Disaster Response

With the earthquake and tsunami  in Japan we once again have a natural disaster of “biblical proportions.”  Besides acting as the source of an idiom, I once again wonder what the Bible really has to say about events such as these. 

There are two common responses in particular which I have once again been confronted with in the past couple of weeks.  One is the notion advanced by a Shinto priest that this was divine punishment, specifically for the materialism of the Japanese people.  I recall a similar judgment being pronounced by some Christians against the people of New Orleans after hurricane Katrina. 

Jesus offers some particular insight into situations like these in Luke 13:

1Now there were some present at that time who told Jesus about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mixed with their sacrifices. 2Jesus answered, “Do you think that these Galileans were worse sinners than all the other Galileans because they suffered this way? 3I tell you, no! But unless you repent, you too will all perish. 4Or those eighteen who died when the tower in Siloam fell on them—do you think they were more guilty than all the others living in Jerusalem? 5I tell you, no! But unless you repent, you too will all perish.”

6Then he told this parable: “A man had a fig tree, planted in his vineyard, and he went to look for fruit on it, but did not find any. 7So he said to the man who took care of the vineyard, ‘For three years now I’ve been coming to look for fruit on this fig tree and haven’t found any. Cut it down! Why should it use up the soil?’

8“‘Sir,’ the man replied, ‘leave it alone for one more year, and I’ll dig around it and fertilize it. 9If it bears fruit next year, fine! If not, then cut it down.’”   (Luke 13)

We know that God in his sovereignty can and does discipline those he loves and uses the hardships in our lives for his purposes (or turns them into opportunities for that, see my article “Joy from Pain.” )  But clearly it is far beyond the reach of our human discernment to draw a precise correlation between disastrous things that happen and some sin that is responsible for them.   What Jesus does is to shift the focus away from wondering what sinful behavior on the part of the victim was the cause of the catastrophe, to what are you doing in regards to your relationship to God?  In other words, when confronted with a disaster in someone else’s life, that is your opportunity to confirm that you have repented—turned away from living for yourself and devoted yourself to God.  Maybe there were people in Sendai or New Orleans that needed to do that as well, but that’s not the point.  What about you?  And Jesus never leaves out the other side of the salvation coin.  Besides just repentance, what are you doing to ensure that your life is bearing fruit?  He knows well the job description which he gave to his premier evangelist, the apostle Paul:  to convince people they should repent and turn to God, and prove their repentance by their deeds (Acts 26:20).   

When I hear of judgments being passed on disaster victims, I also think of one of the most significant deeds we can accomplish as clear evidence that the fruit of the Spirit is growing within us.  I speak of mercy.  Charity, love, forgiveness, grace.  This characteristic is so central (or should be) to who we are as followers of Christ that Scripture tells us it is one of the means by which God will use to judge us.  One of the ways, in other words, that we prove our repentance by our deeds.  In the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you. (Matt. 7:2)  I suppose there are some preachers who are more confident than I, but for my part I definitely would prefer that the standard of my judgment by God not be how many bad things happened to me.  So I think I’ll pass on using that measure to judge others.  If someone else is suffering from some disaster in their life, it’s probably better to ask what deed you can do to help rather than what deeds they have done to deserve it. 

The other response that I heard once again was surely this is a sign that we are coming to the end.  That one always makes me grin just a little, because I think I know what text is the basis for these kinds of conclusions.  As a part of Jesus’ response to his disciples’ question as to what the signs will be of his return and the end of the age,  he mentions such things as wars, rumors of wars, famines and earthquakes (Matt. 24).  However, he identifies these as events that must happen but the end is yet to come.  In other words, he specifically excludes them as signs that the end of the age is imminent.   According to Jesus, the situation at that time will be like that of Noah’s just prior to the flood: people going about their business and taken completely unawares.   What is really important, he says, is that we are ready for it.  He then proceeds to present the parables which make up the remainder of the Olivet discourse in Matthew 24 and 25: the faithful and wise servant, the 10 virgins, the talents, and the sheep and the goats.   Without going into detail, I think it is safe to say that the bottom line is simply, have you repented and are you bearing fruit?  Are you pursuing a relationship with God which develops within you the character that results in service to others?   When disasters happen,  rather than asking when the end will come, it is probably better to ask what you are doing to make sure that you’re ready for it. 

Besides these two issues I usually ponder a somewhat broader biblical perspective when events in the natural world serve to remind me of it.  In Romans 8, Paul gives us some interesting information that I think is pertinent. 

18I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us. 19The creation waits in eager expectation for the sons of God to be revealed. 20For the creation was subjected to frustration, not by its own choice, but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope 21thatⁱ the creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the glorious freedom of the children of God.

22We know that the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time. 23Not only so, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for our adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies. 24For in this hope we were saved. But hope that is seen is no hope at all. Who hopes for what he already has? 25But if we hope for what we do not yet have, we wait for it patiently.

26In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groans that words cannot express. 27And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints in accordance with God’s will.

28And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. 29For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the likeness of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. 30And those he predestined, he also called; those he called, he also justified; those he justified, he also glorified.  

Paul reminds us that creation itself is not operating as originally intended.  I suppose that includes visiting upon people unexpected and undeserved misery at times.  It is one of the many aspects of the fact that we simply live in a broken world.   But he also reminds us that our ultimate hope includes life with redeemed bodies in a world no longer subject to decay.   So what should we do in the meantime?  We pray and allow God to work through those prayers in order to accomplish his purposes through our lives.  We pursue our relationship with God in order to bear fruit as we wait patiently for that day, although at times we groan with the anticipation of it.   

I think that all three of these responses to natural disaster serve to remind us in different ways of what a true biblical response really is.   Rather than searching for reasons, or signs of the end, it is to ensure that we have repented and allowed God by his grace to justify us.  To declare us not guilty of the things that resulted in, and are a reflection of, this broken world we live in.  And to motivate us once again to further pursuit of our relationship to God in ways that allow him to conform us to the likeness of his son in character and deeds in this life.   That, I think, is how we can best prepare ourselves for the full glorification of being conformed to the likeness of his resurrected body in the coming age when we will enjoy eternity in a world without disasters.