Month: August 2016

Why Do Bad Things Happen To Good People?

Ever asked that question? Most of us have. It’s too common for us, for humanity – our story is full of tragedy and sorrow. How often does it seem like the good die young and the wicked prosper? It makes us wonder whether there is any logic to the universe, is there a good enough reason to justify these injustices, is there anyone in charge up there and do they know what’s going on down here?

In the gospel according to Mark we get an ironic, very human, sad yet poignant start to the ministry of Jesus:

“After John was put in prison, Jesus went into Galilee, proclaiming the good news of God.”

Isn’t it ironic that John’s unjust imprisonment is a starting point for Jesus’ preaching ministry of the gospel of God?

the-gospel-of-mark

It’s interesting that something tragic prompted something good. Maybe John being jailed – which would have shocked, enraged, and broken the hearts of Israel – was the stark wake up call the people needed to open up to God again? This was the last straw – if even John can be jailed, will God ever show up? Maybe people are ready now for what Jesus has to say: “The time has come. The kingdom of God has come near. Repent and believe the good news!”

When you think of the bad things that have happened to the good people you know, it ought to make you angry, sad, disappointed, frustrated, and grief-stricken. But for those of us who have been through those sorrows, we know in our heads and hearts that the world can be cruel, that no one gets through this life with out suffering, and that too often badness gets rewarded more than goodness. We know it, we protest it, but what can we do about it? We can feel so hopeless.

It’s in this place that we can be most open to the good news of Jesus. King Jesus is the gospel. He himself is the good news (gospel means “good news”).

crucified Jesus

As the rejected king of Israel, Jesus experienced the worst of humanity, absorbed the violence of the world, was broken and crushed by Israel’s iniquities. Jesus endured the worst of the bad things that happen to the best of the good people. If even Jesus must go through this, then are Christians exempt? No. Though we may still persist in asking “Why?” Jesus understands.

For Christians, when we go through these vales of sorrow, we can be reminded of what the suffering Christ also endured. The good news is that Christ is with us, he mourns with those who mourn. But out of that solidarity of pain comes a new kind of openness to the kingdom of God – to the gospel work of King Jesus redeeming the world. With us. Through us. Subverting evil. Rescuing others from evil. Overcoming evil with good.

Why do bad things happen to good people? I don’t know if I have the best answer. But I believe that Jesus makes possible a new kind of understanding, acceptance, and redemption of suffering and evil.In our good world gone mad, Jesus works to restore all things – nothing is wasted. And Jesus suffers with us while he works in us and through us.

As you reflect on the recent or distant tragedies in your life and our world, it’s easy to dwell on darkness and despair. I know, for I have been there. But consider Jesus, who introduces himself to you and the world while he is in pain, while his friends suffer, always working for the restoration of all things. Listen to his words to you. “‘The time has come,'” he said.”

 

With You I Am Well Pleased

What are you motivated by? A lot of us are motivated by praise. We want to know that we’ll be appreciated and that our diligent work will be acknowledged. In general, people like to be thanked and honored. Whether you are a leader, a co-worker, a parent, a friend – we’ve learned that people get braver when when love gets expressed.

Jesus was no exception. In reading the gospel according to Mark, we find in the beginning a brief account of Jesus being baptized by his cousin John the Baptist. It was a significant act that honored John and fulfilled the work he came to do: “prepare the way for the Lord.” God honored them both as John raised Jesus up out of the water by speaking over them saying, “You are my Son, whom I love; with you I am well pleased.”

Who are people that you need to speak into today? Who needs encouragement in your home? Who should be honored at work? Who of your friends do you need to affirm and appreciate? This is more than just being nice. This is the kind of stuff that sustains life and gets us through the tough times.

the-gospel-of-mark

The very next story in the gospel of Mark has the Spirit of God sending Jesus out into the wilderness. The same Spirit that descended upon Jesus at the baptism, bringing with it words of love and affirmation was the same Spirit that sent Jesus out among the wild animals and the satan to be tested and tempted for forty days.

The Father knew that his Son needed to be strengthened with encouraging words because a very difficult test was coming. John also will soon face a terrible test. While Jesus was out in the depths of the wilderness, I imagine the words of his Father echoed deep in his heart: “You are my Son, whom I love; with you I am well pleased.”

ChristInTheWilderness_1

Most people are under-encouraged. And most people are going through a tougher time than you imagine. So take time to notice. Make space to be present and pay attention. Don’t just throw out empty platitudes. Give a gift of speaking into someone’s life, noticing them and giving honor and kindness. Words can heal, embolden, and sustain.

It may be that the tough times people are going through are designed by God as part of their mission in life; it could be the tough times are just because life is rough; and sometimes tough times come from our folly and sins. But all of it can be used by God for good, if we let him. And sometimes that gets spurred by our diligent work of speaking words of kindness and hope into the those around us enduring tough times.

A lot of life is preparation for what is next. And a lot of times what is next is going to be hard – especially if you are a leader, and are one who is being sent to bring healing and reconciliation to our world through Jesus. So as followers of Jesus, we know that tough times are ahead, testing is part of our path, we must endure temptation – but it’s for a purpose.

In the midst of your wilderness, remember these words of honor and love from your Father in heaven: “You are my Daughter, You are my Son, whom I love; with you I am well pleased.” Now go, and do likewise.

Prepare The Way

Everything is preparation. 

But for what? 

Everything is preparation for the future. Everything is seemingly meaningless if there isn’t a future hope you are keeping your eyes on. A future hope helps put the past – the pains, the failures, the disappointments – in perspective.

But even a future hope is kind of vague. For Christians, that future has a name, the future is grounded in a person, that future is becoming present through the presence and work of Christ Jesus. 

So for Christians, we can believe that everything that happens to us now is preparation for the future – maybe for tomorrow, maybe for next year, maybe for something Christ is working on in three decades that he needs us to do.

the-gospel-of-mark

We get this kind of perspective in the opening lines of the Gospel According to Mark:

The beginning of the good news about Jesus the Christ, the Son of God, as it is written in Isaiah the Prophet:

“I will send my messenger ahead of you, who will prepare your way” –

” …a voice of one calling in the wilderness, ‘Prepare the way for the Lord, make straight paths for him.'”

John the Baptist was born before Jesus in order to be the messenger who went ahead of his cousin to announce the good news of his arrival as the anointed deliverer of Israel and their long awaited King. John is the one appointed to prepare the way for Jesus. For thirty years John lived with this mission, knowing that someday his moment would come. As a young man he sojourned into the wilderness as part of his preparation. It was there that he began his ministry.

What about you? What are your future hopes? What are the tough things you are going through now that could be prepration for something in the future?

More importantly: what might God be wanting to send you to do as a way to prepare others for the arrival of Christ Jesus in their life? How might what you are going through now be preperation for that future work of Jesus becoming real to someone important in your life? 

It’s important to know that John didn’t know how everything is going to play out. Jesus had to give repeated instructions to John about what was going on, what was going to happen, and why. John had his doubts, and so do we – especially when times get really difficult.

The medium is the message. 

It wasn’t just the words that John was preaching about repentance for the forgiveness of sins, it was John’s life, him as a person embodying this message that added power to his words.

Repentance is about change, about returning, about new possibilities.

grace-repentance

John was in the wilderness re-enacting the story of Moses, preparing the people of Israel to re-enter the Promised Land as a cleansed, made-holy, recommited kind of people of God. Everybody came to see John to be baptized – they were so sick and tired of the corruption and evil – they wanted to see a change, they wanted to see God rule the land again – and that starts with a people being changed by letting God be king of their hearts, mind, body and soul.

You embody a message. You are a message. You are a message of hope (or despair), of repentance and forgiveness (or embittering grudges), of restoration and reconciliation (or envy and hate).

God sent John ahead of Jesus into Israel to prepare the people for the Christ (anointed one) to deliver them from their sins and sow seeds of shalom (peace). John preached a message of repentance for the forgiveness of sins and renewal of allegiance to God.

God is wanting to send you ahead of Jesus into the world to embody the message of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. When you repent of your sins, when you receive and extend forgiveness, when you sow seeds of peace and reconciliation, you are not only preparing people for the presence of Christ, you are embodying and extending the presence and work of Christ himself.

John begain his ministry on his own, but eventually formed a community from which he continued his ministry of preaching and baptising, of teaching the people how to repent, forgive, and start their lives over again in God. The same goes for us: whatever God calls us to do, wherever and to whomever he wants to send us, it will need to be in community. The gospel is embodied best by community. cropped-Community-Service-YUSA-Pic.jpg

How might your perspective change on your present pain in light of the preparation God might be bringing you through in order to extend the healing and reconciling work of Christ to others in the future?

Who has God laid on your heart? What if some of the tough things you are going through now are preparation for what Christ wants to do through you for them?

If the medium is the message – and everything is prepration for embodying the message of the gospel – what kind of work do you know God needs to do in you now so that others can more clearly hear the good news of Christ through your words and works?