The earth, wind and wave, lava and plates, were not meant to be violent. They were not violent at first. At first, they were good. Earth was peaceful. But the earth, even to the point of rock and fur, streams and mountains, and all the universe, the planets, comets, and stars, are corrupt. Thermodynamics began when Adam left order for chaos and chose to choose his own way. Now the rain falls on the righteous and unrighteous farmer alike. Or it doesn’t fall on either. Or it comes in waves that wash away not only the crops but also house and home. But it comes always on the righteous and the unrighteous alike. Because the rain doesn’t care.
by Rev. David Petersen
The earth, wind and wave, lava and plates, were not meant to be violent. They were not violent at first. At first, they were good. Earth was peaceful. But the earth, even to the point of rock and fur, streams and mountains, and all the universe, the planets, comets, and stars, are corrupt. Thermodynamics began when Adam left order for chaos and chose to choose his own way. Now the rain falls on the righteous and unrighteous farmer alike. Or it doesn’t fall on either. Or it comes in waves that wash away not only the crops but also house and home. But it comes always on the righteous and the unrighteous alike. Because the rain doesn’t care. Hurricane Katrina is our inheritance from Adam.
So don’t judge the people of New Orleans. Certainly there were wicked men and wicked things there. But there were righteous as well, saints given to good works, striving not only to bring order and decency to the city but also to proclaim the Good News of Jesus Christ. And the rain fell on all of them alike. Some who survived are wicked. Some who died are righteous and are now in heaven. Because the rain doesn’t care. And none of our cities are better, none of our futures are more certain or safe. The rain doesn’t care.
At the time of Our Lord there was a tragedy in Jerusalem. The tower of Siloam fell and killed eighteen men. Our Lord asked His hearers if they thought those eighteen were worse sinners than all the other inhabitants of Jerusalem. Their response isn’t recorded. But Jesus answered His own question. He said “I tell you no.” They were not worse sinners, but they were sinners. Jesus rejected the idea that the tower’s fall was retribution for specific sins. That tragedy was part of the chaos that sin inflicts upon all men, forgiven believers and wicked unbelievers alike. Still, our Lord does not shy away from using it as a call to repentance. He says: “I tell you no. But unless you repent you will all likewise perish.” (Luke 13:1-5)
No man has the right to complain about death. For no man, according to his deeds, deserves better than death. All the good things of this life, food, wine, music, laughter, friendship, and the like, all the good things of this life God gives in mercy and in grace. We do not deserve them. For the most part we enjoy them, or are denied them, as an accident of birth. The bulk of those reading this were fortunate enough to be born in America instead of the Sudan or communist Russia. Those good things are good. But they are also dangerous. We can become complacent and greedy like the rich man in the parable of the rich man and the beggar Lazarus. (Luke 16:19-31)
So in that same mercy God sends warnings. He would use the violence of this fallen world to call us to repentance, to change our mind, our attitude, our hearts. He would teach us vulnerability and dependency. He would turn us from ourselves to Him. If He must, He will even make us as the beggar Lazarus rather than lose us. He did not send His Son to die in vain. He will get what He paid for. He will get you. For the violence of hurricanes is incomparable to the violence of Hell that He endured on the Cross to win humanity from death. And the separation of body and soul, of loved ones, this hurricane has brought is only temporary.
This tragedy will bring out the worst and the best in men. We’ve already seen the worst in the looters. Soon we’ll start to hear about the heroes, the ordinary men and women who sacrificed themselves for others. Some of the worst and some of the best will be righteous, and some will be unrighteous. But the lesson for us remains the same: repent and believe that despite the seeming evidence God is good. He has already now delivered some of His saints to Himself in this way. He has brought them home. He has already now caused us to rethink ourselves, to seek His mercy, and to thank Him for the peace and joy we know on earth.
And if we have to endure inflation and a broken economy, find new jobs and ways to live, so be it. God is still good. We survived this hurricane by His mercy. It could be far worse. We’ve deserved far worse. But God has not given up on us. He has not forgotten us. He loves us.
Rev. David Petersen is pastor of Redeemer Lutheran Church in Fort Wayne, Indiana, and on the Higher Things Editorial Board. Check out his blog at http://www.redeemer-fortwayne.org/blog.php. His e-mail address is David.H.Petersen@att.net.
