Brothers
and sisters:We hold this treasure in earthen vessels,
that the surpassing power may be of God and not from us.
We are afflicted in every way, but not constrained;
perplexed, but not driven to despair;
persecuted, but not abandoned;
struck down, but not destroyed;
always carrying about in the body the dying of Jesus,
so that the life of Jesus may also be manifested in our body.
For we who live are constantly being given up to death
2 Corinthians
4:7-15
Clearly,
Paul had no expectation that being a person of faith would result in divine
protection. God will not protect us from
misfortune, reward our good behavior and compliance with His will, or punish our
bad behavior. That just isn’t the gig.
Jesus
spent a lot of time contradicting the assumption that God doles out good
fortune and bad fortune. He pointed to a
recent tragedy at Siloam where a tower collapsed on eighteen people, and an episode
where Pilate had a group of Galileans killed as they brought sacrifices to the
Temple. (Luke 13:1-5) Jesus heals a man blind from birth to answer an amazing
question posed by his disciples: “Is this man blind because of his own sin or a
sin committed by his parents?” (John 9:1-12).
It is clear the theologians of the day thought this was a valid question
too. (John 9:34)
Finally,
in the Beatitudes, Jesus insists that the poor, the sick, and the socially
outcast have not been cursed by God but have more of God’s attention than those
of us who consider ourselves “blessed” by good fortune.
