News came this week that the Haitian government estimates that at least 150,000 people have died in the aftermath of the powerful earthquake that struck that tiny, desperately poor nation on January 12. The number is mind-boggling -- imagine, for example, a quarter of Boston's population almost instantly wiped out by destruction and disease.
Watching the news or reading about the enormous tragedy, it can be hard to understand how a loving God could ever allow such a horrific event to take place. The question becomes particularly difficult this week, as we read in two of our lectionary texts about the great care that God is said to have for every single woman, man, and child.
In Psalm 71, the psalmist beseeches God for God's protection and strength:
"In you, O Lord, I take refuge; let me never be put to shame. In your righteousness deliver me and rescue me; incline your ear to me and save me. Be to me a rock of refuge, a strong fortress to save me, for you are my rock and my fortress." (Psalm 71:1-3)
God is portrayed as a powerful source of salvation -- a deity whose care for us has never wavered since we came into existence: "For you, O Lord, are my hope, my trust, O Lord, from my youth. Upon you I have leaned from my birth; it was you who took me from my mother's womb" (Psalm 71:5-6). Even in the midst of worry, the psalmist writes, "My praise is continually of you" (Psalm 71:6).
Meanwhile, in Jeremiah, the theme of God's ever-present protection and care is highly evident. Speaking to the prophet Jeremiah, God explains, "Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, and before you were born I consecrated you" (Jeremiah 1:5). He urges Jeremiah to take up the mantle of prophecy, promising to speak through Jeremiah and protect him from his detractors: "Do not be afraid of them, for I am with you to deliver you" (Jeremiah 1:8).
It can be difficult to hear these promises of protection in scripture and try to square them with the devastation currently making the front page -- and indeed, with the natural disasters and evil deeds that happen every day.
The rest of the lectionary passages for this week, however, offer some help as we try to sort out the mystery of how a good God can exist in a world like ours. Luke's depiction of Jesus's near death at the hands of an angry crowd shows that humans don't always understand God's ways; as Jesus says to the confused and upset group, "Truly I tell you, no prophet is accepted in the prophet's hometown" (Luke 4:24). (And, incidentally, even Jeremiah faced imprisonment and personal attacks once he obeyed God's command to prophesy.)
Furthermore, in a beautiful passage in First Corinthians, Paul expresses the idea that as human beings, we simply cannot know everything that God knows, though someday we may hope to: "For now we see in a mirror, dimly, but then we will see face to face. Now I know only in part; then I will know fully, even as I have been fully known" (1 Corinthians 13:12).
And, as Paul concludes, "Now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; and the greatest of these is love" (1 Corinthians 13:13). Love, he believes, "bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never ends" (1 Corinthians 13:7-8).
As Christians, we are called to be the body of Christ: to be God's hands and feet in this world. Perhaps the earthquake in Haiti happened for a reason that we simply can't understand. Perhaps there was no reason at all, and the earthquake was just an earthquake -- a natural event not controlled or directed by God, albeit one made worse by our past neglect of Haiti and its people. Whatever the case, it is up to us to step in and help, and to keep helping long after the first wave of attention has come and gone.
It can be incredibly difficult to understand how a loving and protective God exists in the midst of a tragedy like the one in Haiti -- indeed, many argue that events like the one of January 12th prove that God can't be real. Let us not stop wrestling with painful and challenging questions like this one. But at the same time, let us remember that we are called to love in word and deed, following the example of Christ and doing whatever we can to heal Haiti and the rest of our world.
There are numerous groups currently working to aid the Haitian people. Consider making a monetary donation (as aid workers are calling for funds, not supplies) to an organization such as the Red Cross.
Photo credit here.
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