When Bad Things Happen To Good People

Preached at HolyWhen Bad Things Happen To Good People
Luke 13:1-9
Exodus 3: 1-15 Psalm 63:1-8 I Corinthians 10:1-13

Opening Prayer: May the words of my mouth and the meditations of our hearts be always acceptable to you, our rock and our redeemer.
Introduction: As always, it is a pleasure to be with you again today. This week is Spring Break at UAA, so I have a chance to get more caught up on my studies this week. Otherwise, I would not be able to afford to take the time off from studies to work on sermon preparation to be with you today.

When calamities happen, there is a fine balance between asking "why"
questions, and just dealing with what needs to be done. Asking "why" is good if we are asking if it can be prevented in the future, but if we are asking "Why did God allow this" or "Why did God cause this" then we are asking unanswerable questions. Lots of times, we are asking "why" because we feel powerless, and want to feel more in control. Some of you may remember that when the huge earthquake happened in Haiti in January, Pat Robertson from the Christian Broadcasting Network said that the earthquake happened
because its people "made a pact with the devil". "Something happened a long time ago in Haiti, and people might not want to talk about it," Robertson said. "They were under the heel of the French...and they got together and swore a pact to the devil. They said, 'We will serve you if you'll get us free from the French." "True story", he continued. "And the devil said, "OK, it's a deal.' Ever since they have been cursed by one thing after another."
Haiti is the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere. Haiti became the first black republic to declare its independence in 1804. It was forced to pay France 90 million francs - a huge sum- over the course of decades under the Royal Ordinance of 1825, in which French King Charles X demanded restitution for the loss of France's colony in change for diplomatic recognition. The country was long oppressed by dictators and corrupt leaders. (Google)
When people are saying a whole country devastated by a natural disaster is because they made a pact with the devil, it is using OT thinking. It isn't even Jewish thinking.
In today's gospel, the people told Jesus about a group of Galileans whom Pilate had killed while they were offering sacrifices to God. Jesus answered them, "Because those Galileans were killed in that way, do you think it proves that they were worse sinners than all other Galileans? No indeed!...What about those eighteen people in Siloam who were killed when the tower fell on? Do you suppose this proves that they were worse than all the other people living in Jerusalem? No indeed!"
Jesus then tells the people that even though those who were killed were not worse sinners than we are, it is still important for us to repent. Some people think we need to repent in order to get "fire insurance". Christianity is about a RELATIONSHIP with God. In order to have a healthy relationship, we need to continually make the decision to listen to God, and to the best of our ability, follow what we hear God telling us what to do. In a marriage, the wedding is only the beginning. We need to regularly renew our relationship with our spouse, listen to our spouse, and regularly choose to remain married to and in relationship to our spouse. However, unlike a marriage, our relationship with God is not between two equals. God is all powerful, all knowing. God is the perfect parent. As the perfect parent, God wants us to do the right thing, but also gives us free will to decide whether or not to follow God's way, and to be in relationship with God.
It is horrible theology to believe that our diseases and handicaps are direct punishment for our sin or someone else's. Punishment for sin is not the same as having logical consequences as a result of our behavior or someone else. An example is Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder. The damage to a baby as a result of the mother's drinking is a consequence, and not a punishment by God. In addition, it is important for the mother to know, so that she can stop drinking and not put any other future babies at risk for FASD.


As Jesus walked along, he saw a man blind from birth. His disciples asked him, "Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?" Jesus answered them, "Neither this man nor his parents sinned; he was born blind so that God's works might be revealed in him." (John 9:1-3) Instead of looking for who we can blame, it is often more productive to ask, "What good might God reveal through this affliction?"

During Lent we are to focus on self examination, which is not the same as flogging ourselves. Instead of wallowing in guilt, we are to repent. That is, we are to change our behavior - to turn 180 degrees and do something different.
Repentance is not the same thing as a careless expression of "My Bad" or "Sorry 'bout that". It means a change of behavior. I means confessing one's sin before one is caught. Several Christmases ago, a young man accidentally broke an ornament when he was decorating my tree. He had come from an abusive background so was real scared about how I would react. I told him, "That's OK, I know you didn't mean to break it.." He responded "That's right, it was an accident, which means it's not my fault." WRONG ANSWER! He was not repenting. When we repent, we take responsibility for our actions.

When we look at ourselves, we need to also ponder on how our behavior affects our community. Our behavior affects other people. Both within the body of Christ, and in witnessing to people who are not believers. In the parable about the fig tree, the tree was not bearing fruit. Christians are supposed to bear fruit. Galatians 5:22 "The fruit of the spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, humility, and self control." Being in community is one way to develop the fruits, sort of like rocks in a tumbler. The rough and tumble of being community is what knocks the edges off and polishes us up to become gemstones.
Spirit Episcopal Church in Eagle Riverp