Who Sinned?

Some brief thoughts ... In John 9 we have this familiar story:

As Jesus passed by he saw a man blind from birth.His disciples asked him,“Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents,that he was born blind?”Jesus answered,“Neither he nor his parents sinned;it is so that the works of God might be made visible through him.

Notice how so many folks are always looking around for what people did that was bad, in order to explain why God is punishing them. The Tsunami, New Orleans, Good grief, I even saw where a rabbi in Israel is claiming that gays are responsible for God sending avian flu!

When “bad” things happen to me and to those I love is my first reaction to point a finger at God and blame Him for the misfortune? Or is to raise my hands in worship and prayer and trust that He will work on my behalf as He sees fit and whatever He does will be good and perfect because He is good and perfect?

Still, Jesus seems to say that we must look for the work of God not in disasters but in healing. To do the work of God is to work towards healing the pain, not to heap further pain upon those already suffering.

Certainly, God is capable of destroying evil and suffering--but not without destroying human freedom, or a world in which free creatures can function. How do we as Christians respond to the problem of evil? With sorrow. With sadness. With revulsion. With perplexity. With questions that have no answers ... Each of us has had wrong thoughts ... evil thoughts. Each of us has done something wrong — something evil. Why does God allow evil within us? None of us deserves to escape punishment, and yet God allows escape, too! If we ask why there is evil, we should also ask why there is mercy. Let us fight against evil and needless suffering, starting with ourselves!