3 Lent, Church of the Redeemer, Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts
The Rev. Nancy E. Gossling
Let us pray,
BCP, p 815, For Peace
Eternal God, whose perfect kingdom no sword is drawn but the sword of righteousness, no strength known but the strength of love: So mightily spread abroad your Spirit, that all peoples may be gathered under the banner of the prince of Peace, as children of one Father; to whom be dominion and glory, now and forever. Amen,
“Then the Lord said, ‘I have observed the misery of my people. I have heard their cry. I know their sufferings, and I have come down to deliver them.’”
Distraught by the loss of his son to a crippling disease, Rabbi Harold Kushner wrote the familiar book When Bad Things Happen to Good People. He wanted to share what he had learned from his own personal tragedy and to help others find their way through loss and suffering. Suffering is a big word. It’s a deep word. And it is a word that is both personal and communal.
Bad things are happening to good people in Ukraine, and people all around the world are watching them suffer. And yet, we know that suffering can be found everywhere, perhaps even today in your own life. Oftentimes we are distantly sympathetic until the suffering comes knocking on our door. Cancer strikes. Addiction surfaces. Dementia appears. Refugees cross our borders. We lose our jobs, suffer a divorce, and grieve for people we love. Suffering affects our bodies, our minds, our hearts, and our souls. Personally and communally.
“In September, the Pew Research Center asked adults in the United States about their views on why suffering exists: 44 percent of the people said that ‘sometimes bad things just happen’, 22 percent explained that ‘suffering is mostly a consequence of people’s own actions,’ 19 percent said that suffering is a result of the way society is structured’, and another 19 percent claimed that suffering ‘provides an opportunity for people to come out stronger.’”
Sometimes, as the saying goes, “Bleep happens!” A car slides on black ice and hits your car. A brick falls off the roof and smashes your head. A tornado or hurricane or earthquake destroys people and property in your community, and so it goes. Who's to blame when these random acts of violence happen to us personally or communally and cause us to suffer?
Now you and I know that the war in Ukraine didn't just happen, although it stinks to high heaven. It was a matter of choice, and there is plenty of blame to go around. This suffering is clearly a consequence of human behavior and not just a random event; it is described as pure evil. Which is why 22% of adults say that ‘suffering is mostly a consequence of people’s own actions.” Which begs a question: Are some people worse sinners and offenders than others?
Not really, Jesus said, referring to the massacre of the Galileans in the temple of Jerusalem and the collapse of the tower of Siloam. He tells his followers that “whether it is a man-made tragedy (Pilate’s slaughter of the Galileans) or a random catastrophe (the fall of the tower of Siloam) there are no worse sinners nor worse offenders in either case. Look at yourself, he said. Unless you repent, you too will perish. Or as St. Paul warns the Corinthians, and President Zelensky warns the Europeans, “If you think you are standing, watch out that you do not fall.”
There is a great deal of focus on our world leaders these days, and what they have done and left undone. Now Pontius Pilate was considered a weak-willed leader, often succumbing to the pressure of others. Described as an evil person, and known for his brutal reprisals and disdain for religious practices, he not only slaughtered the Galileans in their temple but he also killed Jesus in order to prevent an uprising among the people. He was a friend of Herod Antipas, who governed the northern region of Galilee; and their relationship was described as an “unholy collusion.” Who is the worst offender or sinner? Pontius Pilate or Vladimir Putin? Herod Antipas or Adolph Hitler?
Historically, Jesus had become the voice of the people of his country, who felt vulnerable, powerless, and oppressed by foreign invaders and governed by ruthless and corrupt leaders. The Galileans were farmers, fishermen, carpenters, and faithful Jews, just like Jesus. They only wanted to live and work in peace, while providing for their families, and building their local communities.
The Pew Research results said that 19 % of respondents claim that suffering is “mostly a result of the way society is structured.” In his book The Cultural Dictionary of the Bible, John Pilch writes that “Jesus' parable of the barren fig tree is not advice for growing trees but a political comment on their failed community leaders. Jesus was making a statement about his own country’s current affairs and leadership, at his own peril. If things don't change, the barren fig tree should be cut down. And the “bleep” that was happening to them should be dumped on their leaders heads instead. (p. 97)
The fig tree, like the Russian hammer and sickle, was often used in the Bible as a metaphor for Israel. In a book entitled Palestine in the Time of Jesus, the authors wrote, “The story about the languishing fig tree symbolizes the elite stranglehold under which Jesus’ society had fallen. As more and more land was controlled by the elites, production no longer reflected what the ordinary Palestinian wanted.”
“Then the Lord said to Moses, ‘I have observed the misery of my people; I have heard their cry. I know their sufferings, and I have come down to deliver them.’” St. Luke was known for his concern about social justice and used reversals to indicate the way that God would operate in their world. Not as the Great Enforcer, not as the Roman Emperor nor the Russian Czar, not as the President of Ukraine nor as the President of the United States. Instead God would become the Great Redeemer, the Great Deliverer, and the Savior of all generations in our world.
Through Jesus, God would bring good news to the poor, proclaim release to the captives, and recovery of sight to the blind. God would let the oppressed go free, and proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor. God would speak and act through Jesus for all the world to see and hear.
“Suffering provides an opportunity for people to come out stronger” another 19% claimed in the Pew Research. Or as the saying goes, “If it doesn't kill you, it will make you stronger.” When suffering strikes, when wars rage on, when bad things happen to good people, God will help us; for God is our superpower. In a holy collusion with Jesus, God’s Spirit announced that God so loved the world that God chose to live and die as one of us, and to suffer for our sakes on the cross. Jesus’ suffering was both personal and communal.
So whenever testing overtakes us, St. Paul wrote, we will not be tested beyond our strength; and God will provide our way out. When manure happens, when our best efforts bear no fruit, when our systems seem unfair, and the scales of justice tip out of balance, when we fall into our old ways of sin, we can always turn to God for help. In ages past and even today.
Indeed, in his letter to the Romans, St. Paul claimed that “We can (even) boast in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not disappoint us.” Like the acts of the apostles, we too can carry that message in our own bodies, minds, hearts, and souls. Just like the people in Ukraine.
We know that history repeats itself; and we will always see examples of good and evil, of right and wrong, of suffering and endurance. “These things happened to serve as examples, and were written down to instruct us,” wrote St. Paul. And later, in 1942 from Berlin, Dietrich Bonhoeffer wrote, ”We are instruments in the hand of the Lord of history. We must participate in Christ’s own magnanimous heart by engaging in responsible action. Inactive ‘waiting and seeing” or impassive ‘standing-by’ are not Christian attitudes.” (Meditations on the Cross, Solidarity in Suffering, pp 25-26))
As faithful Christians and moral human beings, we can offer simple acts of kindness and moral goodness every day. As the saying goes, “We can think globally; and act locally.” So here’s a final story from Peace Tales: World Folktales to Talk About.
“Once upon a time, a man visited hell, where he was amazed to find people sitting around a table, with all kinds of food piled high. Maybe hell wasn’t so bad, he thought.”
“But then the man looked closely at the people; and they all looked hungry - in fact, they looked like they hadn’t eaten in a very long time. He noticed that everyone around the table had been given chopsticks that were 3 feet long; but the people couldn’t get any of the food into their mouths. And so, the man could see that this indeed was hell.”
“Next the man went to heaven. To his surprise, he saw people seated around a table filled with the same good foods. They also had chopsticks that were three feet long! But this time the man noticed that these people looked happy, full, and satisfied.The difference was that they were using their chopsticks to feed each other!”
This Lent, what fruit will we bear before our fig trees are cut down? How will we respond to the suffering of others? And will we speak and act like Jesus, the only One who was without sin, and a perfect example for us all? Amen.
Exodus 3:1-15
1 Corinthians 10:1-13
Luke 13:1-9
Psalm 63:1-8
