Tsunami.
[Been writing this post for something like a week and a half now. I still don't know if it's come out right, but I hope you'll get what I'm saying.]
I had a brief but refreshing time to relax over Christmas (more on that at some other time), but (I assume like most people) my good cheer was dimmed somewhat by the news from SE Asia.
Really, most of what there is to say has already been said in every medium I can think of. It is a terrible thing, with the predicted loss of life running well into six figures, and I cannot imagine what it is like for those directly affected.
All I can do is ask some common questions…
I have this faith, a firmly held belief, in an all-powerful God who is love. So how then does crap like this happen in the world? It’s not as if we can point to a particular human failing or evil act that caused so many to suffer and die – no group organized or otherwise has set out to make a point – rather, this is a terrible ‘natural disaster’. One which God presumably could have done something about.
The thing is, I haven’t got an answer to that one.
A while back I preached a sermon on Job. While I was preparing it, I couldn’t escape the hard fact that the Bible offers no easy answers to ‘the question of suffering’. Plenty of people have tried to find them there, some even claiming to have succeeded, but I don’t think any of them actually have.
I don’t know if it’s only recently that we have expected an easy, friendly, fluffy life (with our centrally-heated lifestyle banishing all but the most persistent discomfort) and projected that onto our God. I do know that Jesus was very quick to point out that those who followed him would have quite the opposite: despised, rejected, abused. He warned of war and disaster in the last days. These things, however terrible, are a fact of life.
None of which answers the question. I wonder if there is an answer?
For me, I guess it’s a matter of faith. But faith isn’t blind, nor is it dumb or self-delusional. Faith is what you get when you reach the limits of your understanding, but keep going regardless. We’re certainly beyond understanding now. And faith is honest: my faith right now cries out to God, “Why?” and “Why didn’t you…?” How could it otherwise?
And there’s this little undercurrent running by that is aware that this is awfully easy to say sitting here at my keyboard in Edinburgh. There’s no-one I know around the Indian Ocean just now. I’m not there. But what would I be saying if…?
But I think that’s okay, too. My faith is in a God who is bigger than all this, and is certainly bigger than my questions. Meantime, I just keep asking.
—
Wherefores aside, there is the obvious matter of our response to these disasters, as people sharing the same ball of rock. It’s heartening to see so many people from all parts of society digging into their pockets to help ease someone else’s pain. That is good, and that is right. But ponder this that Debs points out: “Tonight I came across a statistic from the Child Health site that every week 200,000 children die of preventable diseases. It kind of puts things into perspective. It doesn’t belittle what has happened in South East Asia, but it’s just a reminder that we need to be constantly seeking to meet the needs of the poor, not just when the latest disaster hits our screens.”
The relief effort going on is truly massive. Ordinary people are putting in great effort to change things. But the fact remains that on 25th December 2004 there were countless hungry, thirsty and homeless in this world, innumberable ill and scared and oppressed and lost. On 25th December 2005 I’m unfortunately sure that there will be a similar, if not larger (although I hope it’s smaller), number of the same. It’s not as if the world as a whole doesn’t have the resources to sort such things.
But maybe I’m just a misguided idealist.
—
A further thought from Jason Clark via TSK.
January 7th, 2005 at 2:15 pm
I was thinking of some similar stuff – the fact that at the moment the Tsunami fatality figure is around the 150,000 mark (and probably set to vastly increase) and yes it is good that so many nations have gathered to help, but their are others things around….
I read somewhere recently that Bob Geldof reminded us to keep supporting the 100s of thousands in Africa who ALWAYs need our help – I hope people do not forget them as the media is so focussed on this ‘new’ disaster. The situation in Africa is also a natural disaster. People ask – where was God in all of this?
But it is not just the African starving,the tsunami victims that need our help – millions have been killed (more like slaughtered) by countless armies/mecenaries in countless countries – african Tutsi, Serbia, Kosovo, Iraq – need I go on? People ask – where was God in all of this?
How much does it take to happen to the world before people/governments sit up and realise that this world needs a fair bit of sorting out otherwise there isnt going to be much left? There is enough to do without killing each other and making it worse…
How much can we as Christians do? As Mark says, our faith needs to be strong as times like this certainly test it. But our faith isnt empty – God is bigger than all of this – get a scientist to tell you how big the universe actually is! Look at some space photographs from the Hubble telescope and try not to be blown away in awe.
The world is still here (just)and all we can do is look after it in the way God wanted us to look after it (we were after all given responsibility for it by God)
How far will God let us mess the world up? Throughout the Bible he let SO many people get so far in messing things up (cos we are good at that – acting without thinking and speaking without taking the large shovels out of our mouths) and then stepped in to sort it out – we have faith that God will sort it out, but I think he is hoping we will learn before that point (he does give us chances and wants us to think for ourselves), so all we as Christians can do is pray that we do.
Apologies for the long winded rant….
January 7th, 2005 at 6:40 pm
also have a look at this sent to me by Paul
http://www.desiringgod.org/library/fresh_words/2004/122904.html
January 7th, 2005 at 7:07 pm
Some good thoughts, but I’m not sure I’d be so quick to cry ‘judgement’. Indeed, I did a lot of reading when I was looking at Job for that sermon, and I don’t recall any suggestion that what happened was a judgement on Job’s children. I can see how the writer of that piece might reach that conclusion – it’s a seductively easy way to explain away a text that otherwise raises very difficult questions – but it’s not actually borne out by the text. In fact, I’d go so far as to say that there is nothing in the book of Job that suggests any sort of divine ‘judgement’. Quite the opposite: when Job’s friends cry judgement, God responds by saying, ‘Who are you to say such things?” Now there’s a lesson we could well learn.
Not all (nor even, I may stick my neck out and say, most) suffering is down to judgement from God.
Have a nosey at Luke 13:1-5. Even Jesus doesn’t make a straight equation between earthly suffering and God’s judgement. More of an awareness that tragedy happens.
The real lesson from Job is that it’s our response to it that is telling.
January 10th, 2005 at 4:07 pm
I’ve been thinking about the whole death and suffering thing and to be completely honest I can’t say that it is something that has ever really shaken my faith in a loving compassionate God. I might appear to be really cold hearted by making that statement, but I can assure you that I’ve been close to tears watching the news reports. The thing is I believe God made a beautiful, perfect world that had no place for death or suffering, but then man ruined it all when he blatantly disobeyed our loving and just God. In his justice, God sentenced us all to death as the wages of sin is death, but in His love He gave us Jesus to take our punishment and to bring us back to that place (heaven) where death and suffering no longer exist.
Its heart breaking for us to hear everything thats happened in asia, so how much more heart breaking is it for God to see His children ignore all the goodness and life that He died to offer them and to see them suffering without Him?
I’d say all death is ‘judgement’ but it is just and fair judgement, as harsh as that sounds. For some reason its easier for us to accept the death of a frail old person in a nursing home than to accept the deaths of people ‘before their time’
Every person on this earth deserves to die (Chritians and non-Christians alike) and it is only by Gods grace that we are still here to breathe our next breath. Maybe we need to start focussing more on Gods grace and His patience and long-suffering.
This is a terrible thing that has happened and all we can do is pray and care for those left behind and pray that God will bring His glory through the catastrophe.
January 14th, 2005 at 9:40 am
thanks for those thoughts. not sure whether you picked up Rowan Williams on it: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/opinion/main.jhtml?xml=/opinion/2005/01/02/do0201.xml
or Tom Wright:
http://comment.independent.co.uk/commentators/story.jsp?story=597132
January 14th, 2005 at 10:56 am
I hadn’t. But I have now. Thanks.
October 16th, 2006 at 11:13 am
Closing comments here, as this post has become a major magnet to spam. Anything to add, hit me with an email (blog AT marramgrass DOT org DOT uk) and we’ll get them opened up again temporarily.