06 16th Sunday after Pentecost
It was only a headline, a mere seven words in the midst of a blizzard of pictures and advertisements and links to hundreds of places on the world wild web. But there they were, they had caught my attention. “Why did God do this to me?” They were the words of a man who was the sole survivor of a plan crash. This is the kind of experience that not many have had, and no one ever wants to have. This is the “worst nightmare” of ever traveler. Now, I want to make very clear here, that I am not quoting him as a way of putting this man down, or as a way of attacking him. Rather I am using his words because they are words that hit a cord with each and everyone of us; or at least each and everyone of us who have ever struggled. And don’t get me wrong, you don’t have to have been through a horrible tragedy to have these words find their way onto your tongue, just dealing with all the garbage that we face on a daily basis or making our way through the daily grind, can cause this phrase to make an appearance.
As we were studying these scriptures together, and planning for this worship gathering I made mention of this quote that I had seen, and it sparked a beautiful discussion. Basically that discussion was summed up in the quote that you saw when you first came in this evening. “That’s the Bible, but this guy is my life.” The “this guy” is referring to the man who asked, “Why did God do this to me?” As we had this discussion we realized that there seemed to be a difference in the way that the people in the Bible handle tragedy and turmoil, and that way that we handle it today. So what do you think? Can you see a difference?
Listen again to the words of Jeremiah in our 1st reading. “18 It was the LORD who made it known to me, and I knew; then you showed me their evil deeds. 19 But I was like a gentle lamb led to the slaughter. And I did not know it was against me that they devised schemes, saying, "Let us destroy the tree with its fruit, let us cut him off from the land of the living, so that his name will no longer be remembered!" 20 But you, O LORD of hosts, who judge righteously, who try the heart and the mind, let me see your retribution upon them, for to you I have committed my cause.”
Jeremiah was a priest. And in those days if you wanted to be a priest, you didn’t study hard and go to school. Rather you were a priest because you were in a certain family. So for you to be a priest, meant that you were in a family of priests. And here Jeremiah says that the Lord made know to him their evil deeds. That is the people of Jeremiah’s home town were plotting against him. So his friends, possibly even members of his own family were plotting against him. Now they weren’t just looking to beat him up, or to make him miserable. They were planning on killing him and he had no idea. Can you imagine what this must have been like for Jeremiah? What kinds of things had to have been going through his head? What kind of feelings would he have been experiencing? Right. So do you know why they were planning on doing this to Jeremiah, a priest of the Lord, one of their own?
They were doing this because Jeremiah was proclaiming God’s word to the people. Now this was no easy word to proclaim. Jeremiah’s nickname is the “weeping prophet,” and this isn’t because he is a cry baby, but rather because the message that he proclaimed was the message of the destruction of Jerusalem. The people of God had rejected the covenant that he had made with them long ago at Mt. Sinai, and now they had pushed things too far. And so it was time for them to be removed from the Promised Land. And this was Jeremiah’s message.
This is amazing to me. One day ol Jerry is sitting around enjoying some mighty fine wine, and the word of the Lord comes to him and this is the word that he is to proclaim, the destruction of Jerusalem. Do you think that he just jumped up and did it? I mean he would be proclaiming the pain and suffering, death and destruction of his own friends, family, people. This is a hard task. And yet, Jeremiah does it, and what do the people do? Do they repent? No. Sadly they do not. Instead they plot to kill him. Let us destroy the tree with its fruit. Let us cut him off from the land of the living, so that his name will no longer be remembered. Wow. Ouch. That is harsh. And how does Jeremiah respond here? He gives it to God. “But you, O LORD of hosts, who judge righteously, who try the heart and the mind, let me see your retribution upon them, for to you I have committed my cause.” It is not the “Why did God do this to me?” approach that is so easy to take. But it is a faith-filled trust in God and in his ability to do what is right and that he will, in his own time, make things right.
So how do you do? Where do you fall in the spectrum? After all, that is the Bible, but this guy is my life. Is it unrealistic for us to expect to react to our problems with Jeremiah’s reaction? Or are we missing something here?
I think that there is a progression in how these things go. By that I mean, I believe that when we are first hit with something, that we find ourselves asking, “Why is God doing this to me?” We ask this question out of our pain and suffering. It isn’t that we want to suffer, no one does, but this is often the initial response. And what we don’t realize, is that while we are wondering where God is, or why he is doing this, that he is with us. You see it isn’t that God is standing off at a distance and watching us waiting to see whether or not we are going to pass this test, but rather in the midst of the trial and turmoil that we face in our lives he is here with us. So we are not alone.
And our God is no stranger to suffering. For he himself, became a human being. Suffered on the cross and rose again three days latter. His resurrection did not bring an end to all suffering, although it has sealed that as the future that we have to look forward to, but it did bring an end to the separation that we had from God because of our sin. And so in the midst of all that, we have a God who is with us, who understands what we are going through. And it is not that he is doing this to us, but that in it and through it, he is with us. Holding us, guiding us, comforting us.
Now it is not always easy to see this as we are experiencing this. But hind sight is 20/20. You look back and you can see the evidence of God’s presence in your life. If you are going through something now, and you are wondering where God is. He is here. Now. You will find his presence in this community. You will find him present in the love and care that his people live out in their lives. You will find him present in Word and in with and under bread and wine. He is here, you are not alone.
So for us, it is not that we find ourselves in an either or kind of situation. We do not react to the turmoil of life by either asking, “Why is God doing this to me?” or by saying, “to you I have committed my cause.” Rather most of us start out at the “Why is God doing this to me?” by the way it is ok to ask questions. And when we realize that God has found us, made us his own, walks with us, gives us faith, we are able to say with Jeremiah, “to you I have committed my cause.”
Now it is one thing to speak on this when things are pretty much ok. But it is another to speak about it having been there. You will hear three stories before we go to our second meditation time. Listen to them. Listen to the journey. And see how God has proven to be there for them. He carried them, and has brought them to today. Then, if you would like, I will give you a chance to share a story, keep it short, do it in about 100 words. But if you would like to share a story, you can work on that during the meditation time. For now, listen, and let the working of God in the lives of his people be a blessing to you.
Stories Becca – Dale – David
God is with you. That is the Bible, and the God of the Bible is our life. May his presence in your life, be a source of comfort and strength for you. All is well. Amen.