Everything Happens for a Reason - Half-Truths

Transcript of the sermon preached by Pastor Shawn Coons on May 7, 2023

All throughout the month of May, we're going to be looking in this series at a number of what we're calling half truths, often said by Christians. These particular half truths, they're coming from a book by Adam Hamilton of that same name, called Half Truths: God Helps Those Who Help Themselves and Other Things the Bible Doesn't Say. And each week, we're going to explore one of these half truths and we'll try to find the truth in it, as well as explore what may not be so true about it.

If this sounds familiar, we did this series about five years ago, and I think it was important. I think it was very valuable. For a time, actually, it probably still is true, we posted the sermons on the website and it got shared in a newsletter somewhere. And for a time, we were getting about a thousand different visits to these set of sermons every month from all over the world. And so there was something in them that resonated with people. So we thought it would be good to revisit them again.

But before we go further, I want to say this. The goal of this series is not to offend anyone. Chances are that many of you and me, we've said these things and we've meant well. So I'm not saying that if you say these things that you're a bad person. It's just to explore a little bit what it really means to think through some of these things. It's important to talk about these half truths even if it makes us a little uncomfortable.

So if you do feel a little unsettled, that's okay. I promise that we're going to get through this together. But I want to start with the question, why then is it important to talk about these things? Why is it important to label half truths like, "Everything happens for a reason," or, "God helps those who help themselves," or, "God won't give you more than you can handle."?

I think it's important to address these. It's important to talk about these, because even with our best intentions, sometimes when we share these with someone else, they can be harmful. They can be hurtful to someone, especially sometimes these are said in people's hour of grief or an hour of need and it can make people more uncomfortable and, when we are just trying to help out and maybe help them draw closer to God, can maybe give them questions about God instead. So we're going to look at these half truths, the truth that is there, the truth that is not, and then we'll ask questions as to maybe what we should say instead and maybe how we can honor what we're trying to do in a better way.

So this morning, we're going to begin with the half truth, "Everything happens for a reason." And I'm guessing we've all heard this at some point. I'm guessing maybe we've said this at some point. And usually, when we say it, it's at a time when something bad has happened, right? It's at a time when someone is suffering and we're trying to help them through a difficult time. And so we might say, "Well, it was meant to be. It must have been that way all along. It was God's will. It was all part of God's plan. Everything happens for a reason."

And I think what we're saying at these moments, especially these moments of loss, we're trying to affirm that even in tragic circumstances, even in the worst of circumstances, that God is in control, that whatever the worst thing that has happened in your life, whatever the most awful thing that has happened, God has a greater purpose in mind. When tragedy strikes, it can be comforting to know that when we are riding through the storm, when the waves threaten to overturn that ship, we want to know the captain is at the helm and keeping the ship on course. So it's perfectly natural at times like that to look for God's loving hand, to look for God's strong hand to guide things through our darkest hour.

But let's look at just a little bit closer at this idea of everything happens for a reason and ask this question, "Does everything happen as part of God's plan? Is that plan immutable? Is that plan set in stone? Is that plan detailed down to every event in our life?" And this is a fundamental question.

If the answer to this question, "Does everything happen as part of God's plan?," is no, then we can't trace everything that happens back to God's immutable plan, then everything does not happen for a reason, at least not a reason that is according to God's will.

Think of it this way. Imagine that you're watching the news, you're reading the newspaper, and every story that you read, every story that you see on the news, you're watching it, shootings, war, famine, terrorism. And then after every story, you say out loud, "Everything happens for a reason. That was part of God's plan." How does that feel to see a story of a murderer and say, "Everything happens for a reason. That was part of God's plan."? The war in Ukraine, "Well, everything happens for a reason. That was part of God's plan."

When Carrie and I were pastors serving in our church in Florida, there was a four-year-old boy named Mitchell there. Mitchell was not a member of this church. His family wasn't a member, but he went to our afterschool program. They lived a block away from the church and we saw them frequently. One Halloween, Mitchell and his mother were crossing a busy street to get to the Methodist church trunk or treat, and a car hit them and killed Mitchell. Mitchell's funeral was at our church and I spent a lot of time with the family at this time, and it was awful. And I heard things, "Well, I guess God needed another angel. It must have been Mitchell's time," and other versions of, "Everything happens for a reason."

And then and now, I have a hard time believing that. I don't believe God has a plan that causes four-year old children to be killed. I don't believe God has a plan that causes anyone to be killed. So if everything happens for a reason as part of God's plan, then somehow God is responsible for Mitchell's death, for war, for famine, for the Holocaust, for terrorism.

And I don't think that sits well with any of us. I don't think it lines up with our experience either. I don't think it lines up with the whole witness of the Bible.

So I want to read a passage this morning. I want us to go to Genesis chapter two. This is the second creation story. This is where we are introduced to Adam and Eve. And I want to see how this helps us understand our topic this morning.

"These are the generations of the heaven and the earth when they were created, in the day that the Lord God made the earth and the heavens when no plant of the field was yet in the earth and no urban of the field had yet sprung up, for the Lord God had not caused it to rain upon the earth and there was no one to till the ground. But a stream would rise from the earth and water the whole face of the ground. And then the Lord God formed man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being. And the Lord God planted a garden in Eden in the east, and there he put the man whom he had formed. Out of the ground, the Lord God made to grow every tree that is pleasant to the sight and good for food and the tree of life also in the midst of the garden and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil."

"And the Lord God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to till it and keep it. And the Lord God commanded the man, "You may freely eat of every tree of the garden. But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it, you shall die."

This is the word of the Lord. Thanks be to God.

Thanks be to God.

So this is from the second version of the creation story. The first one, you find in Genesis 1. The second one starts in Genesis 2. And we see things from the very beginning. God is with Adam first, and then later Adam and Eve. And God creates Adam. God creates the garden, and then God puts the forbidden tree of knowledge in the garden and he tells Adam, "Don't eat from that tree. You can eat from everything else here, just not that one."

And then God gives Adam one more thing. God gives Adam a choice. God doesn't say, "I'm going to make it so you can't eat from that tree.: God says, "The tree is there and you can choose whether you eat from it or not. But I'm asking you not to, to obey or disobey, to choose life or to choose death."

If everything happens for a reason, if everything was part of God's unchangeable plan, then is there really a choice in this story? God would've had to have made Adam eat the forbidden fruit as part of God's plan. If everything is a part of God's plan, then do we have free will? Do we actually have choices? If everything we do, if everything we say is part of God's plan, every action we take, every choice we make, has everything been predetermined by God as part of God's plan and we're just actors in a play? Including the evil that we do, including the tragic actions that we take, does that mean God is the author of these evil acts, that these evil acts are somehow part of God's plan, even if something better seems to redeem them?

So we said this is a half truth. What is the truth in, "Everything happens for a reason."? Let's talk for a moment about the concept of God's sovereignty. That's not a word we use often, although I've heard it a few days around King Charles' Coronation. Sovereignty basically means who's in charge, who is the ultimate authority. It means the boss, if you will. If someone is sovereign, there is no one above them. There is no higher authority.

In our Christian tradition, God is sovereign. The sovereignty of God is very important. We don't believe that anyone has power over God or that anyone can control God or have more control than God. And so when we say, "Everything happens for a reason," it's a way of affirming the sovereignty of God. God is still the ultimate authority, not the powers of hate, not the powers of death, not the powers of violence. God is supreme.

So then we're back at another quandary. If God is supreme and bad things happen, but God doesn't cause them to happen, who does? Well, there are a couple ways that Christians have answered this question. One way is to say, "Yes, everything happens for a reason. But often, that reason is because we are making bad choices. Everything happens for a reason, but it's not God. Sometimes, it's us that cause bad things to happen. Much of the suffering, much of the pain, much of the tragedy of this world, we inflict on one another and sometimes we inflict on ourselves. That's not a part of God's plan. Sometimes we make it part of our plan."

When you read the beginning of one of the creation stories in Genesis, where later on in that same story, God speaks to Adam and Eve and he tells them, "You are caretakers of this garden. You are caretakers of all creation, of the land, of the sky, of the water, of the plants, of the animals. You have dominion. You have authority over it." "I'm giving that to you," God says.

God remains in charge. God remains sovereign, but delegates, if you will. And furthermore, God gives us all sorts of instructions and guidance for how to choose the right thing, how to take care of creation, how to take care of ourselves, how to take care of one another.

But time and time again, just like Adam and Eve, we choose to do wrong and someone gets hurt. Does that mean that God just said, "Okay, Adam and Eve, you're in charge. I'm going on vacation. I'm checking out."? No. Are we on our own? God created everything and then gave us the tools, the keys to make everything work and then moved on? No.

There's a fancy name for this kind of thinking though. It's called deism, and it was actually very popular with a number of the Founding Fathers of America. It was sometimes called the watchmaker God. God is like a watchmaker that makes the watch, winds it up, and then it just goes on its own and the watchmaker doesn't need to do anything anymore.

But we don't believe in a watchmaker God. We reject this idea that God is no longer here, God is not active in our life. We believe God does not abandon us.

So we've said that God doesn't control and script every last part as this internal unchangeable plan. We've rejected the idea that God got creation started and then went on vacation. So if God isn't in total control of every last event in the world, if God isn't completely hands off, then how do we understand that balance of how God works in our life?

Ray Firestone is a Methodist in Kansas City, and he lost his wife in a car accident. And he shares these words, "Suffering is not God's desire for us, but it occurs in the process of life. Suffering is not given to teach us something, but, through it, we may learn. Suffering is not given to punish us, but sometimes it is the consequence of our sin or poor judgment. Suffering does not occur because our faith is weak, but, through it, our faith may be strengthened. God does not depend on human suffering to achieve God's purposes, but sometimes, through suffering, God's purposes are achieved. Suffering can either destroy us or it can add meaning to our life. God is present at all times, in all places, even when tragedy strikes. Maybe especially when tragedy strikes, God is with us and can bring healing and comfort and, in time, maybe new perspective and insight."

And think back to the most painful times of your life. With time, do you now see God working at places in that tragedy, not as the author, not causing the tragedy, but coming to you when you are vulnerable, when you are in need, lifting you up, teaching you compassion, showing you love?

I want to close with a story this morning, and then I'm sorry, this is another tragic story. This is about parents Todd and Kathy. Their son Austin was three years old when he died. And it was a horrible time for them. But through it all, their faith in God emerged stronger. And this is how Kathy reflects back on that time.

"At the time, I had people tell me that it was Austin's time. And I was having a hard time believing in a God who had planned to take my child at age three. I learned that tragedies weren't necessarily part of God's plan, but God gave us free will and bad things sometimes happen. Understanding this helped me to turn to God instead of away from God."

"Since Austin's death, I believe that my faith has grown and continues to grow. His death changed the way I view God and my faith, and I no longer have a naive childlike faith where God protects you from all harm and makes everything okay. It's a deeper faith that has been tested through tragedy. I know that God doesn't promise me a pain-free life, but God does promise always to be there, to love me, to comfort me and guide me."

Does everything happen for a reason? That's not what our faith teaches us. Does God have this immutable plan that scripts everything, good and evil, that will ever befall us? No. But we believe God has a plan, and that plan is to love us. That plan is to be with us no matter what. That plan is a promise. We hear it over and over again in Scripture, and I want to close with where we hear that promise from the Apostle Paul in the book of Romans.

"Who will separate us from the love of Christ? Will hardship or distress, or persecution or famine or nakedness or peril or sword? No. I am convinced that neither death nor life, nor angels, nor rulers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor death, nor anything else in all creation will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus, our Lord."