Does God Cause Disasters?

Preached by Fr Andrew on January 5, 2005

Today we commemorate Christ’s Baptism in the water of the Jordan River. Water is the basis of all life. Astronomers are searching the universe for traces of water. They are doing this because they know if there is water, there may be life.

In the bible water is a symbol of life and death: In the Old Testament, we have the story of Noah and the Ark. God left us the rainbow as a sign He would not allow floods to destroy mankind. Moses crossed the red sea to flee from suffering and death by the hands of the Egyptians.

In the New Testament, Jesus walks on water as a sign of His victory over death.

In modern times we are confronted with disasters caused by flooding, where many people die. The tsunami which occurred during the Christmas holidays caused the death of 1,000 people. Which raises a question, “If God is in control of all nature, why would He allow this?”

The verses which we will be chanting today during the Great Blessing of Water imply that God is in control.

“You uphold all creation. The moon and the stars sing Your praises.
The depths shudder with awe. The waters do Your bidding.”

Is this just nice poetry? Does God control nature? Did He cause the tsunami wave?

World religions have given answers. For Judaism, disasters are sent by God because the people are not following the commandments. They are sent to bring about repentance. This is like ancient paganism and reflects a primitive form of Judaism. A Catholic priest said he thought it was to help us focus on Jesus Christ and life after death. Another position describes disasters as an opportunity to do charity work: feed the hungry, clothe the naked, visit the sick. This is a way to give purpose to the destruction, suffering, and death caused by disasters. From a Buddhist perspective, disasters come because God created the world which functions on its own. Disasters happen; God does not send them. We just must get used to them. It is the watchmaker’s concept of Creation. He makes the watch, winds it up, and leaves

There was an article in the Wall Street Journal entitled, Tremors of Doubt by an Orthodox Theologian named John Hart.

https://www.stmaryorthodoxchurch.org/orthodoxy/articles/tremors_of_doubt

He questions why anyone would consider God causing disasters. This is not a Christian God. It reflects Voltaire’s deist god who shapes the world for his own intensions. The Christian understanding is of a broken cosmos, a wounded world alien to God. He quotes the Gospel of St. John, “The world was made by Him, but knew Him not.” Think of the universe as a broken machine not operating the way it was created. Astronomers describe the universe as very violent with stars exploding, planets colliding, asteroids crashing, and comets disintegrating.

The Great Blessing of water presents a universe obedient to God the way it should be. The cause of the broken universe is man’s sin, when Adam turned away from God and with him all mankind. This is how sin and death came into the world causing the universe to come crashing down. The cause of all disasters is man’s broken relationship with God. To repair the universe Christ had to deal with its main cause, which is our separation from God. His baptism was the beginning, and our baptism was next. Jesus’s death and resurrection was the victory over evil and death. With it the universe has been healed, fixed, repaired.

Which begs the question: If it is fixed, why we don’t see it? St. Paul gives us the answer,
“All creation groans in anguish in anticipation of the day when God’s glory will transfigure all things.”
For now, as Christians, we cannot blame God for the 1,000 people who died, with a third of them children, as happened in the recent Tsunami. We cannot call it a mystery which serves God’s purpose. This is blasphemy. Creation is in agony controlled by fate. The only thing we can do is help the victims, be as charitable as we can, and wait until Christ returns. Christ said in the book of revelation, “Behold. I make all things new.”

Let us pray to the Lord:
We stand in awe when we see the power of nature and the destruction it can cause. We know that You have the power to quell the storms, and we wonder about the human suffering caused by the tsunami. We question Your wisdom, especially about the children who perished. We are beginning to understand why You weep over Your creation. You see Your workmanship in chaos because of humanity’s rejection of You. As we bless water today and celebrate Your baptism, help us to understand that this event begins the repairing of Your creation, and anticipates a time when the universe again will obey You and nature will sing Your praises. It will be a time when all suffering and sorrow will end, and we will live eternally with You. We pray in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Amen