Why, Lord???? Why do these things happen to us? Why me, O Lord?? What have I done to deserve this?? What have we done wrong to deserve what has happened to us? Questions like these rise from the depths of our being, as individuals when something painful strikes us, or corporately, when a painful event occurs in our community life. September 11, 2001, recently, the killing of eight of our neighbors by random acts of a demented shooter, the loss of a family member or friend, or the bad news from our doctor.

Rabbi Harold Kushner wrote, in 1981, a best selling book titled When Bad Things Happen to Good People? In it he raises the eternal question that we all have wrestled with: why? Why? Why? I commend the book to you, for a fuller development of this theme.

The Scripture passages for this morning came from the lectionary, the passage from Job (23:1-9) and the 22nd Psalm. When I first saw the choices for today, they seemed to me to be especially appropriate for these times. Well, I confess to a senior moment! These are the lectionary passages for this date in 2003; I looked at the wrong year in the lectionary. But God works in mysterious ways to get his message to us, and I decided to stay with these selections. Let us listen to God's word to us in these trying days.

You all know the story of Job: a good man, to whom bad things happens. And he has friends, most of whom are not helpful, causing him more pain. In the passage read this morning, Job wants his day in court, but he can't seem to find the Judge's chambers. Job wants answers and can't find them. Later in the book of Job, Job is face to face with God, and Job gets part of his answer, a lecture from God. In Chapter 38, these words: "Then the Lord answered Job out of the whirlwind:

"Who is this that darkens counsel by words without knowledge?

"Where were you when I laid the foundation of the earth?" and Job ends up bowing before the power, majesty, awesomeness of God: "therefore, I despise myself and repent in dusty and ashes." A powerful scene, three chapters worth, but only partly satisfying to our modern, rational minds. Yes, there is one answer here: "Don't question God's ways!" But, but, but...surely the God of love has more to say than to blast Job, and us, for asking the question.

Psalm 22 rings clearly in our ears and is tuned to our hearts. There are times when we truly believe God has abandoned us. "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Why are you so far from me, from the words of my groaning? O my God, I cry by day, but you do not answer; and by night, but find no rest." Who of us has not felt some of this anguish, felt abandoned, alone, crying in the darkness? At least here is a voice that speaks our language, the voice of another sufferer. The psalmist understands us and there is hope and some comfort in that.

And we recognize the opening words of this psalm, for we hear these same words, "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?" from the cross. Jesus himself cries out these words and we know that he has shared, has gone beyond our pain. At least, pain, grief, abandonment are not quite as bad if we see and feel that another knows what we are going through.

So, Job, a psalm, a word from the cross...these can lead us through the dark days. Let us hear a few guidelines from Rabbi Kushner, in our search.

When Bad Things Happen to Good People - Why?? In one chapter, Kushner affirms that sometimes there is no reason. Being in the wrong place at the wrong time, pumping gas at the wrong gas station at the wrong time. According to Doug Muder, commenting on Kushner, "Kushner attrbutes the orderliness of the universe to God, but holds that the ordering of the universe is not complete: Some things are just circumstantial (random), and there is no point in looking for a reason for them."

In another chapter, Kushner, quoting Muder again, "No exceptions for nice people. Some suffering is caused by the workings of natural law. There is no moral judgment involved--natural law is blind, and God does not interfere with it. God does not intervene to save good people from earthquake or disease, and does not send these misfortunes to punish the wicked. Kushner puts great value on the orderliness of the universe's natural law, and would not want God to routinely intervene for moral reasons. " The law of gravity exists, is a given. But our children some times forget it, and learn the hard way about jumping from trees. Yes, miracles do happen, such as the gunner blown out of a B-17 in World War II who fell 15,000 feet, without a parachute, into a snowbank and survived!

Another chapter of Kushner's book says, "God leaves us room to be human. Some suffering is caused by the actions of evil people. Kushner re-interprets the story of Adam and Eve to make the point that the ability to choose between good and evil is what makes us human. For God to interfere with our ability to do evil would make all of us less human." Yes, our freedom is terrible, at times. And the freedom of others to do evil to us, the hijackers on 9/11 or the gunner in this area, what can we say? Evil exists in others, in us, in the world. We are imperfect, we make mistakes even when we intend well. And our mistakes can be costly, to us and to others.

I am reminded of an old adage for sailors and aviators: "The sea, like the sky, is very beautiful, but it is mercilessly unforgiving of human error." Amen, sailor; amen, aviator. And we could add another line: "Beltway traffic is not beautiful, but it too is mercilessly unforgiving of human error." But we are human, and we err, and we bring pain on ourselves and others.

And at times, the errors in our systems cause pain and suffering. Or others get angry with us and try to hurt us. As Americans, it is hard for us to deal with the anger that folks in other countries feel toward us. To them, we are the rich and powerful, and they experience poverty and powerlessness. And they hate us. Read again the Hebrew prophets, Amos, Micah. Hear the prophets proclaim the guilt of kings and the rich, for mistreating the poor and oppressed. Sometimes, we bring bad things upon ourselves, and we are guilty.

So...what can we say to all of this? What is the way to deal with guilt, pain suffering? The picture of Jesus on the cross, voicing the opening words of Psalm 22, give us some guidance. And another wise writer, poet Robert Frost, has a thought for us. He wrote Masque of Reason, a long poetic version of the Job story. In it, Job and God are talking it over, in eternity, and Job is still bugging God for answers. Finally, in Frost's version, God says to Job, "Man can never think things out; he has to see them acted out, by devoted actors, at a sacrifice." And then Frost's final line, "Here endeth Chapter 43 of the Book of Job." There being only 42 chapters in the Bible.

A devoted actor, at a sacrifice--Frost's description of Jesus on the cross. With Job, we can probably never find satisfactory, rational answers to our question of "Why?" But we can find, in our faith, the strength to walk through the storm, knowing that we do not walk alone.

And if the truth is truly known, that is what we want. In our pain, we need someone to walk with us. We Americans are fond of the statement, "Don't just stand there; do something." But, in truth, as we have learned, the opposite is both true and really loving, "Don't just do something, stand there with me." Listen to each other, truly hear each other's pain, and know that God is in the sharing, in the hearing. And God in Christ has been there, has walked through the valley of deep darkness, the valley of pain. We do not walk alone! Hallelujah, Amen.

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