divorce. Marriage until death do us part is the ideal; divorce is sometimes the reality. Christians should strive for the ideal, while always recognizing that the reality is inevitable in some cases. Sometimes the blame for the dissolution of a marriage can be laid squarely at the feet of one of the marriage partners, but usually both partners are at least a little bit responsible. Christians should never to afraid to take a strong stand for the value and permanence of marriage, but at the same time they must be sensitive to the feelings and situations of those who are divorced. I remember hearing a preacher say one time that it was God's will that people who were divorced should not marry someone else, even in the future. A couple in our church, both of whom had been married previously, commented that they understood that their mutual second marriage had been against God's will. How ridiculous! Here was a couple who were committed to God and who had children together, and the preacher was doing nothing other than laying a guilt trip on them! Rather than condemn those who are divorced, we need to love them, accept them, and show them respect. In other words, we should treat them just like any other believers.