Dinner with Jesus - Week 4
September 28, 2008
Jesus, Why Do Bad Things Happen To Good People?
Psalm 73 

The one reality that we cannot ignore is that people suffer.
And many times it's the good people that hurt the most.

I remember having a conversation with a friend of mine over lunch. He told me about a conversation he had with a fellow lawyer that was far from God. Her argument was simple and clear. "I can't believe in a god that allows children to die of cancer". At the moment, Richard didn't have much of an answer. But that question stayed with him. He wrestled with it. It bothered him. But that question was one he would have to grapple with in reality when his young five year old daughter was diagnosed with inoperable cancer. Over the course of 2 years, he wrestled with that question and struggled in his own mind to understand how God allows people to suffer.

 Maybe you have wrestled with that question yourself. You see so much suffering. You see so much hurt. How could a loving God allow suffering to happen? The Bible doesn't side step this question. If fact, there is a lot in the Bible about suffering - you might even say that suffering is a central part of the message of the Bible.

We all suffer in some form. I had to take my little girl to the doctor recently and on the wall they had a pain chart on the wall where you were to quantify your pain as either a "1" little pain to a "10" unbearable pain. What was funny were the faces attached to each number - started smiling, then to no expression, then to a frown and gritting teeth. Well the same is true in suffering. Sometimes we are at a "1"  - some times we are at a "5" and sometimes, tragedies strike and we are at a "10". But no matter you score, we all suffer. Whether your suffering is the loss of a child, the loss of a job, the pain of an abusive past, the enduring of a physical pain - it's all pain, and suffering is no respecter of persons.

THE CORE OF SUFFERING

Suffering usually comes into our lives in one of two ways. The first is natural calamity (like the devastation we saw with Hurricane Ike devastating Galveston and the coast of Texas where now they are reporting that _________# of people lost homes, millions in damages, lives lost, or diseases that ravage our bodies). Or  through human choice (like a person who abuses you, abandons you. We see this played out on our TV screens every night when we hear the news of someone shot, or the War in Iraq, or other terrible tragedies).

But the Bible says that there is something behind the natural calamity or human choice is one central source of suffering - sin. You see, when sin entered into the world -the world as God originally planed it and made it to be was dramatically changed. When God created the world he said a repeated phrase - "it is good". Creation was good. The weather was good. Animals were good. Just think about it. Before sin came into the world, there was no killing. There was no disease. There were no natural disasters. In fact, the Bible says that even natural disasters are a result of the fallenness of our world, and that even now our world is longing to be made new. That is why when Jesus comes again, the Bible tells us that he is going to make a new heaven and a new earth - he will set things back to the way they were before sin entered the world.

So the source of our suffering is sin - rebellion against God. And when sin entered into the world....it created a colossal effect, a terrible effect. It was like a spiritual atomic bomb that ripped through creation. Scaring it. Marring it. Twisting it. Corrupting it.

And sin changed mankind too. You see, you were made to love God and love others. God created you with an agenda, to fulfill His purpose for your life. But when sin came into the picture, now you wandered far from God. Instead of loving God you rebelled against him and hurt other people too. So sin is the problem we deal with too. It separates us from God and it causes separation and hurting our relationships. Sin messes everything up. Like dirt in the gas tank, like a virus in your computer, like cancer in your body - sin devastates everything. We are all tainted with it. We are all infected with the SIN virus!

So the Big Question is this: "Why doesn't God do something about it?

 This is the question people have been asking for generation. Even great men of the Bible asked God why He allows the suffering of good people. Turn in PS 73.2

CONFESSION OF A WORSHIP LEADER

This psalm was written by a man named Asaph. Asaph was one of the key leaders in King David's choir.  He was a songwriter, poet, worship leader and spiritual man. He was one of the guys up front leading out like would see today. He was a guy who had it all together. But in his psalm he gets real. Something nearly made him loose his way. Something nearly made him slip away from God. It was a stumbling block to him! What was it? When he saw good people suffering while bad people were doing great! Look at what he wrote.

"Surely God is good to Israel, to those who are pure in heart. But as for me, my feet had almost slipped; I had nearly lost my foothold. For I envied the arrogant when I saw the prosperity of the wicked...surely in vain I have kept my heart pure; in vain have I washed my hands in innocence. All day long I have been plagued; I have been punished every morning...when I tried to understand all this, it was oppressive to me." Psalm 73.1-3,13-14,16.

Can you relate to that? Have ever said, "God, I'm the one trying to do things right here! Why are you letting this happen to me? Why are the bad people getting all the good and the good people are getting all the bad? Have you nearly slipped in your trust in God like this? He said, "When I tried to understand this -it was oppressive to me." It was a heavy burden around my neck. It was a wet blanket of despair that covered me. I just couldn't understand why! Can you relate to that?

This week was a special week for students all across the country. Students gather on school campuses to meet at the flag pole and pray for their schools. I was part of a group that did that this week. But this week also is a reminder of a tragedy that happened to a local church that shocked our nation.

How do you explain a tragedy like that? Why does God allow good people to suffer?

When we talk about suffering there is a part of it that we will never fully understand this side of heaven. That's not a cop out, it's just reality. No one has a full understanding this side of heaven of why God allows suffering. There is a lot we don't know. But there are some things that we do know. And those things we do know help us to make sense of suffering and overcome it. Let me give them to you today.

Four things we know about God and suffering

God is holy - sin and evil must be punished. God will one day punish evil, reward those who love him

(so why doesn't God just get rid of sin and evil right now?)

God is patient - God wants everyone to come to repentance. God isn't just holy, God is also loving, full of mercy, full of grace, desires that all people come to him

(so where does that leave us right now?)

God is in control - God can take what is evil and use it for good in our lives today. I have seen God take things that the Devil meant for evil and use it for good.  I have seen God take horrible situations and use those same situations as a platform for grace in other people's lives -to extend hope!

God cares - understands suffering - Jesus suffered. He is able to comfort us; draw near to us; sustain us.