I have a confession to
make. I don’t actually read the Avengers
Comics. My only frame of reference is
the movies. No one thought to warn me
about what happened in Infinity War. I
assumed that the good guys would win in the end, not that everyone would get
“dusted”. Jon-Paul assures me that in
the comics the good guys had the gauntlet and fixed things within a few pages…
while I have to wait months… And now have to sit through trailers that have all
the heroes depressed. All the way home
from seeing the movie I had the phrase from “Ash Wednesday” services stuck in
my head. “You are dust and to dust you
will return.”
I tend to be really empathetic
and turn into a blubbering mess when someone else is sad, even if they are on
the movie or TV screen. The characters
didn’t know that everything would be all right.
Their friends were piles of dust at their feet and the Characters didn’t
know that the actors were committed to more movies.
But that is life more often
than I want to think about it. Tragedy
hits. Life is unfair. Young people die of cancer, in car wrecks,
and in school shootings. People we love
get sick, die, or even just leave. We
lose jobs. We get robbed. Here in Florida hurricanes destroy homes and
lives. My brother lost everything in
Katrina.
So how do we as people of
faith deal with tragedy. How do we stand
strong in the face of disaster and injustice and the cruelty of the world? One place we can look is the book of
Job. He lost everything and stayed
faithful. However, I don’t really like
that one because it makes it seem like God wanted it to happen to prove Job’s
faithfulness.
We can also look to
Jesus. Talk about unjust and unfair
tragedy. He was convicted of crimes he
didn’t commit, and killed in one of the most horrible ways possible. Crucifixion was excruciating and it took a
long time to die.
One thing we can learn from
Jesus is that it is OK to cry out in anger to God. In the garden Jesus begged God to take the
cup away. He didn’t want to do it. From the cross he quotes Psalm 22 and cries
out to God, “My God, my God why have you forsaken me?” It is OK to cry to God about injustice and
pain. God is big enough to take our hurt
and anger.
But we also need to remember
that Jesus knew his scripture. Psalm 22
is a cry of despair, but it is also a word of hope. Most people are only familiar with that first
verse. Listen to the rest of Psalm 22.
My God, my God, why have you
forsaken me?
Why are you so far from helping me, from
the words of my groaning?
2 O my God, I cry by day, but
you do not answer;
and by night, but find no rest.
3 Yet you are holy,
enthroned on the praises of Israel.
4 In you our ancestors
trusted;
they trusted, and you delivered them.
5 To you they cried, and were
saved;
in you they trusted, and were not put to
shame.
6 But I am a worm, and not
human;
scorned by others, and despised by the
people.
7 All who see me mock at me;
they make mouths at me, they shake their
heads;
8 “Commit your cause to the
Lord; let him deliver—
let him rescue the one in whom he
delights!”
9 Yet it was you who took me
from the womb;
you kept me safe on my mother’s breast.
10 On you I was cast from my
birth,
and since my mother bore me you have been
my God.
11 Do not be far from me,
for trouble is near
and there is no one to help.
12 Many bulls encircle me,
strong bulls of Bashan surround me;
13 they open wide their mouths
at me,
like a ravening and roaring lion.
14 I am poured out like water,
and all my bones are out of joint;
my heart is like wax;
it is melted within my breast;
15 my mouth is dried up like a
potsherd,
and my tongue sticks to my jaws;
you lay me in the dust of death.
16 For dogs are all around me;
a company of evildoers encircles me.
My hands and feet have
shriveled;
17 I can count all my bones.
They stare and gloat over me;
18 they divide my clothes
among themselves,
and for my clothing they cast lots.
19 But you, O Lord, do not be
far away!
O my help, come quickly to my aid!
20 Deliver my soul from the
sword,
my life from the power of the dog!
21 Save me from the mouth of the lion!
From the horns of the wild
oxen you have rescued me.
22 I will tell of your name to
my brothers and sisters;
in the midst of the congregation I will
praise you:
23 You who fear the Lord,
praise him!
All you offspring of Jacob, glorify him;
stand in awe of him, all you offspring of
Israel!
24 For he did not despise or
abhor
the affliction of the afflicted;
he did not hide his face from
me,
but heard when I cried to him.
25 From you comes my praise in
the great congregation;
my vows I will pay before those who fear
him.
26 The poor shall eat and be
satisfied;
those who seek him shall praise the Lord.
May your hearts live forever!
27 All the ends of the earth
shall remember
and turn to the Lord;
and all the families of the
nations
shall worship before him.
28 For dominion belongs to the
Lord,
and he rules over the nations.
29 To him, indeed, shall all
who sleep in the earth bow down;
before him shall bow all who go down to the
dust,
and I shall live for him.
30 Posterity will serve him;
future generations will be told about the
Lord,
31 and proclaim his
deliverance to a people yet unborn,
saying that he has done it.
God never promised that we
wouldn’t have suffering, but God promised to walk with us through it. God understands it. In Jesus God went through it. I don’t believe that God caused the tragedies
that will happen to us, but I do believe that God will be there to hold us
through the pain.
