Is God Evil?

Sermon for University Congregational Church
August 27, 2006
by Michael Leary
Our minister died a couple of days before I did this.

Is GOD Evil?
The other night, there was someone who asked me what I was going to talk about today. I said the title of today's sermon, “Is God Evil?” Without hesitating, they replied, "No!”.. “Now what else are you going to say?" For some people it is an easy answer. For others it is puzzling, confusing, and for some, anger producing. How unfair is this.... Dr. Gary Cox, the man, brought all of us a unique view of spirituality. In his incredible short time as a minister, he has effected more positive changes in people's lives than some ministers do in their lifetime. And because of this, some might hear in their minds a nagging question or statement. “How could God do this, to this wonderful man.” “What lesson is God trying to teach here.” “What is this family supposed to learn?” Especially when they were already there. They all are the example that most of us believe is the dedicated Christian life? Not only have we been blessed what we learned from Gary but the whole Cox family too. We got Leigh and her passion for life as well as their three daughters, Cara, Lisa, and Corinne. Each one in the family has brought a learning and the spirit that Gary has wanted this church to have. Back in April of 2002, Gary did a series on battling evil that gives a very good take on what evil is and is not. My concern today is to reinforce in our time of grief, what he said.
Three decades ago a man was having an affair. His wife caught him and he was banished to the attic for punishment. Shortly after that, his child was playing in their driveway on one of those child scooters which swept him into traffic. The child was killed instantly. It shook the man so deeply that he bought into the belief that he had done a deed so heinous that it warranted God taking his child. He became a fundamentalist and now believes in predestination to assuage his guilt.
Back in the early 60s, when I lived out the airbase, there was a woman and her family who befriended me. Her husband worked with my step-dad at the hospital in McConnell Air Force Base. She confided to me one day that she was driving back from Derby to Wichita on K15. She had a flat tire and pulled over to see if anything could be done. Within a few moments her five-year-old climbed out of the car and was hit and killed right in front of her. Her minister said she must have done something terribly wrong for God to have taken her child. She told me she went crazy for a year, digging through her life with a fine toothed comb, looking for what she did that was so bad... that it warranted God taking her child.
After the year of pure hell, she finally decided that it was the minister who was wrong. There could be learning involved but God taking her child for her sin wasn't it.

Two different people,... two different conclusions. If that woman had done something that she considered bad, would she have concluded it was deserved also? Does God orchestrate such things? The Biblical passage today is from Isaiah 45 in the King James Version.
5. I am the Lord, there is no other, beside me... there is no God. I girded Thee, though thou hast not known me.
6. That men may know from the rising of the sun…and from the West,… that there is none... besides me. I am the Lord and there is none other.
7. I form the light and create darkness; I make happiness and I create evil; I the Lord... do all these things.
Wow, seems pretty definitive. Of course technically we can say he creates evil, he isn't evil. So how do we play with that? Of course there are other places in the Bible over and over where it seems like God is doing a set up. If you've dealt with children, how many of you would set something within reach that was tempting? Isn't that what God supposedly did with the Garden of Eden? John Conley talked about this last week some.
How human of them to be curious. But doesn't it sound like a set up? And of course in the mystical sense, it is to allow for us to learn. As we are learning here today.
When Moses saw the burning bush and God told him... He was to ask Pharaoh for three days journey into the wilderness so they can make a sacrifice to God himself. God then goes on to say how it's going to be a problem so he'll help them out with some plagues. And then in Exodus 4:21
And the Lord said unto Moses, when thou goest to return into Egypt, see that thou do all these wonders before Pharaoh, which I have put in thine hand: but “I” will harden his heart, that he shall not let the people go.
Now, if you can just imagine yourself as Moses…and this is what the boss just gave you instructions to do. Go ask for a bunch of stuff, but I'm going to make it so he tells you nope, it isn't going to happen. Doesn't this sound like a set up? I mean, can you see Moses just thinking, why don't we cut out the middleman here. And of course one of the great questions is... did Pharaoh even have a choice then?

So what is it? There is story after story like this in the Bible. Is it any wonder the fundamentalist believe it's all predestined. That there really isn't any choice... which takes it out of your hands completely and sets it up to be orchestrated by God. We just go from one moment to the next following a preprogrammed system. You're either in or you're out. Of course it also bumps up against... do you deserve it or not? Other people, much smarter than I, have wrestled with that for centuries. This congregation was just confronted with it... in the worst possible way.
How does the will of God operate? Is it God's will that negatives come into one's life? Did God let it happen?
And If God has a "hands-off" policy,... then... are we on our own... to decide our fate?
What are we going to do,... when we realize it? We can... decide to be better... even unconsciously.
The night after the Reverend William Sloane Coffins' son died, he said he was sitting in the living room of his sister's house outside of Boston, when the front door opened and in came a nice-looking, middle-aged woman, carrying about 18 quiches. He writes,… When she saw me,... she shook her head, then headed for the kitchen, saying sadly over her shoulder, "I just don't understand the will of God." Instantly I was up and in hot pursuit, swarming all over her." I'll say you don't, Lady!" For some reason, nothing so infuriates me as the incapacity of seemingly intelligent people to get through their heads that God doesn't go around this world with his fingers on triggers, his fist around knives, his hands on steering wheels. The one thing that should never be said when someone dies is," it is the will of God. Never do we know enough to say that. My own consolation lies in knowing that it was not the will of God that my son Alex die;... that when the waves closed over the sinking car, God's heart... was the first of all our hearts to break.

Wow, what a wonderful statement. God's heart... was the first of all our hearts to break. And I love looking at it that way. I have to believe God's heart was the first to break when Gary was diagnosed with incurable cancer.


But how do we square that up with what we see as evil. Is it a form of sin? Is it evil if it's unintentional? We read about a mother that was loaded on methamphetamine and while passed out let her baby died. Is what she did evil? Are the drugs the evil? What about her life situation being where she was in so much pain she was using the drugs to try to get some semblance of OKness in her life. Is her situation different then the mother that wanted to date some guy and put her children in a car and drown them all. And is that part of God? Sin, is generally seen as a separation from God. That is: When God is not an awareness in your life, and you are estranged, you lose perspective in the spirituality of all things, including yourself.
The Hindus have a process that most of we Westerners are aware of as yoga.
What yoga means is, “a union with God.” In their system, everyone is doing yoga whether they know it or not. They have names for every behavior that humans might do.
Most people are familiar with Hatha yoga. It is enlightenment through physical exercises.
Juana yoga is enlightenment through knowledge.
Raja yoga of is enlightenment through right thought / deed /or action.
Tantric yoga is enlightenment through sex.
Prana yoga is enlightenment through breathing.
Mantra yoga is enlightenment through chanting.
Gary was doing Bhakti yoga, that is enlightenment through devotion.
What the Hindus are amazed at,... is,... we Westerners seem to prefer… Karma yoga.
That is,.. enlightenment through punishment. Sometimes this is also translated as, “your own doing.”
That is… you set yourself up for your own problems to go through.
So… in their system, everybody's on the journey no matter what.


There's another old saying, “God doesn't give you more then you can deal with.”
Well, that came from a nun. I've been to the death camps in Europe, I've had patients who have died from their misery. And we know about children who have had horrific lives, I've seen suffering that killed people, so I don't buy that platitude. That is romanticizing God. I don't believe God works that way. God is supposed to be an inclusive concept. You want to belong to and experience God as part of you.
So how about the Taoists view.
They start out with God is everything. To symbolize that, they draw up the eternal circle. But immediately you have something and nothing. So the universe splits in two. To symbolize that, they make one side white and one black. Because the universe is not static, they show it as the two fishes which are commonly known as the yen yang. The thing is you can't have an absolute with just one side, so they draw it where at its absolute peak it gets contaminated with the other. So in the two dimensional symbol the fish gets an eye of the contrasting color. If it were three-dimensional you would see it undulating and turning. This is a symbol of God. Trying to show God in action. From there we identify the polarities:
White - Black
Right - Wrong
Good - Bad
Out - In
Hard - Soft
Heaven - Hell
Jesus - Satan
Men - Women
Hmm-m-m . Some of you maybe having a reaction with that. That's a common mistake in which people can think there is some kind of relationship with these words vertically in the list. This is a real advantage for men. Especially white men that are seen as good and right with Jesus on their side. It's an easy trap to fall into that has nothing to do with reality. This is simply a model to try and explain a phenomena that men tend to draw up in their favor. You can understand it without making that mistake.
I'm a movie buff. Often I find as much food for thought in this form of entertainment as I do wrestling with scholarly works. But there is a great passage from George Burns in the movie, “Oh God, part two.” That clarifies the duelist perspective.

This scene takes place when Tracy, the little girl, has run away. They are in the train station in God is taking her back to her house.
God says:
running away is never the answer.
Well, can I ask you a question?
Go ahead.
Why do you let bad things happen?
You ask very good questions.... you know Tracy, things that you might think are bad, are not always bad. Sometimes there is a purpose you're not aware of.
What about sickness? What about kids my age who get sick and die? Those are really bad things aren't they?
Those are bad things. Yes, pain and suffering, that's a hard one to explain.
I'll bet.
I know this sounds like a copout, but there is really nothing I can do about pain and suffering. It's built into the system.
Which you invented.
Right, but my problem was, I could never figure out how to make anything with just one side to it.
One side?
So, you ever see a front without a back?
No.
A top without a bottom?
No.
An up without a down?
No.
OK, and there can't be a good without a bad, life without death, pleasure without pain.
That's how it is. If I take the sad away, happy has to go with it. If anyone knows another way, I wish they'd put it in the suggestion box.
We are moving toward some idea that... evil is a label that is part of the process you decide about…. And your curiosity as to how to resolve it is working inside of you.

Again quoting the Reverend William Sloane Coffin:
If you love the good,... you have to hate evil... or your sentimental.
If you hate evil MORE than you love the good... you become a damn good hater.
In the movie Contact, the alien says to the Jodie Foster character: "You are an interesting species.
An interesting mix. You're capable of such beautiful dreams and such horrible nightmares.
You feel so lost, so cut off, so alone, only you're not.
You see, in all our searching, the only thing that seems to make the emptiness bearable, is each other.

In the movie, Starman. Jeff Bridges is the alien. He says towards the end of the movie:
You are a strange species. Intelligent but Savage. The strong are not supposed to victimize the helpless.
There are things that are Beautiful about you. You are at your very best when things are at their worst.
A year ago yesterday my oldest daughter died of breast cancer. At the funeral, my ex-wife asked me and Leigh along with my stepson to leave. This, after all the grief she had already given us in our lives. I was incensed at this terrible injustice but complied given the circumstances. Gary took his precious time to console me and help me hang on to my faith and beliefs when all I wanted to do was be rageful. He didn't do it by talking a lot. He did it by allowing me to see he embodied the spirit of Christ. From my work as a therapist I know that when people touch their mortality, it often shakes them to their foundation and makes them question their value and purpose in life. I asked Gary how his mortality impacting him. He said it had no effect because his faith was embedded in him already. As Gary like to say, he had a high Christology. Love everyone, Judge no one! It was a part of his being and we were all privileged to see it in him and can use him as a model for us.


Now, this church is in pain. We all are suffering with a huge hole in our spirit.
How do you console yourself when you experience the unfairness and uncertainty of life?
Our faith should make it possible to live in a world with uncertainty.
Back in the 70s, I read a story about a woman in Lebanon when the Shi'ites were shelling it. She took her two little girls, three and five, down to a bomb shelter for protection. As the Muslims were walking the mortars in, the little three-year-old pleaded with her mother, "Mommy, Mommy, pray to Jesus to take the bombs away." The mother, even in her heightened sense of anxiety, knew this was one of those ontological traps. She was trying to figure out the answer,... when her five-year-old popped up with, "Silly, you don't pray to Jesus to take the bombs away, you pray to Jesus to take the fraid away."
Again, William Sloane Coffin:… God gives all of us…minimum protection... maximum support.
Robert Browning Hamilton wrote:
I walked a mile with pleasure
she chattered all the way
but left me none the wiser
for all she had to say.

I walked a mile with sorrow
and Ne'er a word said she;
but the things I learned from her
but oh, the things I learned from her.
When sorrow walked with me.

How then, can we, who use Jesus as a model for decency, use him to help us with our fears, and with our pain?
Would you please bow your heads.
imagine yourself being someplace that's beautiful and peaceful for you.
Find yourself just relaxing and feeling very calm… and peaceful there.
Find yourself experiencing as fully and completely as you can… that peaceful environment.
And notice that you are curious about how quickly you are able to… relax and get comfortable.
You might imagine that you can float. That you have become so light that you can just float gently away. Or you might find yourself getting comfortable by getting deeper into your thoughts.
From there, allow yourself to go to a sacred place and find what may be your God,... or may be your Jesus,... or may be your higher power,... or maybe even an important… family member.
And as you come into their presence you can notice how much calmer and peaceful you get.
Allow yourself to interact with them in a way that is soothing and comforting to you.
From deep inside, ask yours how to... heal yourself.
How to... balance yourself and feel whole.
Allow yourself to experience their spiritual presence in a way… that is helpful for you.
allow that connection to help you let go of those negative feelings... and experience truth… in your heart.
That the part of us that it is
grief and sadness,… can transcend... to empathy and comfort.
That fear and avoidance,…. can transcend... to courage and loyalty.
That anger and injustice,… can transcend ... to forgiveness and grace.
That judgment and disgust,… can transcend ... to compassion and kindness.
That control and rigidity,… can transcend ... to having faith and trusting.
That closed mindedness and cynicism,… can transcend... to wonder and beauty.
That possessiveness and stinginess,… can transcend... to joy and contentment.
That selfish and jealous from being alone,… can transcend… to love and belonging.
Now, thank that part of you for helping you discover what you needed today.... And know that you can
contact them this way from now on if you choose to do so.
Allow yourself to take all that you've considered here today and use it to guide you in your quest for your spiritual growth. Allow the love and family within this church to feed and nurture you. Allow our collective grief to comfort you and remind you that you are not alone in your experience.
As we conclude this service, allow your personal spiritual guide to be with you and give you guidance and bring you joy throughout the rest of this day… experience the beauty and energy that surrounds you. ..
Allow that part to continue to help you in a conscious way… as well as an unconscious way.
take as long as you need before coming back… and then open your eyes.
Amen