I delight greatly in the Lord; my soul rejoices in my God. For He has clothed me with garments of salvation and arrayed me in a robe of righteousness.

The newspapers, radio, and television have been filled with news about last week’s tsunami. The tsunami of 04 will take its place in history along with the drought that ravaged Africa at the last part of the last century, and the black plague that killed a third of Europe during the Middle Ages. The tsunami’s long term devastation- the famine and disease that will follow will be like the flood that occurred along the Yangtze River in China in 1931, that flood drowned thousands upon thousands and the aftermath of disease and starvation pushed the death toll to an estimated 3.7 million people. A number of the radio talk shows have been filled with people asking, “Where was God in all this?”

As a Pastor I don’t have to wait for a tsunami to hit or an earthquake to strike to be bombarded with these questions. I see people caught up in their own personal tsunamis: life-changing diseases, loss of a job, the death of a loved one, a pregnant teenager, unfairness, accidents, hurt, hate, an unfaithful spouse, unforgiveness, sinful pride, theft…the list goes on. And people turn to me and ask, sometimes with a broken heart, sometimes raging in anger, “So where is God in all this?”

At our Wednesday evening service I showed an excerpt from the movie Titanic. I showed that scene where the Titanic had just sunk and the people, hundreds and hundreds of them, are in the water struggling and thrashing around- many are drowning and others are struggling against the freezing water. I asked the question, “Why does God allow this?”

To wrestle with the “whys” and “wheres” we need to return to the beginning. When God created the world it was, by God’s own declaration, “very good”- Genesis 1.31- no death, unfairness, disease, hurt, no tsunamis, earthquakes, but all that changed when sin entered the world. The world and all that is in it begins to decay. St Paul writes in Romans, The creation was subjected to frustration, since that fateful day in the Garden the whole of creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time. (Romans 8. 20, 21a, 22) That which God said was “very good” that which we would, because of Madison Avenue, declare to be “wonderful,” “the best,” “amazing,” “fantastic” began to break down- to be frustrated- to “groan”- under the effect of sin. All manner of things began to happen that were not in the original design, but even then, God did not abandon us- He gave the promise of a Savior- someone to deliver us from the tsunamis of this life- the tsunamis of sin and unfairness, hurt and even death. That promise is realized in the birth of Jesus.

“But Pastor why doesn’t God step in and just prevent these disasters? Why does He save some and not others?” “Why did one baby survive floating on a mattress and others drown?” To wrestle with this we need to speak to Job from the Old Testament. He experienced a number of catastrophes himself. For us all, he asked the “why” questions and God answered him. God’s answer to Job is found in chapters 38-41 of The Book of Job. I encourage you to go home and read it - for this morning we will hear but a few lines: God says, Who is this that darkens My counsel with words without knowledge. Brace yourself like a man; I will question you, and you shall answer Me. Where were you when I laid the earth’s foundation?… Who marked off its dimensions?… On what were its footings set?… It gets much rougher from there. But the answer is this: The great I AM, the eternal triune God made the world perfect. It was man’s exercise of free will and the resulting sin that has caused this hurt, turmoil, and death. But I have not abandoned you, says God. Whether it is clear to you or not He can even make use of these disasters to work good. It is good that God is slow to anger and abounding in Love. We won’t know how many times God interceded for us, saved us, and protected us in this lifetime. Understand we are all sinners and He owes us nothing but He from the beginning has been about the business of rescuing us.

That rescue is tied up in the person of Jesus Christ who is God, who came from heaven as the rescuer of all mankind. Jesus came providing life vests that are truly life saving- filled with His almighty Word, His deed of dying on the cross for us, and the buoyancy of His resurrection. Jesus came promising “if you will believe in Me you will not perish but have eternal life.” (John 3.16)

And some will sneer, “I see lots of dead people in the pictures- that looks like perishing to me.” and they would be right if the One who promised to give them life had died Himself and not risen again.

You see the guarantee of this life vest is not made by just some holy man or well-intended preacher. It is made by God Himself, who laid down His life on the cross and then three days later took it up again. He promises life here and in heaven. I go there to prepare a place for you that you may be where I am. And if I go and prepare a place for you I will come back for you that you may be where I am. (John 14.2,3) At the moment this life appears to end, I will rescue you from death and take you to be where I am, and that place is heaven.

In the movie Titanic there is a scene when the hero, Jack, boosts his beloved, Rose, up on a piece of floating debris- part of a door. It can’t support them both but he boosts her up knowing she can survive but he will perish. That floating raft keeps her safe until help arrives. This church is our raft. It is what Christ has boosted us up on that we too would be safe until our final day. He gave up His life on the cross to save ours and all who would believe. As it is written, He died for all. (2nd Cor 5.15)

The church is our ark. It was given to us that we might ride out the turbulent storms of this life. We are boosted into the ark in our baptism. There, God plucks us from the undertows of sin that seek to drag us under- young and old alike- and brings us into the ark. It is true- Baptism now saves you. While in this ark we call the church He encourages us by and through His Word- Words which give us comfort and peace even when storms rage all around us. Peace, declares Jesus, I leave with you; My peace I give you not as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled. (John 14.27) His Words are Words of real comfort, hope, and lasting peace. While on board He feeds us and sustains us not only by His Word but in a real way through the bread and wine of communion. On board we are encouraged by and through fellowship with one another.

All of this is good and nice Pastor, but what about those who never heard? Where was God for them? All this salvation, this rescue, isn’t just for you and me. You see Jesus didn’t come to die for just a few of us. He came to die for the sins of the whole world. He came to rescue all who would listen. God has declared Himself for us. God our Savior, that is Jesus, wants all men to be saved and come to knowledge of the truth. That truth is not found in Buddha or Mohammed or anyone of a thousand Hindu gods or some new age “roll your own opinion” religion; it is found only in Jesus Christ.

Now some will say, “That is very narrowed minded of you Pastor”, but I say it is very comforting. In the midst of a tsunami God doesn’t want us climbing up on any manner of debris only to find out when it is too late that piece won’t support us, won’t see us through the impending storms, and when the end comes we will perish. Jesus wants to boost us into the only ark that will see us safely through all storms and disasters whether a tsunami like we see in Indonesia or on some sort of tsunami on a personal scale.

All around us are people, like us, who are thrashing around in the waters of life in need of rescue. The life vest is there. The rescue boat is there; the rescuer is there, but sadly many people don’t know it, and they won’t know it unless someone tells them. Allow me to illustrate:

Take up the Bible that is in the pew rack in front of you. Open to page 1112. On that page you find two things: one is a dollar. It is treasure. You didn’t do anything to make it appear there. It was placed there for you. It is like the second thing, the more important thing: John 3.16. It is the Gospel in a nutshell. Read it with me. God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life. (it goes on) For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world but to save the world through Him. Believing in Jesus is the life vest all people need to know about. It provides real rescue and answers the question, where was God in the midst of life’s tsunamis- He was about rescuing believers and grieving over those who would not listen or believe.

Both treasures were there but you would have missed them if I hadn’t told you. That is how it is with people all over the world. They need someone to tell them where real help and rescue is found. Other disasters are coming- some large and shocking and others personal and just as devastating. Those around us, just like us, need to hear of what God has done to rescue us and see us through any and all things. Amen.