The Problem of Suffering
Luke 13:1-9
Luke 13:1-9 At that time, some people came and reported to him about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mixed with their sacrifices. 2 And he responded to them, “Do you think that these Galileans were more sinful than all the other Galileans because they suffered these things? 3 No, I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all perish as well. 4 Or those eighteen that the tower in Siloam fell on and killed—do you think they were more sinful than all the other people who live in Jerusalem? 5 No, I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all perish as well.”
6 And he told this parable: “A man had a fig tree that was planted in his vineyard. He came looking for fruit on it and found none. 7 He told the vineyard worker, ‘Listen, for three years I have come looking for fruit on this fig tree and haven’t found any. Cut it down! Why should it even waste the soil?’
8 “But he replied to him, ‘Sir, leave it this year also, until I dig around it and fertilize it. 9 Perhaps it will produce fruit next year, but if not, you can cut it down.'”
The age-old question: Why does God allow suffering? We ask it at both the individual level and the group level. Biblically speaking, we can list several reasons why God allows suffering. Today’s text focuses on just one of those.
But first, let’s consider two wrong answers to the question “Why does God allow suffering?” One is this: “A person or a certain group suffers because they are by nature more sinful or evil than other individuals or groups.” And the other wrong answer – kind of the opposite – is this: “Suffering has nothing to do with sin or sinfulness.” Both are wrong.
The fact is, all suffering can be traced back to sin, the Old Adam, the sinful flesh. Without sin there would be no suffering. Suffering exists in this world only because of sin. Even Jesus suffered because of sin, though in his case he was not suffering for his own sin, for he had none.
Jesus in our text does not say those Galileans or those on whom the tower of Siloam fell were not sinners. He does not say their suffering had nothing to do with their sinfulness. The only thing he says is that it is wrong to conclude, based on their suffering, that they were more sinful than others.
So, is suffering the result of sin? Do people, you, me, and others suffer because of sin? Yes. But does suffering say that some people or groups are naturally more sinful than others? No.
It is this latter question that Jesus specifically addresses in our text and then he runs with it. He tells us what we are to do when we come face to face with suffering. And this applies whether we see suffering among others or when we experience it ourselves.
Suffering serves as a reminder of what we are to do, not once but every day. It reminds us how we are to live today and tomorrow.
In repentance.
C.S. Lewis wrote the book The Problem of Pain (which I recommend) in which he has some keen insights. Here is a quote from the book:
“We can ignore … pleasure. But pain insists upon being attended to. God whispers to us in our pleasures, speaks in our conscience, but shouts in our pains: it is his megaphone to rouse a deaf world.”
In other words, pain or suffering is used by God as a wakeup call, waking us up to the need to repent. Lewis points out that Scripture and our experience tell us that, though we as born-again Christians have an absolutely marvelous new nature created in the image of Christ, we still retain an old ugly nature that stands in rebellion to God. As Lewis says, the pain and suffering around us and within us are reminders that “We are rebels who must lay down our arms daily.” (p. 62) Let me quote him at length here, keeping mind that C.S. Lewis was renowned for his exemplary Christian life:
My own experience is something like this. I am progressing along the path of life in my ordinary contentedly fallen and godless condition, absorbed in a merry meeting with my friends for the morrow or a bit of work that tickles my vanity today, a holiday or a new book, when suddenly a stab of abdominal pain that threatens serious disease, or a headline in the newspapers that threatens us all with destruction, sends this whole pack of cards tumbling down. At first I am overwhelmed, and all my little happinesses look like broken toys. Then, slowly and reluctantly, bit by bit, I try to bring myself into the frame of mind that I should be in at all times. I remind myself that all these toys were never intended to possess my heart, that my true good is in another world and my only real treasure is Christ. And perhaps, by God’s grace, I succeed, and for a day or two become a creature consciously dependent on God and drawing its strength from the right sources. But the moment the threat [of pain] is withdrawn, my whole nature leaps back to the toys: I am even anxious, God forgive me, to banish from my mind the only thing that supported me [in my pain] those few days. Thus the terrible necessity of tribulation is only too clear. … Let Him but sheathe that sword [of pain] for a moment and I behave like a puppy when the hated bath is over — I shake myself as dry as I can and race off to reacquire my comfortable dirtiness, if not in the nearest manure heap, at least in the nearest flower bed. and that is why tribulations cannot cease until God either sees us remade or sees that our remaking is now hopeless.
(pp. 106-107)
Our Father refreshes us on the journey with some pleasant inns, but will not encourage us to mistake them for home.
(p. 116)
So, because we sin and as we sin, because we love the things of this life and as we love the things of this life (and commit other idolatries), God reminds us through suffering to come to him in humility and repentance.
When pain and suffering are over there among others, the worst thing we can do is conclude they are more sinful. And when pain and suffering are in here – suffering because of disease, or because a loved one is sick or dying, or because someone has defamed us, or treated us unfairly, or we have lost precious belongings, or whatever – the worst thing we can say is, “I do not deserve this! I am a good person!” The primary takeaway for us here in this text, the one clear message we should hear and take to heart – my heart! – is, when we observe or experience suffering, to repent.
So, what is repentance? Repentance involves three things. First, it is to acknowledge from the heart that I am a sinner, to fear because God because I am a sinner, and to sorrow over my sin because he hates sin and condemns it. We who are rebels by nature lay down our arms, daily.
Second, repentance means to have faith in Jesus. But understand what this faith in Jesus means. We look to, we have faith in, we trust in Jesus alone. Why? Because we see in Jesus, and on Jesus, a suffering that has no equal. We see in and on Jesus that which brought suffering into the world: sin: the sin of the Galileans, the sin of the people who lived in Jerusalem, the sins of you, of me, of Adam and Eve. And in that suffering is the mercy of God for you, me, and everyone. In that suffering is my “not guilty” verdict; in that suffering of Jesus is your “not guilty” verdict. In that suffering of Christ, because of that suffering of Christ, our suffering will one day come to an end. And in your baptism and through faith in Christ, all this has become your own personal possession. Faith in Jesus – the suffering servant of God.
But third, such repentance leads to fruit, bearing fruit.
One of the temptations for the Christian who rightly believes he is “saved by Christ alone and by faith alone,” is to become lazy in faith and life. So, God gives us a necessity, something we must do and want to do that serves as evidence for the “faith alone” we rightly stake our eternal life on. And that necessity, that evidence, is this fruit. John the Baptist talks about fruit in our vocations – how we treat our neighbor. Jesus talks about fruit being faithfulness to God and his word. Paul talks about fruit as good works, not living in sin, spreading the gospel, and in Galatians 5 lists the fruit of the Holy Spirit to be pursued by every believer: “love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, and self-control.” (Gal. 5:22-23)
If fruit does not exist (as it did not on the fig tree in the parable Jesus told), a tree is wasting nutritious soil that could be used for trees that would bear fruit; it should be cut down. This is a warning from the Son of God who gave his life for you, who suffered you. It calls for self-examination.
If you find yourself devoid of fruit and not a Christian, or if you know of someone who has abandoned faith in Christ and lives contrary to his suffering and death, we find a unique comfort and hope in the words of our text: “For three years,” the vineyard owner – God – said to the vineyard worker, “I have come looking for fruit on this fig tree and haven’t found any. Cut it down! Why should it even waste the soil?’ But the worker replied, ‘Sir, leave it this year also, until I dig around it and fertilize it. Perhaps it will produce fruit next year, but if not, you can cut it down.'” In other words, God is patient, more patient than he should be. But during his time of patience with such a person, there will be digging and fertilizing around this unfruitful tree. Digging and fertilizing are not pleasant things: piercing the soil with a shovel blade and throwing on smelly manure. Bringing or restoring people into the kingdom of Christ is not a walk in the park. It will include suffering, primarily to remind them of the reality of their sin. Having them face the truth of their sin so they will repent, turn to Christ, and bear the fruit of repentance.
As I mentioned earlier, observing or experiencing suffering can serve more than one purpose according to the Bible. But the one taught here by Jesus today is to remind us to live in repentance. So, as you hear about the war-suffering over in Europe or as you yourself suffer – justly or unjustly, for whatever reason – here is one thing you can and should do: bow before Lord and say, “Lord, have mercy on me, a sinner.” And he does and he will, all because of the suffering of Christ for you. And the abundant life will follow.
Amen.
Podcast: Play in new window
Subscribe: RSS