A grandmother dies unexpectedly. A middle school student learns she has cancer. A friend is hospitalized. Another friend becomes weak and homebound. A senior citizen suffers a heart attack while on vacation. A baby is born three months prematurely. Insert your own difficulty and tragedy.
So why do these kinds of bad things happen to us?
In this Sunday’s Gospel lesson, we hear the false teaching of Jesus’ day that believed bad people suffered because of something they’ve done wrong. That’s karma. The heresy of our day says that suffering is inevitable. People who suffer are just unlucky recipients of an indifferent universe. That’s evolutionary fatalism. Another common current lie is when innocent victims die from terrible tragedies, then they must automatically go to a better place. That’s universalism.
None of these answers to suffering are correct. They are the opposite. They are damaging and damning lies. “Afflicted Saint to Christ Draw Near” is an old hymn that is new to our Christian Worship hymnal. It sweetly articulates the truths of Christ’s provision for us in all circumstances.
Verse one: “Afflicted saint, to Christ draw near, your Savior’s gracious promise hear; his faithful Word you can believe, that as your days your strength shall be.”
When the Jewish people come to Jesus with questions of why people were suffering, he doesn’t attempt to answer their questions. Instead, he takes the examples of sudden, unexpected death and uses them to call attention to matters of life and death. Jesus replies, “Repent, or you too will perish” (Luke 13:3). Jesus is warning that suffering and death and judgment could come at any time. Something far worse than being cut down by Pontius Pilate’s soldiers or having a tower fall on you could happen. Something even worse than a tumor or a car accident or a heart attack could happen at any moment. That something worse that could happen is hell.
When suffering comes – and it definitely will come – Jesus wants you to be prepared. The way to prepare for affliction is to draw near to Jesus Christ. Go to church. Read your Bible. Listen to Lutheran podcasts. Meditate on God’s Word. Remember your Baptism. Receive the Sacrament of the Lord’s Supper. The devil wants to use your afflictions to weaken you and pull you away from Christ. Christ wants to use your afflictions to strengthen you with his Word and draw you closer to him.
Verse two: “Your faith is weak, your foes are strong, and if the conflict should be long, the Lord will make the tempter flee, that as your days your strength shall be.”
The old evil foe and his demonic forces desire to draw out the conflict to wear you down, to weaken you, to depress and dishearten you. God is the Lord of hosts. He is the Almighty Lord. He is more powerful than any demonic angel. He will make your tempter flee. God promises, “Call on me in the day of distress. I will deliver you, and you will honor me” (Psalm 50:15). When you are weak, God will provide your strength. He will deliver you.
Verse three: “Should persecution rage and flame, still trust in your Redeemer’s name. In fiery trials you shall see that as your days your strength shall be.”
While you may find Christians on occasion offering “pat answers” about suffering, you won’t find the Bible doing such a thing. The Bible offers a multifaceted, balanced, and remarkably nuanced view of suffering. Some suffering is a direct result of God’s righteous anger over rebellion – like with Korah (Numbers 16:31-33). Some suffering is to correct behavior and attitudes – like Jonah swallowed by the big fish (Jonah 1:17). Some suffering is a direct result of our attachment to Jesus – like the apostles who were persecuted by the Sanhedrin yet praised God that they were counted worthy to suffer for Jesus’ name (Acts 5:40).
Whatever the reason for our suffering – our sin, the sin of others, living in a sinful world, persecution because we are preaching against sin – we trust in our Redeemer’s name. We repent so we don’t perish in hell. We call others to repentance, so they don’t perish. We seek the Lord’s strength as we live in a sinful world and are persecuted as outsiders. “God is our refuge and strength, a helper who can always be found in times of trouble” (Psalm 46:1).
Verse four: “When called to bear your weighty cross, or sore affliction, pain, or loss, or deep distress or poverty, still as your days your strength shall be.” The refrain: “So, sing with joy, afflicted one; the battle’s fierce, but the victory’s won! God shall supply all that you need; yes, as your days your strength shall be.”
Cancer, strokes, arthritis, hospitalization, death – why do these kinds of bad things happen to us? They are all crosses we bear as Christians. Even though we want to satisfy our curiosity with proclaiming an answer to why suffering is happening, it makes little difference why we are suffering. It is an inescapable part of the human experience. What we really need to know is that through Jesus our suffering will one day come to an end. And while we suffer here, we aren’t suffering alone. Jesus is with you. Your brothers and sisters in Christ are with you. And one day, Lord willing, our suffering together will be at an end. Then we will have all our questions answered. How? What? Where? When? Even why? In Jesus. And with Jesus.
Jesus gives us something better than answers to our questions. He gives us life for our death, heaven for our hell, forgiveness for our sin, peace for our suffering. Jesus Christ will not answer all your questions, but he will give you all of himself. And in the end, that’s all the answer any of us need. So afflicted saint, to Christ draw near.