Natural Disasters – Where is God in all this?

Reading 1 Corinthians 10.1-13

I do not want you to be ignorant of the fact, brothers and sisters, that our forefathers were all under the cloud and that they all passed through the sea. They were all baptised into Moses in the cloud and in the sea. They all ate the same spiritual food and drank the same spiritual drink; for they drank from the spiritual rock that accompanied them, and that rock was Christ. Nevertheless, God was not pleased with most of them; their bodies were scattered over the desert.

Now these things occurred as examples to keep us from setting our hearts on evil things as they did. Do not be idolaters, as some of them were; as it is written: “The people sat down to eat and drink and got up to indulge in pagan revelry.” We should not commit sexual immorality, as some of them did – and in one day twenty-three thousand of them died. We should not test the Lord, as some of them did – and were killed by snakes. And do not grumble, as some of them did – and were killed by the destroying angel.

These things happened to them as examples and were written down as warnings for us, on whom the fulfilment of the ages has come. So, if you think you are standing firm, be careful that you don’t fall! No temptation has seized you except what is common to man. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it.

Gospel Luke 13.1-9

Some people told Jesus about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mixed with their sacrifices. Jesus answered, “Do you think that these Galileans were worse sinners than all the other Galileans because they suffered this way? I tell you, no! But unless you repent, you too will all perish. Or 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? I tell you, no! But unless you repent, you too will all perish.”

Then 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. So 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?’

“‘Sir,’ the man replied, ‘leave it alone for one more year, and I’ll dig round it and fertilise it. If it bears fruit next year, fine! If not, then cut it down.’”

Sermon

Whenever there is natural disaster like Haiti earthquake, tsunami, or floods and storms washing away homes and livelihoods, we tend to ask ourselves same questions. Where was God in all this? If God is all-powerful, how could he have let this happen? Why is the world the way it is – if it was created by a loving and all was good, how come inexplicable death and suffering is meted out to seemingly innocent people?

Sometimes the evil or negligence of human beings themselves is responsible – random shootings in schools, or shoddy buildings that collapse after an earth tremor because they were not properly constructed. Most of the time, we have no explanation to offer.

It was just this sort of question Jesus was being asked in our gospel reading. The tragic events are lost to history, but we can easily guess what events occasioned the questioning.

Pontius Pilate the Roman governor of Judaea was portrayed in the trial of Jesus as a vacillating, weak and cruel man, who gave in to pressure. He condemned Jesus to death against all notions of justice to appease the religious leaders, and to avoid insurrection and save his own job. In practice, he was probably much worse than that.

First event – Pilate had mixed human blood of Galileans with their sacrifices to God. Second event – 18 people had been killed when Tower of Siloam collapsed, crushing them as it fell.

Implication was – Galileans must have sinned to be treated in this way. Not infrequent reaction. If something bad happens, we first ask whether the sufferer himself was partly responsible. For example, that was clear view of Hebrew Scriptures – because Job suffered so badly, everyone believed he had offended against God and must confess his sins.

In first reading from I Corinthians, Paul writes that after Exodus people worshipped pagan gods and indulged in sexual immorality, with result 23,000 of them died in desert. Killed by snakes because they tested the Lord. Put to the sword by destroying angel because they grumbled against God. These things happened to them as example to rest of us, says Paul. As Voltaire puts it: It’s good to kill an admiral now and then, because it encourages the others.

Going back to two events – one was grisly example of Pilate’s brutality, and so death caused by cruelty of another human being. Second was a random accident – maybe the Tower was badly built, or maybe it was an earth tremor. I almost said Maybe it was an Act of God as insurance industry used to put it.

Now you might have thought such questions gave Jesus opportunity of explaining why innocent lives were snuffed out for no apparent reason, or even coming to defence of a God accused of mismanaging the Universe. But he does neither.

He only implies we must not equate tragedy with divine punishment. Atrocities might come about through sin, but most natural disasters just happen.

The very fragility of life gives it a particular urgency. We are not on this earth for very long, and who can predict with any confidence when our sojourn will come to an end? Jesus wants to talk about repentance. His answer is surprising. It seems to miss the point. He does not try to answer the question.

The need for repentance is universal. The only certainty is – all of us will perish, so all of us must repent. That includes the 18 people crushed by the falling tower of Siloam, as well as the Galileans massacred by Pilate. They were not more guilty than those who did not die, but still all must repent.

The story of the fig tree shows there is not much time. When it did not bear fruit, the owner (that is, God) wanted to cut it down. The gardener (Jesus) pleads for a reprieve. It will be given 3 years stay of execution.

Patience and mercy save the tree for the time being – and we are not left to our own devices. The tree is fed, watered and fertilised. Everything is done by the gardener to make it bear fruit. That fruit is repentance.

But repentance is not just expressions of regret – half-hearted resolutions – vague moral uprightness. Repentance (Greek Metanoia) is a 180-degree turnaround. Complete change of mind. An altered persona. Reorientation. Fundamental change of outlook. That’s what John the Baptist was calling for, and what Jesus means here.

All this has moral consequences, but morality is not the horse that pulls the cart. This call from Jesus would be pretty scary if it were left to us to repent of our own power, to bear the fruit after years of barrenness. The care for the fig tree depicts human life as fragile but as a precious gift. God will not give us so easily. The gardener is at hand to nurture the tree and bring about a radical change.

Too many Lenten observances require little more of us than morose piety, denying ourselves a hit of chocolate, or a gulp of wine. No, repentance is much more than that. As one theologian has observed:

But the Christian outlook on repentance arcs toward joy. And it finds grace experienced within the awful precariousness and strange beauty of our fleeting existence. Amen