Token Lutheran takes on theodicy

In my pastoral care class, I'm the only Lutheran.

Today's assignment was to write a difficult funeral sermon for a middle school aged boy killed by an exploding fire extinguisher his dad was working on.

My African Methodist Episcopal classmate spoke like one of the folks to the hypothetical kids in the congregation, saying, "If you're upset because you can't throw the football around with Frank Jr. anymore, I say, throw it anyway."

My Congolese classmate saw an opportunity to encourage the gathered people to accept Christ and receive salvation if they hadn't already, because the sudden nature of Frank Jr.'s passing makes everyone realize their mortality, and a funeral may be one of the few times they visit a church.

I felt the need to solve the theodicy problem -- that is, how is deadly shrapnel from a supposedly protective device compatible with a view of God as both loving and all-powerful?

My classmates thought my answer -- that Frank was only in the shop because he loved his dad, that love is stronger than physics, that love is worth the risk of living, and that God promises life abundant but not life without loss -- was very Lutheran.