In the book, The Weight of Glory, is C.S. Lewis’ lecture given at Oxford during WWII in which he addresses academic learning during war. No doubt as London was being bombed by Nazi Germany many students must have wondered what value there was to study English, math, and other subjects. Philip Yancey reflects on Lewis’ message in his book, Rumors of Another World:
Gently, Professor Lewis reminded the students that a crisis such as war merely aggravates the situation in which we always find ourselves. For of course none of us knows when life will come to a sudden end; war merely increases the immediate odds. The question is not whether literature is worth studying in wartime but whether literature is worth studying at all. The wise person lives in awareness of time and eternity both, a dual citizen of the city of God and the city of this world. (p. 230)
Like Lewis’ students during WWII we now watch the tragedy taking place in Haiti as many die and once again death comes knocking too close to our door. We evaluate what we can do to help the living, love those closest to us a little more, and then question where God was in all of this and what the point is of regular activity as it seems to be only a mere distraction. Unlike war, this tragedy cannot be blamed on the evil of other people and seemingly this just leaves God at fault.
I understand completely why an athiest would dive into the deepest of dispair during such times. This world is final. Death is the last blow of this battle of existence. Yet I have been so shocked to watch as some Christians have not only questioned God during these times, but have all but mocked him as absent. Yet as Yancey urges us, we must be both aware of “time and eternity”. Paul tells us in 1 Corinthians 15:19 (ESV) that:
If in Christ we have hope in this life only, we are of all people most to be pitied.
And all of humankind is to be pitied in a close second, for they will win no victory and they too will taste death. The terrible events in Haiti once again remind us that we are not in control and that we do not get to choose our exits. Even from thousands of miles away I watch as my friends and church help to rebuild the lives of the strong people of Haiti, and I tremble at the pictures and videos. I realize that all the love people around the world have poured out on Haiti is not enough. It doesn’t bring back their fallen family members. It doesn’t heal their hurting hearts. They need something bigger. They need God. Everything being done for Haiti is just a foreshadowing of a love and a restoration that will someday be felt for all of God’s children.
So then although the Christian mourns for the hurt, pain, and sufferning of today we simaltainously rejoice and call for the wholeness of one day. We proclaim to the newly made orphans, widows, and disabled that God is presently at work so even though we cry, we do not abandon hope; for our hope, their hope, and the only true hope is a living one.
It is natural that we wonder where God is. He has made us in his image, godlike, but he has not made us gods. Although we crave that understanding, as if it would bring back those who have perished or heal those who are here. A broken and hurting world, much like evil, makes us desire an explanation. N.T. Wright in his deep little book, Evil and the Justice of God, speaks of what the God has to say about Evil:
What can God say about evil? We want an explanation. We want to know what evil really is, why it’s there in the first place (or at least in the second place), why its been allowed to continue, and how long this will go on. These questions are in the Bible, but frustratingly they don’t receive very full answers, and certainly not the sort of answers that later philosophical traditions would consider adequate…The Bible simply doesn’t appear to want to say what God can say about evil…The Old Testament talks quite a lot about what God can do, is doing and will do about evil. (ps. 44-45)
Similarily the Bible does not focus too much on how God could let this world be fallen and broken. It does however describe in great detail how God plans to right the world. It speaks of a new Heaven and Earth being birthed even now, being ushered in by God’s Kingdom thru His Son, Jesus. So let us Christian’s be dual citizens not just working in the present, but working in the present as the future; a new wholeness continually pulls us forward. Or as Paul puts it:
Therefore, my beloved brothers, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord your labor is not in vain. 1 Corinthians 15:58 (ESV)
This work includes; praying for those in this broken world, going to Haiti to help, sending our money to aid, but just as importantly it requires us to be carriers of hope. We have hands and feet; we also have faith, hope, and love. And all are required in these times.
Like Lewis’ students, may each one of us consider what is worthy of our lives. May we cry with those suffering. May we look to hope and not simply to understanding. And may we be courageous enough to sing for those who aren’t, in their current pain, strong enough to sing for themselves (for we may need their voices someday):
“Death is swallowed up in victory. O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?…But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.” 1 Corinthians 15:54-55, 57 (ESV)
