The Earthquake

Birth of a Lily - Ginter Botanical Gardens, Richmond, VA

Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom,

and there will be famine and earthquakes in various places.

All this is but the beginning of birth pangs.

Matthew 24:7-8

While visiting a friend last night – one with a large-screen TV, I watched for the first time the footage of the tsunami that struck the island of Japan.  The devastation is beyond comprehension; the cost in human lives is heartbreaking.  The roll call of tragedy goes beyond anything I’ve experienced in my lifetime.  The 8.9 earthquake that triggered the tsunami is the 5^th largest on record since 1900.

Just this morning, there is news of: a second nuclear reactor that has lost it cooling capability, resulting in beyond-frantic efforts to cool the rods with sea water;  another explosion that has occurred at a different nuclear plant; the discovery of low-level radiation on planes and crews that are delivering emergency supplies; the sighting of over a thousand bodies strewn along a northern coastline. 

I am not a wide-eyed, off-the-wall prophet.  I am not a religious fanatic, nor am I a modern-day Chicken Little, standing with my The World Is Ending placard in downtown Richmond.  But I do read the Bible – and this morning Matthew 24 very definitely comes to mind.  At the beginning of the chapter, the disciples asked, “Tell us…what will be the sign of Your coming and the end of the age?”  [vs. 3]  Jesus then listed various events—including geological tragedies—that would occur.  He likened them to birth contractions:  slow at first, then building with greater frequency and intensity as the birth draws near.

As we reach out to the Japanese people, offering help in any large or small way that you and I can, our thoughts must also turn inward.  How is our own relationship with Christ?  Do we have a greater urgency to carry the Gospel to those who are in need of the Savior?  Do we love the Lord with all of our mind, soul and strength?   Do we love our neighbors with the same intensity as our own desire for self-preservation?

Our prayers today are centered on the Japanese people – the families of those who are dead, missing, or injured, and the overall populace living in terror of aftershocks, radiation, and sickness.  Most of us cannot go to Japan to help, but we can pour out our love through prayer.

Watch, ye saints, with eyelids waking,

Lo! The powers of heaven are shaking,

Keep your lamps all trimmed and burning,

Ready for Your Lord's returning.