Luke
13:1-5 ESV
There were some present at that very time who told him about the Galileans
whose blood Pilate had mingled with their sacrifices.
2 And he answered them, "Do you think that these
Galileans were worse sinners than all the other Galileans, because they suffered
in this way? 3 No, I
tell you; but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish.
4 Or those eighteen on whom the tower in Siloam fell and
killed them: do you think that they were worse offenders than all the others who
lived in Jerusalem? 5
No, I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish."
Let
me make four quick points about the Tsunami Tragedy.
The
Bible is not embarrassed to speak about God’s complete control over all
things. In Ezekiel 33 we read that foreign invaders attacking another country is
described as God bringing the sword against a nation. Likewise in Ezekiel
famine, pestilence, the attacks of wild animals and natural disasters are all
described as God’s acts of judgement against people.
Christians
ought not to be embarrassed about God having complete control over all things
including this Tsunami.
But
why then would God do such a horrible thing as this?
Since
Adam and Eve sinned our world has been under a curse, under the judgement of
God. Things do not turn out the way we want them, and it is all designed by God
to tell us that mankind is not in touch with God the way that we ought to be.
God
doesn’t owe us a good, peaceful and harmonious life. The fact that God is
loving does not prevent him from being a righteously angry God judging the world
for its rebellion against him.
The
Bible makes it abundantly clear that mankind does not deserve God’s goodness,
BUT that God mercifully shows his goodness to us with regular monotony even
though he knows that our familiarity with his goodness can and does breed
contempt for his goodness so much so that when tragedy does happen to us that we
demand answers from God.
Tragedy
and death take us by surprise when they really ought not to take us by surprise.
Death is a universal. It is just a question of when and how for us? And the hard
fact of the matter is that for the majority of mankind death comes in tragic
circumstances, before they have had an opportunity to lead a full life.
Mankind
is still under the judgement of God.
I
preached on this at Christmas time. God is not indifferent to our suffering and
pain, delivering his judgement upon us from a million miles away. God came to
earth and lived among us. And he wasn’t born into some winter wonderland or
some Disney world production far removed from our pain and suffering, but he
rolled his sleeves up and got into the thick of it. He didn’t jump into the
shallow end by right into the deepest end.
Jesus
was known as the Man of sorrows. And he died a tragic death in the prime of his
life. It was a brutal and completely undeserved, unjustified death.
But
God brought this about because he loves us. Tragic death and judgement that
lasts for all eternity is what we deserve. The Tsunami is just the tip of the
iceberg really. But Jesus bore the full brunt of God’s judgement for us so
that we wouldn’t have to.
God
in his love has provided us with the only escape route, at massive personal loss
to himself, from his terrifying but fully righteous final judgement.
God
has promised a day will come, and soon, when no one will ask the “Why”
question again. God is going to make a new heavens and new earth where there
will be no more pain, suffering, tears, death and evil.
The
so called problem of pain is just a temporary problem.
In
the meantime, while we wait for the New Creation, there are 2 things that we
need to remember when tragedy occurs …
Bad
things don’t just happen to bad people. Sometimes tragedy falls upon people we
think are bad, sometime upon people we think are good. Jesus warned us not to
make a necessary connection between tragedies striking people because they have
done bad things.
The
people of Asia are no more deserving of this awful tragedy than Sydney is.
The
lesson that Jesus wants us to take from tragedies is that unless we repent we
too will perish!
These
tragedies ought to remind us that …
·
we are mortal.
·
That life in
this old creation is so short.
·
That a final
and far more terrifying judgement awaits us still.
So
we need to turn to Christ, to accept his rescue that he died to give us.
In
our prayers therefore we ought to pray not only for the comfort and relief of
the many effected people across SE Asia but we also ought to pray for them and
for people all over the world that they would learn this life giving lesson that
Jesus has taught us.