Why do bad things happen?  Why is a young father killed on the way to the grocery store?  Why does a young mother drown her five children?  Why does a fireman die while trying to save others?  Or a college student who's brutally stabbed and left for dead, or a fine teenager gets involved in drugs and abandons the Christian faith.  A married couple loses their first child and is unable to have more.  Or what about the six thousand who have died when the sky rained death?

          All the things I just mentioned have happened recently.  Some of us know the people involved, but all of us are shocked when they happen.  What do you do when bad things happen?  Why do bad things happen to good people?  A few years ago a Rabbi Harold Kushner wrote a book by that title.  His conclusion was that there really is no rhyme or reason to bad things - they just happen and we should not be surprised when they do.  Yet I was surprised this teacher of God's Old Testament Word left God out of the picture entirely.

          I don't think that's what another Rabbi, Yeshua ha Nosori, would have said.  If we could ask Jesus of Nazareth why bad things happen to good people, He'd probably first say, "Are you sure people are good?  Only God is really good." (Matthew 19:17)   I think He'd say that because He once said that to a young man who thought he was pretty good.  Then He might also say, "But God can bring good out of the bad things that happen to you.  Look at Job or Joseph."  Jesus gets right to the point with us!

          Rabbi Jesus knew what He was talking about because He's the Son of God.  Things looked bad for Him once, too.  They hung Him on a cross, and that's about as bad as it can get.  But the story didn't end there.  After burying Him, His Disciples found an empty grave.  Look at the good that came from that!  If Good Friday had ended with a burial, it would have been called Bad Friday.  We don't call it "Good Friday" for nothing!

          In our text the Disciples had asked Jesus why bad things happen.  Pontius Pilate had evidently ordered some Galileans killed while they were offering their sacrifices to God.  That sort of thing wasn't uncommon.  Pilate was not ordinarily cruel, but if he wasn't obeyed, he could be as mean as a terrorist.  You might say this kind of event represents the bad things that happen to us because of the cruelty of others.  Things like that are what make life unfair.

          Jesus then expanded the story, "Did what happened to them mean they were worse sinners than other Galileans?  No, but you still need to repent of what you're doing."  Hmmm, they died, but we need to repent?  Interesting, Jesus, but what are You getting at?  He continues, "And what about those killed when the Tower of Siloam fell on them?"  The Pool of Siloam was located on the SE corner of Jerusalem and was a part of the water supply for Jerusalem.  The tower was probably a scaffold that collapsed during construction.  You could say this tragedy represents the bad things that happen to us by sheer accident.  They don't make life fair, either.

          This isn't the first time the Disciples asked about bad things happening.  Once they asked Him about a man born blind.  "Whose fault was it," they asked, "His own or his parent's?" (John 9:2)   The prevailing thought then was that anything bad could always be blamed on someone.  Something bad happened?  Well then someone must have needed punishment!  In the case of the blind man, Jesus said, "This is no one's fault.  But now, watch closely at what I'll do next."  And that blind man began to see for the first time in his life!  Sometimes bad things happen so that God can show His power.

          Tragedy is often the only way God can get our attention.  There are other reasons bad things happen -- sinful desires can get us into trouble, and bad judgment can mess up a good day.  But we still haven't answered the main question - "Why do bad things happen?"

          I believe bad things happen to show us our world is broken and our need for God.  It's broken by sin and we can't fix it.  We may get rid of one bad thing, but a new one always takes its place.  My wise old Dad used to say there will never be an end to disease in this world.  Cure one illness and two more will take its place.  That's not cynicism, that's wisdom.  I think we all know how true his words are!

          Jesus told His Disciples here not once but twice, "Unless you repent, you too, will perish."  Repeating this warning was no accident;  it was for emphasis!  Jesus was referring to future events that would come upon them soon, and unless their generation repented and turned to God, more evil would come than they could ever imagine.  Sadly, the people didn't repent, and evil rained down like hail.

          Rome got tired of all those Jewish revolts and decided to stop them once and for all.  In 70 AD Roman armies destroyed Jerusalem.  They tore down the temple and threw its pieces into a nearby valley.  Today houses are built over parts of a broken-down temple.  Romans killed more people than Pilate ever imagined, ten times more than died in New York or Washington, DC, last week.  The fallen walls of Jerusalem made the fallen Tower of Siloam seem like child's play.  The people of Jerusalem needed to repent and turn to the Lord, and they didn't do it.

          You and I often forget that being a Christian means we're called to action, to get up and make some changes.  Are you with the Lord?  Then live like it!  Are you really a follower of Jesus?  Then stop following the ways of the world!  You can't have it both ways.

          The world is preaching sermons every day and we're hearing them all too well.  "Spend it, go for it, buy it, do whatever you want with it," says the world, so we go do it!  The world says, "Morality is whatever you make it.  Christians should be more tolerant."  So we believe this and compromise our faith.  The world says, "Who cares what our leaders do in their private lives?"  And we don't care!  The world says, "Who are you to judge me?  Stop being so exclusive! "  And we buy all this junk, hook, line and sinker!  By the way, have you thanked God for our president recently?  It sure is nice not to be ashamed of the guy in Oval Office like we once were....

          But the world has always said this stuff.  The devil, the world, and our flesh have blabbered this nonsense since people left the Garden of Eden.  The messages of the world are not the problem.  It's that Christians believe it.  We get sucked in!  We act like the world acts.  Most of us know some of the Bible and what God wants us to do.  We just don't want to do it.  It's too much fun living the way the world dictates.  So the problem is not the world, it's us!

          Jesus was nearing the end of His ministry when He spoke these words.  He was looking for some positive sign that the Disciples were beginning to understand, but they just didn't seem to get it.  That final week, they came to Jerusalem with Jesus and said, "Look at these beautiful buildings, Jesus!  Did you ever see anything so fine?"  But He said, "Don't buy stock in this place.  It will all come crashing down."   (Matthew 24:2)

          Some say the church is too negative.  "Be more supportive, more uplifting," they say.  "Why talk about sin and gloom?"  There are Christians today who are saying very plainly:  "Lighten up!  We're tired of negative talk.  Give us something good to hear."  Well, here's something good - God loves us, and what happens to us, even the bad stuff, is for our good.  We might not see the good in it right away, but it's there.  Just open your eyes of faith and you'll see the good things of God, even when life seems its worst.  But we can't keep on living the world's way.  God wants repentant hearts, ones that want to live His way.

          Do you keep lists - things to do this week and things we plan to do later?  Well, Jesus doesn't keep lists.  We have grocery lists, account lists, and lists of assets.  But Jesus doesn't.  We also may have lists on people, things they've done we'll never forget.  But Jesus doesn't.  And some of us carry those lists with us everywhere we go.

          But Jesus doesn't keeps lists.  1 Cor. 13 says, "Love keeps no record of wrongs."  If we've been keeping books on people, let's have a book burning!  Love carries no grudge, not even about terrorists.  Love doesn't get even - we leave that to the government.  And if that's how God loved us, then that's how we should love each other.

          Jesus gives us hope in His little story of the fig tree.  The owner sees a barren tree and says, "Cut it down!"  But the renter wants to give it another chance.  "Let me work with it one more year.  If it produces, good!  But if it bears nothing, then I'll cut it down."  That's grace!  The tree should have been cut down, but it was given another chance.  That's God!  He's always giving you and me another chance.  Now isn't that something to be glad about, even when bad things happen?

          God gave the whole world another chance when He sent Jesus.  When the world didn't listen, God still cared.  Even when the world hated His Son, God loved us.  "Father, forgive them, even when they don't know what they're doing."  That's grace!  Thanks be to God for it!  Amen!

Copyright © 2001 by Pastor Bob Tasler.  All rights reserved.