Surviving Hard Times When Bad Things Happen

I doubt if there is anyone in this room who has not been affected by hard times recently.
These are hard times for most folks.
And the cry of the prophet is frequently our cry:
How long, LORD, must I cry for help before you listen?
Why do you make me see such trouble?

The collapse of so much of the economic system of this country has had overarching effect and has touched the lives of all of us – some of much more than others.
Jobs are lost,
savings have been decimated – if not lost altogether,
mortgages are being called.
The financial security we have been planning for no longer is.

Many of us are caring – or have been caring – for loved ones who are struggling with frailty of the body or demons of the mind.
And some of us are facing potentially devastating issues with our own health – cancers, pulmonary disease, arthritis, macular degeneration, and the list goes on.

These are hard times for most folks.
And the cry of the prophet is frequently our cry:
How long, LORD, must I cry for help before you listen?
Why do you make me see such trouble?

Why me, Lord?
How long?

It is not a new problem.
It is as old as the Book of Job and as new as the latest bulletin from the hospital's Intensive Care Unit.
It is quite a human reaction that when suffering and tragedy strike, we cry out, "Why?"

But, the story is that Job maintained his faith in God and in the integrity of his own morally upright character.
And, ultimately, it was his faith that got him through the hard times.

So, there are many aspects to our hard times – and the time each of us and many of our neighbors are facing.
It so happens that almost all of our scripture stories were written to and while folks were in hard times. And, it could be important to relate some of these stories to the times we are facing.
Somehow my thoughts turned to that television series that some you may have seen, Survivor?
So, in the weeks ahead I will be looking at what our scripture says about surviving hard times.
And today, it is Surviving Hard Times When Bad Things Happen.

The overriding scripture reference for our series is
I John 5:4: It is our faith that overcomes all our troubles.

When tragedy strikes us and we cry to the heavens, "Why?"
It seems to me that when we cry “Why me?” or “How Long, Lord?” we really are not looking for an intellectual answer for our minds.

One might give a theological answer, but that would not stop the pain in our hearts.
What we need at such times is not an answer, but an assurance that behind everything that happens to us there is a loving God who will neither leave us nor forsake us.

In fact, time and time again, in our Gospels we see stories of Jesus specifically rejecting the notion that suffering is necessarily the result of human sin.

You know, I am reminded that is was Humpty Dumpty that told Alice in Wonderland,
"I can explain all the poems that ever were invented, and a good many that haven't been invented just yet."
Humpty-Dumpty was the great Explainer.
Many people believe that God is (or ought to be) the Great Explainer, and if He is not, then the preachers, priests, and rabbis, God's representatives on earth ought to be.
But, you know, the name "Jesus" does not mean "Explainer," – right –
but "Savior" or "Deliverer."
And that is what we really need – especially in hard times.
Rather than an answer to our question, we need
an assurance that behind everything there beats the heart of a God who loves us more than we can imagine, and who can bring some good out of whatever evil happens to us.
After all, we are talking about a God who could take a Good Friday and make an Easter Sunday out of it! And, as a character in William Goldman's play "The Lion in Winter" says, "In a world where crucified carpenters rise from the dead, anything can happen!"

One Presbyterian preacher [David C. Reed] writes, "I believe in the Christian Gospel not because it offers the best explanation of human suffering but because it gives us the strength we need to win through."

After all, that is what the cross at the center of our worship is all about.
Someone once said to the great German dramatist and philosopher Goethe, "If I were God, the suffering of the world would break my heart." Goethe replied, "It did."

Rabbi Harold Kushner writes, "Christianity introduced to the world the idea of a God who suffers, alongside the image of a God who creates and commands."

When people in the middle of their bad times ask what God is doing, it is a time to gently reach out to them in their devastation and remind them of the good news of God's presence which is revealed in Jesus.

In the midst of bad times the good news needs to be spoken and it needs to be spoken clearly.

God does not create our suffering.

This is what Rabbi Kushner and his wife discovered in coming to grips with the hard times in their life.

You see, the unique aspect of our Christian faith is not that God causes suffering, but that God shares our suffering.
God says, "When you hurt, I cry with you. I share your pain."

Now, this is not only great advice for what to tell others.

It is also precisely what we ourselves need to hear.
No doubt, some of you have devastation in your lives right now.
For some it may be relatively small.
For others, not small at all.
Some in this room are worried about money, others about health.
Some of you may be experiencing hurt in your relationships with family members or others whom you care about.
Some may have experienced the loss of someone or something that you loved a great deal.
Some of you may have something in your life that makes you afraid.
Whatever kind of devastation there may be in your life this day, the good news promises of our faith are for you.
God says, "I promise not to leave you alone."

God's words through the prophets and Jesus ring true through the centuries.

Whatever your need is this day, these words are true for you.

God promises, "I am in your midst ... know that I, the Lord, am your God."

In his sermon on the mount, Jesus could stand up and say:
"You're blessed when you're at the end of your rope.
With less of you there is more of God and his rule.

It is interesting to note that even after 30-something chapters, Job never did find the answer to his question, "Why does a righteous person suffer?"
But he did get a firsthand knowledge of God.
He did not win his argument, but he did win a new relationship with God.
And so it is with us.

This is what the Kushners found out.
Stuff happens.
Bad things happen to good people.
People get sick.
People die.
People loose their jobs – and their fortunes – and their families.
People get injured and killed.
Stuff happens.

The insurance company may define some event as an act of God, but know this: God does cause illness, or devastation, or hard times.

And when stuff happens, we do not always get our questions answered, but like the prophets and like Jesus said: we can always have God.

We do not always understand God's way with us, but we can always take his hand in ours and walk with him on the path that leads to eternal life

You know every once in a while there is something that pops in our culture that becomes a defining moment – when something catches on and people pick up on it and it begins to define reality.
Some time ago there was a movie – it was called Love Story – I don’t know if you got to see it or not – it starred Ali McGraw and Ryan O’Neal.
I thought it was a good story and I enjoyed it – even though it was a sad story.
It was a romantic story about a couple who fell in love and experienced some very hard times.
People cried because the movie heroine had cancer – and she died in the end.
And, the movie changed our culture.
In the movie, when the hero was trying to express his love to his dying heroine, she stops him and says “Love means never having to say I’m sorry.”

That phrase worked its way into the psyche of our culture.
And not only affect the way people expressed themselves by not saying “I’m sorry”,
but also by not saying good bye.
How many times have you said, “Don’t say Good Bye – I hate good byes.”

But we loose something when we do that.

A fundamental element of our faith is knowing that no matter what –
no matter where we go –
no matter what we are doing –
no matter what is being to us or by us,
God is with us.
God is with us – at all times:
in times of distress and in times of celebration,
in times of pain and in times of gain,
in end times and in beginning times,
in hard times and in good times .

You're blessed when you're at the end of your rope.
You are blessed – especially in hard times.

This message is so valuable – and yet we hear it so little.
God is with us – at all times.

It is our faith that overcomes all our troubles.
Pity the people who have no faith –
who have no community of faith to be with –
when they encounter hard times.
It is so important to come together with others to celebrate the presence of Christ in our lives –
to become more aware of how and when and where Christ is present in our lives.

If you have observant, you may have noticed that at the close of worship services we do not say “Good Luck” or some such.
Rather, we are reminded of God's presence in our life.
In fact, "Goodbye" - is simply a shorthand for "God be with you," (check it out)
the French say adieu – in Spanish it is adios,
all three words, English, French, and Spanish, mean "God be with you."

Remember this if you remember noting else about this day: as you go out into the world, you do not go alone;
you go with each other,
and your God goes with you.
Vaya con Dios.


Habakkuk 1:4
Matthew 5:1-12 (3)