Monday, August 07, 2006

The Reason for Pain and Suffering

(6th Sunday after Pentecost) (Matt. 9:1-8)

In today’s reading from the Gospel according to St. Matthew, we hear of the man who, “sick of the palsy,” is brought to the Lord in order to be healed. Our Lord tells him, “Your sins are forgiven.” This causes the scribes and Pharisees to grumble: Who can forgive sins, except God? Our Lord, in order that they might know that the Son of Man has the power to forgive sins, then says to the sick man, “Arise, take up your bed, and go home.” Many in the crowd are amazed, and (rightly) glorify God.

Most of us, in a similar situation, would ask God to restore us to heal – by which we usually mean, to bodily health. There are several messages here for us in this account of our Lord’s ministry. The first is that God knows our needs – better, even, than we know ourselves. The second is that God acts to provide for our needs, and sometimes does so even before we have asked for His help. The first speaks of the omniscience of God – that is to say, God is all-knowing. The second speaks to us of the great love God has for each one of us.

But it is possible to ask, “Well, if God’s love for us is so great, why is there pain and suffering in the world? Why was that man sick with the palsy? Why are there people today who are sick, even dying, of cancer, and AIDS, and heart attacks, and strokes? Why is there pain and suffering in the world? How is this possible, if God is so loving?”

We need to remember that all of the evil in life is the result of sin – that is, of our failure to walk in the way that God has appointed for us, and in which God delights to bless us when we live in accordance with His commandments. We also need to remember that suffering, pain, illness, and disease are not punishments sent by God; but rather are permitted by God in order to remind us, as Adam and Eve failed to remember, that we are not God. This is important, because every time we choose to depart from the ways of God, we are, in effect, saying that we know more than God, and that we can establish for ourselves the way we want to live. This arrogant pride is at the root of all sin; and this arrogant pride requires desperate measures, requires strong medicine, in order to bring us to our senses, and change our way of life.

Think about it – it makes sense. After all, if being overweight puts us at risk of diabetes, heart attack, and stroke, well, isn’t that enough to cause us to change our eating habits, and to exercise? Sometimes, yes – but usually something more serious has to happen before we’ll actually take the steps needed to correct the problem. We know that there is a direct link between smoking and lung cancer. Perhaps the mere knowledge of this has stopped some from taking up the habit, and caused some others to stop – but most require a more serious warning, the onset of some physical ailment, to change their behavior.

Sin is every bit as deadly as a heart attack; sin is every bit as lethal as cancer. God, in His mercy, therefore allows us to encounter times of suffering – including illness – in order to alert us to our situation, and to remind us of our need for Him. The course of treatment for our sins is to repent, and confess, and seek God’s help and grace and strength for the transformation of our lives, so that we turn from a way of life that is leading us to spiritual death, and return to living in accordance with God’s commandments. When we repent, when we confess, the Lord says to us, as He said to the man sick of the palsy, “Your sins are forgiven.” This does not always mean that our bodily health will be restored – for the consequences of our choices that may have brought us to fall ill may continue. If this is so, we need to remember that whatever God allows is for the sake of our salvation – and we will know we are on the right track when we accept our situation, giving thanks to God for our suffering, and seeking to draw from our condition the peace that comes with understanding that all that takes place is meant to bring us to a life without end in the joyous experience of the presence of God.

Brothers and sister, let us repent and confess; and let us prepare ourselves to receive the holy Mysteries of our Lord’s Body and Blood, which are given to us for our healing and salvation. Let us give thanks to God for all the circumstances of our lives, and put our trust in Him, and in His love: to the glory of God, and the salvation of our souls.

No comments: