I wonder why bad things happen to good people. I wonder why some of my prayers seemingly go unanswered. I wonder about God’s will for my life. Have you ever wondered about these things?

Many of us are often reluctant to admit that we wonder about such things -- that we have doubts and questions about our faith. We are afraid we will be accused of not trusting God enough or that we’ll be looked upon as some heretic.

And this is tragic, for sometimes there is more faith in wondering, doubting, and questioning than there is in blind acceptance. In fact, every strong Christian I know reached a deeper place of faith after going through a so called “dark night of the soul.”

Four years ago today, a rock was dropped in the pond of this world whose ripples are as large today as they were then.

Consider for a moment what was set in motion by the terrorist attacks of September 11^th, 2001: (allow moment for reflection)

Our nation’s capital was attacked. Over 3000 people lost their lives. The Manhattan skyline was irrevocably changed. The buildings that comprised the financial trade center for over 150 nations were completely destroyed. The world’s economy was greatly tested. We waged a war against the Taliban in Afghanistan and Saddam in Iraq. (pause)

 Now consider for a moment what has been set in motion as a result of Hurricane Katrina: (allow moment for reflection)

You all know the statistics.  Unknown thousands have lost their lives and families. Homes destroyed. Over a 1 million US citizens have been displaced – refugees in their own country. Thousands of children are now attending schools in other states.

As we reflect on the tragedy of 9/11 and the devastation of Hurricane Katrina, I believe it is very appropriate to ask: “I wonder why bad things happen to good people?”

Certainly, this was a burning question in the hearts and minds of all of us as we experienced the horror of that day four years ago and as we continue to question today with all that has happened in the last two weeks.

9/11 shattered many people’s naive illusions about how the world is supposed to operate. We don’t live life very long before many of our illusions are shattered. I mean, aren’t we all just supposed to get along? But we don’t.  Not with each other and not with Mother Nature.

So we are left to ask questions like:  “Why do the innocent suffer and the wicked prosper?” “Why does God allow evil and suffering?” “If God is great and good, why is there suffering?” Another way it’s put is:

“If God can’t stop suffering, then he is not great. And if he can, then he is not good.” In the study of theology this wonder is called “the theodicy question.” And it’s been asked since the very beginning.

In fact, it is a frequent question in the Bible. The Psalms ask it. Job asks it. Lamentations is full of it. The prophet Habakkuk complains to God about it. The prophet Jeremiah questions God about it: Why do the wicked prosper and the innocent suffer? Why do bad things happen to good people?

So we ought to take a lesson from the biblical writers who cry out with this same burning question. And that lesson is that if we are going to be intimate and personal with God, we need to give him all that we have inside of us, even our deepest complaints and questions. Don’t worry! God is big enough to handle them.

Now at this point, you may be asking, “It may be some consolation that the Bible asks the theodicy question, but do you have an answer for it?” Well, to tell you the truth …I don’t. I don’t know why bad things happen to good people. I am just as mystified by it as everyone else.

Now there is an incomplete response to this question. It is free will. God wants us to choose to love him.  No doubt about it, free will is a great gift.

But there is also a negative side to it. People can use their free will to do evil things and cause much pain and suffering. Four years ago, certain people chose to take their free will, get into an airplane, and crash into a building.

But free will is an incomplete response to all of our questions. It doesn’t address things like Hurricane Katrina and cancer -- those things that human beings do not cause to happen. The truth is that we live in a world that runs amuck, and bad things happen to both the innocent and the guilty.

However, as Christians we have the hope that one day Christ will come in glory and all of our questions will be answered and all of the great mysteries will be solved and all of our confusion will turn into clarity.

So get your list of questions ready for that day. I know I’ve got mine. And the question at the top of my list will be, “Why did bad things happen to good people?”

You know what Mother Teresa said?  “When I die, God will have a lot of answering to do.” And Billy Graham once said, “When I die and go to heaven, I will spend the first 100 years just asking God questions.” We can look forward to doing the same thing.

But, until that great day comes, we still have to cope with life in all of its suffering and tragedy. We still have to deal with the bad and unfair circumstances of life.

So I want to offer some things that have helped me as I have struggled with the question of why bad things happen to good people. My prayer is that they will help you, too.

The first bit of help I offer is simply this: Do not allow the question of bad things happening to good people to make you cynical.

It’s fair and healthy to ask this question and struggle with it, but I have seen too many people hang on to it way too long, like a protest, and remain stuck in their faith, or stop believing in God altogether.

I have also seen people use it as an excuse. Some people feel that as long as they wear a badge of prideful agnosticism, they will not have to deal with the truth of God in their lives.

Don’t allow unfair pain and suffering to harden your heart. A good way to protect yourself from cynicism is to reflect on the insightful words of Harry Emerson Fosdick.

He said this: “Goodness is a far greater problem for the atheist than evil is for the believer.” Instead of focusing on the evil and suffering in the world, look at all the goodness that abounds in our world. And allow the goodness in the world to lead you back to the goodness of God.

In Paul’s letter to the Romans, he tells us what happens to Christians when bad things happen to them. First he tells us that we will never be separated from God’s love, but then in Romans 8:28 Paul says something truly remarkable: “All things work together for good for those who love God, who are called according to his purpose.” What does he mean by that?

I think this means that evil and pain is never the will of God, but God can take evil and pain and use it for good.

Over and over again in life we see this. When evil attacks with pain, God uses it to build character. When evil shows resistance, God uses it to build strength. When evil cripples with tragedy, God finds a way to victory. When evil destroys with death, God restores life. God is in the transforming business. And God can turn our trouble into triumph!

One of the greatest examples of this is the story of Joseph in Genesis. Joseph was the favored son, and his brothers were jealous. So in a jealous rage, they beat him and sold him into slavery. Through an amazing turn of events, as Joseph grew older, his abilities impressed his masters in Egypt and eventually the Pharaoh made him second in command in Egypt.

Now he had the power to get revenge on his brothers. But he didn’t. Instead, he forgave them.

His brothers approached him, scared to death, and Joseph said, “Don’t be afraid. Am I God? I can’t judge you. What you did was meant to hurt me, but God used it for good. I have strength and character, and now I have the power to save and provide for the people of Israel.”

At that moment, Joseph knew that God had taken something very ugly and made it beautiful.

We are challenged, just like Joseph in working for reconciliation instead of revenge.

The approach that Joseph takes is not as ancient and unrealistic as you might first assume.

During World War II, the Russian philosopher Semyon Frank wrote in his notebook: “In this terrifying war, in the inhuman chaos which reigns in the world, the one who first starts to forgive will in the end be victorious.” 

And that goes hand-in-hand with our Gospel text this morning from Matthew.  The beginning of reconciliation and healing is forgiveness.

The challenge for us is to know our proper place in the world, and to know the place of God in human history as well. Our place is to be active followers of Jesus, and God’s place is to transform evil into good.

Just how God does this is always unpredictable, because God’s ways are not our ways. But we have irrefutable evidence that God is always working to do this — we see it in the story of Joseph, when God takes the evil of the brothers and turns it into good, “in order to preserve a whole mess of people” (v. 20).

And we see it in the story of Jesus on the cross — Christ’s own personal 9/11 — when God takes the evil of the crucifixion and transforms it into forgiveness, new life and everlasting salvation.

The Lord’s plans will certainly prevail, despite our tendency to toss people into pits and even crucify the Son of God. We humans may always be dreaming up evil, but God is always dreaming up good — coming up with wild and wonderful transformations, and surprising us with the ways that love can conquer hatred, and reconciliation can overpower revenge.

About the best we can do is to point people to the Lord, and show some evidence that he is alive and well and at work in the world.

When the Christian author Philip Yancey was asked, after 9/11, the question of where God is when it hurts, he thought for a moment and then said,

“I guess the answer to that question is another question. Where is the church when it hurts? If the church is doing its job — binding wounds, comforting the grieving, offering food to the hungry — I don’t think people will wonder so much where God is when it hurts. They’ll know where God is: in the presence of his people on earth.”

This is our place: to bind up wounds, comfort the grieving, feed the hungry, and work for reconciliation. We can do this as individuals, as families, as a community of faith and as a nation.

If we know our place, then we’ll discover God’s place, and we’ll see the Lord’s hand at work in even the most horrifying of human events.

Most of you are familiar with the Prayer of St. Francis.  It, too, can speak a word to us.  Listen:

“Lord, make us instruments of your peace. Where there is hatred, let us sow love. Where there is injury, pardon. Where there is discord, union. Where there is doubt, faith. Where there is despair, hope. Where there is darkness, light. Where there is sadness, joy.

“Grant that we may not so much seek to be consoled as to console, to be understood as to understand, to be loved as to love.

“For it is in giving that we receive, it is in pardoning that we are pardoned, and it is in dying that we are born to eternal life.”

We can’t control the fact that bad things will happen to us. They just do, and one day we will find out why. But the one thing we can control is how we respond to the bad things that happen to us.

We can get bitter or better! We can stay angry at life and at God and never move on, or we can give our pain to God and allow him to do something beautiful with it.

I know my choice … what’s yours?