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"What About Evil?" November 25, 2001 Rev. Dr. John Ward
Happy Thanksgiving to everyone! I believe it's still Thanksgiving as long as you have leftovers, so Thanksgiving may happen for your household for a while longer. One of my favorite dishes, of course, is leftover turkey sandwiches. There's nothing like it, you know? You slice off that turkey you've had for the past couple days, and put that between bread and other things, it tastes wonderful.
In a Thanksgiving theme, we think of harvest. I wasn't really thinking about that when I was working with this passage, but it represents a harvest as well. Not an immediate harvest, but one that deals with the harvest of all souls at the end of the age. One that deals with the question about evil, a question that we often ask when tragedies occur, whether they're national tragedies or personal tragedies. Really for me, the last Thanksgiving service--the one that we had here in the activity center when we all gathered--surprised me with regard to the feelings I had about it. They were directly related to the events of September 11th, to the terrorist attacks. Now, I don't know about you, but I've grown tired of the rhetoric--grown tired of the rhetoric--of the terrorist attacks, but have not grown tired whatsoever of looking for God's answers.
The media does well when it reports, but then we can all go overboard if we look for anything more than reports from the media, because that's its job. But to analyze it and to invent more rhetoric about it, even to exploit it--that gives us no answers. Friends, we can't find answers to some of the questions we ask when tragedies strike unless we come to God Himself, for only God can answer some of those questions we have when tragedy occurs. You know, again I was hoping that it wouldn't affect me as much as it did, but the Thanksgiving service last week did. Just like when any of us face a tragedy, when it's a personal loss--say the loss of a loved one--we often think about the anniversaries: The first Thanksgiving after losing someone. The first Christmas. Perhaps their birthday or a wedding anniversary, if this was someone to whom we were married. Just like that, I faced the first Thanksgiving after the terrorist tragedy. The same questions came up to me, deep from within, as you've asked me and I've answered you, and as we've prayed together.
But I thought perhaps one more time it's important for us, as we face the holiday season, as we move in transition from the harvest season to the Advent season--fortunately, normally we're rushed into that, by the way. Quite often in the life of the church calendar, you move right from Thanksgiving weekend, as we had last week in the church calendar, to the Advent season. This is one of the few times we have kind of a buffer between the two. So we get to be thankful a little longer! Next week you'll see Advent beginning. Even in the liturgical year of the church, this is called "Christ the King" Sunday. It's the last Sunday of the liturgical year. Then we begin the new liturgical year with Advent, and we change from green to purple, and we begin to bring in our Christmas decorations. I thought perhaps as we prepare for this, it's important for us as we face now our first Advent following the situation of September 11th--and perhaps for many of you, you faced this as your first Thanksgiving and coming up now your first Christmas, with regard to some personal tragedies you may have yourself faced. Perhaps we can deal once again with the major questions that come out of these situations. There are normally three questions that occur for us: How can an all-loving God allow such evil to happen in our world? Who is responsible for evil? and When will this evil end?
That's really the theme of our passage this morning as well, as Smitty read it for us. This is a wonderful parable that Jesus teaches. There are only two parables that Jesus specifically explains, and this is one of the two. In fact, we have the answer to this parable right in the following column. So if you're on page 14 in the pew Bibles, I'd like you to turn to page 15. It's the same area there. The explanation of the parable comes in verse 36 of that same chapter. So on page 15, the column to the immediate right of the one from which Smitty read, we find from verse 36 to verse 43 an interpretation from Jesus. It was the disciples who asked Him to interpret it and He said yes, He would. I want to read to you that passage. Verse 36:
As I think about the three questions that I posed--ones that came out of my heart--and I'm sure I'm not alone in this. I want to be able to answer them. How does an all-loving God allow evil or why? Who's responsible for evil? and How long will evil exist? I think we find the answers in the Scripture itself. I want to begin to allow us the opportunity to think deeply about these questions, so follow along with me in sort of a theological-philosophical understanding of how much God loves us and what this love really means and entails. Whenever we face a tragedy--whether it's a national tragedy or a personal tragedy--our first response is to God. And we raise our fists to God and we beat on His chest and we have anger and rage, and it's the only fitting feeling I think we could have, and God gives us permission to do that. And so when we raise our fist at Him and say, "How can you allow this to happen?"--we're not alone. We're not alone because even the Bible says that there are characters in Scripture itself who did the exact same thing. We need only to remember the book of Job in its entirety. We need only to remember the Psalms of David. We need only to remember the life and teachings of Jeremiah, from his book the prophet Jeremiah as well as Lamentations. We know that when tragedy strikes, that first question comes up. We have permission to ask it, we have permission to beat on God's chest. He can take it, and He promises to answer us as well.
We move to the next question very quickly, because it helps us to answer the first. And that is, who is responsible for evil? Is God responsible for evil? The answer would be, "No." Who is responsible for evil are those who participate in it. And, friends, that is you and me. Now our passage this morning indeed says that Satan is the one who sows the seeds of evil. But, friends, it's important for us to understand that we cannot blame the devil's work on our own decision to follow him. The times when we return evil for evil, or when we feed upon anger and bitterness rather than to forgive. Or when we consciously engage in morally-wrong activity at any level. Indeed the devil sowed the seed. But when you and I consciously feed off what the devil has planted, then we realize we are responsible for sin. Now, let me stop for just a moment because we're trying to make a transition from terrorists--who made tragic decisions, and evil decisions--and for you and me. You may be saying to me, "John, hey, I understand, but I'm no terrorist!" And I'm glad you're not. I doubt anyone here is one who would be guilty of that. But we may be guilty of not forgiving. We may be guilty of not trusting. And we may be guilty of making morally wrong decisions.
Now, let me bring an illustration a little closer to home rather than out from New York, and Washington, D. C., and Pennsylvania, the tragedy we've been facing. Let me give to you a scenario. Let's say that a high school student--a beloved child of this church, who grew up in this church and is a senior in high school, and let's say it's a "she," and she is an active participant in our Senior High Focus ministry. Not only that, she volunteers as a small group leader for our Junior High Lighthouse on Wednesday. You can imagine a person like that in our church. Not only is she beloved here, but she's beloved in her neighborhood and everyone's grieving because she's a senior this year and she'll be going on to college and they're grieving because she's the best babysitter, the most trustworthy person in the neighborhood. She was voted "most likely to succeed" and she got a scholarship to a major college because she's so smart. And one day on the way home from any one of the events I just gave to you, she is tragically struck by a drunk driver. Now that brings it home a little bit, doesn't it? It hasn't happened. But you understand how things like that happen. And wouldn't you and I be asking the same question: Where is God in all this? Who is responsible for this evil? Lord, when will such evil end? We can bring it closer to home if we personalize it a little bit like that.
Let's think about it. Let's go back to the responsibility question. As we talked before, who is responsible? The person who committed the sin. That drunk driver alone would have been responsible for the teen's death. And the only purpose of God in the whole thing is His standing by His design to allow morally responsible people the right to decide whether or not to live and act with responsible or irresponsible decisions. The right to be aware of or to ignore the consequences of such freedoms. Freedom abused--to drink and to drive. Freedom abused--to not think about the results of what we do. This free will is part of God's purpose. And if we ask how a loving God can allow such a thing, the answer starts with "Because God loves us enough and must give us freedom in order to love us." If God is going to give us free wills, He has to allow for the possibility of us misusing that freedom. Even if it means hurting others, to be significantly free (let me repeat that)--to be significantly free, is to be morally responsible.
Now, that may not give us the answer that we want, but it is the truth. Maybe the answer we want is, "Why wouldn't God intervene every time we choose to do something with our freedom that is wrong, if we abuse it for another person?" Think about that one for a moment. Wouldn't it be nice if every time we were headed down the wrong path, God would turn us around? Indeed, there are times in our lives when we have felt God has done that. I would say that you probably know at least two or three times in your life when you were headed in the wrong direction and God turned you around. But God doesn't always do that, does He? Why? Because there's something greater involved. For instance, if God was always to take the second half of our freedom away, obviously we don't have any freedom at all and here's what we would do because of our human nature. We would end up leaning towards doing the wrong thing--because that would be the easier way for us. We'd know if we got to the point of that wrong thing happening, God would steer us back the right way. It would be a lot easier for us because God would do the work for us, than for us to take the harder path of doing the right thing on our own. Our human nature would make us lean to the wrong side, knowing "God will save me." But you see, there's really no freedom in that then, is there? Freedom is lost.
The question then we ask is, "Is freedom worth it?" Is freedom worth all of this? Is it worth all the suffering that goes on around us? Do we find ourselves questioning the wisdom of a Creator who would wager so much for freedom? "Is it worth it?" Now, I want you to know we're not about trying to give you easy answers this morning. We want to go to the depth of these questions, and here's proof of that. I want you to think about it: Is this freedom worth it? Was the precious freedom of those terrorists worth it? Ask the orphans--all the orphaned children of those who were lost in the events of September 11th--whether the precious freedom was worth it, of terrorists making wrong decisions. We deserve nothing less than answers to such questions as that. If we're to be people who are people of the truth, who not only need answers for ourselves, but who give answers to others.
Now, let me begin to answer it this way. We know that we have an incredible amount of potential for evil in this world. But we also have an incredible amount of potential for good. Yes, there is an Al-Qaida network filled with extremists, just as there were before (if we remember) Stalins and Hitlers before them. But, friends, there are also people like the airline passengers of the fourth plane who chose to give their lives, to sacrifice their lives, to thwart the terrorists' plot. Before them, there were the Mother Teresas and the Martin Luther King Juniors as well. Yes, there is potential to slay thousands of people within minutes of each other with four planes. But just as there is the potential to destroy thousands, there is a potential to love millions and billions. When you have freedom, you have potential for good and potential for evil and you have risk. And often we find ourselves focusing on the bit of evil when we forget the amount of good.
Now, with that in perspective, we still have to ask about this risk of freedom. Is this risk of freedom worth it? Is the risk too great? Well, what would be the alternative? It might be to refuse to create a world where love is possible because the risk was too great. What we're really talking about here is not so much freedom but love. What God would do then would be to turn us into puppet-like creatures that He would control on a string. But thankfully, it's beneath God to do such a thing to you and to me, and especially to Himself. You see, God created us because He wanted to love us. And He seeks our love in return. And love is the only reason worth creating. Freedom exists because love exists. Because only through freedom can love return. Freedom is the only means to this end. Love can only be served on a platter of freedom. You and I have to endure the gap that freedom creates between us and the persons we'd like to love us, if we wish love to return to us. We have to live with that gap. God has to live with that gap in creating us to love Him. He gives us the freedom not to love, as much as the freedom to love. Not all people choose the right path. Not all people choose correctly. You know, God knows the cost of this freedom, doesn't He? Because it cost Him the life of His Son. God, in the incarnate Christ, took upon Himself all the sin that the world has produced, and all the pain and punishment that sin produces. He didn't have to, but He knew that nothing less would restore us to a right relationship with Him. He didn't have to, but He did because He loves us. And to Him, love is worth it. You and I are worth it. In Jesus' view, my friends, you and I are worth dying for.
Freedom to love, and risking love's absence only becomes worth it, I believe, if there is a time of ultimate justice--I believe you would agree with that--when evil is ultimately eradicated. If this short earthly life is all there is, then perhaps freedom isn't worth all we must endure to receive love. Especially from the point of view of those who are victims of violence, and hatred, and murder. But our lives on this earth, as Christ tells us, even in the passage we have for us this morning, our lives on earth are but a brief prelude to life that is going on forever. You see, if there is no heaven, then all the suffering, tears and cries of the suffering go unanswered. Our passage reminds us this morning that indeed, there is ultimate justice. That ultimate justice will come, answering that third question, "When will it all end?" At the harvest of all souls. When Christ returns, and His angels gather us up to be with Him. And those who have chosen wrong ways, and have purposely denied Christ, and have purposely chosen evil ways, they will indeed pay for it. Because if there is no just God, there is no justice for all of the victims. And God promises that justice. And so the question for us is, as we think about the questions we've had for ourselves--that being why does God allow evil? He allows it for a time for the sake of love.
The third question we asked, "When will evil be uprooted and destroyed?" In the end. In the end. When it is safer to do so than to began the destruction today. And then finally, who's responsible for evil? Satan ultimately, but you and I continue to feed off it or if we choose to, and we're called not to. We have to remember that we're not to be surprised either by evil's presence--even when it's very close to us and so frightening. Neither are we to be surprised by it nor are we to participate in it. We need to think about what we are doing with our freedom. You and I need to be thinking about what we are going to do with the freedom God has given us even this morning. The consequences of our actions are ours to own. And our actions affect many more people than just ourselves.
I hope these questions and these answers that we've given this morning are helpful--are helpful in making sense of any anniversary that any of us will ever face. Because sooner or later all of us will lose something so great and in such a way that we'll be affected every time the holidays come to us, as Gary prayed earlier, praying especially for those who lost loved ones--in recent times or even a long time ago. Even of September 11th and what it means to us.
Any time, friends, these questions arise within us--and they will--we can go to God's Word and seek the answers. Why does God allow it? He allows it for the sake of love. He is tenacious for that because He loves us enough to make sure that we get love in return and receive His love. The alternative would be sure slavery and foolishness. Who is responsible? You and I, when we help Satan out. So it's time for us to stop, isn't it? When will it end? Number one, it will. Number two, when Christ returns.
Let's pray together. Heavenly Lord, we have participated in the freedom to ask the tough questions. Thank you, Lord, for that freedom to do so. Lord, we also know where to go. We have to go to your Word for the answers. Lord, as we seek real answers to real questions, we also, Lord, know that we're dealing with our heads at this point. We're thinking about questions that can make sense to us. But, Lord, you also know that our hearts may still hurt. But that's when you continue to be there for us in the Holy Spirit. Not only to give your Word to us, but to allow ourselves to come as close to you as is possible, and to ask you for answers, and to seek for nothing less than your comfort. Lord, we thank you for the comfort of our fellow Christians who surround us at times when we hurt. Lord, I ask as we kick off really our season of celebration, as we have begun it through Thanksgiving and now will continue, Lord, through Advent and Christmas, many memories come up Lord, God, as we prepare. Lord let us remember that you are our Lord and that you are with us. In that, then, Lord, let us not be surprised by evil. Let us not participate in it. Let us know how loving you are. In Christ's name we pray. And all God's people said, "Amen." Rev. Dr. John Ward Associate Pastor for Discipleship Faith Presbyterian Church Minnetonka, Minnesota
[Transcribed from an audiotape of the 9:00 a.m. worship service on November 25, 2001]
A resource for this sermon suggested for further reading: Letters from a Skeptic by Greg Boyd. |
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