More Than Stone

I recently heard someone recount the story of the loss of their brother-in-law in the Iraq war. He said that for months the story of Lazarus plagued him. He continuously asked the question, “What does redemption look like when Jesus doesn’t show up and raise my brother from the dead?” Indeed. What does redemption look like when the dead are not raised? Or the house is foreclosed on? Or the cancer isn’t healed? Or the job never comes? Is it as simple as “we do not have, because we do not ask” or is there more to the story?

Since the fall, mankind usually does one of two things when confronted with something unpleasant. We hide or we blame. We cover the unpleasantness with fig leaves or we point the finger at something or someone. When Job’s entire life was destroyed, his friends spent chapter after chapter trying to appoint blame. When things don’t go well for us, as believers, we like to think we can find a reason so that we can zip it up in a nice, neat, explainable package. Well guess what, friends and neighbors? I don’t find that there are answers for everything…I think God is bigger than my explanations and excuses.

Consider the story of Job again. So, there is this guy named Job. He is righteous. He follows the law. God calls Job blameless and upright. So what does God do? He makes a bet with Satan and tells Satan to “do whatever you want to him, just don’t physically harm him.” This is what Job gets after being devoted to God? No matter how often I read the story, I don’t get this. Why would God do this? I have no idea. I can’t find an easy answer to this. We tend to gloss over this part of the story, by focusing on the fact that God restored Job by giving him a new family and more wealth than before. That’s great, but as a mother, having a new family would not replace the old one.

The story of Job doesn’t completely make sense to me. But neither does much of what I see in the world. Why do babies starve to death every day in Africa? Why do wonderful families face tragic events? Why do children lose fathers? On and on I could go with the questions. Furthermore, I don’t have the answers. I don’t know why these things happen, other than that we live in a fallen world and God is not done working towards the new creation.

So, with that said, “What does redemption look like when Jesus doesn’t show up and raise the dead”? In my mind, redemption is when God does not abandon the sufferer. Redemption occurs when our friends face our suffering with us, without hiding or blaming. Redemption occurs when we recognize that God is sovereignly ruling the universe, despite the injustice, sickness and violence that we live amidst.