3rd Sunday of Lent 2023

Since Lent began, I’ve been reflecting on the topic, “When God doesn’t make sense,” as the theme of my homilies. We all experience times when we question God’s actions in our lives. These last few weeks, we’ve been considering three principles of why we sometimes feel that way.

First, it makes sense that God doesn’t make sense sometimes because God is all-knowing and has complete wisdom. God has the big picture; only God has total recall of the past and a clear perspective on the future. On the other hand, humans only see through a narrow window. Our understanding of history is biased and distorted, and our visions of the future are shortsighted and narrow. God seems not to make sense because God’s vision is so much greater than we can perceive.

Sometimes it isn’t God who doesn’t make sense but the world that doesn’t make sense. Much of what upsets us in life isn’t God’s will but a result of our sinfulness. It wasn’t God’s will for a freight train to derail, poisoning the small town of E. Palestine, OH. It wasn’t God’s will for buildings to collapse in an earthquake in Turkey because of shoddy construction. God didn’t will a deranged man to open fire in a church in Hamburg, Germany.

A couple of weeks ago, we heard that God wanted only good to prevail in our world, but our first parents disobeyed God and allowed sin to enter the Garden of Eden. Theologians propose God has both a preferred will and a permissive will. God’s preferred will is God’s generous plan for creation, and God’s permissive will is what God allows to happen in our world. God’s permissive will comes through our free choices between good and evil. God gave us free will because that is the only way to learn to love wholeheartedly as God loves.

Our third principle to explain why God doesn’t always make sense is that God is so immense we can’t hope to know God completely. We can spend much time studying and reflecting on God, but we will only scratch the surface of the grandeur of God’s majesty. That doesn’t mean we can’t use reason to get to know God, but reason is not where we need to start. Our starting point must be in the heart and not the head.

We can know God’s heart because He has revealed it to us completely through Jesus Christ. Jesus came to show us God’s goodness, mercy, and compassion. Jesus showed us God’s desire for our healing and becoming whole, so we could experience all the goodness God intends for us. Too many Christians know about God intellectually but don’t know God personally. They don’t have a heartfelt, prayerful relationship with God, so when God doesn’t seem to make sense to them, they fade away in times of trouble.

This week I’ll look into those times when God doesn’t seem to make sense because God doesn’t seem to cooperate with us and puts roadblocks in our way. We’ll examine those times when God seems to be doing His best to make life difficult for us, and we feel if God would only stop putting problems in our way, life would be much better, and we could be more productive. Maybe those are problems in our work life, personal relationships, health, or money problems.

Today, we’ll address the roadblock problem by examining our first reading from the Book of Exodus. The Book of Exodus is the story of the Israelite’s deliverance from slavery in Egypt and their journey to the promised land. We have heard that God called Moses to go to Pharaoh with the request to free the Israelites to go into the desert to worship God. When Pharaoh refused, God sent plagues on the Egyptians. Pharaoh finally relented and released the Israelites. Once they were free, though, Pharoah changed his mind and led his army to recapture the people. The people got caught between the Red Sea and Pharoah’s army, and they panicked. They rebelled against Moses and God. God instructed Moses to strike the sea, it parts, and the people passed through it. When the Egyptian army tried to pass through the sea, it flowed back and drowns them all.

As a result of the people’s lack of faith, though, God sees they need to be put to the test before they can settle in the Promised Land. God decrees that because of their lack of faith, the first generation must wander for forty years and die out before the people can enter the land. During that time, God tests them with hardships, as we hear in today’s reading.

When our expectations aren’t met because of roadblocks, it’s hard to be gracious. We become grumpy and grouchy and start looking for someone to blame. We can fail to help overcome the barrier and become demanding, which is what happens in today’s reading. When faced with a barrier, our problems deepen because we lack gratitude. It becomes our default mindset, and it becomes self-defeating and habit-forming. We begin to murmur and complain about our condition constantly. We become unattractive because we are always full of grievances. 

Today, we hear that when faced with a problem, the Israelites complained against God, but Moses complained to God. There is a big difference between whining about a person and complaining to them. Complaining about a person entails whining to others about a person and never accomplishes anything, and it just sows discord and causes conflict. Complaining to a person can bring about the resolution of the problem blocking the way.

That is what Moses does. He complains to God, and God gives him an answer. God sends water from the rock. But God doesn’t want the people to see His power because they lack trust. God instructs Moses only to invite a few witnesses- some of the elders- to see the wonder God will do for all the people.

Some real problems in life are useless to try to deal with, but we have to guard against just grumbling and complaining about them. We can’t run away from roadblocks and challenging situations. Some people do that. Whenever problems arise, they head for the doors. They seem to move from job to job, relationship to relationship, friendship to friendship. When things get tough, they get going. When we face obstacles, we can’t be like the Israelites, giving up and complaining about our situation. We need to be like Moses, and we need to lean into God, and God will respond to us.

We’ve been doing that here at Holy Redeemer these last few years. Six years ago, when Bishop Da Cunha called me into his office to tell me he wanted me to take a new assignment, he said he was sending me to a parish where many priests would like to be assigned. I was happy with where I currently was, so in my mind, my response was, “Well, send one of them.” When he told me I was coming to Holy Redeemer, I knew why other priests weren’t coming here.

Not everyone might like me to say this, but I knew this parish was suffering pastoral neglect, and I knew I would be facing problems and challenges as I tried to correct our course. I probably could have refused the bishop, but I chose to be faithful to my promise of obedience to him. I don’t know if it was my stubbornness- I like to think it was my faith- but I came. It was only a few weeks before some of “the people began to grumble against Moses.” Letters began to flow to the bishop, and a few people even confronted me. I could have given in to the complainers and not instituted the needed changes. I could have called the bishop and told him, “I’m out of here,” but I tried to lean into God. I resisted the urge to cut and run. I knew I couldn’t please everyone, but I felt your souls were worth it. So, I resolved to stick it out.

You might remember that the first winter was brutal. In January, a disaffected parishioner purchased a month’s worth of ads in the Cape Cod Chronicle urging parishioners to write to the bishop to have me removed. For the next two months, I was the subject of more letters to the editor than the airport, but I kept trying to push into God, and well, six years later, we’re all here, and I feel we have made progress towards being a better parish.

Yes, we wish those who have left the parish would return, but it must be to help the parish grow by sharing their gifts of time, talent, and treasure. They must dedicate themselves to working to help grow the Kingdom of God, not just maintain it in a minimalist way. 

God isn’t necessarily interested in making our lives easier. That might be our goal but not God’s. God allows obstacles and difficulties in our lives because God needs to test us. After all, that is how we grow in faith. Overcoming challenges and problems and withstanding criticism and hurtfulness inflicted by broken people build our character. In the end, we only have our character to present before the judgment seat of God.

We are about to begin the Liturgy of the Eucharist. It is part of the Mass when Jesus comes and offers his Real Presence, body, blood, soul, and divinity as God’s gift of grace. The grace to persevere in faith and push back even when God doesn’t make sense.