A pastor who ministers following a tragedy will want to remind the congregation that they have been handed a prime opportunity for doing what God’s people do best: loving, serving, giving, and witnessing. That window will not remain open indefinitely, so churches must move quickly.
Many in the pews will have questions: Where was God? Why does He let these things happen? Isn’t He a God of love? Is God judging our sin?
Sermons need to address some of these questions. Answers will involve:
- The Sovereignty of God. “Our God is in the Heavens; He does whatever He pleases” (Psalm 115:3). God does not ask our opinion or seek our permission. He is God and we are not.
- Only God knows whether this tragedy was for judgement, so saying whether it was or was not is presumptuous. However, Psalm 130:3 asks,”If Thou, Lord, shouldst mark iniquities, who would stand?” When outsiders said Hurricane Katrina’s flooding was God’s judgment on New Orleans, we answered: “Perhaps so. But there was no flooding in the French Quarter,” and, “If He is now judging sin, then look out, friend. Your city may be next!”
- “The rain falls on the just and the unjust” (Matthew 5:45). Everyone on Earth enjoys the blessings and shares the dangers of living here.
Faith—believing in the Lord Jesus—has never been simple or easy, particularly during tragedies. But there are more things going on in the universe than what we see, more than what we understand, and more than what our limited theology allows. All Job saw during his sufferings was what was happening to him. He knew nothing of the drama taking place on the higher level or how God would use his sufferings to enlighten and bless untold generations of believers to come. By faith, Job said, “Though he slay me, yet will I hope in him” (Job 13:15).
We must discourage testimonies that exclaim, “The tornado missed my house; God answers prayer!” The well-intentioned speaker heaps misery on those whose homes were destroyed. When people say “I got the job, God is good!” and “She agreed to marry me; God is good!” we remind them that whether or not you get the job or she meets you at the altar, God is still good.
Every Lord’s Day, someone sitting before the pastor is experiencing his own private 9/11, Katrina, Joplin, or Moore, Oklahoma. Pray for the Holy Spirit to use you to bring them to the Savior, who alone can touch the deepest hurt and lift the heaviest load.
