We humans are insatiably curious creatures. We hunger for explanations. We especially hunger for explanations of tragedy. We don’t like to accept randomness. We crave meaning.
People challenged Jesus to explain why Galileans were murdered by Pilate’s soldiers while they were in the Temple, offering sacrifices. (Luke 13:1-5) This story makes us think about the nine people murdered in Emanuel AME Church in Charleston six years ago. People (then and now) ask Jesus why these apparently good and religious people were murdered as they worshipped. Were they struck down by God, abandoned to the powers of human evil wielded by the state or by a racist attacker?
Jesus says these people were not being punished for sin. He adds another example. Jesus asks his hearers to recall the collapse of a tower that killed 18 people, and we can’t help but think of the collapsed tower in Surfside, Florida. He refutes the idea that these people were singled out for punishment by God.
Our explanations of why bad things happen often lead us astray. It’s hard for us to accept that innocent people can be harmed or killed without rhyme or reason. Sometimes people are caught in the snares of evil that seems random. A hate-filled killer shoots people who happen to be within his range of fire. Sometimes people are caught in storms or earthquakes; sometimes buildings collapse. We seek to know why disease and death strike; we ask: ‘Did they smoke? Did they exercise, eat organic? Did they work around toxic chemicals?’
We want explanations, but mostly we want the (false) assurance that we are not vulnerable to the things that happened to them. But we are vulnerable. No amount of careful, healthy living and no degree of pious holiness will protect us from suffering and death.
Life is full of tragedies that are not earned. We are all mortal. We are all suspended between life and death at every moment.
Jesus said, “unless you repent, you will all perish just as they did.” Does that mean that if we ‘get right with God’ things like murderous soldiers and collapsing towers will not touch us? No!
Jesus is telling us that it’s not just the unrighteous who face tragedy, and everyone faces death. Death is inevitable. Perishing is not. We can be fully alive in this moment if we walk with God in faithful trust. Part of walking in trust is the refusal to attribute life’s tragedies to God. Relationship with God brings us fully to life – a life that tragedy and suffering and even death itself cannot eradicate.
Prayer: Holy One, I know there is no safe path to escape life’s trouble or my own mortality. Save me from perishing – from being lifeless and lost even while I’m still breathing. Amen.