Rev. David Holwick ZE
First Baptist Church
Ledgewood, New Jersey
September 6, 1992
Luke 13:1-5
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I. The tragedy of Hurricane Andrew.
A. Southern Florida is devastated.
1) Few killed, but $20 billion in damages.
B. Why this area, and not New Jersey?
1) Fatalists - totally random. No meaning, or evil, in it.
2) Moralists - Florida is being punished for sin.
a) But is Florida more evil than New Jersey?
b) But should little children suffer as well as parents?
C. If God is good and all-powerful, why would he let it happen?
II. God and disasters.
A. God is the ruler of creation.
1) Even storms are according to his will. Job 38:24-25
a) Modern twist - WE have caused recent severe storms by
greenhouse effect.
b) Notice how we inflate our self-image, at God's expense?
2) Nothing "just happens" in history.
a) Then is God cruel, or just weak?
1> Elie Weisel, holocaust survivor, says God is
"retracted."
2> Rabbi Kushner says God feels for us, but is powerless.
A> "Even God has a hard time keeping chaos in check."
B> "God is a God of justice and not of power."
b) But the Bible affirms God is both all-powerful and good.
B. God can use disasters to punish for sin.
1) Great theme in Israel's history. Deut 28:58-61
2) Innocent suffer with guilty? Little kids?
a) Concept of corporate identity.
b) (Fathers eat sour grapes, children's teeth are set
on edge)
3) Purpose is moral, to bring nation back to God. (Deut 28)
a) Harvest principle: you will reap what you sow.
b) "Why me?" has a direct answer.
C. Not all disasters are due to sin. Luke 13:1-5
1) The Pharisees thought so. "What goes around, comes around."
2) Jesus answers that calamities give no proof that those who
suffer in them are worse sinners than anyone else.
a) Human tragedies - Pilate's atrocity. 13:1
b) Natural calamities - falling tower. 13:4
D. More often, they are a side effect of living in a fallen world.
1) We suffer for the sins of others, back to Adam's sin.
a) Job was not personally guilty, yet suffered.
2) But calamities can be so arbitrary they seem to be without
meaning.
a) "Why me?" becomes a futile exercise.
III. God and evil.
A. Our finite minds cannot fathom God's ultimate purposes.
1) Impossible for humans to reconcile good/powerful God with
existence of tragedies.
2) In his response to Job, he speaks of his power and knowledge.
a) God never gives a full answer.
3) God is not weak, but self-restrained, to promote other
possibilities such as freely given human love.
B. NT teaches that God himself has suffered from evil, in person
of Jesus Christ.
1) God subjected himself to natural laws, including pain, when
he visited our planet.
2) Jesus responded to pain like most of us - he recoiled.
IV. A greater calamity is coming.
A. Huge storms will precede Second Coming of Jesus.
1) "Birthpangs" of Messiah. Luke 21:25-27
2) Not necessarily Hurricane Andrew.
B. Greatest tragedy is not being ready for Jesus.
1) All sinners face the judgment of God unless they repent.
a) We may not be able to sort out God's purposes in disasters
but we can be prepared for the ultimate catastrophe.
Continental flight #1713 took off from Denver on Nov 15,
1987, with inexperienced pilots who neglected to de-ice
the wings.
The plane crashed and flipped on its back, trapping many of
the victims for hours.
In the twisted wreckage David Daniel was trapped on top of
his wife Tami.
When he took a breath, she was not able to.
As the wreckage settled, her life was snuffed out.
Amazingly, he found that the experience strengthened his
belief in God.
"For a long time I was mad at God.
Not so much because Tami died, but because I lived -
and was left to try to figure out what to do next.
I do believe God has a grand plan, but he leaves it up to
us to decide how to do our part.
I just want to try to do my part."
#1100
2) "We put off repenting because we do not like the awful truth
that our sin deserves damnation. Jesus Christ was quite
serious: 'Unless you repent, you too will all perish'."
Rev. William Eisenhower, CT 3/20/87, p. 28.
Copyright © 2024 by Rev. David Holwick
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