Hello,
When tragedy hits,
like hurricane Harvey, Christians and non-Christians often ask the same
question, “Where is God in all of this?”
To this questions, Christians and non-Christians give a wide variety of
answers. As I have listened to the
answers that have sprung up, I have heard some lean toward answers that propose
God’s providence behind such things.
Others lean toward answers that seem validate their disbelief in God,
let alone God’s presence.
Given my stature
among the great minds of the world, my answer is probably not even worth two
cents, but having seen this tragedy befall, and countless others in my lifetime
and ministry, I find myself likewise asking, “Where is God in all of this?”
Here’s the answer
that settles in my heart: my answer lies in the cross of Christ.
As I ponder these
things, it seems to me that the Christian faith was born out of the question, “Where
is God in all of this?”. Where is God
as the one in whom many had placed their hopes to be the one who would rescue
God’s people from the grip of their oppressors hung and dying on a cross? It seems to me that this is the question
that stands behind all that is written in the New Testament, and is fore-asked
in all that is written in the Old.
Where is God in
all of this? On the cross. Not in theory. Not figuratively. Not partially. But in reality. Literally. Completely.
Timelessly in time drawing all things unto himself . Bringing to an end (that is, death) what was,
and bringing to life what would be. Like
a black hole drawing everything unto himself, all the while everything holding
on for all its worth from being pulled in, moaning and groaning in a losing
battle.
The Bible says
that from the cross Jesus gave a great shout, and then he breathed his last. It is in that shout that every cry and tear
that this hurricane produced was gathered, every shudder of fear and
hopelessness that Harvey produced was drawn in, and every pain and hurt that
that bully inflicted was divinely inhaled……and then suffocated in a final
breath.
Sometimes when I
hear Christians try to answer the question, “Where is God in all of this?”, I
hear an answer from them that seems devoid of the cross. Devoid of the cross because their answer
keeps God at arm’s length from suffering and pain. When people say that God has intended such a
tragedy in order that a greater good might happen….or when they say that God is
inflicting God’s judgement upon those who deserve it….or that God has a reason
and purpose for everything that happens…or that God has allowed this to happen
in order that many more people might come to believe in him....they are saying
that when tragedy happens, God stays removed from the misery, chaos, and
despair that tragedies bring about. And
of course, that belies what God shouted from the cross.
I know that what
I have written may sound like thoughts, words, and concepts that weave together
to make a beautiful theological tapestry, that might be beautiful to hang on a
wall, but not something on which to hang one’s heart. But like the embrace of a parent after a
child has found herself lost in a crowd, the cross is not a theological theory
or an enlightened idea. It is an event….an
event that theories, ideas and words cannot fully capture…..but an event that
gives my heart settled hope …..settled hope because the one who died on the
cross (an event!) rose from the grave (an event!)…. settled hope when I ask, “God,
where are you in all of this?”
On the cross.
Prayers for all who suffer and are beaten down.
God’s grace and peace,
Pastor Jerry Nuernberger
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