It Rains on the Just and the Unjust

I read something the other day; a blogger was postulating that the rain and flooding in the Midwest was proof that God supports gay marriage. His logic was something like this: When Katrina hit New Orleans, a whole lot of evangelical preachers started talking about how God was pronouncing judgment against the sinners that lived there. So, when the courts in California legalized gay marriage, one would expect a similar outpouring of the Almighty’s wrath in California; instead, we had these major disasters in the Midwest, where the people aren’t even thinking about legalizing gay marriage. Clearly, God is warning the Midwesterners that they are the sinners, and California represents the righteous. If I didn’t think he was being facetious, I would point out the fires that they are having in California now. He makes a good point though, why is it that every time some natural disaster hits, people look for someone or something to blame? There was that one nut that said Heath Ledger died because of that one movie that he did (if so, why are the cast of Will and Grace still alive and kicking?). The fact of the matter is, sometimes things just happen. If you’re having a bad day, it isn’t necessarily your fault (or God's fault). Job had a few bad days, that wasn’t his fault. Jesus said in the Sermon on the Mount that the sun rises on the evil and the good, and it rains on the just and the unjust. Further, in Luke 13, the disciples were talking about some men in Galilee that met a tragic faith, and Jesus asked them if they thought those men were sinners above all the Galilaeans, and that was why they suffered such things, but Jesus said no, they weren’t, and went on to say that if the rest of us don’t repent, we will all likewise perish. He went on to talk about 18 people that died when the tower of Siloam fell on them, were they sinners above all those in Jerusalem? No, they weren’t. So many times, too, people take it personally when something bad happens; for example, if they lose a loved one. I understand that can be a hard thing to deal with. When God calls someone home, though, that’s really between Him and that individual. We all lose loved ones. If you stop and think, though, what is it you really want in those situations? Do you want your wife (or husband) to survive and mourn your passing? Would you really want them to feel that? Death is part of the life cycle; there is just no getting around that. Don’t take it personally, as though God took someone that you cared about just to punish you. He doesn’t usually work like that (I have to add the 'usually' caveat because of David and Bathsheba’s first son. God took him specifically to punish David and Bathsheba--mostly David).God is in control, but a lot of times He stays out of the details. He allows us to make our own choices. Sometimes those choices are good, and sometimes they are bad. Sometimes we suffer because we made a bad choice, other times because someone else made a bad choice. Sometimes others suffer for our bad decisions. That’s not God’s fault. If one dies, but one is ready, then that person’s suffering is over. Of course, if one dies when one is not ready, then that person’s suffering is just beginning. Does God use disasters to remind people to be ready? Certainly, but the people who are hurt or killed during the disaster aren’t necessarily the ones He was trying to remind. And he didn’t necessarily cause the disaster in order to use it as a reminder. Sometimes He just let’s things happen, and deals with people after the fact. “See what happened there? That could have been you. Don’t you have some getting ready to do?”

UPDATE:  Apparently the site I was linking to has changed their format; I have fixed the links.  My apologies... 

Water

Let me start by saying the Heath Ledger died yesterday; an apparent victim of an overdose of sleeping pills. His family is saying that it was accidental; the autopsy was "inconclusive," which I assume means that they have determined that, yes, he died of an overdose of sleeping pills, but there is no compelling evidence that it was accidental or that it was intentional. Forensic medicine really has no definitive way of determining a person's state of mind at the time of death once they are dead. In any case, my condolences to his family, friends, and fans. I have a son very close to Heath Ledger's age; I can't imagine what it would feel like to lose my son, and I won't pretend to know what Heath's family is going through.
That has nothing to so with the rest of this post, I just felt that it was important to say. I don't usually mention deaths in my blog, but this was a young man who had a lot going for him; had a lot of reason to live. Someone whose family had every reason to expect that he would live a long time.

Water is mentioned prominently several times in the Bible. In Genesis, water is one of the first things mentioned (after chaos); in fact, it doesn't specifically mention that water was created, even though it had to have been. Still in Genesis, God used water to seperate Noah and the animals from the corruption that had crept into His creation. Apostle Peter wrote about Noah being saved by the water, although that's a little different perspective: We usually think of the ark saving Noah from the water. Peter is making the point that the water saved Noah from sin. God also used water to save Moses, as a baby, and his name reflects that. When Moses led the children of Israel out of Egypt, God used water to destroy Pharaoh's army, and to seperate the Israelites from the Egyptians. In the Law, over and over it makes reference to washing in water as part of a purification process. When the children of Israel finally reached the Promised Land, they had to pass through the waters of the Jordan river to get there; if you look on a map, you will see that it is very easy to get from the Red Sea to Israel without crossing the Jordan (it's really just a question of heading West while still South of the Dead Sea instead of North of the Dead Sea). God purposely led the Israelites that way, which suggests that He had a purpose from them going through the water (even though none of them got wet). Just to further demonstrate His power? Maybe, since only two of the Israelites had personnally observed the parting of the Red Sea, but it seems more likely (IMHO) that it symbolized a seperation between their lives in the wilderness and their lives in the Promised Land. In the book of Judges, God used water, in the form of dew, to show Gideon that He was going to use Gideon to deliver Israel, and He used water to test Gideon's army; only those who passed the test were allowed to fight the Midianites. God used water to revive Samson after he killed the thousand Phillistines. There are, of course, many examples of water being used to cleanse, or purify, or save in the Old Testamant. In many cases, the use of water was largely symbolic: I made reference earlier to God having Israel cross the Jordan river to get into the Promised Land, even though he could have directed them the other way around the Dead Sea and arrived at the same place, also there are references to lepers being cleansed of their disease just by washing in water. Does this mean that the cure for leprosy is simply taking a bath? Of course not, not any more than looking at a brass serpent can replace anti-venom. What we are looking at is examples of faith in operation. God said do this, people did it, and they were healed. It isn't that washing in water cures leprosy, but when people did it, in faith, believing that God would heal them, then they were no longer lepers. Water didn't heal them, but they wouldn't have been healed without the water. As I said, the use of water was symbolic, it was the obedience, through faith, that did the healing. It's easy to rationalize that, since the use of water was symbolic, that the water is then unnecessary. That simply isn't true. God commanded the water, and God does the healing. God could have chosen to heal without a symbol, but He didn't. He could have chosen a different symbol, but He chose water. Water is a good symbol; don't argue with God.