by Douglas F. Parsons

When Rabbi Kushner wrote When Bad Things Happen to Good People, a few years ago, many
wrote to tell him they had a great idea for a sequel. Why not write a book about "Why
Good Things Happen to Bad People?"

The sufferings of the righteous are not the only theological problem.  The
prosperity of the wicked bothers people at least as much.

Why do selfish, dishonest people seem to get away with so much? If God can’t protect
the virtuous from illness or from other people’s cruelty, couldn’t He at least send His
divine thunderbolts in the direction of the mean, crooked, selfish people in His world?
And if He’s not sure who they are, we could all probably suggest some names. 

For instance, I can think of a half-dozen well-placed funerals which might benefit the
world. But my candidates for eternity are still very much alive and, seemingly prospering,
while I can think of some fine, decent, upstanding good people whose backs are to the
wall. It doesn’t seem fair to me.

Actually, the same problem is as old as the Bible itself. Jeremiah, Habakkuk and the
writers of the Psalms often appear to be more concerned about the prosperity of the wicked
than with the sufferings of the good. Psalm 37 admonishes us not to be troubled overmuch
about the fact that the wicked prosper in this wold, because their end is sue and they
will "be cut off." That’s all well and good, but what I’d like to know is when?

Jesus, in the Sermon on the Mount said, "God sends rain on the just and the
unjust" (Mathew 5:45). When we hear that verse we think, "Yep, that’s the way it
usually works out. You can plan a picnic and it rains." Ogden Nash put it into verse,
which says, "The rain falls on the just and the unjust fellas, only the unjust have
the umbrellas!" But really, when you think of water symbolizing God’s grace, the
verse does not mean that bad things happen to good people, but that good things happen to
bad people!

God is impartial and loves even the wicked so there is hope. After all we are all
sinners. If God should punish the wicked immediately who would be left? That’s what grace
is all about. None of us gets exactly what he deserves. God is not just. God is merciful.
God always has something better for us. He has infinite love. We are not perfect, any of
us. And the good news is that Jesus came to tell us that God loves us anyway!

Good things do happen to bad people – that is, to you and me. And that is enough to
give us hope to keep on keeping on, even when life doesn’t seem fair!

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