"You will be in the right, O LORD, when I lay charges against you; but let me put my case to you. Why does the way of the guilty prosper? Why do all who are treacherous thrive?" (Jeremiah 12:1)
Worshipping in a different language or place (or both!) is a great way to get a new lens on a familiar story. Words that you never noticed before take on new meaning, unfamiliar places make you pay attention in a different way. Yesterday, Palm Sunday, chanting Psalm 22 was part of worship. The cantor chanted the verses, but the entire congregation joined in the response (between each verse or two): "Mon Dieu, mon dieu, pourquoi tu m'as abandonné?" (My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?)
For some reason this hit me particularly hard. We all feel abandoned sometimes. We wonder why, like Jeremiah, good things happen to bad people, and why bad things happen to good people. Consider Jesus' suffering and death. Bad things happen to good people. I think the doctrine of substitutionary atonement (Jesus was sent by God specifically so he could die and take on our sins) hurts us in this regard because it means God plans suffering. How do we love a God who deliberately causes suffering to make a point or teach a lesson?
This is why I believe that God sent Jesus to show us the way of love and encourage us to live in it, even in a world full of suffering and death. Jesus died because people did not understand. But to the end, he showed another way, a way to spread love and hope. Jesus on the cross said "Father, forgive them, because they do not know what they are doing." He told the criminal next to him that he would join Jesus in paradise that very day. He gave his mother Mary and his beloved disciple to each other, creating new bonds of love to sustain them in the sad days ahead.
The power of resurrection is so much greater than the power of suffering. Whatever the world throws at you, know that God is with you. Look for resurrection.
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