Ecclesiastes 3:1-15

Sometimes I think that CNN is the biggest test to a modern person's faith. Let me tell you what I mean. Since the advent of CNN we see the tragedies of life in living color and in real time. It is hard to ignore the realities of suffering when it is beamed into your family room 24 hours a day. And it has been going on for over 30 years now and has affected our perspective on the world.

For me it started with the assassination attempt on Ronald Regan. I turned the TV on and there they were showing footage of people being shot including the President. Then there was the Challenger accident - about 20 young men in the TV room of Maxie dorm stood silent as we watched the explosion. Then there was the Tienamen Square protests. I cheered with the protesters and then stood in shock as they were attacked and killed.

But the phenomenon has developed farther! Most recently there was the whole 9/11 attacks 10 years ago today! But it wasn't only CNN. Everywhere the reality of the tragedy was brought home to us. Then there were the tsunamis, and hurricanes and earthquakes and wars and famines. How do we remain sensitive to a hurting world? It can test our faith.

How do we live the Christian life in the midst of this CNN age? How do we begin to respond to the need of the world? So often we feel powerless. We can give money and send flood buckets and pray. But the need is so far away and at the same time we see it in our own homes!

How do we continue to believe in the goodness and righteousness of God when infants are washed from their mother's arms? The easy way to do it is to just blame the victims. They must have had it coming. I know I have heard people, Christians believe it or not, who said that the tsunamis hit southern Asia because most of those people were not Christian! Or that the people in the World Trade Center must have all been worse sinners. Or that God was punishing New Orleans for its sin.

But that is no answer. Earthquakes and disasters and acts of human cruelty happen in our world. And we can't escape that possibility. That is unless we want to bury our heads in the sand theologically speaking.

There is nothing new under the sun. That is what Ecclesiastes said. People of faith have faced this question down through the ages and the Bible addresses it. In Ecclesiastes the preacher says "There is a time and purpose for all things under heaven." God appoints a time to live and a time to die, a time of peace and a time of war. There is a time for sunshine and a time for rain. And by extension while there is a time for the joys of life there is also a time for the pains of life too.

Basically this passage seems to be saying bad things happen - get over it! Is this supposed to be comforting? No, but it's true. Bad things happen. Hurricanes and acts of violence and other tragedies are part of this world. We can wish they don't exist but that won't make them go away.

Ecclesiastes is doing more than just saying that bad things happen. At the same time it says that all this is in God's hand. Somehow all of this, the good and the bad, are part of a bigger plan by God. And this passage doesn't try to explain that plan. It simply acknowledges that it is there and that it is all in God's hands somehow.

So how do we respond to this disturbing news? Pray! I know, most people groan and say "But that's nothing." It most certainly is not! If a disaster were to happen in South Carolina and the Governor did not call the president we would all be hopping mad. Well what if the Christians didn't call God! The president can call up FEMA and Congress and the leaders of other countries. But God can call out an army of angels, and they can do much more than FEMA, the Army Corps of Engineers and the Red Cross all rolled together!

Have faith. Somehow all of this is in God's hands. I don't pretend to understand. In fact it may be beyond human understanding. But somehow He's got the hurricane and Earthquake and terrorist victims in his hands. Just like the old spiritual says, "He's got the whole world in his hands. He's got the whole wide world in his hand. He's got the whole world in his hands. He's got the whole world in his hands."

Pray, have faith and Do what we can. Sometimes this seems so small. You send some money to the United Methodist Committee on Relief or put together a flood bucket. It seems like just a drop in the bucket. But I believe that if you truly want to help, God will make a way.

I will end with this story. Several years ago the church I was at had bought Christmas presents for some needy families. As I was delivering the presents to one family the mother said to me that she hoped that some day she would be able to help someone else out but that in her current situation she couldn't see how she ever would be able to. I told her that if it was her sincere prayer to be able to help someone else, God would make a way. I had to leave her to go deliver some other gifts that were in my van.

Later that day I got a call from her. I had accidentally given her a present that was meant for the other family. She said that the tag on the gift has the child's clothing size and that she had some clothes that one of her children had outgrown that would fit this other child. She asked me if when I picked up that gift could I also take these clothes and give them to the family too. I said "You see God has already answered your prayers." There was a long silence on the other end of the line then she said, "Oh My!"

There truly is a time to give and a time to receive. There is a time for storms and time for clear skies. Somehow it is all beyond our ability to understand but it is all in God's hands. All we can do is just trust God through the hard times and give thanks for the good times. There truly is a time and a purpose for everything under God's heaven.

Psalm 46

Solid as a rock. When we want to say that something is dependable we say, "It is as solid as a rock." But as earthquakes show us sometimes things that are solid rock, like the ground, shake. A year ago today the ground shook in New York, Washington and rural Pennsylvania. The acts of 19 men sent tremors not just through the strata of the earth's crust but also through the hearts of this nation and the world. It may not have been a real earthquake but it shook the earth to the core.

Scientist tell us that the solid rock beneath our feet is little more than a thin crust floating on molten lava. This crust is broken up into huge plates. As the centuries go by these plates inch their way this way or that. It's so slow that we usually can't feel it. It is along the lines where these plates meet that earthquakes happen. But every now and again these huge sheets of rock get hung and the tension builds up. Finally it is released in a great geological shudder of the earth below us. Solid as a rock?

Down in Summerville, where I grew up, we know about earthquakes. Any good Summervillian will tell you that the great Charleston earthquake of the late 1800's was really misnamed. The real center of the great earthquake was Summerville. In fact at one time the train that ran through Summerville was called the earthquake route. Summerville sits right on the line between what Scientists call the Atlantic and the North American Plates. Some say the Summerville fault is the second largest fault in the continental United States. It is second only to the San Andrea's Fault in California. Oh the fault in Summerville hasn't killed anybody since the 1800's. In fact the occasional tremors it caused were a source of amusement and a curiosity. For a week after such a tremor people would talk about it. "Did you feel it?" "Yes I think I did." Those tremors weren't dangerous, but they were a constant reminder that the rock beneath our feet is not solid.

The earth beneath our feet is not the only thing, which we depend on to be solid, which we later discover is actually shaky. In Summerville we thought we could depend on the weather. But the weather, which coastal people depended upon to grow their vegetables and make their gardens beautiful, turned mean back in 1987. The sun and the sea and the wind, which make the coast a nice place to visit, worked together to play a dirty trick on my hometown. How many people were killed by hurricane Hugo? I forget exactly. The same wind and rain, which cause the wisteria vines to hang from the trees in cascades of lavender and white, took down the trees they hung from.

It's rather disturbing when the earth beneath your feet cannot be trusted to stay still. I don't want to scare anybody. I just want to testify to the truth: Rock is not as solid as some would think. The elements of the weather are fickle. The very things we depend on for food, the earth and the rain, can destroy us.

Of course I'm not really talking about rock tonight. The rock under our feet is just a metaphor, an image, for the things which we stand on. Many times the things we trust in to keep us safe, to protect us, shudder and shake beneath our feet. It's disturbing when the things we trust in to give us stability begin to shake beneath our feet.

I believe that the writer of Psalm 46 knew what I am talking about. To the best of my knowledge Jerusalem was not on a fault line and floods or hurricanes were not a problem for them. But the psalmist knew of these things. The Psalmist spoke of the Mountains quaking and the waters foaming. But Jerusalem had a much greater danger to face. The people of Israel were surrounded by people who would attack them at any time. They faced the danger of being killed by the people which lived around them. Sound familiar?

Because of this danger of attack they would build great fortresses. They would take hewn rock to build these fortresses in which they could take refuge. When the nations around them raged they could totter a kingdom. So the Israelites took refuge in great fortresses of solid rock.

But as we have seen rock is not so solid. Look to Eastern Europe. Even an iron curtain couldn't stop the force of souls that yearn to breath free. The Psalmist knew that the rock, which made the walls around the city, could crumble. The Psalmist knew what it felt like when the things that we depend on begin to shake beneath our feet. The psalmist knew that feeling of uneasiness and fear or even terror.

When the very rocks upon which we stand begin to shake, as they did on September 11th, where can we stand? The answer is nowhere. There is no place on earth to escape the ravages of wind and rain. There is no place on earth where the mountains will not tremble. There is no physical fortress on earth to take refuge in when your neighbors turn against you. The Israelites tried to take refuge in their walled cities and they were carried off into captivity.

Before September 11th some might have suggested that America was a refuge from the evils and injustices and terror of this world. Somehow we seemed untouchable. Because of our military might and distance from the Middle East we seemed safe. Because of the aid that we have give and the peace and freedom we have won we could not be touched. Or so it seemed.

"Where do we go when the rock beneath our feet shakes?' is the wrong question. The right question is "Whom can we turn to when the earth quakes and the waters of life rage?" The Psalmist knew the answer. When the neighbors of the Israelites attacked, he didn't say the walls of Jerusalem are my refuge. He or She faithfully proclaimed, "God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear though the earth should change, though the mountains shake in the heart of the sea; though its waters roar and foam, though the mountains tremble with its tumult.

In this world the earth will shake, the waters will rise, and people will try to terrorize us. But in the refuge of God the water don't flood and kill. In the holy habitation of the Most High there is a river whose streams make glad the city of God. God is in the midst of her, she shall not be moved; God will help her right early.

The powers of this world can totter kingdoms and towers and kill the body. But the power of God's voice alone can melt the earth. If Christ is on our side who can be against us? What do we have to fear from the nations? God has the power to destroy their chariots: to both begin and stop wars forever. If we take God as our refuge and not the shaky fortresses of this world, we will be safe. We will be safe because as the Psalmist said, "The Lord of Hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our refuge.

"Wars and Rumors of Wars"

I had plans this week. Three church members were having surgery and I had a meeting every night this week; two on Tuesday. But Tuesday all that changed. I had three hospital visits to make and two Bible Studies to teach and I had it all planned out. I was visiting Jud Thornton as my first visit of the day and we were talking about his knee when he said, "Is that the World trade center on fire?" I looked over my shoulder at the TV and it was. Thinking is was just a tragic fire we watched when suddenly out of the right side of the screen a jet came into the picture and hit the other tower. War and violence has a way of disrupting our lives doesn't it. But don't despair, the Word of God has something to say to our situation.

Wars and rumors of war are nothing new. They have been going on for a long time. Just look at the history of the world. Wars go back to the beginning of civilization. One might even say that wars began with Cain killing Able. Or maybe they began when Adam and Eve went to war with the law of God. Or when the Serpent decided to deceive them and destroy Paradise. I don't need to belabor the point. Violence has been part of human interaction from the dawn of humanity. And often times that violence has been manifest in nation rising up against nation.

Wars are nothing new because evil is nothing new. You see wars and evil go together. Wars are around, because evil is around.

In the face of the reality of war Jesus' words don't seem to offer much hope. In fact at first glance they seem dismal. Jesus says, "You will hear of wars and rumors of wars." Also, "For nation will rise up sword against nation, and kingdom against kingdom." This sounds like wars will continue to happen just as they have in the past. People will continue to rise up and kill one another.

That's not what the mothers of soldiers want to hear. That's not what the brothers and sister and sons and daughters of those in the National Guard want to hear. It's not what the people of New York and Washington and America want to hear. It's not what the people of the world who watch the terrorism unfold before them on their TVs want to hear.

What we want is peace. We want a "war to end all wars." We want a "new world order." We dream of a world where nation does not rise up against nation. A world where we beat our swords into plowshares and our spears into pruning hooks. We want to trade bread not bullets with the nations of the world. We want to raise our daughters and sons without the fear that they may be called upon to kill and maybe even be killed.

But all those dreams, as inspired and beautiful as they are, seem doomed. They are a ship of hope that seems bound to be sunk by an enemy missile. No matter how earnestly we seek world peace there is always some war bent person who kills peace in its infancy.

But Jesus Christ offers hope to the hopeless. Jesus said that these wars and rumors of wars must take place. This is the beginning of the birth pains. They are the beginning of the beginning. It will happen over and over again that people will kill each other over Lord only knows what. But this is a sign to us that something new is about to be born.

I said before that wars and evil go together. Even just wars are begun by an evil act. But Christ will overcome all evil. As Christians we believe that Christ will return and he will cast all that is evil in the lake of fire and utterly destroy it. And when he does that the cause of all wars will be destroyed. And we can finally beat our spear into plowshares. For Christ will have won the war to end all wars: the war against sin and evil. And there will be a new world order, in fact there will be a new heaven and a new earth, and the Prince of Peace will rule.

It is significant that Jesus talks about wars in response to the question, "What will be the signs of the age to come?" Christ talked about wars in the context of his return, so we need to view wars in the context of his second coming. You see wars are a sign of the age to come. Oh this war or that war will not signal the end. But the activity of human killing human is an evidence of evil. And we know that Christ has vowed himself to destroy all evil. He even died for that cause! A war casualty! But he also arose, and he is coming again to finish the job.

War is nothing new. We will have them with us until the end. The human race in its sinfulness cannot stop it. It's as inevitable as sin itself.

But we Christians have a unique perspective. The world looks at how evil humans can be to each other and they feel hopeless. But we have a hope. His name is Jesus. And as surely as nation will rise up against nation, he will come again to end it all.

In light of this hope we can continue to dream of a new world order. We can honestly and truthfully envision a war to end all wars. And we can lift up our voices in singing "Let there be peace on earth." And because of the blessed hope of his return we can also say that peace can begin with me. And we can spread that hope. A hope and an assurance that one day we will all dwell as one family under God our Father. Let there be peace on earth and let it begin with me.