Victorian Bushfires
Like many Australians, over the past few days I have been distraught and captivated by the devastation of the Victorian bush fires. That so much death and destruction is possible in such a short period of time, and that we are so powerless to defend ourselves in the face of such dangers is difficult to comprehend.
While shock gridlocks one part of my brain – another part is thinking how do I process this as a Christian? Given that I believe in a sovereign benevolent God, how can I make sense of these events?
As I look around me, I notice Christian leaders making statements about how our thoughts and prayers are with those who have experienced loss. And this is right. Our first response is one of empathy. In fact this is one of the great distinctives of the Christian faith. We have a God who became man in Jesus, took on our flesh, lived our life, cried at the death of his friends, suffered injustice and was ultimately crucified. And because of all this we have a God who can sympathise with us in our weaknesses.
I also notice Christian organizations launching appeals. Again, this is right. We ought to respond when and where we can in practical ways. The number crunchers tell us that Christians are on average the most generous and philanthropic citizens.
But the prime minister and premier call for empathy and generosity. As Christians, what can we say beyond this? My local newspaper headline reads ‘hell fires’. Biblically speaking, fire is often used as an image or instrument of judgment. What can be said in this regard?
Controversial Christian minister Danny Nalliah yesterday said, according to Melbourne paper The Age, that the fires were a result of God’s judgment upon “INCENDIARY” abortion law reforms that last year made Victoria “the baby-killing state”. “God’s protection has been taken off the state, and Satan is having a go at the nation.”
This line of thinking is unpopular and unpalatable, but is there any truth to it? Didn’t God after all burn Sodom and Gommorah for their sins?
Drawing links between Sodom and Gommorah and the Victorian bush fires is problematic. The account in Genesis 19 does not read like a natural disaster that happened to burn a town(s) in its path as was the case in Victoria. According to Gen 19:24 burning sulfur rained down on the city, and on the city alone. The point of the narrative is that God’s judgment was decisive and specific.
If you did want to find a biblical parallel to the Victorian bushfires, better is Luke 13. Here a tower in Siloam appears to have fallen without warning, killing 18 people. Jesus is asked if people incur such wrath because they “were worse sinners.” Jesus’ response is to say that they were not worse sinners. To draw the parallels to Victoria, we cannot conclude that the people of Kinglake specifically or of Victoria at large are any better or worse than other Australians. Such conclusions are erroneous.
But there is a sting in the tail to what Jesus says. His next line is: “But unless you repent, you too will all perish.” (Luke 13:5) Jesus’ message, like it or not, is that while there is indiscriminate and apparently unfair ‘justice’ in life – all humanity (outside repentance) sits under judgment and will one day perish.
Let me be clear about what I am, and am not saying here. I am not saying that Jesus’ or the Christian view of personhood is that we are all bad and deserve to die. Humanity has been made in God’s image, and God is good. The proverbial little boy who says “God made me, and God don’t make junk” was right. All humans, both those who believe in Jesus and those who don’t, remain capable at times of reflecting God’s image in the way they love, care, and forgive. To be balanced we ought also say our desire for justice and our disgust to think that some might have deliberately lit fires that cased this devastation is also a way in which all humanity reflects God’s character.
Rather, the Christian view of personhood is that, in Adam, who acted as the representative of the human race, we have all fallen short of God’s standards (perfection) and that have all come under judgment. And its not just Adam, or people who light bushfires who deserve God’s judgment. None of us manages to live to our own standards, let alone God’s. The way to avoid judgment is not to be better than your neighbour, but to repent of your inability to make things right with God by yourself, and to believe that in Jesus you can again have peace with God.
What does this mean regarding the bushfires? Am I saying that the fires are judgment for sins? No – and yes. No – I do not believe we can conclude that God caused the fires so as to specifically judge persons who have since lost their lives. First, God did not cause them. They were a combination of naturally occurring events and human actions. Second, the fires were widespread and indiscriminate. But yes – the fires are a consequence of the fact that we live in a broken world – broken by human rebellion God. Natural disasters are a consequence of human sin, and in that sense they function as a self imposed result of our (corporate humanity that is) rejection of God.
Where then is hope? Let me turn to media coverage of the bushfires. Two stories caught my attention. One was the story of a man reunited with his dog. The other was a story of a husband and wife reunited by Mike Overton and the Channel Nine helicopter. The two embraced within a scrum of media cameras. What the media is looking for is the good story on the fringe of all the bad news. Fascinating isn’t it – usually the mass media is good at giving us the bad news. But when the news is so bad we can’t comprehend it, they end up trying to find the soft edge.
What is missing in the media coverage, by and large, is an in-depth look at any of the lives that were lost. All we get is photos of people crying over mellow music. While we the general public might find a glimmer of hope in a couple being reunited, spare a thought for the hundreds who will never be reunited with their loved ones. They will find no comfort or hope in such stories. Nor will any amount of money from various appeals fill this void. In short, for those staring most starkly into this tragedy, I can see no silver lining to this cloud coming from the mouths of politicians or the stories of media outlets.
Here too the Christian story stands alone. Today I bury a parishioner, and in two days I bury my grandmother. Different from death via a tragedy I know, but still death nonetheless. These occasions will be a mixture of sadness and joy. Sadness at saying goodbye, but joy in knowing that both ladies have a hope in a life beyond their suffering and mortality. A hope that does not compare to the finding of ones pet, or a helicopter flight.
Natural disasters remind us there is a shallowness to much of modern life, a finiteness of the human condition and abilities, and the need for hope in and beyond our uncertain world. I’m relieved I have such a hope in Jesus.
David Rietveld