Do you ever feel caught between those who insist on spreading bad news, and the fears and anxieties that accompany it, and those who insist, ostrich-like, that everything is going to be fine--perhaps because really addressing the underlying causes might cost them too dearly?
And then a condominium tower near Miami, Florida collapses dramatically overnight, and we wonder, if that’s not necessarily safe, what is? Did someone insist that tall building would be fine, because admitting otherwise might have been deemed too expensive to address? Or does bad stuff just happen sometimes, even to apparently good people?
Remarkably, in Luke 13, Jesus seems to take the latter view, when his disciples wring their hands about recent disasters that have befallen their neighbors, including a recent tower collapse: “Do you think they were more guilty than all the others living in Jerusalem?”
Health workers, public health officials, fire and law enforcement, and yes, building inspectors and engineers, among many others, have special responsibilities to consider how their faithfulness--or neglect--of their work could have deadly consequences for others. Yet those harmed by pandemics, or collapsed buildings, or any of the other more ordinary tragedies of our lives, all are in God’s loving arms.
We may not be able to trust everyone to always do their job in a way that serves and protects others. We can hope for it, though. And pray for it. And trust that the risen Jesus holds in his care all who suffer and even die whether by the neglect of others, or just ordinary bad luck. As the old Sunday school song goes, he’s got the whole world in his hands.
Pastor Jon
