Repent

Another world crisis in Japan this week, with the 9.0 earthquake and tsunami, and the massive loss of lives and destruction of property. My hope is that America steps up and provides the great amount of support and aid, as we did in Haiti. The string of recent tragedies is growing impressive - In just the past decade, we've had the attacks of Sept. 11, the tsunami in the 2004 Indian Ocean resulting in at least 130,000 deaths in Indonesia, Hurricane Katrina, the global financial crisis, the revolutions taking place in the Arab nations, a global flu pandemic, the earthquake in Haiti, the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, and devastating floods in Australia and New Zealand. Now, Japan has been hit with a triple whammy of earthquake, tsunami and nuclear crisis. In this post, I want to talk about what our response should be to these tragedies. Let's get started.

The people of Japan need help. There is a great deal of loss of life, with some entire villages lost. The loss of life, the loss of the means of making a living, the fear of nuclear fall-out and disease, even the basic necessities of food and water for the displaced, all of these require a response. So besides our empathy, what should we do to help? Of course, as Christ-followers we start with prayer for the people of Japan. But what next? Here are a few snippets that I borrowed from Pastor John Piper that he wrote on his Desiring God blog, starting with the idea of love: Therefore, love commands, "Weep with those who weep" (Romans 12:15). We need to feel the enormity of what has taken place the heartbreak of this tragedy.

Then comes aid. We want to help relieve human suffering—all of it, especially eternal suffering: So then, as we have opportunity, let us do good to everyone, and especially to those who are of the household of faith (Galatians 6:10)… Love your neighbor as yourself (Matthew 5:43), and if you are to love someone then their physical needs must be a primary focus for us all. If your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink (Romans 12:20).

But when a tragedy took place in the Israel of Jesus' day, Jesus made sure that we keep our eye focused on one thing - repenting. In Luke 13, Pontius Pilate murdered some Jews offering animal sacrifices – the worshipper's blood was mixed with the blood of the sacrifices. And near this same time, a Tower in Siloam fell and killed 18 people. Jesus discussed these two tragedies, one tragedy because of man's evil (Pontius Pilate's murder) and the other a tragedy an evil from nature (the tower falling from maybe even caused by an earthquake?) A person's natural response to tragedy is to try and make sense of it all, by blaming these people – perhaps they were ungodly. Or they were worse sinners than us. Or they were just really bad people, and so they deserved this judgment. And through this kind of rationalization, we see these victims of the tragedy deserved it, and because we are better than they are, we do not deserve to be hit with this kind of tragedy. But Jesus would have none of this. Don't think they were worse sinners than you, he teaches in Luke 13:2 and 4. Instead, our focus needs to be on our own shortcomings – Repent, or you will also likewise perish (Luke 13:3 and 5). Whenever we see tragedy, we need to look at ourselves and see where we need to repent. Here are a couple of verses dealing with repentance:

Mark 1:15 (ESV)
¹⁵ and saying, "The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel."

And,

Acts 3:19 (NIV)

Repent, then, and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped out, that times of refreshing may come from the Lord,

Repent because the Kingdom of God is at hand. Repent and turn to God so that your sins may be blotted out. These are the messages that need to sink into our hearts, as we see these tragedies. And this is the message we need to proclaim to the world as we provide aid to the victims of the tragedies. Repent. The world needs hope right now, and our hope is in Jesus. /s/Tom Wolff