Sermon – “Why do bad things happen to good people?”

Is there a satisfying answer to pain and suffering. No. Friends of mine just lost a baby 3 days old. They would like me to speak at the funeral and explain to their non-believing family why bad things happen. I am struggling even as a believer to explain. I do think God is God and does as he wishes, but there is little comfort in that. That good comes from tragedy, yes, maybe, but we still endure tragedy.

Christ suffered, yes, he had a choice. We often don't.

Admittedly its a poorly phrased question, but one so often phrased in that manner.

The classic augustinian response is no one is good, original sin and all that. But I know the orthodox have a very different opinion on that particular matter, one that I personally think is more satisfying.

I don't think in the end you can solve the problem of pain and suffering. But I don't like the thought that there isn't a God who hasn't, in the form of Christ, taken on suffering.

"Why do bad things happen to good people?"

"Why not?"

I've come to dislike, I mean really dislike, this division of people into "good" and "evil". Some people might classify me as good, but I know myself and I'm often far from good.

I have friends who are now atheists because they hold God responsible for the pain and suffering in this world. I'm not sure how God's non-existence solves the problem of pain and suffering. I suspect that there is just less cognitive dissonance.