Deserve has nothing to do with it

Matthew 25:31-46 31 "When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit on the throne of his glory. 32 All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats, 33 and he will put the sheep at his right hand and the goats at the left. 34 Then the king will say to those at his right hand, 'Come, you that are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world; 35 for I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, 36 I was naked and you gave me clothing, I was sick and you took care of me, I was in prison and you visited me.'

37 Then the righteous will answer him, 'Lord, when was it that we saw you hungry and gave you food, or thirsty and gave you something to drink? 38 And when was it that we saw you a stranger and welcomed you, or naked and gave you clothing? 39 And when was it that we saw you sick or in prison and visited you?' 40 And the king will answer them, 'Truly I tell you, just as you did it to one of the least of these who are members of my family, you did it to me.' 41 Then he will say to those at his left hand, 'You that are accursed, depart from me into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels; 42 for I was hungry and you gave me no food, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, 43 I was a stranger and you did not welcome me, naked and you did not give me clothing, sick and in prison and you did not visit me.' 44 Then they also will answer, 'Lord, when was it that we saw you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not take care of you?' 45 Then he will answer them, 'Truly I tell you, just as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to me.' 46 And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life."

I just want to give you a little background on the Job reading for this morning. Many of us probably know the story of Job. It’s interesting, the Hebrew Bible, our old testament, is organized differently. In the Jewish faith it has three sections. It has Torah or the Law which are the first five books, then the Prophets, and at the end is a section called the Wisdom Literature. That includes books like Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, and interestingly enough the book Job. It’s considered wisdom literature in the Jewish faith.

Job was considered a righteous and wealthy man and he loved the lord. And God and the holy counsel were together talking one day when the Adversary- not the devil or satan as some translations suggest, but what in Hebrew is better understood as the Adversary- suggests that if God took away everything from Job, Job would curse God- that the only reason Job loved God was because of God’s blessing. So, God and the adversary make a bet essentially and The Adversary basically takes everything and everyone away from Job. Job’s friends try to comfort him by telling him that he must have done something to deserve this, Job’s wife tell him to curse God and die, but Job has none of it.

Where this reading picks up, Job has asked God why this has happened to him. A young man Elihu tries to answer Job, but then God enters the scene in a whirl wind. And God gives a long long answer that goes on for chapters. I’m just going to read this chapter which is where God first answers. I’m going to read the whole chapter. Its beautiful. You can read along but just try to listen to it:

38Then the Lord answered Job out of the whirlwind: 2“Who is this that darkens counsel by words without knowledge? 3Gird up your loins like a man, I will question you, and you shall declare to me.
4“Where were you when I laid the foundation of the earth? Tell me, if you have understanding. 5Who determined its measurements—surely you know! Or who stretched the line upon it? 6On what were its bases sunk, or who laid its cornerstone 7when the morning stars sang together and all the heavenly beings shouted for joy? 8“Or who shut in the sea with doors when it burst out from the womb?— 9when I made the clouds its garment, and thick darkness its swaddling band, 10and prescribed bounds for it, and set bars and doors, 11and said, ‘Thus far shall you come, and no farther, and here shall your proud waves be stopped’?
12“Have you commanded the morning since your days began, and caused the dawn to know its place, 13so that it might take hold of the skirts of the earth, and the wicked be shaken out of it? 14It is changed like clay under the seal, and it is dyed like a garment. 15Light is withheld from the wicked, and their uplifted arm is broken. 16“Have you entered into the springs of the sea, or walked in the recesses of the deep? 17Have the gates of death been revealed to you, or have you seen the gates of deep darkness? 18Have you comprehended the expanse of the earth? Declare, if you know all this. 19“Where is the way to the dwelling of light, and where is the place of darkness, 20that you may take it to its territory and that you may discern the paths to its home? 21Surely you know, for you were born then, and the number of your days is great! 22“Have you entered the storehouses of the snow, or have you seen the storehouses of the hail, 23which I have reserved for the time of trouble, for the day of battle and war? 24What is the way to the place where the light is distributed, or where the east wind is scattered upon the earth?
25“Who has cut a channel for the torrents of rain, and a way for the thunderbolt, 26to bring rain on a land where no one lives, on the desert, which is empty of human life, 27to satisfy the waste and desolate land, and to make the ground put forth grass? 28“Has the rain a father, or who has begotten the drops of dew? 29From whose womb did the ice come forth, and who has given birth to the hoarfrost of heaven? 30The waters become hard like stone, and the face of the deep is frozen. 31“Can you bind the chains of the Pleiades, or loose the cords of Orion? 32Can you lead forth the Mazzaroth in their season, or can you guide the Bear with its children? 33Do you know the ordinances of the heavens? Can you establish their rule on the earth? 34“Can you lift up your voice to the clouds, so that a flood of waters may cover you? 35Can you send forth lightnings, so that they may go and say to you, ‘Here we are’? 36Who has put wisdom in the inward parts, or given understanding to the mind? 37Who has the wisdom to number the clouds? Or who can tilt the waterskins of the heavens, 38when the dust runs into a mass and the clods cling together? 39“Can you hunt the prey for the lion, or satisfy the appetite of the young lions, 40when they crouch in their dens, or lie in wait in their covert? 41Who provides for the raven its prey, when its young ones cry to God, and wander about for lack of food?

Its probably the most unsatisfactory answer I’ve ever heard to why bad things happen. This one that God gives right here in the Bible. God tells us we can’t always know. That we won’t always know. We’re raised to believe that “I don’t know” is never a good answer. It isn’t satisfactory. And yet after this week. After praying and reading and studying. After about 10 years of religious education. The only answer I could give you if you asked me why this has happened would be I don’t know.

I don’t know why this happened. Some people have sought to answer this question. And they have answered it with dispicable, disgraceful, and unchristian answers. Pat Robertson wants to say that this has happened because Haiti made a pact with the devil? He suggests that these people have done something to deserve this tragedy? I say I’ve had enough. I say that he doesn’t speak for me or my faith. I say that is a disgusting answer.

I wonder if Pat Robertson ever read the book of Job. If he took time to understand what was going on in this story. The people that God is angry with in this story are Job’s friends. Job ends up getting everything back 10 fold, but his friends really get it. They told Job he did something to deserve it.

I wonder if Pat Robertson ever read this passage from Matthew. If he understands the nuance. For instance where Jesus says I was in prison and you visited me. There isn’t any talk of justice or whether the person deserved to be there. What is asked is that our CHRISTIAN presence is there anyways. There isn’t judgment in determine why someone is thirsty or if God afflicted them with the sickness. It’s ironic because Christ came and healed so many people who were afflicted and often times they were thought to be afflicted by God. Yet, Christ dispelled those rumors by bringing healing, not judgment, through God’s grace. Yes, I wonder sometimes if Pat Robertson understands the God of Grace.

It seems to me that perhaps those who purport to speak for Christianity should spend more time with passages like this in Matthew and the book of Job. After all, Job did nothing to deserve what came to him. He was a righteous and God-fearing man. He didn’t make a deal with the devil. He didn’t curse God or do many of the things we think of that would cause God to reign down hellfire. And to be honest, I find that a comfort. I find it a comfort that many times, more often than not, deserve’s got nothing to do with it.

Because if deserving has something to do with it, I’d be in a lot of trouble. It works both ways too. I don’t deserve the family I have. I don’t deserve to be your pastor. I don’t deserve many of the good things that have come to me. Because I’m no angel. I’m not a perfect person. I’m not even sure that someone could call me righteous like they called Job. I’m glad that deserving has nothing to do with.

I’m also glad because it means that when horrible and tragic things happen to me, or to anyone, that they didn’t deserve it either. Can you imagine, can you picture what it would be like to know that you deserved all the horrible things that can happen to you? What kind of God works on that basis? How would that God stand against the grief of a mother who lost her child? How would that God ever be called a God of love by the Jewish community after the Holocaust? How could we even say there is a God of Grace if we believe that the people of Haiti had done something to deserve this horrible tragedy?

I know that its hard to find words that speak to a God of grace in times like these. It doesn’t matter if it is personal or public, familial or societal suffering. It can be hard to see the God of Grace. But I believe that it is the God of Grace that is there. The preacher William Sloane Coffin said just after his son died in a car accident, that God gives us minimum protection but Maximum Support. And I believe that. That even among these tragedies, even among the wreckage of countries, or lives, or health, we have a God who moves among us, who supports us and who strengthens us and this God loves us no matter what we’ve done or what we deserve.

The truth is we don’t know why these things happen. We may never know. It may not be for us to know. Yet somehow we have to trust that God takes these tragedies and uses them so that some good may come if we are open it. What has happened has happened. That’s all there really is to it. The question becomes, then, what is our response to it? How do we go forward from here? To me it seems to cast blame or responsibility or to say that what has happened was deserved is to allow darkness to continue in our world. And as Christians we are asked to be the light amid the darkness. The light that shines in the darkness.

While these things happen in our world we must remain steadfast in our faith that our God is a God of Grace. That, as Paul tells us all things work towards good for those who love God and we are called to be that good. The Christian response to this tragedy, to any tragedy, is to be present. It is to represent the light. We are called by our faith to help in any way we can. And in situations like the one in Haiti help will be needed for quite some time.

For now, we cannot underestimate the power of prayer. We cannot underestimate even the smallest thing we can do. We can not underestimate the change that even our gratitude for our lives here may have. Let this allow us to become more grateful for what we do have. Let this allow us to treasure our loved ones that much more. Let this allow us to draw closer to God. Pray for Haiti. Pray for all those who suffer today even in our own midst. Pray and remember that even though we do not understand why these things happen we have a God of grace who supports us, who loves us, and who strengthens us.
Amen