At some point it will likely happen to most of us. For each of us it will be different and yet the same. It will leave us with tears in our eyes and pain in our hearts. We call them tragedies—something that seems to turn our lives upside down. Because we live in a world stained by sin these things will come our way. Perhaps it will be a tragedy similar to the one that the women in our Old Testament Lesson and our Gospel Lesson experienced. Someone close to us, whom we dearly love, may die unexpectedly. Or our tragedy might come in the form of a broken relationship, a body broken by disease, or broken hopes and dreams. It might be that our personal tragedy takes the form of a severe financial loss. It also is not out of the question that some national or global tragedy might impact some of us here today. Too numerous to list and too different to summarize all we can say is that tragedies are often a part of life.
Since the Holy Spirit has worked faith in our hearts we are confident that God is with us always and that he will always work everything out for our eternal good. And yet when a tragedy strikes our lives that faith will be tested. We will be tempted to blame ourselves, or others, or even God for what happens to us, or those we love. In our pain we may also be tempted to cry out, “Why, Lord? Why did you allow this to happen?”
In this Old Testament Lesson we are given two examples of how two people responded to a tragedy. One example comes from a widow whose son died. The other comes from one of the greatest prophets in the Old Testament, Elijah. Although we could focus on any number of truths found in this Scripture let’s narrow our thoughts to one question. May God the Holy Spirit lead us to honestly answer this question:
“WHAT DO WE DO WHEN TRAGEDY STRIKES?”
I. Do we try to find someone to blame?
II. Or do we respond with prayer and faith?
You may know some of the background for these verses of Scripture. Under the leadership of King Ahab and his wicked wife Jezebel God’s people were worshiping idols—false gods. In addition to the sin of idolatry the majority of the people were also living their lives contrary to God’s Commandments. Because of this situation God used Elijah to pronounce a curse on the land saying that there would be no rain or dew for several years. Of course, this made Elijah a hated and hunted enemy of King Ahab. So Elijah went into hiding. You probably remember that for a time God provided food and water for him in the Kerith Ravine east of the Jordan River. Ravens brought him bread and meat twice a day. Then after the brook dried up the LORD sent Elijah to a widow’s house in foreign country. The town was called Zarephath. You may also remember how God used a miracle to continue to feed his prophet, and the widow, and her son. He made it so that the widow’s jar of oil and jug of flour never became empty.
I.
But then God allowed a tragedy to strike the home where Elijah was staying. The widow’s son became sick. In time the child died. It is at that time that we see how each reacted to the tragedy. Our Old Testament Lesson tells us, “Some time later the son of the woman who owned the house became ill. He grew worse and worse, and finally stopped breathing. She said to Elijah, “What do you have against me, man of God? Did you come to remind me of my sin and kill my son?” In response to the tragic loss of her son the widow placed the blame on Elijah. She knew he was a prophet of God. And she seems to have assumed that he had the power to take her son’s life. But her words reveal something more. Wasn’t she also blaming God for the tragedy? And in a sense she was blaming herself. She brought up her past sins—whatever they may have been—and speculated that God was somehow punishing her for the things she had done.
Before we look at Elijah’s reaction to the tragedy let’s reflect on the widow’s reaction. She had been experiencing God’s loving care in her life. Remember that when she first met Elijah she was gathering some sticks so she could build a small fire and make a little bread with the last of her oil and flour. After that she assumed she and her son would simply starve to death. But because of God’s promise every time she went to make bread there was always flour and oil to use. But even with that daily reminder of God’s concern for her she assumed that the death of her son was punishment for something she had done.
But isn’t that the way things often work in our lives? Even if it isn’t a tragedy, perhaps it’s some small setback or inconvenience, we immediately want to blame someone. Perhaps we blame those around us. Or we blame God and ultimately ourselves because like the widow of Zarephath we think God is punishing us for our sins. Even though we have enjoyed an unending supply of his love each day of our lives we quickly lose sight of it when trouble comes our way. Yes, this is the way our sinful nature reacts to things that we perceive to be harmful to us and those we love. We instantly fall into the sins of doubting God’s Word, or accusing God of not loving us. And, oh, how we fail when a real tragedy strikes us! Then we blame God and quickly sink into despair.
So did the prophet Elijah react differently to the tragedy in comparison to the widow? Well, we could say yes and no. Our Old Testament Lesson continues, “Give me your son,” Elijah replied. He took him from her arms, carried him to the upper room where he was staying, and laid him on his bed. Then he cried out to the LORD, “O LORD my God, have you brought tragedy also upon this widow I am staying with, by causing her son to die?” Elijah didn’t wonder if God was behind the child’s death. He knew that God controls everything and so he knew that God was behind illness and death. What Elijah wanted to know was why God brought such a tragedy into the home where he was staying! He likely understood why God was causing the Israelites to suffer. And he seems to have at least accepted their punishment. The drought that afflicted Israel and the starvation that came with it were part of God’s just judgment on his people. But what had this pagan woman done to also have such a tragedy strike her life? Elijah seems dumbfounded that God had allowed this to happen the way he did.
In Elijah’s reaction to the tragedy that struck the home where he was staying we again see ourselves. “Why?” is probably the first word that comes out of our mouth in response to a tragedy. Oh, I am not talking about asking why tragedies happen. As I said before, we know why people die, why relationships end, and why things often don’t turn out as planned. This world is a fallen place and those things happen frequently. But we ask why they happen to us and to those we love. After all, if we are children of God through faith in Christ why doesn’t he protect us from these things? He has the power to spare us from these things and he promises to protect us. So we feel like we should be spared from tragedies and suffering. Although it may be that Elijah didn’t “cross the line” and sin against God by questioning what God had done, we often can’t say that of ourselves. Most of ten we fall into the sins of doubting God’s power to help us and his plan in our lives. And we soon find ourselves second guessing his love as well.
A few years ago I came across a poem written by a pastor named Jack Hyles entitled, “Why?” It resonated with me since I too have experienced what he describes in this poem. As a pastor I am frequently asked why God does what he does. And as a sinner I too have struggled with blaming God or myself when things go wrong. The poem reads, “I have heard the white-tipped tapping cane, / Which leads a blinded eye. / And then a darkened, lonely voice / Cries, “Preacher, show me why.” // I have caught a fiancée’s burning tears, / And heard her lonely cry. / She held an unused wedding gown, / And shouted, “Pastor, why?” // I have heard the cancer patient say, / “’Tis gain for me to die;” / Then look into his daughter’s face, / And mutely whisper, “Why?” // I’ve heard an orphan faintly say, / Who gazed into the sky, / “Tho Mom and Dad have gone away, / My preacher will know why.” // I have sat beside a tiny crib, / And watched a baby die, / As parents slowly turned toward me, / To ask, “Oh, Pastor, why?” // I tiptoed to my Father’s throne, / So timid and so shy, / To say, “Dear God, some of Your own / Are wanting to know why.” // I heard Him say so tenderly, / “Their eyes I’ll gladly dry, / Tho they must look through faith today, / Tomorrow they’ll know why.” // And so I’ve found it pleases Him / When I can testify, / “I’ll trust my God to do what’s best, / And wait to find out why.” May God give us such a faith and the patience to wait to find out why.
What do we do when tragedy strikes? Our natural reaction is to respond like the widow in our Old Testament Lesson, or like the prophet Elijah. We may speculate about who is to blame for what we are going through. Or we may wonder why God allowed tragedy to strike our lives. For the times we have “crossed the line” and sinned in our responses to tragedies we ask Jesus to forgive us. He died for those sins too! And we ask God the Holy Spirit to enable us to respond differently in the future when and if tragedy strikes.
II.
That leads us to the second answer we will consider in our sermon about how we react when tragedy strikes. The two individuals in our Old Testament Lesson also offer us an example of a better way, a more God-pleasing way, to react to tragedy. Although the widow was understandably overwhelmed with grief at the death of her son did you catch her subtle reaction toward Elijah? When Elijah told her to give him her son she released her embrace on her lifeless son. In letting Elijah take him she seems to have at least hoped that the prophet might be able to raise her son from the dead. And the Prophet Elijah also didn’t despair of God’s love and power in this desperate situation. Although he at first questioned why God did what he did he quickly responded with prayer. "Then he stretched himself out on the boy three times and cried to the LORD, “O LORD my God, let this boy’s life return to him!” When tragedy strikes a believer this is the reaction God is looking for from us. He invites us to pray boldly and confidently with faith in God’s power and promises.
You know the rest of the story. The LORD answered Elijah’s prayer. “The LORD heard Elijah’s cry, and the boy’s life returned to him, and he lived. Elijah picked up the child and carried him down from the room into the house. He gave him to his mother and said, “Look, your son is alive!” The reminder here for us is that God still has power over life and death. He is still the one who works miracles as dramatic as raising people from the dead. In every situation in life he invites us to come with our prayers and with faith that he will answer us. And he assures us that he will hear us when we cry out to him in prayer.
Perhaps it goes without saying but recognizing the power God has to replace death with life will serve to remind us that he can take care of everything else in our lives. Truly whether we live or die we are under his powerful care as we heard in our Second Scripture Lesson. God can handle the things we face at home or at work. Through all the difficulties and challenges in life God’s strength is sufficient to meet all our needs. And especially when tragedies strike we can have confidence in God’s power. A.W. Tozer, a Christian author stated it well, “Anything God has ever done, he can do now. Anything God has ever done anywhere, he can do here. Anything God has ever done for anyone, he can do for you.”
But once again we know that our prayers and the faith behind them fall so far short of Elijah’s example and even the widow’s example. As has been said, “We need to make prayer our first stop, not our last resort.” Sometimes when tragedy strikes we find ourselves not able to pray because we are angry with God or not wanting to pray because we think he will ignore us anyway.
And yet God does not leave us in our state of doubt. Every time we hear his Word it replaces our doubts with faith. Whenever we witness a baptism or hear the words that Jesus connected to the water in baptism we are reminded of the love God has shown us. Frequently we hear Jesus’ words connected to the bread and wine of the Lord’s Supper. In Bible class and Sunday school, in our worship, in our private meditation on God’s Word our doubts are replaced with faith again and again. Romans 10:17 gives us a reminder of this, “Consequently, faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word of Christ.” Through the power of his Word he confirms once again that he loves us. He assures us that we are forgiven. The word of the LORD has the power to replace doubt with faith in all things—even in the tragedies of life.
In the end the widow’s faith was strengthened to trust God’s Word spoken through Elijah. And we can be certain that Elijah’s confidence in God’s plan for him was also restored. “Then the woman said to Elijah, “Now I know that you are a man of God and that the word of the LORD from your mouth is the truth.” In everything we face in life, from minor problems to major tragedies we can be certain that God wants the same things for each of us. Whether he sends us a miracle or he sends us the strength to live through a tragedy if our faith in him and his Word is strengthened then his purposes have been accomplished.
Two weeks ago I had the privilege of preaching for the graduation service at Minnesota Valley Lutheran High School. I used the class Bible verse for my text. That verse was Isaiah 43:2, “When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and when you pass through the rivers, they will not sweep over you. When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned; the flames will not set you ablaze.” Although that is a wonderful promise from God it is also a sobering reality. God’s didn’t say that he will be with us “if” we go through the waters, fires, and rivers of danger and disaster. He said that he will be with us “when” we go through those things. Yes, tragedies will be a part of our lives. But how do we respond when tragedies strike? The temptation will always be to follow our natural way of thinking. We look for someone to blame and in the end blame God. Those sinful actions damage our faith and cause us to miss what God in love is doing in our lives. As we reflect on the reactions of the Widow of Zarephath and the Prophet Elijah we see that they too struggled with similar reactions to tragedy. But through them we also see a better way. They responded with prayer and faith. May God the Holy Spirit work in our hearts the same ability. How will we respond when tragedy strikes? Instead of looking for someone to blame….may our response be prayer and faith. Amen.
