Tenth Sunday: The Problem of Evil

Why is there evil in the world? It is a specifically Christian problem. We say that the Triune God is love. How can you reconcile the problem of evil with a God that is all knowing, all loving and all powerful? Death, suffering and tremendous human evil. Our species gets more sophisticated in its command of technology. We become more affluent and more comfortable. But still, violence, injustice and the human capacity for self-destruction seem just as ruinous, if not more so, than in the past. For us, sin is more than just bad decision making. Sin its participation in the irrationality of evil, pervades all human experience, everywhere. The opening chapters of Genesis are a story about how human participation in evil and sin enter the world and pervade all humanity.    
 
Genesis and the Problem of Evil
The first reading from Genesis, is part of the longer story told in Genesis 1-3. God created everything, and called it ‘good.’  God made mankind, male and female he made them, and he called them good. He set them in a Garden and told them that the one tree that they cannot eat from is the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.   The serpent tempted Eve by telling her that God had forbidden her to eat of that tree because, if she did, she would become like God. What was the appeal to Adam and Eve? The temptation works on our basic distrust of the goodness of God and our desire to control. Can we really trust our Creator with our happiness?
 
That appeal is a false notion of what it means to be a human being. Adam and Eve believe that they would become like God by deciding for themselves what is good. The moral law is based on our rational understanding of what is good for all. It is rooted in the dignity of all human beings and the prohibition that we can ever treat another human like a thing. We were made to be gardeners of all of creation, caring for what God had made.
 
Adam and Eve’s lives become organized around distrust and the blame game. Everyone plays the blame game when we gossip or claim that others caused us to sin. For Adam, the evil is not in him it is in Eve. For Eve, evil is in the serpent that tempted her. In grasping to become like God they became isolated from God and one another.
 
Signs of the Kingdom of God
The Gospel describes Jesus’ miracles as signs. A sign points to a reality beyond itself. A stop sign at the end of the street points to the strong possibility of crossing traffic.  Jesus performed a sign when he exorcised a demon from a man. Mk 3:7-12 The sign demonstrated that he has power over evil. He is not weak like Adam and Eve. He has prevailed over evil and temptation where Adam and Eve failed.
 
Jesus has his critics, however, and they accuse him of using demonic powers to perform the exorcism. Jesus answered his critics,
 

"How can Satan drive out Satan?
If a kingdom is divided against itself,
that kingdom cannot stand. And if a house is divided against itself, that house will not be able to stand.
And if Satan has risen up against himself and is divided, he cannot stand; that is the end of him.
But no one can enter a strong man's house to plunder his property unless he first ties up the strong man.
Then he can plunder the house.”
Mk. 3

 
This is the sign and its meaning. Jesus is claiming that he, like a burglar, entered the world, the house of the strong man. He came undercover as an infant lying in a manger.  He bound Satan and evil through this exorcism and, for all time, from the cross. The Son of God rescued us from evil, death and sin. God organizes the world around love; service of others and forgiveness of sins. The purpose of Jesus Christ’s signs are to show us the way to salvation. Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth and the life.” Jn. 14:6
 
God and the Problem of Evil
There are many ways to think about suffering in the world. That some evil works toward creating a greater good of compassion. Others argues, the human free will and human sin are opposites sides of the same coin. These arguments have their place, but the fundamental Christian response is the cross of Christ. If the only context for understanding good and evil is this material reality, then the world, especially, for those who suffer is a pretty dark place.  
Jesus said that he has entered the world and defeated the source of evil when he conquered death and forgives sin.  Jesus hung on the wood of a tree and through him life comes to the world. We don’t become God because we try to be the center of Creation by grasping to be the ultimate arbiter of good and evil. Instead God shares his life with us through the Church and the Sacraments. Where Adam and Eve hid from God we are called into community. Here are a couple of ideas how you can share the Gospel with those who are isolated and alone.

David Bentley Hart wrote a book about the Problem of Evil entitled, "The Doors of the Sea."  He was considering the tragedy of a 2004 Tsunami in Asia that killed 230,000 to 280,000 people in fourteen countires. In that book, as he considered and rejected almost every rational argument trying to reconcile evil and a loving God, he concluded, "As for comfort, when we seek it, I can imagine none greater than the happy knowledge that when I see the death of a child I do not see the face of God, but the face of His enemy."
 
Seekers
Attend Seekers on Wednesday, July 8 at 6 pm in the Church Narthex and bring a friend. Seeker is open to Catholics and non-Catholics alike. This Wednesday, Fr. Callistus will be leading a discussion of why Catholics believe a loving God permits suffering in the world. It will be a good discussion and an opportunity for our parishioners to support the faith journey of others. Christians and non-Christians are invited to discuss this issue of mutual concern.

Annual Men’s Prayer Breakfast
Next Sunday is Father’s Day. This coming Saturday, June 16, St. Mark’s is hosting its annual Men’s Prayer Breakfast starting with mass in the Chapel followed by breakfast and a reflection offered by Rick Johnson in the parish hall. This is a good opportunity for our men to invite a friend, bring your sons and share the blessings of fellowship and community with the other men of the parish. Adam was made in the image of our Father just as each dad in made in God’s image. Be who God made you to be.

For Seekers and the Men’s Prayer Breakfast, there is more information in the bulletin and online. A signup is being held in front of the Church.