June 29, 2025: Top 5 Things Jesus Never Said: “Everything Happens for a Reason” Ecclesiastes 9:1-4, 11 & Luke 13:1-5a Rev. Dr. Rhonda Abbott Blevins Ecclesiastes 9:1-4, 11
All this I laid to heart, examining it all, how the righteous and the wise and their deeds are in
the hand of God; whether it is love or hate one does not know. Everything that confronts
them 2 is vanity, since the same fate comes to all, to the righteous and the wicked, to the good
and the evil, to the clean and the unclean, to those who sacrifice and those who do not
sacrifice. As are the good, so are the sinners; those who swear are like those who shun an
oath. 3 This is an evil in all that happens under the sun, that the same fate comes to everyone.
Moreover, the hearts of humans are full of evil; madness is in their hearts while they live, and
after that they go to the dead. 4 But whoever is joined with all the living has hope, for a living
dog is better than a dead lion. 11 Again I saw that under the sun the race is not to the swift, nor
the battle to the strong, nor bread to the wise, nor riches to the intelligent, nor favor to the
skillful, but time and chance happen to them all.
Luke 13:1-5a
At that very time there were some present who told Jesus about the Galileans whose blood
Pilate had mingled with their sacrifices. 2 He asked them, “Do you think that because these
Galileans suffered in this way they were worse sinners than all other Galileans? 3 No, I tell you,
but unless you repent you will all perish as they did. 4 Or those eighteen who were killed when
the tower of Siloam fell on them—do you think that they were worse offenders than all the
other people living in Jerusalem? 5 No, I tell you.
______
Life was humming along, everything was going according to plan for Kate Bowler. By the
age of 35: she had married her high school sweetheart; together they had a beautiful,
healthy baby boy, now a toddler; Kate had landed her dream job as a professor of religion
at Duke Divinity School—one of the preeminent seminaries in the nation. And then one day,
she received the news that shattered the illusion of her perfect life: stage four cancer. When
the doctor gave her this horrific news, all she could think to say was, “But I have a son.”
The next weeks and months were as you might expect, doctors appointments and
chemotherapy. Trying to raise her little guy while keeping him away from the toxic
chemotherapy bag attached to her waist. Then there was the aspect of a stage four cancer
diagnosis at age 35 that she didn’t anticipate—the sometimes helpful, sometimes unhelpful
words from family and friends. One well-wisher told her husband at some point during this
terrible ordeal, “Everything happens for a reason.” His reply? “I sure as hell wish I knew
what it is.”
Kate’s diagnosis hit in 2015. I am glad to report that she is alive and well, still teaching at
Duke Divinity. She penned a memoir which became a New York Times bestseller. The title?
Everything Happens for a Reason (And Other Lies I’ve Loved).
Which brings me to the title of my second sermon in the current sermon series: “Top 5
Things Jesus Never Said: Everything Happens for a Reason.” Jesus never said it. And neither
should we. Let’s unpack why.
Let’s start with digging into why we love this lie so much: “Everything Happens for a
Reason.”
The first reason it resonates for us is because it gives us the illusion of control. If everything
happens for a reason, then surely, we can figure out the formula. And the formula probably
looks something like “good behavior=good outcomes; bad behavior=bad outcomes.”
(Spoiler alert: this didn’t work for Kate Bowler and it doesn’t always work for us either!) If
we know this formula and do all the “right” things believing that karma will be kind to us,
we can feel safer in an unpredictable world. Right? Maybe for a time. Until the uncle who
never smokes gets lung cancer. Or the friend who always drives the speed limit gets killed
by a drunk driver. Or the nicest couple you’ve ever met gets burglarized at gunpoint.
King Solomon, known for his great wisdom, observed the folly of this kind of thinking. In
fact, he shatters this illusion in Ecclesiastes 9:11: “the race is not to the swift, nor the battle
to the strong, nor bread to the wise, nor riches to the intelligent, nor favor to the skillful, but
time and chance happen to them all.”
The second reason I think we love this lie so much—“everything happens for a reason”—is
that it protects us from feeling hopeless (and God knows we need some things that help us
feel less hopeless!) If there’s a reason bad things happen to good people, that means
someone is in control (even if we can’t see it). Maybe it’s easier for us to believe in some
kind of hidden plan than to accept randomness, or “chance” as Solomon calls it. The fact of
the matter is . . . bad things sometimes happen in our broken world. The race doesn’t
always go to the swift; the battle is not always won by the strong.
If “everything happens for a reason” isn’t biblical or even true, what then, does the
scripture actually teach us about suffering?
From the Old Testament, the text we read from Ecclesiastes reminds us that life is
unpredictable. Solomon writes that the righteous and the evil . . . everyone faces the same
fate. In other words: no one gets out of this life alive. He points out that success isn’t always
tied to virtue, to effort, to good deeds. “Time and chance happen” to us all. Solomon isn’t
looking at the world through rose-colored lenses, rather, he’s giving us a hefty dose of
realism.
Me? I admit to you I prefer the rose-colored glasses view of the world. Like Kate Bowler, I
really want to believe that “everything happens for a reason.” I’d even go so far as to say
that this is my default view. I’m pretty sure I’ve even passed this on to my children when
I’ve tried to teach them that the recipe for success isn’t just their smarts (which of course
they inherited from their mother!) but that they must work hard too. Am I sending them
into the world with the false notion that their hard work will automatically ensure success?
King Solomon would suggest that’s not the magic formula. In fact, reading between the
lines, Solomon suggests there is no formula for success. “The same fate comes to all,” he
writes. “Time and chance” happen to us all.
Turning to the New Testament, what does Jesus say about all of this? In Luke 13 we read
about Jesus receiving a report that some Galileans had died, and that Pilate mixed their
blood with the blood of animal sacrifices. This was unconscionable to good Jewish people
because it defiled the sacred temple ritual with human blood, making the offerings ritually
unclean and turning an act of worship into an abomination under Jewish law. Those who
reported this horror to Jesus seemed to assume that those individuals to whom that
happened had committed some kind of sin. Jesus responded by asking them: “Do you think
that because these Galileans suffered in this way they were worse sinners than all other
Galileans?” “No,” he said. Then he asked another question to make his point: “Or those
eighteen who were killed when the tower of Siloam fell on them—do you think that they were
worse offenders than all the other people living in Jerusalem?” “No.” Jesus’ point was that bad
things aren’t divine punishment. Jesus explicitly rejects the “everything happens for a
reason” fallacy. Tragedy does not equal divine judgment.
Now that we’ve considered why we might love this phrase so much, compared with what
scripture actually has to say about it, let’s consider together why we should abandon the
“everything happens for a reason” mentality altogether.
1. It blames the victim. “Everything happens for a reason” implies that people
deserve the suffering they must endure. Suffering people may search through their
past wondering what they did wrong to deserve such suffering. Kate Bowler
wondered what she had done to deserve her diagnosis of stage four cancer at age
35. Think about the unnecessary guilt and shame this adds onto someone already
suffering.
2. It silences honest grief. “Oh well, everything happens for a reason” shuts down
authentic lament and honest inquiry. Anger and confusion in light of human
suffering is natural—this phrase might make people feel guilty for feeling these
natural human emotions. It’s a Pollyanna viewpoint—a toxic positivity if you
will—that might prevent the real work of mourning and healing. Think about Jesus
crying out in pain from the cross, “Why?” “Why have you forsaken me?” and some
dufus in the crowd yelling back at him, “Everything happens for a reason, Jesus.”
Wouldn’t you just want to punch him in the nose?
3. It trivializes real evil. This is the third, and perhaps most poignant, reason we
should abandon this phrase. “Everything happens for a reason” makes God the
author of abuse, genocide, violence of all kinds, natural disasters, etc. Atrocious
human suffering becomes God’s doing, part of God’s divine plan. Please, if you never
think about anything else I say to you as your pastor, think about this: our God is not
a malevolent God; our God does not cause our human suffering as part of God’s plan.
Although this theology is rampant, this way of thinking about God is the epitome of
taking the Lord’s name in vain. God complicit in every tragedy? Who would want to
worship a God like that? Not me! I hope not you either.
So then, what is God’s role in tragedy and suffering? I’m glad you asked!
1. God promises to be with us through our trials. This was true in the Old
Testament, as evidenced in Isaiah 43:2: “When you pass through the waters, I will be
with you; and when you pass through the rivers, they will not sweep over you.
When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned; the flames will not set you
ablaze.” Then in the New Testament Jesus promised his followers this in Matthew
28:20: “And lo, I am with you always, until the end of the age.” The most beloved of
the Psalms reminds us of this truth (Psalm 23): “Yea, though I walk through the
valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for Thou art with me.” God is not the
provocateur of our trials; God is the presence through them.
2. God redeems our human suffering. Romans 8:28 is often misunderstood: “And we
know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him.” People want
to twist this to suggest that all things are good. That’s not what this verse says at all,
rather, it suggests that God can take bad things and works good from them, not that
all things are good. That’s redemption. God can take human suffering and bring
beauty from ashes. The most important example of this is the cross: death does not
have the final say because God can redeem even something as final as death.
So what might we say instead of “everything happens for a reason?”
It’s better to simply offer an honest acknowledgement of someone’s pain:
“I am so sorry.”
“This breaks my heart, and it must break God’s heart too.”
“I don’t understand why this happened, but know that I’m here for you.”
Do you see how this acknowledges another’s pain without trying to make meaning out of
suffering?
Another way to respond that far surpasses “everything happens for a reason” is simply
showing up. Show up with food, not explanations. Offer your presence instead of platitudes.
Help with practical needs, picking people up from the airport or asking for a grocery list.
Sometimes the most spiritual thing we can say is nothing at all.
Look, people of faith have been trying to understand suffering and God’s role in it for
millennia. The truth is, this is one of the great mysteries of the faith. What if we became
comfortable saying not, “everything happens for a reason,” but rather, “everything
happens.” Because it’s true. Everything. Happens. Period.
In light of this mystery, let us hold on to what we do know:
1. God loves us, even in tragedy.
2. God suffers with us. The ultimate example of this is Jesus on the cross.
3. God promises ultimate healing. This is the hope we have in resurrection.
4. God calls us to love each other through the pain.
These are immutable truths we can take to the bank.
At the end of the day, the phrase “everything happens for a reason” tries to make sense of
senseless suffering. But what if the comfort we need isn’t an explanation but a presence?
What if what matters isn’t finding the reason but discovering the God who enters our
unreasonable pain?
Kate Bowler learned that she couldn’t control her circumstances, but she could choose how
to respond to them. She couldn’t find a reason for her cancer, but she found grace in the
midst of it—grace that came through medical care, through loving friends, through the gift
of each day with her son.
We don’t need everything to happen for a reason. We simply need a God who walks
with us through everything.
When someone you love is suffering, don't offer them a reason. Offer them your presence.
Don’t try to solve the mystery of their pain. Just walk with them through it. Because that’s
what God does for us—not explanations, but Emmanuel: God with us, in the mess, in the
confusion, in the heartbreak.
And sometimes, that’s reason enough.