March 14, 2011
Christ United Methodist Church
“Christ in the Heart of San Diego”
3295 Meade Avenue
San Diego, CA 92116
(619) 284-9205
Pastorgraphs: "Apocalypse and Redemption”
It seems that since the Christmas 2004 Tsunami killed a mind boggling quarter-million people, there has been a steady stream of natural disasters, each one more horrific than the last. 2005 - Katrina, the worst natural disaster on US soil;
2007 - California wildfires with the largest mass evacuation in US history – including my family;
2010 - Haiti Earthquake that killed another 250,000 people and left 1.5 million homeless;
and now, 2011 - the apocalypse in Japan.
And that doesn’t include the man-made disasters, such as the Gulf oil spill.
If what we witnessed in Japan in recent days does not rise to the level of apocalypse, then I don’t want to see the real apocalypse!
There is a passage in Luke that sounds a bit too uncomfortable in light of recent events:
“And there shall be signs in the sun, and in the moon, and in the stars;
and upon the earth distress of nations, with perplexity;
the sea and the waves roaring;
Men's hearts failing them for fear,
and for looking after those things which are coming on the earth:
for the powers of heaven shall be shaken.” (Luke 21:25-26)
It seems that indeed the powers of heaven have been shaken. So how do we live in these fearful, heart-failing days?
The rain falls upon the just and the unjust. Natural disasters don’t distinguish between good and evil victims.
In times like these, we need to be reminded of a few things:
1. God loves each and every one of us.
2. While Christians do not have an insurance policy against natural disasters, illness, pain or sorrow, we have the inner power that can only come from faith, hope and love.
3. All things work together for the good of them who love the Lord.
4. And perhaps most importantly, God is Just. The tragedies and suffering in this life that defy explanation will be resolved by a loving, just God in the life to come.
This message is timely as we enter the Season of Lent. I enjoy a TV program called “Who Do You Think You Are?” It is a series of famous people discovering their ancestors. In every program, the person says “I thought I knew who I was, until … I learned my relationship to my father, (or grandfather, or great-grandmother).”
That is the essence of Lent. Jesus found the strength to resist the temptations, the easy answers and the comfortable notions of how to live a life as he affirmed through his baptism and wilderness journey that he was indeed the Son of God. Only when we come to know “Who Do You Think You Are” in relationship to our Heavenly Father do we find the strength to make it through the difficult times, as Jesus did.
Remember, Jesus rejected the devil’s temptations to wear the Crowns of Pleasure, Pride, and Power. He chose instead the Crown of Thorns.
So how do we cope in such earth-shattering times? It’s right there in the next two verses of Luke 21:
“And when these things begin to come to pass,
then look up,
and lift up your heads;
for your redemption draweth nigh.”
Fear not: Lift up your heads, for God loves you, and is with you always!
Devotedly,
Pastor Bill
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