INTRODUCTION
The title of my homily is for this 17th Sunday in Ordinary Time -
Year C, is, “How Does God Work?”
I’m thinking that might be one of life’s biggest
questions. What you think?
Is that question underneath people’s shock or surprise
when something happens and they blurt out, “Oh my God!” or “Jesus Christ!”
What’s the rest of the sentence - what’s the rest of our
thinking and feeling when something horrible or amazing happens?
Are we thinking, “God, where are you?” or “God, how could you allow this to happen?” or “God,
did you do this?” or “God, what are doing?” or “How do you operate?” or “What’s
going on here?”
And I better say up front - that in the long run - after
finishing this homily, that I don’t answer the question.
Sorry…. Yet if the
following gets us to get more and more in touch with the question - better if it gets us in
touch with God, prayer and praying, I’ll be happy.
Is that a cop out or a CYA?
WHEN WE ASK THE
QUESTION
It’s my experience that we ask the question, “How does
God work?” for starters, when things go wrong. There is a tsunami or cancer or
a crash or people go weird - or our kids mess up or a marriage falls apart.
God! Where are you? Why God, why? Why? Why? Whine. Whine.
Whine.
Next, we might ask the question when we’re on vacation
and we’re at the beach - and at the ocean’s edge and we’re all alone - like at
6 in the morning - the sun is rising - it seems - up out of the ocean - and the
waves keep coming in - one after the other - and we’re thinking - this has been
going on over and over and over and over again, and again, and again for
millions of years. And we think, “Why God, why? What’s this all about?”
Or we’re on vacation and we’re camping and it’s dark out,
really dark, the city lights are far, far away, and we look up at the sky -
it’s all stars - and we reconnect with our previous moments like this - and we
think to God, “What is this all about? How far do you go out and out and out?
Is there an end to the stars and the galaxies and the nebulae?
We ask the question, “God, how do you work?” - when we
realize that we are powerless over so much - especially ourselves. Then there are the others. We really don’t
know what others are thinking and doing. God help me! Help. Help. Help. I don’t get it. I don’t know what it’s all
about at times.
THE BOOK OF JOB
It’s not our first reading, but the Book of Job tackles this question big time - at least that’s what
I’ve been told many times.
It’s 42 chapters long - written perhaps between the 5th
and 3rd century before Christ - and it deals - as in a play - with the problem of
suffering and the reality that we all question God down deep.
The playwright wants the audience to hear the questions that
people ask God all the time - and the playwright wants people to hear God
questioning each member of the audience in return.
In Job 14:14 he asks the big question, “If someone dies,
shall they live again.”
He asks this I assume for himself - because he lost most
of his family.
The play begins with a conversation between God and
Satan. God brags about how great his
servant Job is. Satan says, “You have put a wall around him - and nothing bad
hits him. Take away that wall and watch what happens.”
So God says, “Let’s find out.”
Job’s family and fortunes - sons and daughters - farm and
cattle - donkeys and oxen - all are
destroyed.
Chapter One ends with the significant statement, “In all
this misfortune Job committed no sin or offered any insult to God.”
Then the play gets very interesting - with lots of dramatic speeches.
I think the Book of Job gets us into inner conversations
we all have. I think that’s why the book survived and made it into the Jewish
Bible.
We ask these questions back stage in our soul - in
hospitals, when dealing with aging of ourselves or parents - and at many a funeral.
In chapter 30 Job
says to God that he sees his life trickling away. Grief grips and grabs
him. Sickness saps his bones in the night. He can’t sleep. He says he cries to
God and God won’t answer him. He says he hoped for happiness and it didn’t come.
His stomach won’t slow down.
In chapter 38 God says, “Now it is my turn to ask questions
and yours to inform me.”
What would that be like?
God asks: Where were you when I set up the world’s foundations? Where were you when I set up the boundaries
of the sea - to go this far and no further.
Can you go out as far as the stars?
Job concludes that he knows God is all-powerful - but he
also knows that he doesn’t know - and what he knows only by hearsay.
And he simply decides to leave it all in God’s hands -
because he certainly can’t solve it all.
EACH OF US
For starters, each of us has to deal with the question
that is the title of this homily: “How Does God Work?”
I know that I can’t give answers to that question - but I
think I need to know it’s a question that hooks me all my life.
I love it that a question mark is formed like a fish
hook.
I know now that my first answer is, “I don’t know how God
is?”
It’s humbling to take that position. Job did. I will try - but at times I find
it hard to do just that.
PRAYER AS AN
ANSWER
Since a main theme of today’s readings is prayer, let’s briefly
look at prayer as an answer to the question: “How Does God Work.”
Besides saying, “I don’t know”, here are three things
that can happen as a result of prayer.
One: Prayer Can Change Our Understanding of God.
Today’s first reading from Genesis 18: 20-32 has the idea that God zaps people.
Whenever something goes wrong, some people think God
zapped them.
Sometimes bad things happen to people because they drive
dumb or smoke or don’t exercise or what have you - and they blame God.
Sometimes good things happen to bad people and bad things
happen to good people. There are books around with those titles.
As to God zapping people, as today’s first reading puts it, that is the
understanding of some people. It’s not mine. I know it’s in the scriptures - like today’s first reading - but there are enough
passages that says the opposite. I see the Bible as giving us many sights and
insights of how people see.
Some then think that when there is a fire, or a crash or
when things go wrong, they see God as a zapper.
I’m assuming that Sodom and Gomorrah were burnt down. I
assume that people said it was because people there were bad. I heard people say that when we had our
September 11. I heard others say, “No.
New York and Washington weren’t any
worse than any other place on the planet - more or less.”
I assume that evil happens when people choose evil.
When it comes to natural disasters, I assume that they
happen and will continue to happen and it’s good to find out where the
earthquake faults are and where not to build a house or what have you.
Then again, there are the humbling moments when I have to
say, “I don’t know.” It’s out of my control.”
My second message would be: Prayer Can Help Change Our Attitudes.
People often pray for changes out there - that the weather be different - that a family member will stop dating a loser or what have you.
I would like to stress seeing prayer changing inner stuff - for starters our attitudes.
I think the Serenity Prayer has helped a lot of people.
It has helped me.
“God, grant me the serenity
to accept the things I cannot
change,
Courage to change the things I
can,
And wisdom to know the
difference.”
Taking time to read - especially the scriptures - taking
time to pray - taking time to go to church, synagogue, mosque or temple, taking
time to sit in quiet rooms or back porches or to take walks in the woods or
being quiet while driving, can bring us to some answers about God and life.
Today’s first reading probes the question: do good people
- would 10 good people save the planet.
The message from this famous story of Abraham haggling God down from 50 to 10 has humor to it. Evidently, since Sodom and Gormorrah are destroyed, they didn't have 10 decent folks within.
But if we see it as inner attitude material, we have experienced how 1, 5, 10, or 50 good people in a neighborhood, work place, parish, can make a difference.
Of course - good karma, people being instruments of
peace, unagitated people - bring peace to the rooms they enter.
I hope that’s been your experience. Take my dad for instance. Mr. Calm. Mr.
Peace. Mr. Easy.
If your shoe laces keep breaking - this is mainly for guys - buy stronger ones or be more gentle when you tie your shoes or wear loafers.
My third message would be: Prayer Can Lead to Action.
I love the saying, “Pray for potatoes - but pick up a shovel”
has helped me a lot.
We heard Luke’s version of the Our Father today. Pray for
Daily Bread but get a job and share your bread.
Pray for forgiveness - but accept forgiveness and forgive
others and watch how you make the jump to accepting God’s forgiveness of your
life so far.
So I learn from prayer that Christ can push me to the
ability to accept forgiveness for my sins as well as to forgive those who hurt
me - because I don’t know others motives - as Jesus said on the cross, “People
do what they do without knowing why they do it” at times.
I know that prayer is all about asking, seeking and
knocking on God’s door and God will give me answers - and sometimes the answer
is no.
I like the song, “Thank God for unanswered prayers” and I
thank God for answered prayers.
CONCLUSION
The title of my homily was, “How Does God Work?”
I basically answered, “I don’t know, but I’ll keep on
asking that question, seeking answers to it, and I believe God does open up
that door at times and gives me hints.”
