The Saturday Night Theologian is part of Progressive Theology
Exegesis of Word and World, based on readings from the Revised Common Lectionary
Lent 3: Luke 13:1-9
Sometimes bad things happen to good people. Sometimes bad things happen to bad people. Or to quote the immortal words of Forrest Gump, "Sh*t happens." Is there rhyme or reason to the events that transpire in the universe? Most materialists (in the philosophical sense of the word) would say no. Most people of faith would say yes, though they would disagree with one another about the details and the mechanisms of how divine reason plays itself out. Despite plenty of evidence to the contrary, many people continue to believe that if something bad happens to them or to someone else, it must be because they did something wrong. The responses of some people to Hurricane Katrina or the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami illustrate the point, but even a perfunctory glance at the scope of the people affected by these natural disasters, which included many innocent children among their victims, should disprove this persistent misperception. How, then, can we make sense of the seemingly senseless suffering that many endure in this world?
Today's gospel reading holds the two positions of the apparent randomness of events and divine providence in tension. When Jesus is told about two relatively recent events involving the deaths of people who didn't seem to deserve their fate (although Pilate might have disagreed about the first group--sometimes innocence is in the eye of the beholder), he denies that they were particularly deserving of their tragic fates, but he then pivots to warn his interlocutors of the necessity for right living.
So is there any correlation between right living and prosperity/happiness on the one hand and selfishness/self-serving living and hardship on the other hand? I think so, but the correlation is by no means exact. It's clear, for example, that although random tragedy can strike either camp with equal probability, those whose lives focus almost exclusively on themselves feel less satisfaction, in general, than those who strive for justice for all or who give their time and money to help others. Not only that, but when tragedy or misfortune do strike, as they inevitably do eventually to everyone, those who have fashioned their lives around themselves often find themselves without the human support that is such a help in getting through the difficult times of life. Many people also find themselves drawing strength in tough times from the faith that has sustained them through the highs and lows of their life. So is there meaning in life, order in the universe, and a divine plan that, though beyond our comprehension, is worked out through the glories, tragedies, and daily drudgery of life? I believe there is, and like so many others present and past, I find great comfort in it.