Saturday, March 17, 2018

Day 28: Saturday, Week 6—Judge not, Lest

Habakkuk 3:2-13; Psalm 51:1-12; John 12:1-11

In 2002, Sue and I packed up our 1995 Buick Century with our Norwegian Elkhound for a couple of weeks in DeSoto, Missouri to get some rest and do some writing having forgotten about the tornado that had passed through not long before. Hiking paths were still closed because of fallen trees. At worship in DeSoto that Sunday, the congregation was just rededicating their space for worship after significant damage.

Whenever a natural disaster strikes, I hear some “religious” leader talking about God’s judgment against whoever is affected. Rarely do I hear about God acting for the sake of the people.

Certainly there had been destruction, yes lives were lost, and the people were grieving, but the people were also rebuilding structures and their relationships with one another.

Are we to believe that each natural destructive event is a judgment against? If an avalanche occurs and no one is hurt, do we thumb our noses and say, “You missed?” Was the flooding of New Orleans during Huricane Kate or the recent hurricane damage in Texas, Florida, and Puerto Rico a judgment against these places, or was it a wake up call for the rest of our nation to pay attention to our corporate complicity in contributing to climate change endangering God’s people. Did recent storms really say something about the people there, or did it say something to us?

There is not much that we can do to protect ourselves from tornados except warnings, but the conditions of these other places were apparent and reported long before the events took place. Where were we then?

In today’s reading, I think that Habakkuk may have the right idea. We stand in awe of God’s work. Devastation runs before God; and God acts in ways to lift up and save the people.

In the places of destruction we see God’s hand in lifting up the oppressed, in walking with the grieving, in building new relationships of hope. We will continue to hear about floods in the Dakotas and down the Mississippi Valley. There will be tsunamis and earthquakes around the world. If we aren’t challenged as a world community to come to their aid, then the judgment is on us. Christ has come so the world might be saved. We have a long way to go.

Prayer
Lord, we thank you for judging us with mercy. Help us to be merciful too. Amen

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