How might we respond to the earthquake in Christchurch? What is there to say? How can we help? Was the earthquake an act of God?
Here are a few preliminary reflections which I hope will be useful. Of course we will all have more reflections over the coming months as we get our hearts and heads around what has happened.
First, at the risk of stating the obvious, the earthquake is an awful, terrible and extensive tragedy.
I say this at the outset as we need to avoid falling in to the common first response to chronic events in our lives, which is to deny or minimilise them. Let’s be clear: the loss of life, the devastation, the calamity of what has happened is unbelievable, mind-boggling, and overwhelming. I suspect, that many of us, when we became aware of the horror of the Christchurch earthquake “… sat down and wept.” ((like Nehemiah on hearing of the destruction of Jerusalem (Neh 1:4)). And Bex and I have had tears in our eyes as we have watched the coverage in the news, and heard of all those who have lost their lives, or lost loved ones, their homes, their livelihoods and their city.
We want to express our deepest sadness and sympathy to all of you who have lost friends and family in Christchurch. St Paul’s will do all we can to support you; our pastoral care team is primed and ready to care for anyone and everyone whether they come to the church or not.
As well as avoiding denial, we also need to avoid the second common response to chronic events in our own lives which is hopelessness. Do please hold on to hope. The most amazing thing about being a Christian is that Jesus is able to heal and restore hopeless and broken lives. He knows what it is to experience profound suffering and darkness. He knows what it is to experience death. And as we begin Lent this week we of course prepare ourselves and remember the darkness and tragedy of Good Friday. But we must still hold on to hope. Good Friday is not the end of the story. At Easter we are reminded again that the darkness is reversed in resurrection life: life out of death, hope out of despair, a future when it looked like it was all over.
And so come to Jesus. Let him comfort you and heal you. Let him walk with you through the confusion, anxiety, pain and loss or whatever it is you are feeling. Be true to yourself and your feelings. There is no right or wrong. And don’t feel guilty if you are not feeling much or very little or you are finding it hard to engage with the earthquake or feeling guilty because you live in Auckland and you are not feeling as affected as others. Feel what you feel. Know the welcome, embrace and healing of Jesus. And don’t condemn yourselves.
It is also important not to blame God for what has happened, or to walk away from his love and care. I liked what the Dean of Christchurch Cathedral, Peter Beck said: “This was not an act of God, it was the earth doing what the earth does.” Whist it is important to reflect on what has happened, don’t try at this stage to discern a specific and clear cut meaning in the earthquake as some have tried to do. We live in a broken world. Darkness and devastation are an unfortunate part of our human experience this side of heaven. We walk with God in faith and confidence but also in deep mystery for much of the time.
Second, God will bring order out of the chaos in Christchurch
Faced with the chaotic piles of rubble that used to be buildings; the distorted, uneven tarmac that used to be a smooth road; the twisted and deformed girders that used to support massive structures, it is easy to question whether any future order will emerge out of the present chaos in Christchurch. Yet the God we worship specialises in bringing order of out chaos. He always has. He is. He always will this side of heaven. We tend to assume Genesis 1 is an account of an explosion of creative goodness out of nothing. Actually God brings order out of chaos, not order out of nothing. Hence verse Gen 1: 1-2 In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters. And so God’s creative work then starts with an initial surge of dark, watery chaos. The Spirit of God hovers above the chaos desiring to bring order and life. That is what the Holy Spirit does with chaos. So despite that tragedy, despite the chaos, have hope. God will bring order out of the chaos. God can lighten the present darkness in Christchurch.
Third, God’s ordering of Christchurch’s chaos will take time
That is not to say that the restoration of Christchurch will happen immediately or instantaneously. There is much debate over how Christchurch will be rebuilt, whether the city will be relocated and where the funding will come from. But whatever the outcome to these important questions, it is clear the ordering and restoration of Christchurch will take a very long time.
It took time to bring order out of the chaos at creation. In fact the creation accounts speaks of a gradual process of creation. On the first day God creates light and separates the light from the darkness (Gen 1:3-5). On the second day God distinguishes the chaotic waters from the sky and creates evening and morning (Gen 1: 6-8). On the third day the dry land is separated from the water and he creates land with vegetation and seas (Genesis 1:9-13) and so on. So the creation was not immediate or instantaneous. God’s restoration is always a process over time. Think of the 400 years that the Israelites were in captivity in Egypt or the 40 years the Israelites wandered around the dessert.
Yet whilst the city will take years and possibly even decades to restore, it is clear that God is already bringing great good out of the darkness in Christchurch. A real sense of community has emerged as neighbors have rallied and helped one another out. And the numerous stories of people supporting and encouraging one another and offering help are deeply moving as we see people at their very best. I have been particularly moved by Grace Vineyard’s response in the city under the leadership of David and Lis MacGregor They have set up help centers in the Eastern suburbs which is one of the areas most affected by the earthquake. They are distributing food, drinking water, clothes, cleaning products, toiletries and candles from the centres. They have also established a special relief center in conjunction with the police. Grace has also organised large teams of people who are helping people clear up their properties, as well as establishing a school.
What are we doing at St Paul’s?
As a church we will be doing all we can to support the people in Christchurch in the coming weeks and months. It is early days and many of the opportunities for our input have yet to emerge. However, for the moment we are:
Firstly, seeking to support everyone here who has been affected by the earthquake as best as we can.
Mathew Newton and Paul Ashman in conjunction with Phil Halstead and the pastoral care team are spearheading this initiative.
Secondly, we are collating any offers of free accommodation that any of you have to house any of those affected by the earthquake.
In fact the Diocese of Auckland is doing an outstanding job of being the coordination point between all of the Anglican churches in Auckland with Christchurch.
Thirdly, today we are taking a financial collection to give to Christchurch.
As I am sure you are aware from the news, the main request from agencies right now is for financial assistance. Whilst I am sure that many of you will have already sent money, today we are going to be taking a collection for the city. We will be sending this to Dave MacGregor down at Grace Vineyard Church to support their relief efforts in the city.
Fourthly, we have explored the idea of sending a team of people down to Christchurch to assist with their efforts.
However the feedback we have received at this stage is that this will not be particularly helpful as volunteers will need to be housed and fed and drive themselves around, which is easier said than done. However, we will be keeping options under review over the coming weeks and months. I know many of you are feeling helpless and would like to offer more than you presently are. Be assured that in the next months there will be ample opportunity to get involved in one way or another. I also know that some of you have already gone down to Christchurch to help friends and relatives clear up.
Fifthly, we have opened the church building during the week at lunch times for us as a church and any member of the public to find peace or solace and the opportunity to have some prayer if needed.
We would love the church to be open all of the time but unfortunately we have had problems with theft and vandalism in the past. However, we are presently considering how best we can address this issue.
Sixthly, we are praying for all of those in Christchurch, and friends and families who have been affected by the earthquake.
Our monthly prayer meeting will have Christchurch as its focus.
Bex and I are so glad that we are back home in New Zealand at this time rather than stuck overseas so that we can be with you all.
(* With thanks and acknowledgement to Steve Graham, Dean of Laidlaw College, Christchurch for his excellent article “What God Is Saying To Christchurch: "Recovery” from which the ideas in this sermon were drawn.)
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