The State of The Nation: 04/10
WILL WE LISTEN AND RETURN
The past couple of weeks have seen a number of natural disasters
around the Pacific Ocean area. First of all there was Typhoon
Ketsana which struck the Philippines, and also Vietnam and Cambodia,
then a huge earthquake in the South Pacific triggered a Tsunami
which severely affected the Samoas and Tonga, and then the double
earthquake in Western Sumatra, Indonesia. A further storm, Typhoon
Parma, is due to hit the Philippines again this weekend. At the same
time there have been horrendous mud-slides in Sicily.
The accumulated scale of these disasters is immense. There has
been massive loss of life and injury to people, and unimaginable
devastation of communities and destruction of property. The
implications for multitudes of people are incalculable. Life will go
on, people will try to pick up the pieces and rebuild their lives,
and buildings will be replaced in one way or another. But the levels
of sorrow and pain, the losses and emotional damage that will have
been done to individuals will not be so easily repaired.
Our first reaction must be to sorrow with those who sorrow today.
We would be inhuman if we did not feel grief for all these who
suffer. These were what we call natural disasters, and they were
predictable to some degree. The people living in these areas are
used to the violence of nature and the impact of storms and even
earthquakes. But that will not lessen their loss and the damage done
to their way of life and social conditions. Many of them were
already very poor and now they have even less. There is a duty on us
to respond with support and help as we are able.
But beyond that first reaction we need to look at what has
happened to ask some more fundamental questions. I know these
natural disasters occur quite frequently and with the modern news
services we hear about them almost as soon as they happen. The
danger is that we just accept them as a part of the way the world
functions and give no attention to what lessons we ought to learn.
They highlight four significant things for us to think about.
- The Uncertainty of Life - How quickly those events happened.
Once the Tsunami arrived and the earthquake began the people had
no chance of doing anything. For those who died it came quickly.
The day before they were doing what they always did and the next
day their lives were over. But that can happen anywhere in the
world - an accident, some violent act upon us, sudden illness.
Who knows how long any of us may have in this world? In a moment
it can all end. That is very sobering and should make us think
about life and what follows.
- The Impotence of Mankind -Science and technology have
done many wonderful things and improved life for millions around
the globe. But the most they could do with all these natural
disasters is predict that they would come. No-one on this earth
has the power to stop a typhoon or an earthquake. Nature is much
more powerful than man with all his boasting and pride. How we
need to learn a lot more humility. And the things that men in
general exert their powers for seem rather inadequate when you
think of the thousands who may have died in the last seven days.
- The Vulnerability of Each of Us - There is greatness in
every human being, but also staggering weakness. So often we try
to be independent of everyone else. So often we protest our
right to choose what we will do. But in reality there are forces
in the world that are so much stronger than we are. It may be
nature, or it may be political and social movements, but we are
not in as much control of our lives as we like to think we are.
How then can we find real significance and value for ourselves?
- The Possibility of Meaning in These Events - If you
have followed my reasoning up to this point then you will be
ready to think about what we can learn from such tragedies that
can help us. I would suggest to you that in these events God is
speaking to us. They come naturally but they warn us about the
uncertainty of life and our weakness and vulnerability. In that
way they point us to God. Let me show you three things they tell
us about God.
- We will all meet Him after this life is over. Jesus
taught that very clearly and demonstrated it by His own
resurrection from the dead. God is the source of life and the
One to whom we are answerable. God speaks to us in life’ events
and calls us to seek after Him. We live independently of Him and
pursue our own ideas and ways. It is only when something serious
happens that we will stop and take notice of Him. You must do so
now.
- The power and violence of creation is enormous but how much
greater is the Creator. We tend to think of God as someone who
is just a bit greater than we are. To many people He is merely
an extension of their own consciousness. That is an utterly
false view of Him. God is beyond our conception. The creation we
see around us testifies to His sheer phenomenal greatness. He is
so much bigger and greater than anything we can imagine. If you
can relate to such a concept you will immediately see that to
reject and oppose such a Being is a very serious matter indeed.
That is one of the primary messages the Bible teaches us.
Disasters should make us consider the reality of God and His
awesome greatness very carefully.
- God speaks to Men out of Sheer Love. - God has no need of
us, but He created us to know Him. He is faithful and true, and
therefore does not abandon His designs. So He uses these great
events to remind us of His Justice and wrath. The Bible often
tells us that through these events God is calling men and women
to return to Him.
Some may question whether this can be so, but that is because
they minimise our sinfulness. In reality our sins against God are so
great and so offensive to Him. In His justice He must punish us. Yet
He still withholds His hand of ultimate punishment and gives us time
to repent. That is where the Cross of Jesus comes in, because on the
cross Jesus bore all the punishment our sins deserved and through
faith in Him we can know forgiveness and acceptance with God.
These awesome events are terrible but they can have a merciful
purpose for us if we think through the issues they raise and then
turn to Christ.