The following homily was shared at our Sunday Evening Eucharist service 8/30/26.

Scripture Readings:

Old Testament:

You duped me, O LORD, and I let myself be duped;
you were too strong for me, and you triumphed.
All the day I am an object of laughter;
everyone mocks me.

Whenever I speak, I must cry out,
violence and outrage is my message;
the word of the LORD has brought me
derision and reproach all the day.

I say to myself, I will not mention him,
I will speak in his name no more.
But then it becomes like fire burning in my heart,
imprisoned in my bones;
I grow weary holding it in, I cannot endure it. (Jeremiah 20:7-9)

Gospel:

Jesus began to show his disciples
that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer greatly
from the elders, the chief priests, and the scribes,
and be killed and on the third day be raised.
Then Peter took Jesus aside and began to rebuke him,
"God forbid, Lord! No such thing shall ever happen to you."
He turned and said to Peter,
"Get behind me, Satan! You are an obstacle to me.
You are thinking not as God does, but as human beings do."

Then Jesus said to his disciples,
"Whoever wishes to come after me must deny himself,
take up his cross, and follow me.
For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it,
but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.
What profit would there be for one to gain the whole world
and forfeit his life?
Or what can one give in exchange for his life?
For the Son of Man will come with his angels in his Father's glory,
and then he will repay all according to his conduct." (Matthew 16:21-27)

I would like to begin by raising a question to the room: why does God allow suffering to exist? It’s a question you have almost certainly heard before, probably in several different forms, maybe even to the point that you are tired of hearing it. And no, I’m not able to satisfyingly answer that question, especially not in a one page homily, but we shouldn’t let the lack of an answer stop us from asking. And yes, I’ve heard a dozen different flavors of the hand wave-y half answers like “Creation is broken, so things are bad,” or “Something- something free will,” which while theologically sound explanations of how suffering can exist when there is a perfect and loving God, don’t really do much to address the question of why.

As unintuitive as it sounds, I actually want to hold on to this lack of an answer to, instead of offering an explanation, simply welcome the question as it is. Because I don’t think God has any intention of offering us a clear answer. Scripture is full of people yelling at God about their problems. We see it in this reading from Jeremiah, and very frequently throughout the rest of Jeremiah’s writing. It is one of the major recurring themes of the Psalms, is famously one of the main points of the book of Job, and even Jesus, when He is on the cross, cries out, “My God, my God, why have You forsaken Me?” Surely Jesus, if no one else, would know, being one with God, that He has not abandoned Him. Surely Jesus has that perfectly satisfying answer we are all asking for when we wonder why God let us end up in whatever painful, broken situation we find ourselves in. In our Gospel reading today, Jesus reveals that He knew from the start that He would be crucified and that He knows exactly why it is happening and how the story ends, but He still asks why.

Jeremiah is not shy with his complaints to God. Beyond simply lamenting his suffering, beyond even questioning why God would allow it, he goes as far as to blame God for the position he is in. But the unbearable fire, the painfully desperate need to turn back to God, does not come from his questions, or his blame, or his anger. It comes when he turns away from God, when he decides the cross is too heavy to bear, and he will speak God’s name no more.

Jeremiah met God in the questions, in the contention. He came to God as he was, hurt, angry, and looking for answers. It was messy, imperfect, and painfully human, but above all it was honest. God is not calling you to come to where He is, God is where you are now, and is calling you to be there with Him. Yes, God is calling you to a better place than where you are, He wants you to grow and heal and be sanctified, but He is calling you to pick up the cross that is at your feet, not the one at the top of the hill. God has come down to be with you, a broken and confused sinner, right now, just as you are. He is here in His Word, He is here in His Church, and He is here at this table; so come and receive Him, with all the hurt and all the questions, just as you are.

Just As You Are: Caleb Adcox

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