60 Paisley Street, Victoria 3011, Australia
A rough guide to our location in Footscray, Melbourne
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60 Paisley Street, Victoria 3011, Australia A rough guide to our location in Footscray, Melbourne
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Pictures from the family camp at the Campaspe Downs country resort
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Sermon – Jeremiah 14:1-9 Response to Tsunami & Suffering Rev Rainer Schack 9.01.05 Since
Boxing Day, the Tsunami disaster has been on the front page of the leading
newspapers and TV-News Bulletins. The death toll has been rising to over 165,000
with the final figure probably never to be known. The entire world is in shock
and wondering how something of such a proportion could have happened. Why
weren’t there warning systems in place? Those
with a faith in God are wondering whether God has any responsibility in what has
happened. God, why didn’t you intervene? Why did so many innocent children
have to die? Various
clerics have given their interpretations of the disaster as to why God is
directly responsible, indirectly responsible, or not responsible at all. Some
church leaders explain that God has judged the world for their sins. Others
state that it is God’s judgment on the Muslim world in particular, and others
assert that God has not sent the disaster, but has passively permitted it to
happen. And
then there are those theologians who are a bit more careful with their
explanations, who encourage us to grieve with those who are grieving, rather
than to find theoretical explanations which add further pain to those who are
already grieving. How
has the tsunami tragedy affected you? What feelings, what questions have arisen
within you as you have listened to the news? What responses have been triggered
within you either in word or deed? Whatever
our emotional responses are, it is important to know that we can express them
before God, that we can share our helplessness, our confusion, our anger, and
all our questions with God and with one another. The
psalmists, the prophets, Job and even Jesus asked the tough questions: How
long will we have to go on suffering? God
where are you? God,
why are you like a warrior powerless to save? God,
why have you forsaken me? While
in most texts the reason for the people’s suffering is explained by their sin,
Job is the one example in the Old Testament who suffered for unexplainable
reasons (at least from his own perspective). The reader of Job is being told
that God & Satan were testing Job’s faith, but Job was unaware of the
reasons for his suffering. And
finally we have the example of Jesus himself who suffered from the rejection of
his people, who was tortured and finally killed without having sinned himself. What
then might be the Word of God to us in the current situation of such incredible
suffering as caused by the tsunami? Last
week we read John 1, and were reminded that the Word was God, and the Word
became flesh in Jesus. God’s word is spoken and revealed foremost in the life,
death and resurrection of Jesus. God’s most important word to us in face of
the tsunami is Jesus. In
Jesus, God has become human, God has embraced broken humanity, God has
experienced what it means to be hungry, thirsty, poor, to be threatened, to
suffer, to be tortured, to be killed, and how it feels to be forsaken by God. “My
God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” In
the resurrection of the crucified Jesus, God protests against all
life-destructive forces, whether inflicted by humans or by nature; and God
points to the life of Jesus as the one to be followed by all God-fearing people. Being
faced by hungry people, Jesus fed them with what was available, rather than
worry about whether it was enough for all. Being
faced by a blind man, Jesus restored his sight, rather than worry about why he
was blind. Being
invited by religiously unclean people, Jesus accepted their table-fellowship,
rather than worry about his reputation. Where
can the risen Christ be found in response to the tsunami disaster? Maybe
with the mother who is grieving and crying for her lost child. Maybe
in the doctor who packed his bag to help in looking after the sick. Maybe
in the many people all over the world who are giving generously to the relief
effort. The
birth, life, death & resurrection of Jesus shows that God’s power is
different to our understanding of power. God’s power is the power of love,
which makes itself vulnerable, which often seems helpless and weak. God’s
power is a gentle power, willing to suffer with those who are suffering and to
trust in the transforming power of love. May
the story of Jesus keep on inspiring us, may the living Christ comfort those who
are in pain and create hope within the midst of hopelessness. May all those who
are in various ways affected by the tsunami find hope in the words of Jesus: “He
will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or
crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.” (Rev 21:4) |
