This week, we continue the sermon series on Partial Truths by focusing on an oft-offered phrase: "God won't give you more than you can handle."
This notion, like so many others, contains a kernel of truth. Certainly God offers strength to handle the circumstances that come our way. Scripture is replete with such assurances -- Psalm 23, Psalm 46, Romans 8, Philippians 4 -- which people of faith have clung to across the centuries.
And yet, buried within the partial truth is the assumption that God -- like an angry teacher -- hands out problems just to see if we can pass the test. And that's where the partial truth breaks down.
Nicholas Wolterstorff, a professor of philosophy at Yale and a Christian, lost his son, Eric, in a mountain climbing accident. He wrote about his response, his struggle and pain, his questions, in an elegant little memoir, Lament for a Son.
There is a hole in the world now. In the place where he was, there's now just nothing. . . .
I cannot fit it all together by saying 'God did it' . . . but neither can I do so by saying 'There was nothing God could do about it.' (p. 33)
One thing a grieving father cannot do is attribute his son's death -- any death -- to God's will. In the book, Wolterstorff objects to the notion that God would say:
You there -- you have lived out the years I've planned for you, so I'll just shake the mountains a bit. All of you there, I'll send some starlings into the engine of your plane. And as for you there, a stroke while running will do nicely. (p.66)
How does it work? If God isn't causing our suffering, what does faith have to do with it? The Christian response to tragedy is not an explanation, not an attempt to make it rational and understandable, but a witness, a testimony about a God who is known to us, primarily, in Jesus Christ. And, it's a testimony to the power of community, how participation in the life of faith with others grants strength for the journey.
We'll explore the idea in depth this weekend. I encourage you to read Romans 8 and Philippians 4 in preparation. As always, we'll enjoy excellent music and, this week, celebrate communion at all services.
Come, and bring a friend,
