FAKE NEWS: Things that really aren’t in the Bible Everything Happens For A Reason

September 16

FAKE NEWS: Things that really aren’t in the Bible

Everything Happens For A Reason

Deuteronomy 30:19-20   (NRSV)

19 I call heaven and earth to witness against you today that I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses. Choose life so that you and your descendants may live, 20 loving the Lord your God, obeying him, and holding fast to him; for that means life to you and length of days, so that you may live in the land that the Lord swore to give to your ancestors, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob.

I will never forget the day; It was the end of April in 1985. Mark and I were hosting a party celebrating our upcoming graduations.  It was early in the evening, only a couple of people were at Mark’s house when his phone rang.  Mark handed the phone to me (this was way before cellphones), it was my father on the other end of the phone.  He had tracked my down --- no easy feat back them --- to let me know that they had just gotten home from the doctor’s office.

The doctor had told Stewart that he felt a “mass” in his stomach and he wanted to get inside to look as quickly as possible.  Surgery was scheduled the following Monday morning and I managed to make my way back from North Carolina to Chicago.  As we waited for news, finally the doctor came out, and we knew it was bad news because he had tears streaming down his face.  CANCER --- that word that no-one wants to hear.

I was serving as Pastor of two wonderful little congregations in Western North Carolina at the time, and what still is burned into my memory is the struggle they had to have words to share with their 25 year old pastor.  But one comment that I heard over and over again from these farmers --- “Everything Happens For A Reason.”

I know that I have said things just like this over the years.

It is not that they didn’t mean well --- often we just don’t know what to say.

Saying some of these things about God doesn’t make us a bad person.

I have come to realize that there are better things we can say --- and certain things we should just avoid.

It is for that reason that Matt and I have decided to spend the next few weeks looking at some of the statements we often make about God that just aren’t very true.

As we look at some of these beliefs that we have, I am not calling into question your faith, and certainly don’t want to cause your faith to crumble.

          I know some of you might find this irritating, or even unnerving

          You might even get a little defensive

But while I am going to point out some of these unbiblical concepts, my goal is to help you be more aware.

Because sometimes when we say these things we can hurt people

And they can sometimes lead people to conclusions about God that just aren’t accurate

And when that happens, it unfortunately can become the tipping point to help them walk away from Jesus and God.

I also think that we use these statements because we really don’t want to wrestle with some difficult and complex issues.

Now, while I am suggesting that these 5 statements that we will look at aren’t really found in the Bible, I am willing to bet that some of you Bible-hounds can find a passage or maybe even two that might support these statements

The Bible has been used to support all kinds of behavior

·         Slavery

·         Beating children

·         Spousal abuse

·         I could go on and on

What is important to remember is that all Scripture must be interpreted.

There are, within our Bible, verses that are clearly in contradiction with one another

How we read and understand the Biblical narrative is critical to how we interpret it.

          That is why engaging in ongoing study of the bible is so important

                   Disciple

                   Many other opportunities

I will look at this more carefully when we examine another one of our fun statements --- God said it, I Believe it, That settles it --- in a few weeks.

Does Everything Happen for A Reason?

         

My first question would be --- what do you mean by that?

          Are their consequences to our actions?

                   Absolutely --- we live in a world of cause and effect.

That is exactly what Moses was telling the ancient people of Israel.

                   Your choices --- he was saying --- matter

                             And so he urged his people to choose life instead of death

                             Make life affirming choices --- not death enabling

But that is often not what we mean when we say: Everything Happens For A Reason

When we tell a friend whose spouse just died --- or who just got a cancer diagnosis: That everything happens for a reason, That God needed anther angel in God's choir, or that it must be a part of God's plan, or It must have been their time . . .

          What we are suggesting is that God is in charge of everything

                   And everything that happens reflects God's will and purpose

A couple of problems with that

          1.       We are not Calvinists

                   We do not believe in predestination or pre-determination

                   We believe in FREE WILL

Now we can have a discussion about those two concepts, but as Methodists, we have accepted Free Will as a part of our theology

Because otherwise, it creates some very troubling problems

·         God intended for Jack Doyle to fumble for the Colts to allow the Bengals to win the game last Sunday

·         God caused Stewart Conger to contract cancer

·         God wanted Nikolas Cruz to shoot up Stoneman Douglas High School

·         Do I need to go on?

By believing that God causes everything it makes God responsible for everyone's actions

It means that tragedies happen because of God's will

John Calvin said that everything happens --- for good or bad --- is fixed by God's decree

We are not Calvinists! 

          We do not subscribe to the concept of theological determinism

In other words, we believe that we have responsibility for our actions, for our choices.

When we proclaim --- that everything Happens for A Reason, or that it is a part of God's plan; a second problem is that it can lead to fatalism and indifference

A fatalist believes that "whatever is going to happen --- will happen"

          There is nothing we can do to change things

Think of some of the ramifications of this idea

          Why watch what you eat

          Why work out or exercise

                   You're going to have that heart attack anyway

                             When it is your time --- it is your time

So where does this leave us?

          If God doesn't cause everything to happen --- what then?

Jacobus Arminius was a Dutch pastor and theologian in the late 16th and early 17th centuries.

Arminius was taught by Theodore Beza, John Calvin's hand-picked successor, but after examination of the scriptures, he rejected his teacher's theology of pre- determinism

Arminianism is a system of belief that attempts to explain the relationship between God’s sovereignty and mankind’s free will.

While Calvinism emphasizes the sovereignty of God, Arminianism emphasizes the responsibility of man.

John Wesley became the most influential advocate for Arminian theology

And one of the main concepts that Wesley helped articulate was that of Prevenient Grace

Prevenient grace allows persons to engage their God-given free will to choose or reject God.

The idea of Free Will is critical in our understanding of whether or not God wills everything to happen for a reason or not.

If we believe God has given us free will --- then God cannot pre-determine how we will act or respond.

When we look at the creation story in Genesis chapter 1 it suggests that we have been given responsibility for how we care for creation.

Genesis 1:26-28  (The Message)

    God spoke: “Let us make human beings in our image, make them
        reflecting our nature
    So they can be responsible for the fish in the sea,
        the birds in the air, the cattle,
    And, yes, Earth itself,
        and every animal that moves on the face of Earth.”
    God created human beings;
        he created them godlike,
    Reflecting God’s nature.
        He created them male and female.
    God blessed them:
        “Prosper! Reproduce! Fill Earth! Take charge!
    Be responsible for fish in the sea and birds in the air,
        for every living thing that moves on the face of Earth.”

The author of the creation story is telling us that God has granted to humankind the responsibility of dominion.

God is still sovereign, but we have been given responsibility of what happens on the earth.

          We can be good stewards

                   Or we can be bad steward

          God is giving us that choice

God has granted us the freedom to make good choices or bad choices

And repeatedly, God is shown as desiring us to choose well

Deuteronomy 30:19 (The Message)

I call Heaven and Earth to witness against you today: I place before you Life and Death, Blessing and Curse. Choose life so that you and your children will live. 

When we choose poorly --- it isn't God's fault

We cannot excuse our bad choice by saying it is a part of God's master plan --- because we have been given the responsibility

I also want to be clear --- I do not believe God dictates our choices.

          We are not God's puppets

God has given us the ability to choose by using our brain, by using our experiences, by using what Scripture teaches us and our relationship with God, Jesus and the Holy Spirit

We are invited to choose well

          But not forced to choose well

One final thought --- This doesn't mean that God is the great creator who set the laws of the universe in motion, gave humanity dominion and then walked away and watches from afar.

          We call that theological understanding Deism

                   Deism believes that God is a hands off God.

The problem with Deism is that it leaves no room for God to be involved in our world at all.

And I believe God is involved

          I believe God is present with us --- offering guidance and love

Yes, all of our actions have consequences.  And sometimes we cannot fully understand the scope and depth of the consequences.  Matt will tackle some of that next week.

One of the things that got me to this sermon is the story of Kate Bowler.

Kate is an assistant professor in church history at Duke Divinity School; in 2015 she was unexpectedly diagnosed with stage 4 cancer at the age of 35. 

Earlier this year she published her memoir: Everything Happens for a Reason (and other lies I've loved), in which she tells the story of her struggle to understand the personal and intellectual dimensions of the American belief that all tragedies are tests of character.

She also has a podcast of the same name.

The book is the story of her journey of coming to grips with her cancer and how she had bought into many of the lies that Matt and I are going to discuss the next few weeks.

But one of the most interesting parts of the book, and the frequent conversation on her podcast is what should one say or do when confronted with a friend with cancer or loss or (and you can fill in the blanks) . . .

The book ends with two appendices of what not to say, and what you could say and or do.

And the main thing she suggests

          Quit trying to explain, fix or otherwise remedy the situation

          Just offer love, and unconditional support

God doesn't cause bad things to happen, nor is there always a ready reason for why

I don’t know why Steward got cancer

I don’t know why he died

What I do know is that God didn’t cause it because Everything Happened for A Reason. 

What God does promise to be with us when terrible and wonderful things happen --- not to fix it, just to love us.