Trying to Make Sense of Evil

Yesterday, I sat with a woman who was reeling from the tragic death of a close friend who'd been killed by her husband who then took his own life, orphaning their 8-month-old child. As we sat there grieving the situation, I found myself wanting to say something to lessen the pain, something that could make sense of a senseless tragedy. But what could I say?

It's human nature to want to make sense of evil, to explain why something awful happens. And this urge is particularly strong for me as a pastor, as if I need to defend God. But I've come to realize that evil has no place in God’s good creation. It's like a piece from a puzzle that has been placed in the wrong box. Though our rational, thinking minds want to figure it out, want to find where it fits and why it’s there, the truth is it doesn’t belong. It is an interloper into this world and our job isn’t to understand it, but rather to resist it.

Wait, couldn’t God remove it?! Of course He could; He’s God and scripture tells us that eventually He will do just that. Yet, part of the mystery of evil is that He doesn’t do so now. Rather than shielding His image-bearers from the pain of this sin-scarred world, He invites us to live as ambassadors of hope to those who have grown hopeless. And that means we will suffer right alongside of them. In fact, He warns us that "here on earth you will have many trials and sorrows. But take heart, because I have overcome the world” (John 16:33). In other words, following Jesus won't protect us from pain, won't insulate us from evil. We will experience sorrow and grief. Our hearts will ache, our bodies will break, but we can find hope in the fact that because of the cross, the brokenness of this sin-warped world won't get the last word. Depression and anxiety won't get the last word. Social and relational conflict won't get the last word. Even senseless death won't get the last word. Because of the cross and the empty grave, God gets the last word, and that's the hope we can cling to in the face of senseless tragedy.

But finding hope in tragedy doesn't diminish the fact that life in this world is painful. When we, like the woman in my office, are faced with an unexplainable tragedy, there's no easy answer to make the pain go away. Perhaps our best response in those times is to simply grieve with those who grieve and to bring our sorrow and our questions to Jesus, the source of our hope. He's big enough to handle our deepest emotions and our toughest questions. Besides, He's proven over and over that he can bring beauty from the ashes and breathe new life into dead hearts.

The Lord's Prayer - Part 5

Lead Us Not Into Temptation

This week, we’ve been slowly working through the Lord’s Prayer. And as we’ve seen, it’s more than simply an incantation by which we force God’s hand to do what we want. Rather, it is a declaration of our dependence on our Father in Heaven, who stands above the chaos of our circumstances but still cares about us as we walk through them.

As we dive into the final part of Jesus’ prayer, let’s ground it in the context of the whole thing:

"This, then, is how you should pray: 

   ‘Our Father in heaven, 

      Holy is your name.

   May your kingdom come, 

      and your will be done, 

      on earth as it is in heaven.

   Give us today our daily bread.

   And forgive us our debts,

      as we also have forgiven our debtors.

   And lead us not into temptation,

      but deliver us from the evil one."

                             - Matthew 6:9-13

Now, it would be easy for us to misunderstand the last part of the Lord’s Prayer as suggesting that God intentionally tempts us to sin, perhaps to see if we'll give in. Otherwise, why would Jesus use the language, “lead us not into temptation?” But we know from James 1:13-14 that God doesn’t tempt anyone.

“When tempted, no one should say, ‘God is tempting me.’ For God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does he tempt anyone; but each person is tempted when they are dragged away by their own evil desire and enticed.” James 1:13-14

So God’s not the one doing the tempting; it’s our own impulses towards things we yearn for that lead us into dangerous territory. I can think of a lot of temptations in a season like the one we’re in:

·       We may be thrown off by the radical changes to our daily rhythms that this pandemic demands. If so, we might be tempted to ignore the requests to shelter in place and go on with life as usual, regardless of the consequences.

·       We might be fearful that God won’t provide what we need in this time of scarcity, and so be tempted to run from store to store to stock up on anything and everything we could ever need.

·       In our hunger for interaction with the wider world, we could be tempted to fill our days with social media, which is like cotton candy - momentarily satisfying but lacking the relational nutrients we really need.

·       Nobody knows what’s coming next, and that’s frightening. But in our fear, we might be tempted to spend our days consuming every news report that comes out so that at least we won’t be taken by surprise.

These are just a few of the temptations we might feel in a time like this. I’m sure you could add others. In fact, take a moment and consider what you’ve been feeling lately and what you’ve been tempted to do in order to alleviate the discomfort.

No seriously, stop and think about it. I can wait…

Now, I want to be sure to mention that it’s not sinful to be tempted. Jesus was tempted, but he was without sin. He just never gave into his temptations. He never allowed them to dictate his actions. The same holds true for us. We will all be tempted. But our temptations only become sinful when we give into them and allow them to lead us away from our trust in and dependence upon God.

So the last part of the Lord’s Prayer is simply a cry to our Heavenly Father for protection from the things that would draw us away from Him and make us vulnerable to attack. Most of those temptations originate within us and arise in response to our fears and appetites. But the words “deliver us from the evil one” acknowledge that we have an enemy that is actively working to distract, discourage and dishearten us.

We are told that the devil is like a prowling lion, roaming around looking for someone to devour. (1 Peter 5:8) And like any lion, he tends to attack us when we are at our most vulnerable – in our moments of weakness and isolation. But that’s why it’s so imperative that we remember that we are never alone. Though we may be separated and unable to gather together with one another, our Father is always with us and He’s greater than anything we will face – greater than a virus, greater than anxiety, greater than financial hardship, greater than our enemy.

And we can take comfort in God’s promise that he won’t allow us to be tempted beyond what we have the ability to endure.

 “No temptation has overtaken you except what is common to mankind. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can endure it.” 1 Corinthians 10:13

So Father, we thank you that you never leave us or turn your back on us. And we’re grateful for the ways that you provide a way out when we feel tempted to stray from your side. So we choose to fix our eyes on you and follow your lead. We know that you won’t lead us astray, and that you are so much greater than our enemy. So Father, lead on. We will follow.