Asking the Right Questions
- Reverend Dale Walker
- Mar 7, 2010
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September 11, 2001: terrorists attacked the
January 12, 2010: a massive earthquake rocked the area surrounding
A child tosses and moans in a hospital bed, desperately ill. The doctor says, “We’re doing all we can, but she may not make it.” Her mother sobs to her pastor, “Why? Why did this happen to my baby? What have I done to deserve this? Is God punishing me?”
One of Job’s friends, observing his suffering, reflects, “Has a truly innocent person ever ended up on the scrap heap? Do genuinely upright people ever lose out in the end?” (4:7 Message version)
Is suffering a direct result of sin? Are righteous people somehow immune from trouble and tribulation? There is certainly scriptural warrant for believing that prosperity and good health are signs of God’s favor—an ancient notion that persists, despite much evidence to the contrary. The strongest testimony to the contrary, of course, is the crucifixion of the One who was without sin.
Jesus was told, “Pilate had a whole group of Galileans brutally killed while they were at worship.” The unspoken question was, “What did they do to deserve to die?”
And underneath that question was the one the people really wanted to ask: “What about me? Do I deserve to be punished for my sins? How bad is too bad?”
“No!” is Jesus’ unqualified response to all the unasked questions. Terrible things happen in a fallen world. Earthquakes, avalanches, illness, and other acts of nature--even catastrophes caused by human evil such as the murder of the Galileans and the
Certainly, some calamities are caused by sin, or by our own or others’ carelessness or foolishness. If you commit a crime and go to jail—if you lie and lose your credibility—if you drive recklessly and injure yourself or someone else, then it is your sin that causes your suffering.
But most tragedy isn’t related to our moral state. Some call AIDs God’s punishment for immorality—yet babies can contract it. Some declare that prosperity is God’s reward for righteousness—yet many drug dealers are filthy rich, while teachers and store clerks and day care workers barely get by.
Jesus rejects the notion that, when things go right, it’s because we’re living right; and when things go wrong, then we must be doing wrong. It’s not the only time he makes this point. When his disciples asked, “Who sinned—this man who was born blind, or his parents?” (John 9:2), Jesus responded, “Neither.” God doesn’t work that way. We can be thankful that, as Psalm 103 (10-11) tells us, [God] doesn’t treat us as our sins deserve, nor pay us back for our wrongs. (Message) What grace, that [God’s] thoughts are not [our] thoughts, nor [our] ways [God’s] ways, for we tend to be harsh judges of others.
Jesus isn’t interested in who’s guilty, or why a tragic event happened, or even whether we can know how God judges each person. In effect, he says, “These are the wrong questions.” But after the first comforting words—that God doesn’t use disasters to punish us—he drops the other shoe and warns, Unless you repent, you, too, will perish. None of us knows when we’ll die, and how soon we’ll stand before God, who is both the giver of mercy and the judge of our lives.
Jesus is abundantly clear, however, that God prefers to give mercy. The poor figless fig tree had tested the owner’s patience for 3 years. He was ready to get rid of it, until the gardener intervened, pleading for more time. Jesus, the master gardener, intervenes for us. Under his watchful care, we, too, can repent and reform at any age, and become fruitful.
But repentance is more than saying “I’m sorry.” Recently, we’ve watched Governor Mark Sanford, Tiger Woods, and Akio Toyoda stand before the public and say, “I’m sorry.” But unless and until they change their behavior and change their attitude, “sorry” is as useless as a fig tree that won’t bear. The proof of repentance is in our actions, turning 180* from where we are to where God is. Seek the Lord while he may be found…return to God, for he will abundantly pardon.
Indeed, each time we examine our conscience and confess our sins, it’s Jesus tilling the hard soil of our hearts so they can be nourished by the message of grace. Today, and each time we come to his table, he feeds us with the very thing we need to grow in faith and in fruitfulness—the rich food of the spirit.
To grow into spiritually mature Christians also means paying attention, day in and day out, to God. To ask yourself, “How do I treat the person I sit across from at breakfast each day?” “How do I respond to the driver who cuts me off in traffic?” “Do I teach the way God would teach—sell the way God would sell--care the way Christ would care--parent the way God parents?” “Do I act differently in tough times than in happy times?” “Can I offer the benefit of the doubt or a second chance to someone who’s offended me?” “What can scripture teach me?” “Do I cling to God for better and for worse, for richer and for poorer, in sickness and in health, in joy and in sorrow?” “How does my faith in Jesus Christ make me different from someone who doesn’t believe in him?
These are the right questions. They help us dig deep and become fruitful, and also to follow Jesus’ example and become God’s gardeners—dedicated and deliberate in our efforts to nurture others into spiritual maturity. That’s why we practice infant baptism with its emphasis on God’s grace, freely granted, even before we are able to respond That’s why we offer Sunday School, youth activities, adult Bible study, fellowship events, as well as worship. These are the water and the fertilizer to grow mature Christians who will base their behavior on the life of Jesus.
One more question: Suppose, like the fig tree, you have just one year left to live—what would you do? Consider the next 12 months as a gift from a merciful God—a new chance at a renewed life.
