The Great Quake And Tsunami - What To Think - What To Do

INTRO. - The whole world shook and not just Japan, this past week, actually on Friday, March 11th, and that certainly wasn’t the end. The end may never come for those who live in Japan and the surrounding areas.

I might tell a joke about earthquakes but it wouldn’t be funny. One nationally known comedian did that and got fired.

ILL.- Comedian, Gilbert Gottfried, has been the voice of the Aflac duck since 2000, I believe, but he is no more. Aflac fired him over telling an insensitive joke (tweeted it) about the tragedy in Japan. Most people, if not all, didn’t take kindly to it, nor did his employer.

That should teach us all a lesson about making fun or making light of someone’s tragedy. It should also remind us to think before we speak any time. We are often too quick to speak.

James 1:19 “My dear brothers and sisters, take note of this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry.”

THE GREAT QUAKE AND TSUNAMI. What to think - What to do. We should think and do something!

I. WHAT SHOULD WE THINK

We should think about it and the people. Some people dismiss everything if it doesn’t happen to them. But how can we do this since we all are a part of the human race and God wants us to demonstrate love to all?

ILL.- A mother said to her son, “Why Bobby, you ate all that cake without thinking of your sister." Bobby replied, “Oh, I was thinking of her all the time. I was afraid she would come in before I finished it.”

We humans are often very self-centered and we who are in Christ must get out of that mode and kind of thinking.

Philippians 2:3-4 “Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves. Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others.”

Galatians 6:9-10 “Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up. Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, especially to those who belong to the family of believers.”

Paul was writing to Christians about how to think about one another and treat one another. And I think it applies to all people. If you don’t think about others and get out of your selfish mode, how can you do any good in this world? And God put us to do good to all mankind.

ILL.- There was once an ambitious farmer, unhappy about the yield of his crops, heard of a highly recommended new seed corn. He bought some and produced a crop that was so abundant his astonished neighbors asked him to sell them a portion of the new seed. But the farmer, afraid that he would lose a profitable competitive advantage, refused.

The second year the new seed did not produce as good a crop, and when the third-year crop was still worse it dawned upon the farmer that his prize corn was being pollinated by the inferior grade of corn from his neighbors’ fields. SERVED HIM RIGHT FOR BEING SELFISH.

Selfish living will always come back to bite a person. Look at Bernie Madoff!

What should we think about this horrible, human tragedy?

1- Many wonder, “Why did this happen?” It happened for many reasons. Planet earth is not a perfect place to live. There is only one perfect place to live and hopefully, we’re all preparing to go there!

Planet earth is in the decline and destruction mode. God made it that way. This earth, as we know it, was not meant to be eternal. I guess we can thank Adam and Eve for that. At least, they contributed to the problem.

It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure that the world is decaying. And of course, we know that things like earthquakes will take place. Jesus said so.

Matthew 24:4-8 4 Jesus answered: “Watch out that no one deceives you. 5 For many will come in my name, claiming, ‘I am the Christ,’ and will deceive many. 6 You will hear of wars and rumors of wars, but see to it that you are not alarmed. Such things must happen, but the end is still to come. 7 Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be famines and earthquakes in various places. 8 All these are the beginning of birth pains.

Our earth is in the process of decay and will some day cease to exist as we know it, but an earthquake or tsunami won’t be the end of this world, GOD WILL!