From The Ashes

Houses, memories, business, schools, churches, and synagogues, reduced to ashes in the blink of an eye. Amongst the tears, there is also very much anger. Where the hell is God?

As most of you already know, the skies above Los Angeles have been heavy with smoke and lament.

Many of our friends and church family have been displaced. And too many have already lost their homes, and a lifetime of memories.

I am sure you can imagine how the destruction can feel overwhelming.

Houses, memories, business, schools, churches, and synagogues, reduced to ashes in the blink of an eye. Amongst the tears, there is also very much anger.

I was not surprised there were so many people  asking me: Where the hell is God?

It’s hard to tell an anxious or grief-ridden person that God is not absent in our suffering. It’s hard to hear, much less believe, that God meet us in our deepest grief, our most shattered places, to redeem us and restore us.
 
Like the prophet Isaiah wrote - God gives us "a crown of beauty instead of ashes." Although fire can destroy what is tangible, it cannot consume God’s promise to make all things new from the ashes of our lives.
 
For the next few weeks I want to sit with Paul’s letter to the church in Ephesus, that speaks of some of the best qualities of God. And teaches us how to build a community of love in Christ.
 
Last week we learned God’s grace wasn’t given to fix a problem, it was a part of the plan from the very beginning. Today, we’ll see how God’s love, which is great in mercy, is not only sufficient to save and redeem us, it’s also powerful enough to brings life out of death, beauty out of brokenness, and hope out of despair.

You were dead through the trespasses and sins in which you once walked, following the course of this world,following the ruler of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work among those who are disobedient. All of us once lived among them in the passions of our flesh, doing the will of flesh and senses, and we were by nature children of wrath, like everyone else, but God, who is rich in mercy, out of the great love with which he loved us even when we were dead through our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved— and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the ages to come he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.  For by grace you have been saved through faith, and this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God—not the result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are what he has made us, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we may walk in them.   - Ephesians 2:1-10 -

Death comes in many forms. More than just the end of one’s physical life, death also marks the end of one’s past – like a career, a relationship, a home. In his letter, Paul boldly  declares, “You were dead in your transgressions and sins.” He doesn’t say you’re sick or struggling, but dead. Cut off from God because of the brokenness that pervades our world – a.k.a. sin.
 
In our discussion last week, Aurora described sin as “anything that is not love.” If we believe God is love, then sin happens whenever we’re not honoring God with our whole heart. According to Paul, this is what killed the human condition – our inability to truly love.
 
This is true for us as individuals and as a church. How quickly we Christians have forgotten the last command Jesus gives us “Love one another as God first love you.” God is love. Without it, we are nothing (1 Cor. 13:2).
 
Although we have died to our sin, Paul doesn’t leave us there. He pivots with two of the most hope-filled words in Scripture: “But God.” In fact, he writes “But God, who is rich in mercy, has made us alive in Christ.” This is resurrection language. Just as Jesus was raised from the dead, we too are raised from the ashes of our sin … to new life in Him. This gift of God’s love made manifest for us in Christ Jesus, is a complete re-creation—a divine rescue from death to life.
 
This doesn’t mean we won’t suffer. We will. You can’t have love and suffer or feel pain. I should know, Kathleen and I just celebrate 26 years of marriage on Thursday. As Jesus’ own suffering revealed, death doesn’t have the final word. But God…does.
 
This is hard for some to hear; including my friend John whose life was upended by the fire.
He lost everything. I’m not surprise he expressed to me his anger with God – to put it nicely. You might be feeling the same way right now. Maybe you’ve been praying, like I have, but the fires in your life are still raging.
 
In an angry text to me, John declared, “Praying was a waste of time. There’s no God.” And yet, immediately after that bold statement, John told me how his son saved an elderly lady stranded in her home. I suspect that woman might have a different opinion about God, who was there, in the flesh of a young man rushing to her rescue.
 
I get what John is feeling. I have felt loss before. Just not on that scale. It’s easy to pray and pretend everything is going to be okay from afar. It’s difficult to believe anything is real when your reality is altered like this. It’s hard to see God’s presence when you’re in shock. It’s hard to have faith when your life is being taken from you. But that’s when you need it the most.

 
God meets us where we are, offering love that is rich in mercy, and grace that was built into the foundation life. To put it in perspective, both John and the woman lost their homes. Between the two, only her life was in mortal danger. Yet, God was, and still is, there for both of them –
at the ready - to offer a new life from the ashes of their past.
 
God is there for you too, doing the same sacred work: resurrecting us from death and giving us new life in Christ. Writing from prison, Paul knows we’re unable to save ourselves. But God … can. Because God is always with us in Christ, we can always count on God to reach into the flames of our burning life and save us. This saving grace has nothing to do with anything we’ve done. Instead, it’s all about what God chooses to do for us.
 
We live in a world that measures worth by achievement. We’re taught to believe that success, love, and even acceptance must be earned. But God’s salvation is not a reward for good behavior, or a prize for our efforts. It’s already been given to us freely in Christ - the divine stamp of approval God etched into each one of us.
 
Yes, if you love you will suffer. The gift of Christ eases our pain and saves us by moving us closer to God. As Paul points out, or as my friend’s son inadvertently taught us, we’re not just saved from something. God has saved us for something. Salvation is less about rescue and more about participating in God’s ongoing work of restoration.
 
Barbra Brown Taylor beautifully describes salvation as something that happens “every time someone with a key uses it to open a door he could have locked.” Like Paul reminds the church, “We are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works.”
 
The Greek word for “workmanship” is “poema,” where we get the word “poem.” Each of us is God’s poem - a unique expression of Divine artistry, crafted with intention and purpose. Salvation is not just rescue, it’s an invitation to live differently – to die to our old self and become something new.
 
At the center of this new life is our love for God, our love for one another, and our service to both. It is a call to love with “God-intoxication and compassion for others that knows no limits.…” (McFague).
 
While I have been intentional to stay away from news, there are so many heartwarming stories I’m hearing of people helping one another – opening their homes, donating goods, paying for gas and hotel rooms. Many of these were people had lost everything themselves, but were still compelled to help.
 
There’s a story of a women who met a family, like herself, that had escaped with only the clothes they were wearing. She knew she couldn’t fix their situation. But she could take the family to Target with her and buy them the basic essentials needed to begin the long journey ahead. In that one act of compassion, God’s grace and glory was revealed in human suffering and grief.
 
The Buddhist have a saying, Life is a thousand joys. And a thousand sorrows. Our job, as Christ followers, is to use our joy to reduce the sorrow around us. This doesn’t erase our losses. But can minimize it for others. Through us, our merciful and abundant God meets us in the ashes, and transforms our pain into a testimony of love.
 
As we look ahead to what is next, to the long journey of rebuilding our city and the neighborhoods that help us thrive, let us not forget that homes can be rebuilt. But God wants to rebuild your heart by making you alive in Christ.
 
Yes, the road to redemption is paved with pain and suffering. But God’s love remains steadfast - always with us. When John unleashed his fury to God - by directing at me I realized what it truly meant to be the face of Christ - to be a safe place for him to unload his pain. I don’t know how God can hold so much of our suffering. But God…can. “With God, all things are possible.” (Mt. 19:26)
 
As we go out this week, may we live as resurrected people, walking in the good works God has prepared for us. May your live proclaim the truth that God’s grace is enough to endure the growing pains of life.
 
In Christ’s name let us continue to build a community of love, in the space between where God meets us in the ashes and makes us new again- everyday, everywhere, and always. Amen
 
 
 
 
Work Cited
McFague, Sallie. Life Abundant: Rethinking Theology and Economy for a Planet in Peril (Fortress Press, 2001), 175, 176. 
Taylor, Barbara Brown. Leaving Church: A Memoir of Faith. San Francisco: HarperOne, 2006.