Harold S. Kushner, an American rabbi, wrote a book with the title: When Bad Things Happen to Good People, which became a bestseller.

He does not give a real answer to the problem, why bad things sometimes happen to good people, but rather how it impacts them and how they may respond.

This question is a problem that has been raised as long as people have existed. People of faith are often asked the question by non-believers why a God who is supposed to be all-knowing, all-loving and all-powerful would allow suffering and bad things to happen to good people.

Traditionally the people of biblical Israel often thought – and many modern people today still do so – that our fate is the consequence for our actions, like an “action-outcome connection”. They argued: those who live according to God’s commandments would be blessed and thrive; and those who are wicked and evildoers will be punished in some way.

It is true that throughout most of Proverbs we can easily find the action-outcome connection – the basic wisdom doctrine that “people reap what they sow”. However, there are already critical voices in the Old Testament about this wisdom, for example in the Book of Job.

The biggest problem with the action-outcome connection is that people often used it in reverse by making statements about one’s character according to his or her luck. They argued: if you get severely sick, it is probably God’s punishment for earlier sins.

If you have to accept great loss in life, it is God who chastises you. And on the other hand: if you live rich and enjoy health and are lucky in life, it must be God rewarding you with his blessings. With both ideas I have major issues and disagree in many cases.

This is not only true for the biblical religions, but also for others. In Far Eastern religions this action-outcome connection is often referred to as Karma, though in Hinduism and Buddhism the consequence might as well be delivered in the “next existence” maybe even determining the existence, so that you might be reborn into better (blessing) or worse (curse) circumstances, or even as a lower class of being, like a rat or an insect.

In both of these religions rebirth is considered as continued suffering, almost like punishment, while the hope is to finally be removed from rebirth into nirvana, into non-existence. But the western adaptation of eastern wisdom is often a bit inaccurate and thus many use the word karma to describe punishment, like in “instant karma videos” on social media, often combined with Schadenfreude, meaning gloating over another’s misfortune.

However, there is a major problem with this when we apply it to bad things happening to ordinary folks. It is a “blame-the-victim” approach that adds insult to injury. It is also a self-righteous approach when others dare to judge the character of the injured or point out that they obviously are blessed and thus must be good.

However, think about it. According to this the biggest “crooks” could be seen as God’s favourites, dictators and exploiters could point to their accumulated wealth and power as evidence of their righteousness. I guess many of us would not want to agree with hat, and thus, to think that bad luck is punishment by God cannot be right either and it would be heartless.

Jesus had to deal with that question as well. In Luke 13,1-9 which will be read as the Gospel for this Sunday in many churches, we hear that Pilate had killed a group of Galileans in the temple making their sacrifices.

Jesus asked the people: "Do you think that because these Galileans suffered in this way they were worse sinners than all other Galileans?” and his answer comes swiftly. “No, I tell you, but unless you repent you will all perish as they did.”

He then asks them the same question about the victims of a collapsed tower in Jerusalem that had killed 18 people under the rubble. Were they worse sinners than the other people in Jerusalem? And he gives the same answer.

While the “No” is important, the second part is as well. What Christ is saying is that if God would use the action-outcome-connection, all would have to perish. Paul says later in Romans 3:21 that we all are sinners and thus lack the glory we should have with God. There is no space for self-righteousness.

So why do bad things happen? A lot if not most bad things we hear about nowadays happen because humans made poor decisions, and do not follow God’s or society’s rules and conventions, sometimes even with intent to harm others.

It has to do with the “freedom” we claim to have. We want to make our own decisions, sometimes against better judgment. In fact, many more bad things could happen every day, think of the lack of driving skills on our roads, and often we are just lucky, or God put his thumb between, so we and others did not get hurt.

Sometimes though bad things happen, even evil things. People suffer in this world. We should keep this in mind, and keep an open heart for them to have empathy and compassion.

I am convinced that God has more patience than we have. I appreciate God’s forbearance, kindness, love, grace and forgiveness. I appreciate it when good things happen, because I know, that bad things could happen as well. It is part of God’s grace when I or one of my loved ones is experiences good things.

Some bad things happen without anyone’s direct fault. Nature follows the laws of nature that God had implemented in his creation. Earthquakes, wildfires, hurricanes, tornadoes and flooding happen in certain circumstances, and they may hurt people in their way. Today we are actually in a much better situation than 2,000 years ago. Some of our smartest scientists have been able to decode and find many of the laws of nature and we are able to predict what might happen. They can give us warnings to prepare, and we have means to help victims much better than in any other era.

However, with all that said, I believe that a load-bearing answer to the question “why?” a person can only find himself in review after suffered pain and that answer, if one finds it at all, might even change over time. Nobody else can or should give that answer for someone else.

Jesus told his listeners a parable after the two questions above. It focuses not on the innocence of the victim, but on repentance and Gods patience: he compared God’s patience with the sinner, with a gardener who takes care of a fig tree that doesn’t bear fruit. Instead of immediately cutting it down, Jesus says, the gardener softens the ground around it, feeds it and hopes it might produce in the next year.

That is what repentance actually means. Turning from what is evil and bad and turning towards love and what is good, maybe even with a little help from a friend.

Imagine how much brighter and fairer our world would be if we could overcome the gaps in society, and if we were willing to share more of the good fortune some have with those who had bad luck.

But not just charity, we could be fairer in many other ways. Imagine we would not charge the highest price we can get on the market, whether it is for housing, food, or cars, but a fair and honest price, a win-win situation, and dealt with each other with mutual respect, or even love.

Imagine all people would be paid at least a true living wage that they can live a decent life in return for hard work. The heavenly kingdom would come very close to us, it might even be right among us where we need it most.

• Karsten Decker is a German theologian with a double degree equivalent to an MTheol and MDiv. He studied in Marburg (Germany), Knoxville (USA), and Toronto (Canada) and comes from a united church of Lutheran and Reformed Churches. He was the pastor of Peace Lutheran Church in Bermuda from 2010 to 2017, and after returning from Germany is now the temporary pulpit supply at Centenary United Methodist Church in Smith’s