Thai Rant Source Rex
The September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks on New York City and Washington, D.C devastated the USA. Part of the mourning and the spiritual quests of that time was a renewed interest in church attendance. The people turned to the church for hope in their time of struggle. That Sunday, the 16th, while pastors across North America and the world were trying to instill hope and comfort in their parishioners, my home church had almost no response. Some guy who had been chosen to read scripture chose a passage about the end times, "wars and rumours of wars" etc., and he commented how it seemed fitting to the events of the week. Then, a representative from World Vision did his bit (his lack of notes left his sermon disorganized and repetitive) but made no mention of the attacks. I wasn't personally distraught in the face of the disaster, but I felt mildly violated that my church had no response. The place where I was supposed to turn for guidance offered no assistance in light of this catastrophe.

I am preaching this Sunday, and I will not be accused of the same negligence. I am preparing an update/reflection on the crisis to be said this Sunday morning. My intention is to re-inform people of the extent of the crisis, contextualize it in some way, encourage charitable giving, and alleviate some theological questions. Maybe if people have their faith shaken by this kind of tragedy, they won't come to church, but it's also important to have a good groundwork for when doubts and questions do arise. I will likely borrow some thoughts from Rex Murphy's Point of View, which is an interesting line of thought carrying some heavy social justice issues, but without the religious element I'll use.

I'm not entirely sure what I'll say to alleviate their theological questioning, partly because I haven't written it yet, and partly because it is a touchy subject with no solid answers. Much of my logic in this area has been formed reading Phillip Yancey's "Where is God When it Hurts?" Essentially he says that while we are looking up at God pointing at a crisis and asking what he's doing, he is pointing at the same situation and asking us the same question.

   [ posted by William @ 1:56 PM ]