Grace, mercy, and peace to you from God, our Father, and Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, who loves you with his very life. Amen.
Quite the day yesterday! That storm was nothing like I have ever experienced before. And now, the day after, we are forced to wrestle with the question, what do we do? We didn’t ask to be in this position, we didn’t wish disaster upon ourselves, but as a result of a fallen and broken creation, here we are. So where do we go from here?
We can find no better model for responding to both people’s physical and spiritual needs than our Lord Himself. Matthew reports that early in Jesus’ ministry “… he went throughout all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom and healing every disease and every affliction among the people” (4:23).
Our God cares, not just about our spiritual well being, but also our physical well being. First, he takes care of our sins. He goes to the cross and dies in our place, that we would be with him in paradise. Paradise, a place without sin, a place where our physical well being will be cared for forever, perfectly by God himself.
On this side of paradise, we see God working to restore, to bring physical healing to people suffering under the effects of sin. Our town is full of hurting people right now, People who need to hear the Good News of God’s grace in Jesus Christ. People who also live in a physical world and have real physical and economic needs. Jesus’ attention to the hunger, sickness, poverty and other struggles of the many who came to hear Him demonstrates His care for them in the physical sense.
His words in Matthew 25, “... as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me,” encourage us to live our faith not only by making disciples, but also by sharing what we have with those who have less.
We see this, pun intended, when Jesus heals the man born blind. This account ins found in John 9:1-17. If you want to open your pew bibles, John 9. In this portion of John’s story of the man born blind, what is Jesus doing — preaching or healing? Well, both. He’s telling the good news of the kingdom, the news that God has come into the world to save the lost, to heal what is broken, to write the wrongs.
Now look at the disciples question: who sinned? No one. Disaster isn’t a result of any one’s specific sinfulness. This storm wasn’t a punishment for anything specific. But it does serve to remind us of the nature of our world, the nature of sin. And it points us to the only one who can do something about it. It points us to Jesus.
So today, following the storms last night, we ask God to open our eyes. What’s that mean? First, we ask God to open our eyes to the mercy that he has given to us. That in spite of raging tempest, we are here, gathered under his cross. Receive what is most important, forgiveness of our sins, a strengthened and renewed faith. Here we are comforted. He we can comfort and support one another, bear each other’s burdens and share the love of Christ, the love of action and devotion, with one another.
Second, we ask God to open our eyes to our neighbors. To look, not just at the physical needs, but to look as Christ does, at the spiritual needs. That God would open our eyes that we might share the comfort of Christ with hurting people. That God would use us, in the midst of chainsaws and clean-up to listen to the hurt of others, and then to tell them of Jesus. To tell others of Jesus who was hurt on the cross for our sins. Who suffered that we might gain paradise.
Third, that God would open our eyes to see ourselves. That we would see our own needs, and not hide them away. Anxiety, trauma, fear, anger, disbelief – these are all part of this process. All of us will experience these emotions during this clean up process. And I ask the God would make us aware of our own emotions and experiences. As we care for others, we need to care for ourselves too. Even Jesus went to a quiet place with frequency to refresh. And if you find yourself in need, come talk with me. Let’s talk and pray. Let’s take our fears to the LORD. I am here for each of you. To listen and to offer the comfort we have in Christ.
I don’t know what the next hours, days, weeks will hold. I don’t know how long it will take the city to recover from just minutes of a raging storm. But I do know this: The Lord is our shepherd. He will guide us to still waters and quiet pastures. He will restore our souls. Surely goodness and mercy will follow us all the days of our lives and we will dwell in the house of the Lord forever. Amen.
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