"Haiti, God, and Us"

I’m sure you’ve heard televangelist Pat Robertson’s pronouncement after the earthquake in Haiti. As he explained about Haiti, "They were under the heel of the French. You know, Napoleon III, or whatever. And they got together and swore a pact to the devil. They said, we will serve you if you'll get us free from the French. True story. And so, the devil said, okay it's a deal [ . . . ] ever since, they have been cursed by one thing after the other." (Pat Robertson quoted by Huffingtonpost.com)

          Well, somebody in our women’s Bible study sent me a response from “the devil” that appeared in the Minneapolis Star-Tribune newspaper.

“Dear Pat Robertson,

          I know that you know that all press is good press, so I appreciate the shout-out. And you make God look like a big mean bully who kicks people when they are down, so I'm all over that action. But when you say that Haiti has made a pact with me, it is totally humiliating. I may be evil incarnate, but I'm no welcher. The way you put it, making a deal with me leaves folks desperate and impoverished. Sure, in the afterlife, but when I strike bargains with people, they first get something here on earth--glamour, beauty, talent, wealth, fame, glory, a golden fiddle. Those Haitians have nothing, and I mean nothing. And that was before the earthquake. . . . If I had a thing going with Haiti, there'd be lots of banks, skyscrapers, SUVs, exclusive night clubs, Botox--that kind of thing. An 80 percent poverty rate is so not my style. Nothing against it--I'm just saying: Not how I roll. You're doing great work, Pat, and I don't want to clip your wings--just, come on, you're making me look bad. And not the good kind of bad. Keep blaming God. That's working. But leave me out of it, please. Or we may need to renegotiate your own contract. Best, Satan” (Lily Coyle, quoted on npr.org)

          Well, now that we’ve heard from Pat Robertson and “the devil,” let’s spend some time trying to hear what God may be saying to us as we think about the catastrophe in Haiti and the promises of Holy Scripture and our faith.

          Classical Christian thought tries to hold three beliefs in tension. Belief one–God is good and loving. Belief two–God is powerful, some would say omnipotent, all-powerful. Belief three–evil and suffering exist. It’s easy enough to believe any two of these propositions, but affirming all three is the challenge. How did we get these beliefs anyway? 

          We Christians develop our understanding of God and God’s way in the world in at least four ways. We get part of our understanding from experience, not only individual experience but the experience of the church. We get part of our understanding from the church’s tradition–confessions of the church, various writings, etc. We get part of our understanding from reason, and that includes science. And we get part of our understanding from the Bible, especially as the Bible reveals God in Jesus Christ. 

          What does our experience teach us about nature? Our experience teaches us that though nature is often as glorious as a summer day in Wooster, nature is also as terrifying and brutal as an earthquake. As Annie Dillard puts it, “I am a frayed and nibbled survivor in a fallen world, and I am getting along. I am aging and eaten and have done my share of eating too. I am not washed and beautiful, in control of a shining world in which everything fits, but instead am wandering awed about on a splintered wreck I’ve come to care for . . .”  (Annie Dillard, Pilgrim At Tinker Creek, 242.)

          Mother nature, my eye. If she’s a mother, sometimes we’d be better off as orphans.   

          And what does tradition teach us? Tradition teaches us not to put our ultimate hope in nature, in country, in church, in family, in self, or in anything else. Tradition teaches us to put our ultimate hope in God, God alone. As that old catechism question goes, “What is your only comfort, in life and in death? Answer. That I belong–body and soul, in life and in death–not to myself but to my faithful Savior, Jesus Christ . . . ” 

          And what do reason and science teach us? They teach us that nature follows more or less logical and predictable patterns. There are more or less reliable laws about the way the universe works. And the earth we walk on is not as stable as it seems. In fact, land with its tectonic plates, is constantly shifting under our feet, usually small, slow movement, but sometimes the sudden, violent movement of an earthquake. And the human body is vulnerable to trauma from earthquakes and other natural disasters, especially when people are living in poorly constructed buildings. So people get hurt and die. The world is designed in a way that, no matter what we do, all of are ultimately vulnerable to nature’s destruction.   

          But what do the Bible and our faith teach us about it all? Don’t they say God is good? God loves us. God is all powerful. Yet suffering, evil, and death exist.  If God is so wonderful, how do we make sense of this broken world? 

          Let’s begin with honesty. It’s a mystery we only have partial answers to. Novelist Walker Percy says, “the mystery of evil is the mystery of limited goodness.”  (Walker Percy, Love In The Ruins, 38.)

          “The mystery of evil is the mystery of limited goodness.” 

          We only have partial answers. First, the Bible does not claim that God directly causes every single thing that happens. People are free to make choices--good and bad, wise and foolish. And within the universe there may even be some randomness. Scripture reminds us that the world itself was created good, yet we know that not everything is right in this world. Everything and everyone is somehow tinged by brokenness, fallenness, said the early church fathers. This brokenness, this fallenness is not the will of God; it opposes the will of God. But even now God works to heal suffering, to right injustice, to bring life from death. As Jesus said of himself, “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to bring good news to the poor . . . to proclaim release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.” And the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ mark the promise of God’s final victory over all suffering, evil, and death. And even more, the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, show us the in-breaking, the dawning of God’s final victory over all suffering, evil, and death.

          Let me try another possible understanding with you. If you turn to the front of the Bible, the book of Genesis, you’ll see the first verses of the Bible read, “In the beginning when God created the heavens and the earth . . .” But notice down at the bottom of the page it tells us the Hebrew can also be translated, “In the beginning when God began to create the heavens and the earth . . .” What if the creation God has begun is still unfinished, a creation that’s fallen and flawed? What if God is continuing to create and continuing to improve creation? And what if God is working through you and me as instruments and stewards of creation? Imagine the possibilities. Suppose the responsibilities. 

          As you know, Haiti is the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere and has had economic struggles for many years. The country has suffered from a long history of political corruption and unrest. And though 96% of the country is Christian, about half of the country also mixes in voodoo with their Christian faith. As one writer laments, “There is the influence of the voodoo religion, which spreads the message that life is capricious and planning is futile. There are high levels of social mistrust. Responsibility is often not internalized. Child-rearing practices often involve neglect in the early years and harsh retribution when kids hit 9 or 10.” (David Brooks, The Cleveland Plain Dealer, Jan. 17, 2010.) Clearly the church has the challenge of teaching and affirming Christian faith devoid of voodoo elements.

          Is there anything else that can be done long-term? A U.N. peacekeeping force is already on the scene. One scholar suggests, “. . . Have the U.N. Security Council convene a special meeting with the remnants of Haiti’s government. Its purpose would be to consider a broader, more direct role for the international community in Haiti . . . something dramatic, along the lines of the International Trusteeship System . . .  (John C. Bersia, The Cleveland Plain Dealer, Jan. 17, 2010.)

          What’s needed most from us right now is money and prayer.  We can choose to offer both. We can give generously. And we can pray honestly, grieving for the people in Haiti and asking God to bring miracles there in the future.  

          Finally the promise is that God is with the Haitians and with us all in every hardship. Nothing can separate us from God’s love in Christ.  “. . . neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor rulers, . . . nor anything else in all creation . . .” Nothing will be able to separate us from God’s love. And if nothing separates us from God’s love, then nothing will finally defeat us, because nothing finally defeats God. 

          As the writer of Revelation saw, a new heaven and a new earth is coming.

There will come a day when God will wipe away every tear from our eyes. “Death

will be no more; mourning and crying and pain will be no more, for the first things

have passed away.” That day is coming for the people of Haiti and for all the

world. Let us pray and give and work trusting that it will come soon. Amen.