Is God in the earthquake?

May the words of my mouth and the meditations of all our hearts be acceptable in your sight, O Lord, our Rock and our Redeemer.  Amen.

Earthquakes, tsunamis, floods, hurricanes, cyclones, tornados, draughts – all of these are called acts of God.

What does this mean?  How are they acts of God?

Where is God in any of these?

1 Kings 19:9-13  (NRSV)

At that place he came to a cave, and spent the night there. Then the word of the LORD came to him, saying, "What are you doing here, Elijah?"  He answered, "I have been very zealous for the LORD, the God of hosts; for the Israelites have forsaken your covenant, thrown down your altars, and killed your prophets with the sword. I alone am left, and they are seeking my life, to take it away."  He said, "Go out and stand on the mountain before the LORD, for the LORD is about to pass by." Now there was a great wind, so strong that it was splitting mountains and breaking rocks in pieces before the LORD, but the LORD was not in the wind; and after the wind an earthquake, but the LORD was not in the earthquake;  and after the earthquake a fire, but the LORD was not in the fire; and after the fire a sound of sheer silence.  When Elijah heard it, he wrapped his face in his mantle and went out and stood at the entrance of the cave. Then there came a voice to him that said, "What are you doing here, Elijah?"

Is the earthquake the act of God?

We are tempted to look at it this way.  Just as Jesus was tempted in the wilderness, in times of trouble we enter our own wilderness.  We are tempted to look for a reason that God is punishing us or why God is punishing them.  We are tempted to blame and judge, even if it means judging ourselves.

Where is God in the earthquake?   Where is God in the tsunami?

Elijah went into a cave and God asked him, “What are you doing here, Elijah?”

If Elijah had done what God told him to, he might have seen God.  God is not in the earthquake.  God is in the people who help others after the earthquake.  God is in the survivors, gathering together and working together to find others.  God is with those who are in pain, with those who mourn.  They are never alone.

Where is God in the earthquake?

God is in us as we respond to help.  God is in us as we send financial support through our church and in other ways.  God is in us as we support our government’s efforts to help.  God is in us as we pray for those directly affected.

Let us pray,

O loving Creator, bring healing and hope to those who, at this time, grieve, suffer pain, or who have been affected by the earthquake and tsunami in Japan.

We remember those who have died and we pray for those who mourn for them.

We pray for those who have been affected as the tsunami spread across the Pacific.

May we all be aware of Your compassion, O God, which calms our troubled hearts and shelters our anxious souls.

May we pray with humility with our troubled and struggling brothers and sisters on earth.

May we dare to hope that through the generosity of the privileged, the destitute might glimpse hope, warmth and life again.

Through our Saviour Christ who lives with us, comforts us and soothes us.

Amen.