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John 1:1-5
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things came into being through him, and without him not one thing came into being. What has come into being in him was life, and the life was the light of all people. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it.
2 Corinthians 4:6-10
For it is the God who said, ‘Let light shine out of darkness', who has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.
But we have this treasure in clay jars, so that it may be made clear that this extraordinary power belongs to God and does not come from us. We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not driven to despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed; always carrying in the body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be made visible in our bodies.
As many of you know, I have a son, Ben, who is almost three years old. For the past few months, his favorite word – his favorite sentence, really – has been “Why?” He wants to know “why” about everything - from why it gets dark at night to why his parents have to go to work every day to why we pinch people on Saint Patrick's Day. (That one required a little research.) Here's an example of a recent conversation between Ben and me.
Mama, why do oranges taste so good?
Because they're sweet and juicy. Why?
Because that's how they grow. Why?
Because the thick peals keep in all the juices. Why?
Because that's how God made them. Why?
Because God is really, really smart. Why?
You see how it goes. It's interesting, isn't it, how it is ingrained in who we are as human beings – even from a young age - to seek out answers. Luckily, for now, most if not all of Ben's questions do have an answer, though some Internet searching has been required.
When it comes to matters of faith, however, those “why” questions suddenly become not as easy to answer. Why, God, is there suffering in this world? Why, God, does evil exist? Why, God, do bad things happen to good people? Why me, God? Rabbi David Wolpe, whose book “Why Faith Matters” has been the focus of our sermon series for the last several weeks, has noticed something interesting about that “Why me” question. He writes, “Rarely does anyone come into my office to say, ‘I live in the wealthiest country in the world and have never gone hungry – why me?' or ‘You know, my parents were good, kind people and treated me with love – why me?'” Those “why” questions don't often come up when life is good, but they almost always come up when something goes wrong – when life gets difficult - and we want answers. We want to know WHY.
Just as my son, however, never seems quite satisfied with my answers, neither do we often find an easy satisfaction to these questions of faith. As Wolpe writes, “Everyone comes to know unfairness, the twist of painful fate that upends a life. We are tempted to find reasons, but reasons ring hollow in the presence of one in pain.” Reasons ring hollow, because truly, we do not know why there is suffering, why there is evil, why bad things happen. We have theories and we can offer a guess, but when it comes to our questions of faith, there is much we will never understand.
So what do we do with that? What do we do when we encounter suffering and we cannot find answers to all of our why questions? God why did this happen? God, why me? God, why now? Wolpe writes, “Realizing how much I can never understand, for me the question of evil is less a “why” question than a “what” question. Not “Why does evil exist?” but “What can I do, (with the help of God), to make the world better?”
Not why, but what. Now that seems to me a little easier said than done. For there have been times in my life, as I'm sure there have been in yours, when all I have been able to do is lift my arms to the heavens and cry, “Why, God, Why”? I cannot even conceive of what God would have me do next, because all I want are answers.
And that is OK. Sometimes we need to ask why. Wolpe says that faith believes in the legitimacy of asking “why” – that the very question is an animating force in our lives. The danger is getting stuck at why. Stuck in the quest for an answer which may or may not come, and which may or may not soothe our soul as we would like.
So what does the movement from why to what look like? I think about the high school senior who wrote the following letter: "Dear College Admissions Officer, I am in receipt of your rejection of my application. As much as I would like to accommodate you, I find I cannot accept it. I have already received four rejections from other colleges and this number is, in fact, over my limit. Therefore, I must reject your rejection, and as much as this might inconvenience you, I expect to appear for classes on September l8th."
Not, “Why didn't I get into college?” but, “What am I going to do about it?” Now, perhaps this student needs to explore a few more options, but he or she has definitely moved from why to what.
Wolpe describes this movement from why to what as a movement of faith. “It becomes not a search for explanation,” he says, “but a quest to respond. Faith in God reaches a new level. No longer is the promise that bad things can never happen. The promise is the strength and the faith to create meaning and beauty from loss.”
Steven Curtis Chapman is a popular Christian music artist – he has dedicated his life to spreading God's love through music. In May of 2008, Chapman's teenage son was pulling his car into the driveway of their house, when he struck and killed his 5-year old sister. It was an accident, a horrific, life-changing accident. As Chapman frantically performed CPR on little Maria, a neighbor saw two of his other children on their knees, reaching to the sky, crying "Why, God? Why?" But as time went on, those questions began to change. In a recent interview, Chapman says, “After we lost Maria, I did not know if I would ever write anymore songs or if I would ever sing again. The last thing I wanted to do is turn any of this into a song. Then you realize ‘God, this is what has happened to us and now what would you have me to do with it?'"
Knowing that things would never be the same, Chapman and his family began navigating what they've come to refer to as the "new normal." In doing so, Chapman began writing songs once again. He says, “They were all just songs that were literally praying and wrestling with God and asking, ‘What am I going to do with this? What do I really believe now? How are my family and I going to journey through this and walk through the rest of life with these holes in our hearts? What is that going to look like?'"
The Chapman family credits their faith for their movement from why to what. God's light has certainly shined on them, and has shined through them, as their journey has blessed countless others who have followed their story and who have witnessed, through this family, why faith does matter. Chapman's new album, his first since Maria's death, is titled, “Beauty Will Rise.” The lyrics of the title song nicely capture Chapman's journey of faith from why to what.
It was the day the world went wrong. I screamed till my voice was gone. And watched through the tears as everything came crashing down. Slowly panic turns to pain as we awake to what remains and sift through the ashes that are left behind. But buried deep beneath all our broken dreams we have this hope: Out of these ashes... beauty will rise and we will dance among the ruins. We will see God with our own eyes. Out of these ashes... beauty will rise. For we know, joy is coming in the morning... in the morning, beauty will rise.
“We are afflicted in every way,” says the apostle Paul, “but not crushed; perplexed, but not driven to despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed. For it is the God who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” who has shone in our hearts.
All of us will experience dark times in our lives when all we can do is ask “Why, God, Why.” But our faith tells us that the dark does not have to have the final word. Our faith tells us that with the help of God, the dark can and will give way to the light. “What, God, are we going to do now, together.”
In the final paragraph of his book, David Wolpe writes that faith pushes us to be better, to give more of ourselves, and to see glimmers of transcendence scattered throughout our lives.
God's light is shining in the darkness. How will we respond?
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