Have you seen The Odyssey?
I’m going to try to avoid spoilers here, in case you haven’t read the epic poem or seen any of the adaptations. But it’s about Odysseus – or Ulysses if you know the Latin, or the song by Cream – a Greek king and hero in Greek mythology, and his return after defeating Troy (remember the Trojan Horse? It’s from this story) and the challenges he faced due to gods, goddesses, and monsters.
The Greeks imagined their gods had all the same emotional frailties and temptations as humans, but had more power, so they caused a lot of misery.
Let’s go to God in prayer.
God of wisdom, may the words that I speak, and the ways they are received by each of our hearts and minds, help us to continue to grow into the people, and the church, that you have dreamed us to be.
Amen.
So today’s message is about Theodicy. Not The Odyssey, the story to which I referred in the opening. Theodicy.
Theodicy is an early 18th century word that comes from the Greek: theos (θεός), meaning god, and diké (δίκη), meaning justice.
Theodicy tries to answer the question “If God has infinite knowledge and wisdom, or omniscience; infinite power, or omnipotence; and infinite goodness, or omnibenevolence; then why is there suffering?”
I’m not going to give you a resolution to this question. It is a very active issue in theology, and I do not have greater knowledge than all the theologians arguing about this. But I want to give you some tools to work with.
A specific case of “why is there suffering?” is “why doesn’t God fix bad people?” Why does God let people do bad things?
We might start with mistakes: “why does God let people, including me, make mistakes?” Imagine you could never make a mistake. Everything you do is always the right choice. You have no errors in anything you do.
At first that may sound great. But if you think about it, this means you will never make a choice. You have no input into your life. Everything you do is the best possible thing and you can never deviate from that path.
That doesn’t feel much like living. It also prevents you from learning. You just do the right thing.
So maybe we don’t want God’s intervention in everything we do. But where do we draw the line? Do we say “God, prevent people from doing selfish things”? Have you ever done a selfish thing? Would you want that choice taken away? How about “God, prevent people from doing cruel things”?
Maybe that seems good, but we’re still forcing people into choices. We’re not letting people be people.
So if God is going to let human beings have free will, God has to let human beings make mistakes, be selfish, and be cruel. But God can encourage people to be careful, care about others, and be kind.
One thing religions may choose is the idea of eternal suffering in the afterlife. But if one is being careful, caring about others, and being kind to avoid punishment, that’s actually being selfish.
Humanity is complicated. Theology is complicated. Think about how hard this must be for the Creator.
This means we can do all the right things, and still life can be difficult. In our reading from the Hebrew scriptures, Elijah is hiding in a cave, because the people who have turned from God and worshiped Baal are seeking to kill him.
Where is God in the life of Elijah?
In our reading from the Gospel of Matthew, Peter asks Jesus to tell him to walk on the water. Jesus tells Peter to come, and Peter starts walking toward Jesus, but gets scared and starts sinking.
Where was God when the strong wind frightened Peter?
When there is an earthquake in the Mendocino Triple Junction, where is God?
When there is a wildfire, where is God?
When it’s over 110°F in Redding, where is God?
When there is a hurricane, where Is God?
When there is a flood, where is God?
In the Midwest, when there is a tornado, where is God?
When there is a blizzard, where is God?
One thing about our universe is that for it to even exist, things have to change. Matter is drawn together into stars. Stars begin to undergo fusion, changing light elements into heavier elements. Heavier elements are drawn together into planets.
Life relies on change: Light shines on plants, which turn carbon dioxide, nitrogen, and water into chains of carbohydrates, fats, and proteins. Animals eat plants to gain the energy and material stored in the plants. Other animals eat those animals for the same reason.
So the basis of the universe and life on this planet relies on change, and with change comes risk.
There is benefit and risk that comes with change. If God stopped the change, God would stop the life. And we human beings, arguably the most intelligent creatures on this planet, can decide how to deal with the changes.
We can make mistakes.
We can be selfish.
We can be cruel.
But to the best of our ability, we ought to avoid those things. And when we fail – when we make mistakes are selfish, or are cruel – there is grace that lets us try again.
And when we seek God’s direction, we ought to be careful where we look.
When natural disaster strikes an area, and faith leaders say “it’s because of the gays,” or “because of abortion,” or “because of socialism,” we can remember that God’s message is not in the disaster.
In our reading from the Hebrew scripture, we read that
11 He said, “Go out and stand on the mountain before the LORD, for the LORD is about to pass by.” Now there was a great wind,
so strong that it was splitting mountains and breaking rocks in pieces before the LORD,
but the LORD was not in the wind,
and after the wind an earthquake, but the LORD was not in the earthquake,
12 and after the earthquake a fire, but the LORD was not in the fire,
and after the fire a sound of sheer silence.
1 Kings 19:11-12, NRSV
God was not in the wind, or in the earthquake, or the fire. After the fire, in the sound of sheer silence,
13 When Elijah heard it, he wrapped his face in his mantle and went out and stood at the entrance of the cave. Then there came a voice to him that said, “What are you doing here, Elijah?”
1 Kings 19:11-12, NRSV
God doesn’t speak to us in disaster and cruelty. God speaks to us in the silent places.
The strong wind challenged Peter, but Jesus caught Peter, took him to the boat, and the wind ceased. This is where we hear God. In the silence after the storm.
So my thoughts on theodicy this morning are:
- The universe required change to exist, and change comes with risk and benefit
- Humans have free will. That means we can make mistakes, be selfish, and be cruel.
- Choosing good for one’s own benefit is still kind of selfish.
- Grace reminds us that when we fail – and we will – it’s not the end. We can try again.
- God doesn’t use disaster to speak to us. God speaks to us in the quiet moments.
So my challenge this week, after this somewhat longer and more complex message, is this:
Know that life has changes of benefit and risk.
Remember that God doesn’t use disaster to speak to us, but speaks most in te quiet moments.
We can choose to be careful, care about others, and be kind.
When we notice we have failed to do those things, we can try again.
God is there, not to punish us, but to encourage us to do better.
Keep trying.
Amen.
Let’s sing CH 66 Immortal, Invisible, God Only Wise
* Scripture quotations marked NRSVue are taken from the New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition. Copyright © 2021 National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide. https://www.friendshippress.org/pages/about-the-nrsvue
* Scripture quotations marked KJV are taken from the King James version of the Bible.
Leave a Reply