Our Response To Disaster: Where Is God?
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.’”
Where are you GOD…MY GOD why? Why do innocent people die? Why do godly people suffer? WHERE is God in all this?
Literally, as I type this sermon, I am listening over my shoulder to Jane Pauley reporting on two school children who were aboard the flight which slammed into the Pentagon.
Her question is everyone’s question: Why did these children have to die? Why did any of this happen?
“Recent events in our country have changed the way we look at things”…a commercial roars.
September 11, 2001 is the new “day that will live in infamy”. “Where were you when it all came down?” is new question that will live for the next couple of generations.
Reality has set in…things are different. We will never go back to the America of September 10, 2001.
Many of us are just now being able to assimilate these events.
In the book of Ecclesiastes, Solomon tells us that there is “nothing new, under the sun”. Solomon had searched the world over and had found that “all was vanity”. Likewise
satan has no new tricks or schemes.
Circumstances change, technology changes, cities change and landscapes change. But the devil has come to “kill, to steal and to destroy.” He will use whatever means are available to accomplish his goals.
I find it quite comforting to realize that Jesus had some very specific words in response to both a terrorist-style murder, as well as an accidental disaster that happened while He was on the earth!
I invite you tonight to look with me at the very Words of God which are very similar to what we are going through in the present!
Jesus Is Tested-what is the meaning?
In Luke 13, Jesus is being tested. His words are on trial as his enemies seek to discredit Him, and make Him an enemy of the state as well as of Judaism.
I am always amazed at how well Jesus faced his accusers…with the Word from the Holy Spirit, in just the right moment.
The fullness of the Godhead rested squarely within Him…he was fully God and fully man.
He was completely dependent upon the Holy Spirit, and He was in constant communication with Him.
And He was obedient to the fullest.
In Luke 13, His enemies are hatching another carefully crafted “loaded” plot…to trap Him within His own words.
Begin the Story…Read the Scripture.
We don’t know any further details of this horrific act of terror which Pontius Pilate, the Roman Governor of Judea had perpetrated upon the people.
It seems as though in a terrorist fashion, that he may have planted his people within Galilean circles so that they could slaughter a group who were preparing to bring sacrifices of worship to the Temple.
This act of terror was likely a punishment or a warning message for some violation, or some “politically incorrect” act of the day.
Its purpose was not only to kill, but to profane the holy sacrifice at the altar of God and to instill terror into the hearts of all who would see!
Typically we think of Pilate as having been a wavering, wishy-washy “don’t rock the boat” kind of a man. However history shows us that he was a bloodthirsty man with such political aspirations that he was despised even by the Romans!
Josephus the historian speaks of a time when Pilate had his men wiped out a group of Samaritans on their way to worship at their temple on Mt. Gerizim.
It may be that these Galileans spoken of in our scripture were followers of a rebel named Judas of Galilee (Acts 5:37)
Judas was a revolutionary against Rome who incited his followers to refuse to pay tribute to Rome. It is entirely possible that this incident was a part of the campaign of terror designed by Pilate to crush this Galilean uprising.
In yet another instance, Pilate was attempting to build an aqueduct from the Pools of Solomon to Jerusalem. In order to do this, he robbed the Temple Treasury. When a delegation of Jews went up to Pilate to beg for the money to be returned, undercover agents infiltrated the crowd and bludgeoned the protesters at a certain signal.
Pilate, and all of Rome thrived on terrorism and bloodshed as a means of political control in the first century.
Evil men have always persecuted others-Terrorism is nothing new. The devil has no new schemes!
Jesus Confronted With The Acts of Terrorism
These men know that Jesus is a Galilean…and it could be an occasion to draw him out politically. If he would come out in support of his people, then they could accuse him before Pilate and have him executed for sedition.
If he answered with sympathy for the Galileans, then He would contradict the popular Jewish notion that all calamity and disaster was judgment from God. Then they would accuse him of blasphemy.
Remember “who sinned this man or his parents?” it was a common first century Jewish notion that every calamity had its roots in sin.
Have we heard the same thing of late? Who sinned…was the attack on America judgment?
Jesus Answers The Questions: With the Power of the Holy Spirit
Let’s see what He had to say, and whether it relates to our day.
Concerning the Galileans murdered by Pilate, and the vicious profaning of the Holy Sacrifices, Jesus asks the question:
“Do you think that these Galileans were worse sinners than all the other Galileans because they suffered this way? 3I tell you, no!
I believe that the truth that Jesus is speaking to us runs along four main thoughts:
I.Bad things Happen to both Righteous and Evil People
Jesus says in John 16:33
“these things have I spoken unto you that in me, you might have peace. In the world you will have tribulation, but be of good cheer, I HAVE OVERCOME THE WORLD."
In speaking to His very own disciples, Jesus gave a guarantee of trouble! You WILL have tribulation!
Jesus tells us in Matthew 5:45
45 for he (God) maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust.
Jesus comes back with and example of a recent disaster…something they could all relate to. A tower in Siloam, under construction, fell and killed eighteen laborers.
Jesus asks:
Were the people killed in the accident more guilty than all the others living in Jerusalem?
the answer, an emphatic NO!
We cannot judge people’s hearts or spiritual condition by external events. Good things and bad things come to the just and the unjust.
As we relate this to our world today, we see many who are calling the attacks the judgements of God upon out nation. While it is true that our society is in decay, and our culture is decidedly post-Christian, and while we do know that God’s cup of judgement does become full…and He does punish evil…
I believe it is presumptuous and prideful to immediately call this an act of judgment upon the United States.
Consider with me the targets:
there were Spirit-Filled Christians killed, there were preachers of the Gospel, humble servants of humanity; there were innocent children. There were also, occultists, atheists and all manner of evil and self-seeking and serving individuals represented among the dead.
The targets held a cross-section of humanity.
Why would the World Trade Center Towers and the Pentagon be attacked, if this were judgement from God?
There may well be more Christians in the military than in any other “industry” in America.
The World Trade Center is a symbol of our prosperity, which often spills over to the church, and has allowed us to see the greatest age of evangelism the world over. Despite what the extreme left may tell us, there is nothing particularly decadent about free trade and capitalism!
Just as in Jesus’ day…it is arrogant and presumptuous for Christians to pronounce any disaster as God’s judgment upon this earth.
We do not have all the information:. Judgment is in God’s hands, and His sovereign plan will unfold over the ages.
If we are ready to do this, as the Church, we must also be ready to be judged ourselves. Peter tells us
16Yet if any man suffer as a Christian, let him not be ashamed; but let him glorify God on this behalf. 17For the time is come that judgment must begin at the house of God: and if it first begin at us, what shall the end be of them that obey not the gospel of God?
The fire of persecution will judge the house of God, before it will judge the world-system! Are we ready for that? Can we rejoice over it?
This is not to say that there is not a spiritual side to the events! God is speaking through everything that has happened, and through everything that continues.
II. We Cannot Micro-Analyze God’s Sovereign Plan
God is working in multiple dimensions. His sovereign plan is like a grand mosaic, and we cannot use a magnifying glass to determine what He is doing in the earth.
When we look at individuals, consider that September 11 WAS judgment day for some. It was the Tribulation, it was a hell on earth, followed by a descent into a literal hell, separated from God for eternity.
For others, it was a glorious homecoming!
Jesus Christ himself welcomed many of his children into His presence, never to be separated from him again…those who only moments ago were on routine flights, or who had just poured their first cup of coffee at their desk as they arrived at work for a busy day!
For some 18 others, it was the day when demons from hell would complete their work by inciting them to perpetrate one of the most heinous crimes in human history, and they would forever be cast into the bottomless pit at the point of impact.
For many others, it was a day when God’s great grace and mercy reached out one more time to spare them from the jaws of death.
For some of these, it was an answer to prayer of family and friends. For others, it was a wake-up call, and they are still grappling with “why did I escape?”
For people all over America, it was a call from God.
How long it will last, or what our response will be, is yet to be seen.
I believe that Jesus’ call to us from Luke 13 is that
III. We Must Take A deep look within, and allow the Holy Spirit to quicken our hearts
God is at work, let there be no doubt!
As I watched portions of last week’s “Telethon for America”, where Hollywood’s brightest and best stars came to perform tributes to the victims and heroes of the disaster…
among the humanism, and the fluff, and the prima-donna posturing, I as a Christian believe that I heard a desperate cry for God!
“The Boss” Bruce Springsteen’s opening song…a “prayer for our fallen brothers” was a desperate cry to God for help in a time of trouble.
I do not know if Bruce Springsteen has the Answer, but he certainly got the questions right.
In Luke 13 Jesus says: “Unless you repent, you too will perish.”
From a grisly terrorist blood-bath waged by a criminal politician against a group of his own countrymen, to a terrible accidental tragedy which had recently claimed 18 live in a construction accident,
Jesus Christ the Son of God says: Evil and tragedy abound in this world. You too are going to face it sooner or later…what will your response be? Will you repent? Look deep into your own heart.
The one thing in all of this mayhem that we can be sure of, is that
Hebrews 9:27
27And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment: 28So Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many; and unto them that look for him shall he appear the second time without sin unto salvation.
I believe that the one truth that the Church can glean out of this upheaval and time of turmoil, is that God is calling us to repentance!
It is a time for us to set our own house in order, and it is a time which should WAKE us from the hypnotic sleep of what we had come to see as unbridled prosperity…so that we can REACH out to the lost and dying world that literally surrounds us like a sea!
Perhaps this is the greatest time of our lifetime where people are asking the questions. WE HAVE THE ANSWER!
as Jesus answered these men who sought to discredit Him, he immediately followed up with an intimately related topic…
IV. God’s Grace Is Long
Consider the parable of the fruitless fig tree which Jesus follows with:
the owner of the vineyard was running short on patience with this tree, which should be bearing fruit after three years, yet it is still barren. Why should we waste the space, and the nutrients in the soil any longer…
“CUT IT DOWN!” It is worthless, it’s chance to bear fruit has passed!
Yet, the vinedresser tells the owner “please give it one more year, I will work with it. I’ll dig a trench around it, and fertilize it with manure…I believe it will respond, if you can just give me one more year!”
Why does God not stop the carnage in our world?
Why are cancer wards full of children? Why do innocents die every day, all around us?
Why do Godly people suffer and die, and often the godless humanistic atheists and agnostics sometimes live to ripe old ages, destroying people all of their lives with their humanistic arrogance?
The answer is found in the Old Testament:
Exodus 34:6-7 God proclaims to Moses His Revelation
“The LORD, the LORD, the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness, 7maintaining love to thousands, and forgiving wickedness, rebellion and sin. Yet he does not leave the guilty unpunished; he punishes the children and their children for the sin of the fathers to the third and fourth generation.”
God’s Judgements are inseparable from His Grace!
as long as his Grace is available to the world, sin will abound…but Grace will MUCH more abound!
Romans 5:17
20Moreover the law entered, that the offence might abound. But where sin abounded, grace did much more abound
My friends there is coming a day when all evil will be recompensed. There is coming a day when all wrongs will be made right. There is coming a day when all evil men will receive their just reward
It will happen in a place called by the Prophet Joel, the Valley of Decision … Megiddo, we know it as ARMEGEDDON.
But as long as He gives us the door of salvation, the Day of Grace, there will be unanswered questions, and injustice will seem to thrive.
Our answer to the questions of life, must land squarely and rest in His Sovereignty, and in the knowledge that He alone knows the beginning from the end, and He will judge the earth one day.
But for now, thank you God for Your grace. Even so, Come Lord Jesus!
Judgment always comes replete with His Grace…and His Grace is calling out to you, and to your world tonight!
