The summer after I graduated from
high school I was replacing steel fence posts in my parents’ cow pasture. The ground was hard and dry so the posts
didn’t go in easily. I had to hold the
post with one hand and hold the heavy sledge hammer in the other and beat down
hard many times to drive the posts in.
It’s hard to get good aim when swinging a sledge hammer one
handed so I had my hand close to the hammer head. All was well until the post where I had slid
my hand all the way up the handle, and the hammer head missed the post. Instead of the heavy steel head of the hammer
smashing down on top of the steel post the head went beyond the post and my
finger got smashed between the post and the hammer handle. It didn’t even take a second for me to
realize I was going to be making a trip to the local medical center to get my
finger sewn back together again!
Of course it was stupid and careless of me to let my hand slip
that far up on the hammer handle. I
learned my lesson well and I haven’t made that mistake again. While I didn’t like hurting, the situation
made sense. I messed up and I got hurt.
Now let’s change the situation.
Let’s look at the case of Giana Bartolucci and her father. Some of you may know her. She used to sing in the Amadeus Chorale, the
children’s choir that meets here for rehearsals on Friday nights. She’s been in our sanctuary many times.
Last Christmas Eve
she and her father were driving to church when they were hit by a drunk
driver. Their vehicle flipped over and
caught on fire. Both were severely
injured and burned. They were rushed to
the hospital for treatment. There were
many touch and go moments. Her dad has
improved significantly, but she has not.
I want to read excerpts from two recent updates from her family about
her. This one’s from February 6th:
Giana developed a fever today so is now getting some antibiotics while they
wait for the results of cultures that were taken. She is beginning to respond
some to some simple commands which is a wonderful answer to prayer but she has
a long way to go! Various therapies work with her each day and the doctors
continue to tweak her medications to maximize her comfort and progress. The
burn doctor is hoping to auto-graft some remaining areas on her left leg later
this week.
And one from
February 20th A few days ago Giana was transferred to Unity Hospital
to start therapy (swallowing, moving her hands, legs, sitting up, etc. Due to
complications with her GI tube she was officially discharged from Unity after
only being there 2.5 days, in order to go back to Strong for her G-tube
replacement (Strong put it in and had to be the one to replace it).
Without being overly
dynamic let’s just say that the little girl’s life will never be the same; a
lifetime of problems, pain and complications even though she did nothing to
deserve it.
Why do bad things happen to good people? Why do some destructive and downright evil
people get away with anything, yet others hit hardships and problems no matter
how hard they work.
Our gospel reading gives Jesus’ response to the questions of why
bad things happen to good people. People
were asking him about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mixed with their
sacrifices. We have to take a moment to
understand what that means. These
Galileans would have been Jewish pilgrims from Galilee who were killed by
Pilate’s troops while they were offering sacrifices to God for their sins.
Just like the idea of getting struck by lightning for using
God’s name in vain, so is this idea. Was
God angry with these people or their sacrifices? Was God using Roman soldiers to carry out
divine punishment by these people being killed in the process of offering their
sacrifices? Were they guilty of some
secret sin but God knew and punished them?
Jesus takes the question further by adding another
dimension. He says, “Or those eighteen
who were killed when the tower of Siloam fell on them – do you think they were
even worse offenders than all the others living in Jerusalem?” (Luke 13:4) In this example there is a natural disaster
or accident causing deaths. The question
remains – what did they do to deserve it?
Before we get to Jesus’ answer – which I guarantee you, you will
not like – let’s be sure we understand what’s going on in our minds. We believe that there should be discernible
links between actions and consequences.
I hit my finger with a big hammer.
It hurt and I had to get medical attention. It all makes sense. But a girl seriously harmed by a drunk driver
– that we just don’t get. People in
Jesus’ day thought the same way.
So, what does Jesus say?
“…do you think that they were worse offenders than all the others living
in Jerusalem? No, I tell you; but unless
you repent, you will all perish just as they did.” (13:4-5)
Does this mean that they deserved it? Does this mean that Giani deserved to be hit
by a drunk driver? Does God really not
care when we suffer? We want to cry out
to God, “Come on God, pain is real!
Lives are being ruined! I don’t
like this sense of justice!”
Let’s use that thought to come at the problem from a different
angle. You all know the story of Adam
and Eve and their sin in the Garden of Eden.
When I imagine them being tempted to eat the fruit of the Tree of the
Knowledge of Good and Evil I imagine a lush tree with tantalizing fruit hanging
from it. The temptation to eat of the
fruit is like what I feel when homemade chocolate chip cookies have just come
out of the oven. I can’t resist for
long!
But that’s probably a wrong way to imagine it. Put yourself in Giana’s parents’ shoes. Something terrible has happened to your
daughter. You don’t understand it. And there in front of you is the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. Do you want to eat that fruit? Do you want that knowledge for yourself? Do you want to know why? Oh yes.
Yes you do! In fact that will gnaw
at you constantly. Eventually you will
reach out and want that for yourself.
Keep the story of Adam and Eve in your mind as we look at the
parable Jesus tells about the unproductive fig tree. While there aren’t exact parallels I do think
the parable uses the Garden of Eden as a backdrop. Again we have a troublesome tree in a garden.
The owner, a God-like figure, says to get rid of this tree. For three years he’s been looking for figs
and gotten none. Fig trees don’t usually
produce until they are ten years old, so that puts this tree at about thirteen
years old. It has been taking up
valuable space and resources for 13 years yet has produced nothing. Knowledge
and logic would suggest that it
should go – it should be replaced with something productive. But the gardener, a Jesus-like figure, asks
for mercy. He begs for one more year. And in that year it will receive extra care;
and fertilizer. (I suppose if we are in
the place of the unproductive tree we’d better get ready to have manure dumped
on us!)
What do we learn about why bad things happen to good people from
all this? First, (and perhaps the
hardest) we want to be able to make sense of the world. When something happens we want to be able to
see how it fits into God’s greater design.
But we have to remember that isn’t always the case. Maybe it is.
Maybe it isn’t. Our knowledge is
limited. It is an act of faith to accept
that, and to accept that no matter how much or how little sense something
makes, God’s ultimate plans will be accomplished.
To put it all succinctly, why do bad things happen to good
people? I don’t know. I can’t know.
But there are things I do know.
The parable of the unproductive fig tree shows God’s mercy. God gives second chances. Or in the case of the fig tree, fourth
chances. And God will work us to help
our lives bear good fruit.
We also know that God does not abandon us in our pain and in the
things that seem unfair. God is not
afraid of pain and hurt. Whenever we ask
why bad things happen and we can’t make sense of it remember the ultimate bad
thing that happened to a good person – the crucifixion of Jesus. There you have a totally and perfectly
innocent person suffering for the sake of all the rest.
According to the gospel of Mark what does Jesus say from the
cross? “My God, my God, why have you
forsaken me?” Why? There are many reasons. Among them is for us to fully know that God
knows what it feels like when bad things happen to good people. God is with us always.
May every day bring you joy and happiness. And may bad things not happen to you. But when they do, God will give you the faith
needed to go through them.
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