Session 5 – Psalm 69: the depths of unjust suffering
Suffering almost always seems unjust and we ask why this, why me? … and what is God doing about it?
In session 5 we:
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- Consider how Jesus giving life in all its fulness can be compatible with times of trouble and suffering
- Ask the question “Why do bad things happen to good people?”
- Discover the wisdom there is in scripture and how our perspective is shaped by our posture (towards God).
- See how God uses times of waiting where nothing seems to be happening when in fact something is happening.
Session 5 Outline – from Powerpoint (in video)
(1) Stigma (negative perceptions) can unfortunately be associated with our Christian experience. In John 9, there are some classic examples of stigma and then we explore how one of the most well-known verses in John’s gospel can reinforce stigma when we are facing problems.
(2) Psalm 69 enables us to explore the desparation of someone who been unjustly accused of stealing something.
(3) We ask two big questions in terms of ‘why do good things happen to bad people’ and ‘why do bad things happen to good people.’ Like so many questions we ask on this course, it is not about finding slam-dunk answers to these questions but instead finding God and his perspective on things.
(4) We continue the process of asking and discerning what God has been doing in those difficult times we have faced.
The structure of the session comes from the Powerpoint (in the video). You can download the powerpoint here.
Stigma & Belief
In society and in the workplace, the stigma around mental health issues, although present, has certainly decreased. Unfortunately, it can still be present in churches.
In John 9, we see how both societal norms and Jewish beliefs create a very negative and depersonalised setting for the blind man (no name!) in the narrative.
Following this lengthy episode (all 41 verses of chapter 9), Jesus then talks about Himself as being the good shepherd who lays down his life for the sheep. In the middle of this section, He makes a statement which is so often used as a proof text for the kind of Christian living we should be living – ‘ … life in all its fulness.’
In their book Struggling with God, the authors write:
‘‘Stigma in churches is … partly about what we imagine ‘fulness of life’ to be? … What is ‘abundant life’? And how do our ideas of what ‘abundant life’ looks like shape our response to others – and ourselves – when things go wrong or are difficult? Another way of asking the question is this: is our idea of the life that Jesus gives us, or invites us into, spacious and generous enough to include the whole of human circumstances?’ (p34).
Exercise: Psalm 69
In Psalm 69, the psalmist has been unfairly accused of stealing something. The resulting psalm is a mixture of pain from the fallout of this event but also criticism of God for seeming to be totally unresponsive in the light of the psalmist’s innocence and the unjust suffering he is having to endure.
The emotions and the hurt are very raw, but the resulting cry to God is anchored in the certain knowledge of who God is.
However, after an amazing prayer, there is a violent eruption of anger. Through it we are able to explore how a place of rest and resolution can be quite a roller-coaster. We also see how prayer can help release the pent up feelings of anger and revenge.
The psalmist has certainly found the ‘safe space’ that we talk about in Session 2.
Why do bad things happen to good people?
Sometimes we ask this question as we look around, but often the question can be about our own circumstances. Our expectations may perhaps be that God should be protecting us from bad things. We may even have some sense of entitlement – God owes me for what I’ve done or sacrificed for Him!
We don’t attempt to come up with apologetics-type answers as we discover in the psalms and other places in scripture that that is not the deep place that God is calling us to. He is wanting us to trust Him in those difficult circumstances when we are confused and at times enraged.
In the psalms, we discover a place of rest and contentment in God’s presence where the burning issues and questions that plague us seem to become less significant as we gain new perspective from this posture of prayer and humility.
In the New Testament, we are encouraged to see our sufferings as being similar to those of our Lord Jesus who endured the unjust suffering and the shame that resulted him in being crucified.
Reflections
Reflection 1 – For this I have Jesus
Our section on Stigma & Belief was perhaps a challenge to some of the messages we get from some Bible teaching where ‘life in all its fulness’ is predominantly about joy, praise, victory, overcoming, etc.
Graham Kendrick’s song For this I have Jesus allows us to recognise that the promise of life in all its fulness through Jesus is there for us in both the ups and downs of our Christian journey.
Reflection 2 – Don’t just do something, sit there!
‘Waiting involves the willingness to take whatever time it takes for whatever it is that God wants to reveal to us, to shape in us or in the lives of those we love and care about. Such waiting invites us into the landscape of trust and hope. We have to trust that the time spent waiting, the time of seeming inactivity, is worth it. We have to trust that the healing, the restoration of hope, the rebuilding of trust, or whatever it is that we long to see and which only God can accomplish for us, will take place as we wait patiently with God, for God, to act …’
(Extract from God among the Ruins by Mags Duggan , p73)
Additional Resources
God among the Ruins: Trust and transformation in difficult times (Mags Duggan)
[Back cover …]
Where do we turn when our world is falling apart?
It takes courage to hope; to stand in our confusion and grief and still to believe that ‘God is not helpless among the ruins’. Guided by Habakkuk and his prophetic landmarks, we are drawn on a reflective journey through the tangled landscape of bewildered faith, through places of wrestling and waiting, and on into the growth space of deepened trust and transformation. As you read, discover for yourself the value and practice of honest prayer, of surrender, of silence and listening, and of irrepressible hoping.
Struggling with God, Mental Health & Christian Spirituality (Cook, Hamley & Swinton)
[Back cover …]
Struggling with God gets right to the heart of a great predicament for many Christians. When it feels as if our struggles are overwhelming – and our capacity for faith and hope and love is diminished – how is it possible to maintain, never mind nourish, our relationship with God?