The first funeral
Rodin’s “The Thinker” is perhaps his most famous sculpted work of art, but the one that has captured my attention is his work, The First Funeral (pictured here).
This is a sculpture of Adam, carrying his son Abel, to his grave, while Eve watches. Abel was murdered by his brother Cain. Abel’s parents, brokenhearted at their loss, return their son to the earth from where they were created.
When death arrives, as it is destined to do, we can identify with Adam and Eve. The pain of death, the uncertainty of life, and the hopeful promise of redemption offered by God to those who trust him.
Therefore, as one trespass led to condemnation for all men, so one act of righteousness leads to justification and life for all men. (Romans 5:18, esv)
Supernatural Disasters part 2, or “What’s God’s role in this destruction?”
As I watch the videos of the Japanese Tsunami, I think about God’s role in these disasters. The arguments seem to be either “God is in control, so he made this happen,” or “God (the cosmic clockmaker) isn’t in control, so he’s not worth worshipping.” One of the many shortcomings of us humans is that we tend toward dichotomic thinking. Black/white. Either/or. In doing this, we presume that only these two options are correct, that it cannot be somewhere in between…or somewhere completely outside of the two. I think God’s role in all this is exactly that…somewhere outside the two wrong arguments most commonly lobbied as the correct interpretation of God’s sovereignty amidst tragedy.
I believe God is sovereign. That means he is in control. So in this respect, God bears the responsibility for any (and every) event that we humans would call “bad,” “tragic,” or “disastrous.” And if we lived in an edenic/idyllic/perfect world, this would mean that God is exceedingly cruel and not at all good. But we don’t live in a perfect world.
The fact is, we live in a sick and dying world. It’s a world that is destined for destruction, and is growing increasingly instable. It is characterized by an ever-increasing frequency of earthquakes, destructive winds, demolishing storms, eruptions, and devastating waters. Ours is a world that is obeying the laws of thermodynamics and moving rapidly toward a state of increasing physical disorder. It exists in a universe that is perpetually expanding toward disorganization, too.
If we can agree that the world is becoming increasing disorganized and instable, it’s appropriate to ask why this is so. A common hypothesis (that I think is wrong) is that the world is now as it always has been. I’m one of those people who think that there were two significant events that changed the world from its original conditions to the ones within which we currently exist. And both of those events are relevant to the current conversation. We’ll deal with the first event here.
I think the first event that changed the global environment is humanity’s original rebellion against God. Call it “the fall.” Blame Adam, blame Eve. Blame Satan. The world…according to the Bible…was created good, even perfect. God and humans enjoyed a close relationship. Humans were deceived, distrusted God and rebelled against him. The consequence of that rebellion was the eventual death of every person and, among other things, a curse upon the earth. It would be too simplistic to view this curse simply in “voodoo upon you” type concepts, because the eventual destruction of the earth is necessary for God’s ultimate act of redemption to be completed. When sin (rebellion) tainted the environment, it changed the entire environment from a utopian state into a dystopian one.
Jesus wasn’t at all conflicted by this. He acknowledged we live in a world governed by natural laws. He didn’t blame God. In Luke 13, he spoke of a tower in Siloam fell, killing 18 people. We don’t know if it was a natural disaster or a man-made mistake. We we do know, is that Jesus went out of the way to say that the people weren’t victims expressly because they were in rebellion to God. That refutes the “cruel God” argument. In the very next sentence, though, Jesus says, “but unless you turn to God, you too will die!” His point is that everybody dies in a broken world, and the only hope for anyone is found through faith in God. Whether it’s by being crushed under a tower, swept away in a tsunami, or asleep in bed after a long, quiet life, death comes to every person….and every death is tragic. This refutes the “uncaring God” argument.
What really is at stake here as people try to reconcile God’s role in disaster is actually more about man than it is about God. The only way a person can lob accusations against God, suggesting that he is cruel or lazy, is if that person assumes that he sits in an authorized position of judgment (and therefore, judgment). I’m not saying we have no right to exercise genuine inquiry to ask “why?” But we have to have a right understanding about ourselves before we can ever hope to have a right understanding about God. If we think that we are by default good and in right standing with God, then it is fair that we speculate and hypothesize upon the reality of tragic calamities.
However, if we buy into what the Bible’s selling (and I do), that we are exist, by default, in a position of rebellion against and defiance to God, then the question changes. Now, instead of asking, “Why?” we should be asking “Why not?” If we are indeed a creation that is in total opposition to God, and we live on a realm that is barreling toward its total destruction, why wouldn’t there be regular, period, and an increasing number of upheavals? Indeed, if we live in a judged state of rebellion on a judged world of destruction, it makes sense that we would have to endure natural disasters on an increasing frequency. And with each one, we’d have little to no forewarning and each one may claim any unpredictable number of lives.
Because of the utter impossibility to prevent or avoid these calamities, our only hope is to properly view the bigger picture with a correct perspective. This is why Jesus said, “repent now!” when talking about the Siloam tower. He got it (no big surprise, right?)…disasters will happen. Ultimately, death before reconciling with God is the biggest disaster.
The Problem of Evil
(the following is a modified repost from the old blog, originally dated 08/19/2009
In the ongoing responsibilities of a minister, I deal with life and death often. In fact, it’s not unusual to address both ends of life’s continuum within the same day. Sometimes (thankfully rarely), it happens within the same family on the same day. As such, we ministers often become steeled to the loss of life even as we welcome precious new lives into the world. Even so, the reality of death is difficult to reconcile, particularly when death event is unexpected or tragic.
You see, I operate from a worldview that God is sovereign. He knows the end from the beginning. He alone knows when life will end, and under what circumstances it will come to a close. I believe that this foreknowledge is true for every person, everywhere, throughout history. And as a minister, I have the privilege of getting to see details of people’s lives that sometimes might otherwise be hidden, but that reveal an “ah!” understanding of why a person dies. For example, I might learn that a person who was by all appearances upstanding actually had a hidden life of alcoholism or addiction that explains a surprising terminal sickness or disease. When that happens, knowing these things helps bring understanding or reconciliation to the graceless event we call death.
