“The Lord Answers All Our WHY’s”

Pentecost 11 – August 15th and 16th, 2009

Habakkuk 2:1-4

If you are an individual who happens to use a computer program for word processing, then you are familiar
with a feature that just about every word processor comes with – the spell-checker! If you are typing something, say,
in Microsoft Word, and you use a word that is not in their dictionary, the spell-checker will put this big red line
underneath the word, and will offer other suggestions for what you might have meant. If the computer can’t
recognize the word at all or even associate another word with it, it will pop up with the message, “No suggestions!”
That’s exactly what would happen if you were to type the name Habakkuk into your word processor. You
would get a big red line underneath, and a message that says, “No suggestions!” The name Habakkuk isn’t
recognized by the word processor that way that other names are, like Isaiah, Jeremiah, even Ezekiel! It’s not very
familiar, and therefore didn’t find its way into the very extensive dictionary that comes packaged with the Microsoft
Office products.
The name Habakkuk is equally as strange to modern-day Christians. When I say the name “Habakkuk,”
what’s the first thing that pops into your head? Does anything pop into your head? Or is your brain right now
saying to you, “No suggestions”? The name Habakkuk is not really familiar to most people, and therefore, the chief
message and unique structure of Habakkuk’s prophecy, is also rather unfamiliar. Yet, this beautiful little book, this
gem, which is tucked away towards the end of the Old Testament is very valuable to us today, because the prophet
asks some very fundamental questions that people of every age have raised and still do to this day – the question
“Why”.
Why does the Lord allow evil in the world, when he truly hates evil so much? Why do the wicked go
unpunished? Why are unbelievers allowed to prosper? Why, if the Lord is caring and compassionate, does he allow
suffering to enter the lives of those who trust in him? These are really important fundamental questions, which, if
they go unanswered can lead a person to despair. But what we’ll learn today is that the Lord answers all of those
pertinent why questions. He answers first with a call to patience which trusts that God knows what he is doing,
even when the evil around us and in our lives may indicate that God is not in control. He is in control, and his
perfect wisdom in guiding this world will ultimately lead to a celebration of his might, power and grace. He calls us
to patience, and he calls us to faith, as we operate in the confidence that everything is in the loving hands of our
gracious God, and he will work everything for the good of his eternal family.

I. With a call to patience

The structure of this relatively unknown book is quite interesting, and unique in all of Scripture. It takes
the form of a dialogue between the prophet and his God about all the evil in the world, both the wickedness and
unbelief of the southern tribes of Judah who had turned away from the Messianic promise of the Christ, and the
wickedness among the Babylonians whom God was going to use to punish the unbelief of Judah. The complaints
that Habakkuk made can be pared down to one universally penetrating question, “Why?!” “Why, God are you
allowing these obstinate people to continue disgracing you in unbelief, and why would you give honor to the
heathen Babylonians by allowing them to destroy your people? Why, why would you do such a thing? None of this
makes any sense to me and I want answers!”
Think of how bold this was – lodging formal complaints with the God of the universe, putting his wisdom
and his providence on trial! That would be like an employee of a major corporation going to the suggestion box and
putting in that box a very bold and abrasive message, like: “Management stinks! I don’t know what you guys think
you’re doing, but it doesn’t make sense to me, and if I were in control I would do things completely different! The
way you’re running this company is completely backwards, and if it were up to me, you’d all be out and I’d run
things the right way around here and make everything the way it should be!” Would you ever do that? Would you
ever write that kind of suggestion for management and then, as if that weren’t bold enough, sign your name?
Well, that’s what Habakkuk did! He lodged a formal complaint against God! The prophet couldn’t wrap
his mind around what was happening around him. The people of Judah were worshiping idols, and it seemed that
such behavior was going unchecked by God, and the Babylonians were gaining strength and oppressing the people
of God, which also was seemingly going unnoticed, hence the questions, “Why God? Why wouldn’t you act in
judgment on these evil things? Why don’t you just stomp out wickedness and unbelief? You have the power to do
it. Wouldn’t that be the right course of action? How long are you going to allow this nonsense to continue?”
Do you ever find yourself asking the same questions of God? “Why?” We look at what’s going on around
us in the world and question God, “Why would you not bring judgment on the false religions of the world? Why do
you continue to put up with the vast immorality of our society? And for that matter, why do I have to suffer? Why
do I, who have placed my trust in you, have to suffer with the rest of the unbelieving world? Why do I have to have
all these physical weaknesses and ailments? Why have you taken my loved one from me? Why must I lose my job,
when I have proven a faithful worker, and been a faithful employee? Why? None of these things make sense to me,
and if I were in your position, I certainly wouldn’t do things this way!”
How bold we are! How bold we are to question the all-encompassing perfect knowledge, wisdom and grace
of our God, the way that Habakkuk did, to complain about the circumstances we face, as if God were not aware, as
if he were absolutely clueless up there in heaven, and completely disconnected from his own creation! How
bold...or maybe...how foolish our sinful hearts are!
God has a response for us, not one of justified judgment, for surely whenever we question his perfect
wisdom, we place ourselves, and our own wisdom above God’s and therefore break the 1st commandment. Instead
of visiting our lack of faith with immediate judgment, our God exercises patience with us and calls us to the
same...to patience: “Write down the revelation and make it plain on tablets so that a herald may run with it. For the
revelation waits an appointed time; it speaks of the end and will not prove false. Though it linger, wait for it; it will
certainly come and will not delay.”
How quickly we jump to conclusions about God and his wisdom when we are faced with adversity. How
quick we are to think that God doesn’t have our best interests in mind when we are suffering for any reason. To
that notion, God’s answer to the children of faith is simple: “Be patient, my child! I know what I’m doing!” When
you are suffering physically, God knows what he is doing. When you are struggling to find work or to pay bills,
God still knows what he is doing. When you are hurting, when your heart is aching, when your shoulders become
weary of the burdens they are asked to bear, God still knows what he is doing. And even though you and I cannot
always see it, (and often we sinfully question it), God always has our best interest in mind. The suffering we go
through has not escaped his notice, the challenges we endure are not things that God is unaware of...he will deliver
us according to HIS timeframe! God is in control of all things, he is in control of your life, and will prove his
wisdom, power, majesty and grace when his great and glorious plan for you is brought to its magnificent eternal
conclusion in heaven. So, be patient...and have faith in your gracious God, because he has proven himself worthy of
our trust with a perfect track-record of faithfulness.

II. With a call to faith

Trust is a big 5 letter word. Trust is something that is hard to establish, even harder to keep, and nearly
impossible to restore if broken. In the Old Testament, God’s people had every reason to have faith that God would
work for their eternal good. Time and again, God would come to their rescue in the hour of their most desperate
need. When the Egyptians were chasing them toward the Red Sea, God opened up the sea, and they crossed safely,
while the Egyptian chariots were drowned. When the children of Israel were in the desert, God gave them food
from the heavens and water from rocks, in a place where there was no food and water, and he did it for 40 years.
And at numerous times in their history, at critical junctures, God chose to clothe himself in visible majesty as the
“Glory of the LORD” as he went into action to personally carry out his work of judgment and salvation.
God has a perfect track-record, and it is on the basis of that track-record that God calls for us to trust him in
all circumstances. We hear that call to faith in verse 4, where God says: “The righteous will live by faith,” a
statement which really has a double meaning. First, you and I need never ask God “why” about any suffering we
must endure, because we have been clothed with the righteousness of Christ. Our sins have been washed away in
his holy blood, and nothing more needs to be done to secure our eternal dwelling in heaven. Jesus has done it all for
us, and the Holy Spirit has applied the blood of Christ to our sin-stained souls through the Word and Sacrament,
guaranteeing heaven, which lies ahead for all who believe. Why ask why now, when, finally, in the end, there is
promised glory? St. Paul reminds us in Romans 8:18, “I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing
with the glory that will be revealed in us.” We will endure anything that the Lord asks us to endure, because, for the
believer in Christ Jesus, though there be suffering on this side of eternity, there is glory to come!
But there’s another glorious truth to that phrase, “The righteous will live by faith.” Why ask why, why
approach God with questions and complaints when God has proven himself faithful every single time? As children
of faith who are cleansed of sin through Jesus Christ, we also live our lives by faith, that is, trusting that our
gracious, saving God will never leave or forsake us. He will never turn his back on us, or be unaware of our
suffering, our uninvolved in our lives. The Lord has promised to love us and care for us, blessing us with his
presence at our side at all times. What reason would we have not to trust him? He promised to save the world from
sin, to send a Messiah who would serve as the sacrificial lamb for all mankind, a promise which he kept perfectly.
Why doubt his wisdom, his love, his grace? Romans 8:32 reminds us, “He who did not spare his own Son, but gave
him up for us all, how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things?”
Habakkuk – a strange name of a relatively unknown book with a very pertinent and timely message for
Christians today! Truly what a gospel gem! For all of our why questions, God gives us the same answer he gave to
the prophet – be patient and have faith. Be patient, because you, child of God do not need to know every detail of
every circumstance of your existence. You don’t always need to know why...you simply need to know that God
knows what he’s doing. And if you want a reason to believe that God knows what he’s doing, gaze upon that holy
hill just outside Jerusalem, where the faithfulness of God materialized in its greatest manifestation – in the suffering
and death and resurrection of his one and only Son, Jesus Christ. Why ask why, when all of our eternal questions
have found a definitive “yes” in Jesus? Amen.