Epiphany A05

As most of the planet struggles to come to terms with the overwhelming devastation wrought by the earthquakes and tsunami which struck the coastlines of several countries in south east Asia, India and south eastern Africa, a few people have found comfort in these verses from the first book of Kings:

[The angel] said, "Go out and stand on the mountain before the
LORD, for the LORD is about to pass by." Now there was a great wind, so strong
that it was splitting mountains and breaking rocks in pieces before the LORD,
but the LORD was not in the wind; and after the wind an earthquake, but the LORD
was not in the earthquake; and after the earthquake a fire, but the LORD was not
in the fire; and after the fire a sound of sheer silence. When Elijah heard it,
he wrapped his face in his mantle and went out and stood at the entrance of the
cave. Then there came a voice to him that said, "What are you doing here,
Elijah?" He answered, "I have been very zealous for the LORD, the God of hosts;
for the Israelites have forsaken your covenant, thrown down your altars, and
killed your prophets with the sword. I alone am left, and they are seeking my
life, to take it away." Then the LORD said to him, "Go..."

Many will already be asking where God was when the tsunami was born, how God could have allowed so many apparently and surely unquestionably innocent people to die and continue dying, why God did nothing to prevent this tragedy.For if any of us had forgotten the thorny braids of the problem of evil, Boxing Day 2004 sent them wildly twisting round and choking our perhaps complacent Christmass equanimity. Searching questions about God and God’s role in Creation and in our own lives once more confront and challenge us.

The first book of Kings suggests that despite the awesome power of the natural world, a power which the Living God may well control, God is not IN that power or those events. In other words, God did not personally and with malice aforethought pound the coasts of Indonesia or Malaysia or Thailand or any other nation where people were killed and lives rudely changed forever.

We might paraphrase 1 Kings with the additional observation: And after the fire, a tsunami – but the LORD was not in the tsunami …

This begs questions like: Could not the God who wrought creation from chaos prevent this catastrophe? Our natural response is to affirm resoundingly that God HAS this power. That God’s hand could have shot down from heaven to provide a barrier between the great waves and the lands those waves threatened.

Many will assume or believe confirmed their bitter suspicion that because God did not perform to these expectations then God doesn’t exist or God doesn’t care or that God is not the all-powerful, all-loving Being we deluded people of faith claim.

Faced with the aftermath, the devastation, the shock, the whimpering children, the rising stench of decaying bodies, we scream for an answer, we demand to know where the Living God was on the morning of the 26th December 2004 between the hours of 6:58 and 7:15 … And all we hear in response to our interrogation is the “sound of sheer silence”, or in the more poetic trad version: The still, small voice of God.

And that sheer silence enrages and inflames the fallacy implicit in our thinking on the problem of evil. WE know as good, decent human beings that WE would not stand idly by while terrible tragedies occur; WE know as good, decent human beings that WE would try to do something to make things right; WE know we would do everything in our power to prevent catastrophe, and in the event of catastrophe provide every assistance, heal the sick, bind the broken, feed the hungry, clothe the naked, offer solace and comfort to the bereaved and traumatised … WE know what WE would do – and so we can’t believe that the Living God isn’t doing exactly the same thing!

The irony of course is that we humans are thinking exactly the same thoughts as God, we are moved by exactly the same impulse towards bowel-wrenching compassion Jesus exhibited, we are overwhelmed by exactly the same heartbreak and outrage at suffering as the God of Creation – precisely because we are made in the image and likeness of the Living God.

At the end of the devastation we can confidently tell the world that God is NOT uncaring or powerless or, worst of all, indifferent – because WE are moving and doing, WE are weeping and digging and bandaging, WE are using what we have and offering it to those who desperately need it now.

On Mount Horeb Elijah hears God’s voice and what he hears are ultimate instructions, instructions which begin with the simple word, GO … Jesus used the same word when he instructed the post-resurrection faithful to share their knowledge of good news with all the world.

It may well be the word the Magoi heard within their soul as they surveyed the ancient Persian night sky. We do not know that one, of course, but we do know that the Magoi – the “wise men”, but not kings – got their camels and their tribute and their retinue together in good middle eastern, ancient-world fashion, and they went …

One of the temptations besetting us today is to toss around throw-away lines about the darkness of the time and hour, the darkness surrounding the events of Boxing Day 2004. But it is a conceit we who claim faith in Jesus can not afford. The journey of the Magoi – their GOING in response to God’s actions in the natural world – marked the nascent understanding and recognition of something we perhaps too easily affirm: that light had come into a dark world.

Ladies and Gentlemen: that light has NEVER disappeared! By what authority does any follower of Jesus speak of darkness now or ANY time since the birth of Jesus?

The Magoi confirmed that even aliens could recognise the light of the Christ. And so the Living God threw down the doors of revelation so that even those who did not belong, even those who had not paid their subscriptions, got a free look … The Magoi confirm that the Living God is available to all people and that the light of Jesus does not dissipate but grows and spreads, carried by prophets and apostles, and most important of all, by ordinary extraordinary human beings like us.

People want to know where God is in this tsunami tragedy – where the light is in this apparent darkness … Show them. God’s is the hand reaching into pockets and purses to offer money to aid agencies. God’s hand puts those extra tins of food into the shopping trolley. God’s love and compassion powers the actions of those who reach the desperate places of the tsunami-stricken. God’s ears listen to the fluttering hearts of south-east Asian children, God’s arms carry those too weak or damaged to walk on their own, God’s tears wash down the graves of the dead. The light of Christ blazes in every act of compassion, mercy, love and generosity, every moment of shared or vicarious pain.

This morning’s pewsheet offers a few concrete suggestions for providing assistance. It may be that some of us find ourselves on the shores of one of the areas affected by the tsunami but we can all bring some of the light WE have received to those who think only darkness prevails.

Our money is not worthless, our gifts are not valueless; our compassion is never wasted, our prayers are never useless.

We are the light of the Christ – may we shine that the glory of the Living God may be seen by all!