Wondering about disasters.

Can somebody help me?
I am struggling to understand something confusing and repetitive. Disasters seems to promote self-doubt. “Why did this happen to me/us?” is a very common reaction. In our country, with our precious freedom of speech, disasters also become the occasions for religious and political speakers to take the situation for assertions that God is punishing people/the nation for something that the spokesperson wants to denounce. And, to the point of my concern, faithful, dedicated Christians seem to be very vulnerable to believing that God sent the natural disaster as a sign of His wrath and disapproval.
Can anyone explain to me why people would believe such a thing?
The God we worship revealed in Scripture has consistently, constantly, and creatively sought to save us in love. There was a time the Bible tells us that God got so fed up with human sin that He created a natural disaster as a sign of his judgment (Genesis 8/9). The end of this story is a precious covenant. God clearly states (Genesis 8:21,22) that He will not destroy people through natural disasters even though the inclination of the human heart is toward evil. Further, God gives a sign/seal of His covenant – the rainbow. (Genesis 9: 13-17). God made a promise to human beings that natural disasters would not be His way of pronouncing judgment on their sin.
And, beyond that covenant of assurance, God sent Jesus as the pure and prime example of His commitment to win us in love to salvation and wholeness of life. Sending down natural disasters is not God’s way. John 3:17 is very clear: God did not send His son into the world to condemn the world. And, while I am fairly certain that God has not been very happy with the ways of Washington, I am completely confident, that God isn’t very happy about His name invoked as the source of natural disasters to make a political point. That seems to me to be taking the name of the Lord in vain.
The idea that God would send a natural disaster to indiscriminately harm thousands of people is completely foreign to Christian faith. Faithful and unfaithful, saints AND sinners are hurt by disasters. Does anyone think it is like God to send wrath on everyone—the faithful and the unfaithful? That’s not Christian. And besides, if God was going to pick up natural disasters as a way of dealing with sin, we would have non-stop natural disasters everywhere we turn all the time. C'mon folks, think it through!
Our God is a God of love and compassion and mercy. United Methodist faith is centered on grace. Be careful of the messages you hear in the airwaves. Test the assertions of those who want your attention, your vote and/or your money against biblical truth. Especially in the vulnerability of doubt in the wake of a personal or natural disaster, be doubly careful what you believe when people make claims about God being the source of death and destruction. That’s an Old Testament concept that even a true reading of the Old Testament won’t support.
But such outlandish heresy does make headlines. It does generate publicity. It does get people’s attention. And, while that makes me cringe, these outrageous statements also open a door – they give us an opportunity to be witnesses to God’s everlasting love, mercy, grace and hope.

A backyard parable...

One of the most wonderful things about my home is my backyard. It is full of beauty -- flowers, birds...a true refuge. I can honestly say I don't ever take that beauty for granted.

This summer, after traveling for a couple of weeks, I noticed that my backyard bird feeder didn't need refilling. That was strange. As I watched the next couple of days, I noticed that birds were not flocking to the feeder like they usually do. (It is, after all, the only bird feeder in my yard that the squirrels can't get into.)

The reason wasn't apparent from a distance. So I took a closer look.

When I made a careful, close look, I saw the reason that the birds were not coming to the birdfeeder. Moisture had gotten into the feeder and the seed had gotten clumped up and hardened. The bird feeder was full of bird seed but birdseed was blocked. The birds weren't coming because they couldn't get anything out.

I emptied the feeder, cleaned out the bird feeder, let it dry, re-filled it and my birds are coming back.

I've been thinking about that bird feeder. I think the church these days is a lot like the bird feeder: looks like it has lots of nourishment, but, upon close examination, there are things that block the nourishment from getting out. And, like the birds, when people don't get nourished, they stop coming. Like the birdfeeder, cleaning out the clogs and hardened places takes patience and hard work. But the results are well worth it.

And the truth is that too many people look at the church like I first looked at my clogged bird feeder. Looks like there is plenty of food. What's wrong with the birds? Too many people don't take the up close look to find the hardened obstacles to the feeding...deny that anything needs to be done. Too many aren't willing to deal with the clogs.

The reality is that people are not going to come to church if they aren't being fed. Conflicts, cliques, resistance to changes, complaining unhealthy practices, unhealthy leaders -- all those things keep the life-giving power of the gospel from coming through. Those things need to go. The church may look fine from the outside. But the love and power God intends gets blocked and hardened.

Anyone who loves the church needs to take a closer look whenever there's a decline in attendance. Even in this culture where there is tremendous competition for time, people are starving for the deep love that Christ can provide. When the people aren't coming, take a look at why and be willing to clean out anything blocking the free flow of God's love.

Why in the world would anyone come back?

The boys and I made a trip to the wonderful world Methodist Museum while we have been at Lake Junaluska. "This is very interesting," said my 6 year old. I'm glad he thinks so. I hope it gets more interesting and more challenging to him as the years go by.

One of the richest experiences of Junaluska is running into people across the years. One friend and I were catching up, realizing how long it had been since we had talked. Knowing that she was an active United Methodist, I asked about her church and was surprised to hear she no longer attends there. "Too much church, too little Christ" was her shorthand explanation.

Because her work involves pastors, she said she had noticed a downcast look in pastors recently so she set out to visit churches in the vicinity. That explained the looks.

What a shock to her that, after a Sunday as a visitor, she would walk away from the worship experience wondering, "Why in the world would anyone come back?"

It's a sobering observation. With the culture shift, maybe the best thing people who love the church could do would be to ask themselves, "What about our church would make people want to come back?" and, even more personally, "What about my life/interactions would make people want to come back to church?"

The statistics are stunning that the vast majority of people who come to visit in a church do not just drop by. They come because of a special need in their lives. They don't come in telling people about the diagnosis, the difficult family circumstance, the job pressure -- but church members can be wise enough to know that some need precipitated the presence of the new person in the pew. When they come, do they find the warmth, openness, kindness, generosity of spirit that draws people to Jesus?

John Wesley had a passion for people and a zeal for sharing the gospel. We have a heritage to pass on. I want it to be more than taking a picture at a museum. I want my grandchildren -- and all United Methodists--to be inspired and fueled by our energetic beginnings and the unique UM combination of enthusiasm and discipline. Next Sunday, when you leave worship, ask yourself, "Why in the world would anyone come back?" and get to work bringing John Wesley's fervor back into our churches.