Reflection - Houston

http://www.usccb.org/bible/readings/091317.cfm
Colossians 3:1-11
Luke 6:20-26

This morning the Word of God came to us in the writings of St Paul:

"Put to death, then, the parts of you that are earthly:
immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire,
and the greed that is idolatry.
Because of these the wrath of God is coming upon the disobedient."

So the question for the day is clear: Did God send the flood which devastated Houston and the hurricane which just battered Florida? The short answer is 'Yes!' What other answer is possible? After all, Jesus told us: 

"Your Father who is in heaven . . . makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust." (Matthew5:45)

But that answer sort of begs the question doesn't it. Our real question, the one which men of all ages have asked, and the one which prophets and pseudo-prophets profess to answer, is more specific than that. Does God pick and choose which cities to destroy? Does He particularly destroy certain cities for their wickedness? In seeking an answer we might recall Sodom and Gomorrah . . . or the city of Nineveh from Jonah's time . . . or the words of Jesus anticipating the utter destruction of Jerusalem. 

Houston is the 4th largest city in America. Many people are asking why this unprecedented catastrophe happened to them. Was it just another storm that randomly came through. If you don't believe in coincidence, randomness is hard to adhere to as a satisfactory explanation. When I searched the internet for comments and observations about Houston and Harvey I found many declaring the destruction to be the wrath of God. They were citing Houston's wickedness. The city had a large number of gay citizens, they said.  It had a huge abortion clinic. The people had elected a lesbian mayor. Some cited the text from the prophet Amos:

"Is a trumpet blown in a city, and the people are not afraid?
Does evil befall a city, unless the LORD has done it?" (Amos 3:6)

If closely examined, however, the text from Amos is nothing more than a red herring in its supposed applicability to the contemporary situation. When read in the context of Jesus' words---"Your Heavenly Father sends rain upon the just and the unjust."---we see that the words of Amos carry the same message as those of Jesus: all things happen because God wills them to happen. Or, conversely, nothing happens unless God wills it. In the Gospel of Luke, Jesus has an even more specific comment on disasters:

There were some present at that very time who told him of the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mingled with their sacrifices. And he answered them, "Do you think that these Galileans were worse sinners than all the other Galileans, because they suffered thus? I tell you, No; but unless you repent you will all likewise perish. Or those eighteen upon whom the tower in Silo'am fell and killed them, do you think that they were worse offenders than all the others who dwelt in Jerusalem? I tell you, No; but unless you repent you will all likewise perish." (Luke 13:1-5)

We could easily and properly make a simple substitution. "Do you think that these Americans in Houston were worse sinners than all other Americans, because they suffered thus? I tell you, No; but unless you repent you will all likewise perish. Or those in Florida upon whom the wind and rain of Irma came, do you think that they were worse offenders than all the others who dwelt in The United States? I tell you, No; but unless you repent you will all likewise perish."

In the words of Paul from today's reading we hear that the wrath of God is coming upon the disobedient. But why? Does it come as punishment? The question makes me think of a story I read many years ago:

A young man from the city went to work on a ranch for the summer. One of his jobs was to clean some equipment---unfamiliar equipment, unfamiliar cleaner. A veteran ranch hand saw him working and suggested he might want to wear gloves. But the young man was having no problem and gloves would have made the task more difficult; so he continued as he had been doing. By evening his hands were raw and burning. The cleaning solution contained a strong acid.

Was the young man being punished?

If we uncritically examine the words of Jesus -- "unless you repent you will all likewise perish." -- we might mistakenly think that the storm comes as punishment. After all, his words do sound like a threat. But his words are really no different than the words of the veteran ranch hand: "Unless you change the way your doing things, something bad will happen." But, we ask, how can that be? The storm is a natural event and its landfall somewhere is inevitable. In that very statement lies our blindness.

This morning we sang a well known hymn: "For you are my God. You alone are my joy! Defend me O Lord." Many in Houston or Florida probably know the song and sing it as well. In the Old Testament it was Jonah, not a weatherman, who brought the message of destruction which threatened the city of Nineveh. "And the people of Nin'eveh believed God; they proclaimed a fast, and put on sackcloth, from the greatest of them to the least of them."(Jonah 3:5) So where was the prayer, the fast, the sackcloth in Houston or Florida as the storm approached? Where were the ministers and priests and religious and bishops? Were they doing like everyone else, boarding up the windows, gathering their valuables and moving to higher ground? How can the glory of God be made manifest if we do not turn to him -- seriously turn to Him in times of eminent destruction. "You are my God" we claim. But we fall silent when it comes down to acknowledging his power over the wind and waves. "Defend us, O Lord!" we sing. But we fall silent when we really need to be defended. Are we really just spiritual infants? When we ignore God in these situations we might just as well change the words of the Psalmist. "Our God is in heaven; whatever He wills up there, stays up there." 

We say we are children of God, that God is our Father. So why do we so often insist "I'd rather do it myself."? Instead of giving God the praise which is his due and allowing Him to manifest His glory? One might think we really don't believe we need a savior.