John Bell - Faultlines and Phantasies

What do you say to someone who comes saying:
"why is God letting this happen to me?"

Glib responses are ineffectual, inappropriate and possibly damaging.  We know this, but do we know how we can help?

When we are dealing with god, humanity and suffering we are dealing with three great mysteries.

We do not fully understand god;
We do not fully understand humanity;
We do not fully understand suffering.

People with pain tend not to be looking for answers; they're looking to replace what's been removed or damaged.

The world of which we're a part has Faultlines.  God made the world and said it was good; not perfect.  Jesus spoke about the house built on rock; as a metephor but also knowing that the rock has faultlines.  

God comes amongst us out of love; a world where there is pain and dangerous.  There is no promise from God that our love by Him can remove these or make life easier. 

When nature acts as nature does, this is not a provision to punish us; it is part of nature as created good, not perfect.  The earth provides both harmony and clash as part of it's symphony.

God and the earth are together in a collaborative relationship; the great flood was not about punishing the earth and the rest of nature.  But humans do not care for the planet in the sane collaborative way.  We upset natures order; this us our sin to the planet and therefore to God. 

As people of God we should understand that our poor keeping of the planet adversely effects the earth.  Our actions have consequences, sooner or later; we need to blame ourselves not nature.  The world has faultlines, we need to understand them.

We have faultlines too.
Some are genetic, others are inflicted by self or others.  It is the dealing with these faultlines, in ourself and others that we experience that Grace of God.  When we cope, survive, assist, nurture; we build bridges over the faultlines.

For the healthy to be whole, they have to be touched by those who are sick.

This is why Jesus allowed the sick to touch him, he didn't care; he knew that being touched by these people he became fully Human.

When one part of a church or community if family rejoices, we all rejoice.  But do we all suffer when someone we love suffers?  It's part of being fully human.

We can puzzle over why some people are healthy and others not; we know no answer except that we know there are faultlines.  The comfort and understanding comes when we know Jesus is affected as well and does not ignore it.  He knows these faultlines have nothing to do with behaviour, they are a burden of life.  

Through our faultlines we are receiving grace.

But what if we are harmed by others, possibly intentionally?

We live in an imperfect world, we are imperfect as humans. Good people get hurt when they do not deserve it.  It is unexplainable; but the bible does not ignore it.  The Bible shows how God suffers with us.

God expects us to ensure the impact of faultlines in ourselves and our society.

God does not bail out those who seek power or victory at all costs.  God will not bail out the people of Israel when they demand victory over the palestinians rather than seek peace together.  

God looks deeper than those rioting when it comes to seeking the source of sin; He also looks at the societal structure that causes poverty and greed through to the top.

This all said....

We must not be fatalistic about our lives.  There is no physical escape from the pain of being immortal, but there is healing to be sought through entering into our own pain and those of others.  We must be realistic and know that through our experiences God enlarges our hearts to others and Himself.

We must pray.  Pray for clean water throughout the world.  Pray for healing, emotionally and physically throughout to bring about the healing and forgiving energy of heaven.