Hello and welcome to this week's episode of Trinity
Sermons. This week we are wrapping up our sermon
series called The Bible Doesn't Say That, where
we're looking at some of those sayings that sound
really spiritual but aren't actually scriptural.
Now, have you ever had a conversation with a
toddler? They really like to ask why. Why is
the sky blue? Why is this happening? Why is that?
But the truth is we don't really outgrow that
trait. We all kind of like to know why. And that's
why we've come up with this phrase, everything
happens for a reason. But is that phrase really
in the Bible? And does it actually bring us comfort
when we can't understand things that are happening
in the world? Rob's going to unpack this saying
for us and show us the biblical truth behind
this phrase, as well as how God is really with
us, even when we can't understand what's happening.
Today's reading is from the Gospel of Luke, chapter
13, verses 1 to 5. About this time, Jesus was
informed that Pilate had murdered some people
from Galilee as they were offering sacrifices
at the table. Do you think those Galileans were
worse sinners than all the other people from
Galilee? Jesus asked. Is that why they suffered?
Not at all. And you will perish too unless you
repent of your sins and turn to God. And what
about the 18 people who died when the tower in
Siloam fell on them? Were they the worst sinners
in Jerusalem? No. And I tell you again that unless
you repent, you will perish too. This is the
word of the Lord. We're going to look at a phrase
that you've probably said, I've said, I'm sure
you've heard. Why don't we say it all together?
Let's say it. Everything happens for a reason.
Now, maybe someone said this to you when you
were going through a very, very tough time. Maybe
you said it to someone who was really going through
it. And maybe it was partly because you didn't
really know what to say in that moment. And you
meant it. to be something comforting for them.
But as we're going to find out today, it's maybe
not as helpful and not as biblical as we might
think. In fact, I would say this phrase can sometimes
do way more harm than good. And that many people
have actually walked away from the faith, walked
away from God, walked away from the church because
they believed that everything happens for a reason.
I want to say this is a big... and complex topic.
It could easily take six hours of a lecture to
kind of get to the bottom of this. Let's see
what we can cover in 20 or 25 minutes together.
There are some teaching notes, some sermon notes
that we've handed out. Hopefully that'll help
you follow along. But let's ask first this question.
What do we even mean when we go around saying
everything happens for a reason? Now, the one
thing I think we should clear up right away that
we're not meaning We don't mean this whole thing
of cause and effect. We don't mean that, oh,
why did I burn my hand? Oh, it's because I touched
a hot stove. That's just simple physics. This
was the cause. This was the effect. This was
the action. This was the reaction. That's not
the way we normally use this phrase. No, when
we use this phrase, we're often using it in a
much more theological sense. That's what we mean
when we say everything happens for a reason.
We mean that whatever it is you're going through,
no matter how painful that might be or how confusing
that might be for you, it must be part of some
hidden plan. It must be divinely scripted. God
must have his reason for allowing it even if
you can't see it. So whether you lost your job,
whether you were diagnosed with cancer, Whether
you just had your heart broken, don't worry.
Everything happens for a reason. Now, most of
us would never come out and say it quite like
that. We wouldn't say, yes, God planned for your
child to get sick. Or we wouldn't say God caused
that accident to happen for a higher purpose.
But that is what is implied. In this, everything
happens for a reason. And we say this, but we
also say other phrases that kind of mean this.
For example, we might say, it was meant to be.
It must have been their time. It was part of
the plan. Oh, don't worry, God has his reasons.
Or perhaps the worst one. Oh, I guess God just
needed another angel in heaven. Here's a definition
I made up of what I think we mean when we say
everything happens for a reason. What we mean
is that all events, good or bad, are part of
God's specific plan. And they happen because
God wills it. Or God causes them to happen, even
if we can't understand why. And now that is a
very strong claim, as you can see. And it causes
all sorts of questions to pop up in our heads.
People have been talking about this for eons.
Let me just put my finger on three theological
problems that this statement creates. Okay, here's
the first one. If everything that happens is
part of God's plan, then nothing is my fault.
I can't be held responsible, right? Because whatever
I did, God must have needed me to do, right?
Because it was God's plan, right? So if I cheated
on my taxes, for example, that must have been
part of God's plan for me to have a little extra
this year. Because everything happens for a reason.
Or what if I lost my temper and I really, really
hurt someone? Well, you know what? Maybe God
wanted to use that outburst to teach them a lesson.
Everything happens for a reason. The devil didn't
make me do it. Actually, God made me do it. Someone
is texting and driving at the same time and they
hit someone. It wasn't the driver's fault. It
was part of God's plan. Everything happens. For
a reason. So we don't need to take responsibility.
We don't need to repent. Everything happens because
God wanted it to happen. The second problem that
comes up with this is related. And that is that
if everything happens for a reason, then not
only is it not my fault, but that actually makes
everything God's fault. God's to blame for every
horrible and unthinkable thing that ever happens.
I mean, just watch the news. If everything happens
for a reason, then everything you see, every
tragedy, every headline, that's something God
wanted to happen. You know, a couple weeks ago,
we all saw that horrible Air India, Flight 171,
crashes just shortly after takeoff. 240 people
lost their lives in a moment. Are we supposed
to believe it was just their time? Right? That
maybe this was part of some hidden plan? You
know, there's no need to go looking for the black
box, right? Because we know why this happened.
It was God's plan, right? That's why it happened.
God planned it. And the same as with every war
and every act of abuse, every natural disaster,
God is to blame. Somehow it's part of God's will,
his hidden and mysterious will. The third problem
we run into with this way of thinking is what
you might call fatalism. And that is, listen,
if everything is pre -scripted, Why bother, right?
Nothing matters, right? So why work to improve
your marriage? Why go to therapy? Why volunteer
at a barbecue or coffee hour this summer here
at Trinity, right? Why even pray, right? Everything's
already been decided. Everything's already been
sorted out. So, hey, by the way, don't bother
voting in the next election because God's already
planned who's going to win that election. right?
Don't bother eating healthy because, hey, when
your time comes, your time comes, right? You
know, the Blue Jays, for example, two days ago,
they beat the Red Sox 9 -0. Yesterday, they lost
15 -1. They're playing again today at 1 .30.
Who's going to win? God knows. God has already
figured out who's going to win. In fact, there's
no point of them even practicing. There's no
point of them even trying, right? What's the
point? Because whoever's going to win is going
to win, and whoever's going to lose is going
to lose. So, You see all these problems that
come up, right? If everything happens for a reason,
that sounds comforting, but it leads to the sense
of irresponsibility. Nothing is my fault. Leads
to this thing of accusation that everything is
God's fault. He's to blame. And to the sense
of fatalism. Well, gosh, if everything happens
for a reason, then nothing really matters. Now,
I want to talk theology for a little moment because
there's some... Key theological ideas that come
into play when we think about everything happening
for a reason. I mean, Justin, our resident theological
expert, could do a way better job at this than
me. But let's just, you may have heard these
words, but they're really important words in
this conversation. The first one is sovereignty.
Sovereignty means God is the sovereign. God is
king. God is in charge. And nothing, therefore,
happens unless God says it happens because he
is the highest authority in the land. The second
word would be providence. You probably heard
someone say, oh, that was so providential. You
can see in the word providence is that word provide.
It's this sense that God takes care of everything,
right? Everything's been arranged a certain way,
but does that mean that God directs every detail?
We have to ask that question because there's
other theological ideas like free will, and the
essence of free will is that human beings have
been given the ability to choose things, and
that our choices actually matter. But how do
we balance, say, our free will with God's sovereignty?
Do we really have free will? Are we just puppets,
and we think we have free will, but we really
don't have free will? Or this idea of dominion.
In Genesis chapter 1, when God created humankind,
he gave them dominion. authority to rule and
make decisions, real decisions to care for. We're
not supposed to be just bystanders. We are supposed
to play a role in what happens here on earth.
So I don't know. Is it all up to God? Is it up
to us? Is it some combination of the two? If
you're going to talk about this, You've got to
talk about a fellow by the name of John Calvin.
You guys probably heard of John Calvin, 16th
century. He was this brilliant thinker and reformer.
And do you know that he wrote one of the most
important books on Christian theology? It was
called Calvin's Institutes on Christian Religion.
Do you know he was, I have a copy of it. It's
two volumes. And do you know that he wrote this
when he was 27 years old? I mean, gosh, what
were you doing when you were 27? This is amazing.
But John Calvin was actually pretty extreme in
his belief that God governed and controlled all
things. I just put a couple sticky notes in here
because I wanted to read to you a couple things
that John Calvin said, which is quite interesting.
He says, suppose a man... falls among thieves
or wild beasts or is shipwrecked at sea by a
sudden gale or is killed by a falling house or
a tree. He says, anyone who's been taught by
Christ's lips will know that all events are governed
by God's secret plan. Okay. And then this is,
I like this one. He says that he says that no
wind, even the wind, even the breeze ever arises
or increases except by God's express command,
right? So we know today it's 30 degrees out there.
It's going to feel like 36. And we know about
weather patterns and jet streams and cold fronts
and warm fronts. But John Calvin would say, no,
no, no. God, God. God dictated that that was
going to be the weather today. God made it that
way. Or fertility. He talks in here about fertility.
If you can have a child or can't have a child,
God is the one who either opens or closes that
womb. Now that is kind of a biblical idea. But
again, we know about things that affect fertility.
If you go for fertility treatment, does that
mean you're actually going against God's plan?
God's will? Calvin even goes so far to say that
the thoughts in your mind, God put those thoughts
in your mind. You didn't actually think them.
He did that. And that, by the way, leads to one
of his most controversial ideas, which is this
idea of predestination. How many people here
have heard of predestination? Yes, I see a lot
of hands. Predestination, of course, is this
idea. that before the world was made, God had
already decided which of you would be, quote,
saved, and which of you would, quote, be damned,
okay, to eternal torment or separation from God.
If you were one of the, quote, elect, then don't
worry. You would not be able to resist God's
grace. You would just be drawn to God. But if
you were one of the non -elect, and that could
be some of you, could be some of you, then doesn't
matter how hard you try or how much you love
God, no amount of desire is going to save you
because God pre -planned everyone's eternal Now,
by the way, we don't talk a lot like that here
at Trinity, like that. But my point is, this
is where it goes. And it kind of leads to these
two kind of big categories. Again, theological
words, kind of apologize for that today. But
one category is what's called theological determinism.
Everything that happens, good or bad, your life,
your choices, your eternal destiny is fixed by
God's eternal decree. So, and lots of people
still believe this today, and that is okay. I'm
not actually judging them. There's actually some
case to be made for it. So you can feel free
to disagree. Others reject theological determinism,
and they swing all the way to the other side
of the spectrum, and they believe in something
called deism, which holds that, yes, God created
the world. He kind of wound it up and got it
going, but now God has stepped back, and he gave
us free will, and he's just watching now. He
does not intervene. He doesn't speak. He doesn't
act. He doesn't respond. He doesn't do anything.
He causes nothing. So on the one hand, you got
this extreme. It says God causes everything.
On the other hand, you got this other extreme.
It says God causes nothing. For most of us, neither
of these views are satisfying. Because on the
one hand, I think we reject this idea of determinism
because we believe that actually our decisions
do matter. And Jesus acted like his decisions
mattered. The early church went around and they
believed that they were actually doing something
that mattered, that the choices they were making
mattered. They prayed like it made a difference.
They acted like it made a difference. They didn't
act just like spectators in this divinely scripted
drama. And on the other hand, I think Christians
definitely reject this idea of deism because
we believe in a God who does actually intervene
in the world, who acts. and speaks and heals
and intervened most of all by sending Jesus to
live among us and show us how to live and then
he died and rose again for us, right? We believe
actually that God intervenes in all these ways
and more. So guys, where do we go from here?
Where do we go from here? Jesus, save us from
our theology, right? Here's the good news. He
actually does that, I think, because between
these two options, I think there's another way.
Rather than everything happens for a reason,
what if God is both actively involved in our
world and yet not causing everything to happen?
Kind of a middle road. Yay, Anglicans, via media,
the middle way, right? So in Luke chapter 13,
we find this really fascinating moment that comes
up. A bunch of people come up to Jesus and they're
trying to makes sense of a tragic event that
has puzzled them. This is not the best translation.
The one that reader read was way better. But
it says, there were some present at that time
who told Jesus about the Galileans whose blood
Pilate had mixed with their sacrifices. In other
words, Jesus, did you hear? Jesus, did you hear
that Pilate went into the temple and he murdered
people while they were making sacrifices? Horrible
story. But apparently, beneath this report was
a question. And the question was, why did this
happen? Was this part of God's plan? Now, Jesus
replies, and he says, well, what do you think?
Do you think that all these Galileans, that they
were somehow worse sinners than all the other
Galileans because they suffered this way? I tell
you, no. Now, Jesus did not answer, everything
happens for a reason. or that, you know, God
has his reasons for this. No, and just to double
down, then Jesus brings up this other tragedy
that happened, that apparently, you know, there
was a tower that fell over in this town called
Siloam, and 18 people died. And now I guess God
needed some more angels in heaven, or it was
meant to be, or it was just their time, part
of God's divine plan. No, Jesus again says, no,
I tell you, no. People's suffering was not part
of some divine judgment or some divine destiny.
It was a tragedy. And the reason we kind of know
that is because Jesus' conclusion to all this
is not everything happens for a reason. His conclusion
is, wake up! Unless you repent, you too could
perish. Now, this sounds harsh. It sounds like
Jesus is saying, you know, you better repent
or I'll make something bad happen to you. But
that's not what he's saying. What he's actually
saying here is, life is fragile. Time is short.
Things happen. Random things happen. It could
happen to you. So don't wait around twiddling
your thumbs. Turn to God now. ASAP. Turn to God.
It's not that Jesus says everything happens for
a reason. In fact, he seems to be pushing back
against this kind of thinking. He says, don't
assume you know why suffering happens. Or even
better, don't use other people's pain as proof
of God's plan. I still felt like this morning
I hadn't made this case as clear, so I threw
a couple extra quotes in. But do you know once
Jesus said, God causes the sun to rise on evil
people and good people, and he causes the rain
to fall on righteous people and unrighteous.
There isn't some master plan for the weather,
right? God just gives it out to everyone. Or
how about this one? This is really interesting.
Jesus once said, oh, Jerusalem. How often I wanted
to gather your children together, but you were
not willing. Now look at this. Jesus doesn't
get his way here, right? People seem to be able
to resist God's plans for them. And over and
over again in the gospel, you see this. Jesus
doesn't say, oh, this happened for a reason.
No, he enters into that painful moment. He weeps
with those who weep. He heals. He feeds people.
He comforts people. He tries to restore people.
Jesus was not a determinist. Coldly asserting
that every disaster was part of a script. And
he wasn't a deist, standing away from all the
suffering of the world, uninvolved. No, he shows
us this third way. He shows us a God who is with
us in our suffering, but working to redeem that
suffering. He's not the God who causes it, but
he is a God who can use it. So if everything
happens for a reason, isn't the best answer.
If we want something better than this cold cliche,
then here's some good news. The Bible, I think,
offers us something better than fatalism and
false comfort. It's this. God doesn't cause all
things, but is present in all things. Right?
And God doesn't plan our pain, but he never wastes
our pain. And God doesn't work behind the scenes
to harm us, but he works within this mess to
redeem us. Four things that kind of come out
of there. And this is the first one. God can
bring good out of anything. That's what we read
in Romans 8 .28. Not that all things are good
or that God causes all things, but in all things,
God works for the good for those who love him.
Not everything that happens is God's will, but
nothing is beyond God's redemption. Okay? That,
I think, is very true. And it's a middle way
through this. Secondly, not everything is God's
will, but nothing is outside of God's reach.
Now that first statement is challenging. Not
everything is God's will. God doesn't always
get his way, right? Because of human freedom,
because of our sin, because of evil. And get
this, the Bible tells us we are not the only
free agents roaming around this world. There
are evil. beings that also have power to exercise
on this earth. So yeah, God doesn't always get
his way, but there's not a single place you can
go where God can't enter in and go there with
you. That's why Psalm 34 says, the Lord is close
to the brokenhearted and he saves those who are
crushed in spirit. Here's the third one. God
doesn't cause all suffering, but he meets us
in it. Jesus didn't sit around at a distance
trying to explain people's pain. He stepped into
it. He touched lepers. He wept at Lazarus' tomb.
He bled on the cross. In fact, the cross is really
the final word about suffering. He says, I am
not the one causing this suffering. I am the
one curing it and carrying it. And here's just
the last thing I would say. Some things do happen
for a reason. But not everything happens for
a reason, right? I think the Bible supports this
idea that, yeah, sometimes God does guide us
to the right person. He does take us to the right
place, the right moment. Sometimes things line
up in a way that you say, oh, this could not
be coincidence, right? That was God. Some of
you today could tell me stories of, you went
through a great and terrible tragedy, and in
retrospect, oh, it did seem that there was a
reason. But just because some things happen for
a reason sometimes does not mean that everything
happens for a reason. If you're out there today
and you're going through it right now, maybe
someone meant well and they said to you, oh,
everything happens for a reason. I just want
to say again, you're not being punished. You
are not part of God's cruel master plan. We live
in this world. It's a beautiful world, but it
is also a broken world. And we live in this world
where towers come crashing down, where planes
fall out of the sky, and bad things happen for
no good reason at all. But here's the promise.
God is with you. Right now, God is with you in
the mess. And though you may not get the reason,
You will always get the resurrection in the end.
Now, if you can tell that to yourself, then let's
end with this. What do we tell other people in
their time of need? You probably stood next to
someone at a funeral. I've done a lot of funerals
in the last few weeks. It feels like it's three
or four over the last month. And you're sitting
across from them, and they're grieving, and you
don't know what to say, and maybe it slips out.
You know, everything happens for a reason. But
what are some alternative things we can say to
people? who are going through tough times without
causing confusion. Well, here's one thing. You
could say this. Hey, I don't fully understand
what you're going through, but I'm here to listen.
You don't need to have perfect words. Just showing
up honestly with your presence will do more than
you know. And so a phrase like this, it honors
their pain without trying to explain it away.
Or you could just say this. What can I do to
help? Instead of offering advice or theology,
just offer practical love. Move from explaining
it to action. That's what people need most in
times of difficulty. Or you could say this, like
Jesus said, you didn't cause this. You don't
deserve this. That's a simple thing to say. When
people are hurting, they often blame themselves.
And this reminds them that pain is not... always
a punishment. Or the last thing you could say
is actually nothing. Sometimes the most powerful
ministry we can have is just being there with
a hand on a shoulder, a quiet prayer, and a willingness
just to sit in silence. The world doesn't need
more spiritual cliches. It needs people who reflect.
the presence of Christ, who are willing to weep
with those who weep and sit with the questions
and point gently and faithfully and hopefully
toward the God who redeems those things that
we cannot explain. So does everything happen
for a reason? I don't think so, no. Not everything
that happens is God's will. Not every tragedy
is divinely scripted and not every heartbreak
is heaven sent. God doesn't cause everything
that happens, but God is with us in everything
that happens. So let's let go of the cliches
and let's cling to Jesus himself. Let's let go
of the easy answers and hold on to the enduring
hope of Jesus Christ. Thanks be to God. Amen.
This sermon was recorded at Trinity Church Streetsville
on June 29th, 2025.