The sermon uses scripture Genesis 1:1-2:3. It was prepared for September 23, 2018 at Vespers Service at Presbyterian Communities in Florence, SC. However, because of possible rising of Lynches River, travel to Florence was not recommended.
This is an off-lectionary sermon which I felt called to write after Hurricane Florence passed through our area. I used my theology essay The Providence of God in Natural Disasters as a starting point for the sermon.
Were
You Afraid?
As Hurricane Florence approached the
Carolina coast,
I was afraid.
What was going to happen?
Would there be
flooding?
Would
a tree fall on the house?
How
sturdy is the carport?
These seem like self-centered questions, I
know;
that
comes from our human frailty.
I was also concerned about others…
my
neighbor, who decided to go to Virginia
to be with her daughter,
my
friends who live in Myrtle Beach,
a few friends who were in the path of
Matthew,
a couple of years
ago and looked like they
were going to be
hit again.
The 24/7 news weather coverage was good,
to be kept up to
date,
yet, added to the
fear of what was coming.
To be afraid was only logical.
Wasn’t it?
~~~~~
Where is faith?
You and I know
God is with us and
even in our worst experience,
God provides hope
for renewal.
Even when those many questions come up
when something bad
happens.
You know those questions:
Why is this
happening to me?
Is this
punishment?
How could God let
this happen?
These questions once again seem very
self-centered;
as if God is
taking personal retribution
against the
individual;
either it is a
test of faith or a punishment for sin,
but either way it appears there is intentional suffering
being done by
God.
No,
a loving Creator
God does not take pleasure
in causing
suffering.
God is good.
And what God created is good;
as seen throughout
the first chapter of Genesis:
“And
God saw that it was good.”
Creation is inseparably joined with God’s providence.
Providence is God’s acting and ongoing
involvement
in our lives.
God is not the watchmaker who sets things up to run on its own.
Being the Creator does not mean creating and being done,
there is more as
theologian Jean Calvin states that God:
Jesus reminds his disciples:
“Do
not be afraid; you are of more value than many sparrows.”
God cares for all creation from the small
sparrow to you and me.
God’s providence means there is a plan for
how things happen,
So the question becomes:
how
is God good in midst of bad things happening?
how may we view
God’s providence in the face of
natural disasters
that cause death or suffering?
~~~~~
The Doctrine of Providence is defined as
“the Christian
understanding of God’s continuing action by which all creation is preserved,
supported, and governed by God’s purposes and plans for human history and for
human lives.”[2]
God did not set up creation and sit back
and watch it go;
God is with us and
continues to act in the world.
Good
and bad
are all part of God’s providence, God’s power,
and God’s
interaction with the world.
There are fruitful years and lean years,
there is health
and sickness;
if you and I
do not have the bad then
how can we
understand the good?
We do not
know the mind of God and
cannot see what
the plan may be;
we must have faith
in God’s wisdom.
In some circumstance you and I may
feel out of control,
but there is order
underneath because God is in control.
What does God being in control say
about acts of nature?
Throughout the Bible and especially in
the Old Testament
we see God’s power in nature.
The flood story of Noah and the ark can be
viewed not only
as a story of
destruction,
but a story of
renewal; God re-creating.
The Israelites escaped Egypt by the
parting of the Red Sea,
but why did God
have the sea cover the Egyptians
and not just stop
them from crossing?
In the Psalms there is praise for God’s
creation and
God’s
power in control of creation.
A
few verses from Psalm 29:
“The voice of the Lord is over the
waters;
the
God of glory thunders,
the Lord, over mighty
waters.
The
voice of the Lord
flashes forth flames of fire.
The
voice of the Lord
shakes the wilderness;
The voice of the Lord causes the oaks to whirl
and strips the forest bare;”
and strips the forest bare;”
Those verses sound a little scary:
thundering,
flames of fire,
stripping the
forest bare.
Yet, amongst the chaos, there is
assurance;
Psalm
29 concludes with these words:
“The
Lord
sits enthroned over the flood;
the Lord sits enthroned as king forever.
the Lord sits enthroned as king forever.
May
the Lord
give strength to his people!
May the Lord bless his people with peace!”
May the Lord bless his people with peace!”
God is in control.
The prophet Isaiah reminds us of God’s
presence
in Isaiah 43:2:
“When
you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they
shall not overwhelm you; when you walk through fire you shall not be burned,
and the flame shall not consume you.”
~~~~~
The question that persists is ‘when
bad things happen,
how do the
individuals that are experiencing
a natural disaster
feel and react?’
Whether it is hurricane Hugo or
Katrina or Matthew or Florence,
there is always
loss, fear, and uncertainty.
How can hope be found in these
situations?
How can something good be seen amongst the tragedy?
How do we get to re-creation and
renewal from here?
God.
~~~~~
God does not intend for suffering
to happen in a disaster.
God is with us through the
disasters and can guide us
with hope and
faith onto a new path.
God walks with us through these
situations.
God’s providence helps us in all
adversities.
The lesson in the
providence of God is once again
not the self-centered
questions of
why
me or why did God allow this to happen,
it
is the reactions we have and
the
actions we take in the aftermath of tragedy.
Remembering always
that God is in control,
even
in the chaos, there is hope.
God
created the world from chaos,
“…the earth was a
formless void and darkness covered the face of the deep, while a wind from God swept
over the face of the waters.
Then God said,
“Let there be light”; and there was light. And God saw that
the light was good; and God separated the light from the darkness.”
God separates light from darkness.
As the Gospel of John begins with a
similar theme…
“The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it.”
God is our light when things turn
dark;
our
faith is the light amongst our fears.
When we as individuals
are in the midst of tragedy,
you
and I cannot know what good
may come,
what
the bigger picture is, and
in what
direction God will lead.
Yet God is there,
walking
with us,
working
in ways of hope, and
guiding
us to what is next in God’s plan.
You and I can face the
storms in life that come our way.
Good can come from
bad.
Neighbors
reach out to each other.
You
realize what really matters in life.
Faith
is strengthened.
We do not know why these things happen.
You and I do know that the
Holy Spirit is
there in the aftermath:
it
empowers God’s people to do good,
to spread joy,
to
show kindness,
to touch another’s life,
to grow in faith,
strength, and grace
and to proclaim
love.
From devastation comes hope and
renewal.
God’s actions continue in our
lives.
The storm does not just happen and
then God
leaves the picture saying, ‘oh well’.
The good that comes out of the disaster is
the
true example of God’s providence in the world.
