2 Epiphany; Year C

January 17, 2010

Berkeley D. Johnson, III

Preaching after disaster

How does one do this?

How does a preacher (or, for that matter, a priest, chaplain, rescue worker, doctor, or nurse) offer comfort….

To a father who has discovered his child amongst the rubble and ruin;

To a mother who can’t get any food or fresh water for her dying infant child;

Or to those of us gathered here today, who can perhaps only imagine the horror of that ongoing reality every day, in many parts of the world.

I recall my first sermon – neatly written and typed out;

And I recall then going to a forum at my church on the Thursday evening before I was to deliver it;

A forum on the devastation in Honduras caused by Hurricane Mitch;

And realizing that I was going to have to rip up my sermon and start over,

Because THIS was what I now needed to preach about.

I recall preaching after the Tsunami;

And struggling with the same questions?

How do we not blame God for the Tsunami, for the earthquake, for the hurricane?

Yes, they are natural processes, but who created these natural processes?

If God created everything, then how is God not ultimately in some way responsible for the earthquake, for the Tsunami, for the hurricane?

“Or,” to quote the best line I have read this week, “is God somehow exempt from manufacturer’s liability questions?”[1]

We have seen a lot of lament this week? What is lament? Lament is daring to shake our fist at God, to fling our “why?” at God. Why is lament important? Because it is a means of deep communication with our Creator, and it opens the door to hope.

My God, My God, why have you forsaken me? Why have you forsaken us, the people of Haiti must be crying? And, in case anyone is wondering, it’s not because they have forsaken God, as Pat Robertson (God’s self-appointed insurance defense attorney) suggested this past week.

But back to lament. As Christians we are hesitant to fling our “why?” at God, and it is to our spiritual detriment and impoverishment that we fail to do so; for even the gospels record our savior’s anguished “Why?” from the cross.

But as I said lament leads to hope. So where is the hope? How shall the people of God be sustained by God’s Word in this time of distress?

At our Canterbury service this past Wednesday, I read an article about the devastation caused by the earthquake in Haiti, which at that point was only 24 hours old

Our students were struck by the juxtaposition of the devastation, death, and ruin, and the praying, the singing, and the faith of the Haitian people.

Listen!

To this message of hope in today’s scripture and imagine the people of Haiti as they heard this reading today:

Isaiah 62:2-4

62 ²The nations shall see your vindication, and all the kings your glory; and you shall be called by a new name that the mouth of the Lord will give. ³You shall be a crown of beauty in the hand of the Lord, and a royal diadem in the hand of your God. ⁴You shall no more be termed Forsaken, and your land shall no more be termed Desolate; but you shall be called My Delight Is in Her, and your land Married; for the Lord delights in you, and your land shall be married.

Jerusalem had been in ruins, but here was a message of restoration and hope! Could there be a more appropriate message for the people of Haiti?

But, what to do with this wedding feast in Cana?

And the fact that tomorrow is Dr. MLK, Jr., Day?

How do we tie together an earthquake, a wedding, complete with the miracle of new wine, and the social justice issues for which Dr. King stood?

At first glance, the Gospel story seems to be out of place today;

But listen!, Jesus objects to the timing as well: “My hour has not yet come.”

Yet Jesus provides what is needed.

And again, later in John, when the people follow him to the mountain, and there is nothing for them to eat, Jesus provides for them.

At first glance, the miracle of turning water into wine for a wedding feast might appear to lack the gravitas necessary to address the issues of the moment;

It hardly seems like a matter of life and death;

Or perhaps we should ask, could you turn that wine back into water?

But what kind of hope might it inspire today in those facing a seemingly impossible situation?

And what does it say to us about the ways Christ provides for us, no matter how impossible the situation may seem?

And finally on the eve of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Day, where are the justice issues in these stories of earthquake and wedding feast to be found?

We have heard the imagery of Isaiah, who tells of a God who will marry us and rejoice over us as one spouse rejoices over the other, and there is a wedding feast in Cana…all as a court here in California considers arguments on the constitutionality of a law that prohibits those of the same gender from marrying[2];

And next, much as there was following Katrina, there is a justice issue in the circumstances that led to how the people of Haiti were living – crammed together in flimsy structures that ultimately came tumbling down when shaken by the earth this past week, revealing the poverty in which these people were living, and the differences between the haves and the have-nots.

Earthquakes, Tsunamis, Hurricanes, Fires, Avalanches, pandemics – natural disasters happen everywhere – the rain falls, and the sun shines, on the just and the unjust – if an earthquake of this magnitude happens here, are we similarly affected? No! There is likely going to be loss of life and some destruction, but not on the scale of the utter devastation we have seen this past week;

And why is that? It is because we have the resources to build structures that can, in many instances, withstand earthquakes, and THAT is what makes Pat Robertson’s comments this past week so reprehensible. It is a matter of privilege, not faithfulness to God, that separates us from those suffering from this earthquake.

Barbara Rossing explained this in her lecture we listened to during the Lenten series last year, remember? What hurricane Katrina did was pull back the curtain on the poverty and neglect that the people in New Orleans were living in. In similar fashion, as a former seminary professor of mine noted this week, “Haiti has been horribly neglected for years by the world; the disaster of the earthquake has simply uncovered the sin of that neglect.”[3]

What can we do, we ask? What can we possibly do to help?

In that first sermon following Hurricane Mitch, I didn’t know about Episcopal Relief & Development;

But we have a built-in mechanism for giving to the relief effort in Haiti;

And it is something we can do.

Likewise, Paul’s lesson offers us a number of examples of who we are and what we can do, doesn’t he?

And it will take all of these gifts and more to restore the people of Haiti, our family in Christ;

But there is still something else we can do, because when Jesus’ hour does arrive, Jesus does not leave us without hope, but says….

“Do this”

Remarkably, as I gathered with our students on Wednesday and read that article to them, in it, the people of Haiti asked that we pray for them.

Yes, send water and food and rescue workers and medical supplies and personnel, but pray for us.

And when we gather to pray, we “Do this”

In remembrance of the One who provides for us, still, to this day.

For by “doing this” we are indeed doing something. Jesus has left us this meal we can share together, that connects us to Christ, and to one another. As Jesus says, “Those who eat my flesh and drink my blood abide in me, and I in them.”

But, again, it is not lost on me that we are in John, and what does Jesus do at the Last Supper in John?

(Pause)

He washes their feet.

What is the message? Serve and care for one another.

So, as you watch people care for one another in the days and weeks and months ahead, picture Jesus washing the feet of the disciples.

Today’s Collect asks God to illumine us through Word and Sacrament.

How are we illumined by God’s Word and Sacraments? How can we shine with the radiance of Christ’s glory?

How do we share the abundance of good wine we have received? How do we take that wine and turn it into water for the people of Haiti?

Amen.