Sermon for January 31st

Our lives are full of blessings and sufferings. Why do they happen? Some would say that God is somewhere up in heaven looking down on us but not getting really involved in our day to day activities. However, the Bible explains that God does not stay away from us but comes close and gets involved in the messiness of life in the person of Jesus Christ. Others argue that we get what we deserve. Good stuff to the good people and bad stuff to the bad. But Jesus was an innocent and perfect human being yet he died on a cross. We have a God who is active and living in our lives. A God who makes choices that affect our lives. An electing, predestining God who works in the world and in real time. The problem is that knowing all this doesn’t help much. We need more than knowledge of God. We need faith in Him.

A reading from Genesis 4, “Now the man knew his wife Eve, and she conceived and bore Cain, saying, “I have produced a man with the help of the Lord.” Next she bore his brother Abel. Now Abel was a keeper of the sheep, and Cain a tiller of the ground. In the course of time Cain brought to the Lord an offering of the fruit of the ground, and Abel for his part brought of the firstlings of his flock, their fat portions. And the Lord had regard for Abel and his offering, but for Cain and his offering he had no regard.”

Why? Why did God regard Abel and his offering of fatty meat and not Cain’s offering of grain? Does God simply prefer meat over carbohydrates? Is he the God of the Atkins diet? I overheard one pastor explain that Cain just didn’t care enough to get meat for God and gave him something second best and THAT was why God didn’t like it . . . of course, scripture says nothing like that at all. Nothing is ever mentioned about Cain or Abel’s motivations but simply what each of them offered.

What does the Bible say about this passage? “By faith Abel offered to God a more acceptable sacrifice than Cain’s.” Abel had faith, but faith in what? God accepted Abel’s offering. Abel trusted that choice. Abel took God at his word. That’s faith, pure and simple. Cain, on the other hand, disagreed with God’s choice and decided to trust, instead, in the righteousness of his own actions against God’s decision. This led him to do the only thing he could do—get rid of the problem. And so Abel became the victim even though God was the culprit. Abel was not the real problem was he? Cain just couldn’t trust a living and active God who makes choice—who chooses some and does not choose others.

A reading from the book of Exodus, “And the Lord said to Moses, ‘When you go back to Egypt, see that you perform before Pharaoh all the wonders that I have put in your power; but I will harden his heart, so that he will not let the people go.” Why? Why does God sent Moses and Aaron to free the oppressed Israelites only to decide beforehand to harden Pharaoh’s heart to the possibility and make him say no? The letter to the Romans says this, “God has mercy on whomever he chooses, and he hardens the heart of whomever he chooses.” In the story of the Exodus from Egypt, God hardens Pharaoh’s heart four times. By the time Pharaoh finally let’s the Israelites go, God will have killed all of the Egyptian livestock, caused boils on the Egyptian people, destroyed the Egyptian crops will hail, killed off the firstborn of all the Egyptian families and drowned Pharaoh and his army. Why?

Because the Israelites were God’s chosen people. They were descended from Abraham and then Isaac and then Jacob. God had chosen Abraham to be the father of many nations. But why Abraham? “By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to set out for a place that he was to receive as an inheritance. By faith he stayed. By faith he received power of procreation, even though he was too old.” Abraham was not more righteous than anyone else. For goodness sake, he lied not once but twice about his wife being his sister and almost got a lot of good men in trouble because of it. But God made his choice and Abraham trusted God’s choice, God’s Word. Abraham trusted the living and active God who makes choices—even when those choices sometimes create suffering.

A reading from today’s gospel, Luke 4, “Jesus said, The truth is, there were many widows in Israel in the time of Elijah, when the heaven was shut up three years and six months, and there was a severe famine over all the land; yet Elijah was sent to none of them except to a widow at Zarephath in Sidon. There were also many lepers in Israel in the time of the prophet Elisha, and none of them was cleansed except Naaman the Syrian.” Why? Why did God cleanse one leper and not others? Why did God support one widow and not others? Because God has mercy on whomever he chooses.”

Can you trust a God like that? The simple answer is no, you can’t. To admit that God comes into our time and space to make choices according to his will alone kills us—literally. It kills all of our dreams of finding our way up to Him, of improving ourselves, of becoming “holy”. He just chooses, he elects, and our great plans are thus destroyed. No one can love a God like that! We must defend ourselves from a God like that! And so we have.

A reading from this last week’s CNN.com, “Two weeks after a 7.0-magnitude earthquake devastated Haiti, the numbers have mounted. The numbers tell stories of death and destruction, as well as a global outpouring of aid. CNN has compiled the latest, most reliable figures available as the devastation continues to unfold: Latest estimate of the death toll 150,000 to 200,000. Another 194,000 injured. 134 people rescued by international search teams.” Why? Why did God allow it to happen?

If you’ve been following the news the past couple of weeks you’ve been privy to great examples of how people defend themselves against a God who is living and active and makes choices—choosing to have mercy on some and not on others. One conservative Christian commentator has argued that the Haitians brought this on themselves because long ago (he maintains) they made a pact with the Devil to get out of French rule. Others argue that it was just a matter of time before something like this happened due to the science of plate tectonics. You see, if we do not blame it on something—anything!!—be it ourselves, our country, the Devil or fate, we will be at the mercy of a living God who makes choices without asking us. How can we trust a God that allows, or worse, ordains, an earthquake like this to happen to the poorest country in the hemisphere?

But what happens when God does not choose you? What happens when God makes choices you do not agree with? When God does not bless you? What then? Do you remember the story of Hannah the mother of the prophet Samuel? The Bible says that she had no children because the Lord had closed her womb. To add insult to injury, her husband had another wife who could have children and this woman would provoke her and irritate her because of her barrenness. It wasn’t that God wasn’t paying attention—he had intentionally closed her womb. It wasn’t because she was more sinful than the other woman; in fact, it appears that the other wife was certainly no saint. So what did Hannah do? She trusted God’s Word. She trusted God’s choice. And she prayed to him! If we are blessed, we thank God. And if we are not, we pray to him, petition him and wrestle with him just as Jacob did until he gives his blessing. You see, by faith, God remembered Hannah and eventually she conceived and bore a son. When God sends an earthquake we must either lose faith or begin praying.

Of course, explaining that God is in control of everything just makes us despise him all the more. The only way to trust a God who chooses and preordains suffering is to proclaim the mystery hidden for ages and generations as Colossians puts it: That this God who chooses to have mercy on some and not on others has chosen to have mercy on you. That’s right—you. This God who preordains all things has preordained you to live with him forever. You are God’s chosen one. Did you deserve this kind of treatment? No. No more than Abraham did. Did you do anything to earn it? No. No more than Abel did. But you may trust God’s word by faith alone. I don’t know why bad things happen, but looking at Jesus on the cross, I know God’s final word is love. And because you know God’s steadfast love for you, you can pray with complete confidence knowing that God does not desire death and destruction but instead redemption and life. You are his chosen one and he has promised to hear your prayers.

God’s love for you knows no boundaries and will stop at nothing. God knew you before you were born. God who has sustained you ever since. And God has chosen to love you for all eternity. It’s one thing to know that God chooses some and does not choose others. That knowledge doesn’t help much. It’s hard to trust that kind of God. But I pray that you hear the good news: God has chosen YOU! And he has promised to listen to you. That’s a promise you can have faith in from a God you can trust. And when suffering causes you to be angry with his choices pray that God would continue being active and living and continue choosing—choosing to have mercy on those who need it the most. Just like he chose to have mercy on you. Amen.