Sunday, Sept. 4, 2005

I know that I am backdating a bit, but I have been wondering about the appropriateness of me posting a sermon concerning the hurricane on this site.

"Winds of Fury, Circles of Grace"

Over the past week, I am sure that no doubt many of us have watched countless hours of coverage of the destruction of Hurricane Katrina. To me, it’s unbelievable not only the damage that was done, but the human toll it continues to take.

I was having trouble deciding on how to approach the subject of Katrina and other natural disasters this morning. Should I try to address questions of theodicy and ask why natural disasters such evil can happen in a world that was created by a good God? Or, preach a sermon about compassion and social justice?

In some ways I believe that these two things are at least somewhat related. Don’t get me wrong - in no way am I setting up this idea to say that evil happens so that good can come out of it. Let’s just stop that there. I believe that God isn’t that cruel. Granted, Romans tells us that all things work together for the good in the end, but that’s in the ultimate big picture. I’m talking about now. Sure, we want to provide a reason for why something bad has happened, but the loss of thousands of lives to bring about a new understanding of God - I don’t think so.

When we blame God for natural disasters, when we call chaos an “act of God,” we portray our Creator as a destructive and terrifying foe.

Now I admit, maybe it is too easy for me to talk like this. Those of us who are not experiencing suffering have to be very careful when we talk about what it means to suffer. I am very aware of the fact that I am waxing poetic about the theological meaning of a hurricane when I am thousands of miles away, dry and unscathed. I have no right to tell someone who has lost everything in a natural disaster that it is inappropriate to be angry at God. Yet I believe that even as the shouts of frustration and cries of pain are hurled at God, God continues to console the inconsolable. God continues to be an ever-present source of strength and courage and comfort and peace.

My sermon title this morning comes from a book that a pastor, who has now become a friend of mine, wrote about ten years ago.

You may remember the Palm Sunday tornadoes from 1994, some of which struck Goshen Springs Methodist Church, killing many members, including his daughter. In his book, Dale describes the grief that he and his wife, who was the pastor of the church, went through after losing their daughter and many members of Kelly’s congregation. The book also describes the literally thousands of letters people wrote them, trying to make sense of what happened.

As you can imagine, few of those letters were helpful. Theories of all different kinds poured in. Some blamed the fact that Goshen church was pastored by a woman. Others weren’t so harsh and tried to offer comfort through clichés that were empty in faith. And others simply told them to deny God altogether. In their own way, all of them were trying to make sense of what had happened.

To me the book was helpful in pointing out how little we really see God. Dale says that most all of the people who were asking questions about faith asked pretty much the same question, “Where was God in all of this?”

After a long time of searching and praying, he finally came to a conclusion. God was not only there with them during the tragedy, but was with them before and after. As he began to witness the outpouring of love and compassion, he began to see where God was working through the hands and hearts of the people around him.

There is a plaque at the Goshen Springs Methodist Church in Alabama that reads “Sometimes God calms the storm. Sometimes he lets the storm rage and calms the child.”

What Dale found, and what I have found in my own experience, is that for the most part people who say that they believe in God, go about most of their lives thinking about and experiencing who God is. God is more of a vague shadow, even in the lives of Christians, than an ever-present comfort and guide that he promises to be. And, since we are pretty lucky and spend most of our lives without tragedy, we tend to “overlook” God for the most part. So, when the time comes that we need to look to God for support and comfort, it’s not that God isn’t there, we’ve just forgotten how to look for him.

I don’t know why God lets bad things happen. But I do know that when bad things happen, the people of God react differently than those who don’t know Christ - or at least they should.
As we consider the role of God in this disaster, we must also consider the role of humanity. In addition to the primary disaster of the hurricane, we have also observed many deplorable responses to the havoc. The nation is truly in an uproar. Stories of unbridled looting and unspeakable violence bear witness to the human capacity to sin. Yet God continues to love our broken humanity. Furthermore, the slow response to deliver aid to the mostly impoverished minorities who were unable to leave New Orleans has given rise to significant questions of justice.

But even then, we have already seen, even through the tragedy and slow government response, an amazing amount of money, assistance, compassion, and love have been given by people of all walks of life. So when people ask, “Where is God in all of this?” I believe that God is in the hands of those who have responded. In the hands of those who are giving out food and water to those who haven’t eaten in days. In the prayers of those who are unable to lift or rebuild. In the arms of those who hold a newborn baby or comfort a man who is slowly dying.

Yes, we have seen a great amount of destruction caused by nature and caused by people, but already there have been signs of God’s love and grace, even as the water covers many places and people.

We have an opportunity to be agents of God’s grace. Through our prayers, we can pray for the comfort and healing of those who have been affected. Through our hands we can help feed those who have been displaced and can help rebuild when the times comes. And through our gifts we can not only provide the resources for beginning recovery, but resources that will help continue and sustain those who return to nothing.

This morning, as an act of outreach and love and being agents of God’s grace, we will have the opportunity to help those in need through our gifts to the United Methodist Agency, UMCOR – the United Methodist Committee on Relief. Any money left on the altar rail this morning as we come to partake in communion, will be sent to UMCOR to help in the aid and rebuilding efforts for those who have been affected by the hurricanes. In addition, there is opportunity to help through assembling health kits, meals, and flood buckets.

Let us come to God’s table partaking in the Body of Christ and being reminded of how we can be Christ’s body for the world.