Amidst the greatest tragedy the world has ever seen, one cannot be passive and look elsewhere. I am shocked by this immense human carnage and total destruction of cities hundreds of miles apart in the Indian Ocean.
It was all so sudden that no one even had time to think, let alone act, during the devastation of part of the world in which we all live. This brought to mind the immense force of a powerful master hidden in the heavens that we humans are so eager to discover but search for in the wrong places.
This event led me to open the Bible, which is still as new after many years, to search for stories associated with remarkable earthly disasters of the past, such as the story of Noah and the ark.
Looking into these realms of gold I landed on the Second Epistle of Peter. Upon reading it, I realised how true these words are still today as the time when they were written. I wish to share my experience with you by quoting from this writing.
“To those who have been given a faith like ours in the justifying power of our God and Saviour Jesus Christ, may grace be yours and peace in abundance through your knowledge of God.
“The Divine Power has bestowed on us the great and precious things. He promised, so that through these, you who have fled a world corrupted by lust might become sharers of the divine nature.
“This is reason enough for you to make every effort to under grid your virtue with faith, your discernment with virtue, and your self-control with discernment: this self-control, in turn should lead to perseverance, and perseverance to pity and pity to care for your brother and care for your brother, to love.
“Qualities like these, made increasingly your own, are by no means ineffectual. Any man who lacks these qualities is short sighted to the point of blindness. He forgets the cleansing of his long past sins. Be solicitous to make your call and election permanent, brothers: surely those who do so will never be lost.”
The writer passes on to speak about Christ as the Son of God:
“It was not by way of cleverly concocted myths that we taught you about the coming in power of our Lord Jesus Christ, for we were eyewitnesses of his sovereign majesty. He received glory and praise from God the Father when that unique declaration came to him out of the majestic splendour: “This is my beloved Son, on whom my favour rests”. We ourselves witnessed this while in his company on the holy mountain. Prophecy has never been put forward by man”s willing it but rather impelled by Gods influence.”
In the following passage the writer describes the behaviour of people among themselves especially those entrusted with God’s teaching.
“In times past there were false prophets among God’s people who smuggled in pernicious heresies. They will go far as to deny the Master who acquired them for his own, thereby bringing on themselves swift disaster. Their lustful ways will lure many away and the true way will be made subject to contempt.
“Their deceit with fabricated tales in a spirit of greed is highly effective. Their condemnation has not lain idle all this time; however their destruction is not asleep. Did God spare even the angels who sinned? He did not! Nor did He spare the ancient world, when He brought down the floods on the godless earth.
“The Lord, indeed, knows how to rescue devout men from trail, and how to continue the punishment of the wicked up to the Day of Judgment. He knows, especially, how to treat those who live for the flesh in their desire for whatever corrupts, and who despise authority.
“These bold and arrogant men have no qualms whatever about reviling celestial beings, on whom angles, though greater than men in strength and power, pass no opprobrious sentence in the Lord”s presence. These men pour abuse on things of which they are ignorant. They act like creatures of instinct, brute animals born to be caught and destroyed. Because of their decadence they too will be destroyed, suffering the reward of their wickedness.”
The following refers to the behaviour of politicians and businessmen alike towards the common citizens and employees:
“Thinking daytime revelry a delight, they are stain and defilement as they share your feasts in a spirit of seduction. Constantly on the lookout for a woman, theirs is a never-ending search for sin. They lure the weaker types. Their hearts are trained in greed. An accursed lot are they! They have abandoned the straight road and wandered off on the path taken by Balaam, son of Beor. He was a man attracted to dishonest gain, but he was rebuked for his evil doing.
“A mute beast spoke with a human voice to restrain the prophet’s madness. These men are waterless springs, mists whipped by the gale. The darkest gloom has been reserved for them. They talk empty bombast while baiting their hooks with passion, with the lustful ways of the flesh, to catch those who have just come free of a life of errors. They promise them freedom though they themselves are slaves of corruption – for surely anyone is the slave of that by which he has been overcome.”
To those of a Christian faith the following warning is more than appropriate:
“When men have fled a polluted world by recognising the Lord and saviour Jesus Christ, and then are caught up and overcome in pollution once more, their last condition is worse than their first.
“It would have been better for them not to have recognised the road to holiness than to have turned their backs on the holy law handed on to them, once they had known it. How well the proverb fits them: “The dog returns to its vomits,” and, “A sow bathes by wallowing in the mire”.”
Many, especially those in higher authorities, tend to doubt the existence of the Lord as if they hold the key to the solutions related to life on earth and the universe around us. The writer continues:
“In the last days, mocking, sneering men who are ruled by their passion will arrive on the scene and ask: “Where is that promised land of his? Our forefathers have been laid to rest but everything stays just as it was when the world was created.” In believing this they do not take into account that of old there were heavens and an earth drawn out of the water and standing between the waters, all brought to being by the word of God.
“By water that world was than destroyed; it was overwhelmed by the deluge. The present heavens and earth are reserved by God’s word for fire; they are kept for the Day of Judgment, the day when godless men will be destroyed. The Day of the Lord will come like a thief, and on that day the heavens will vanish with a roar; the elements will be destroyed by fire, and the earth and all its deeds will be made manifest.
“Since everything is to be destroyed in this way, what sort of men must you not be! The heavens will be destroyed in flames and the elements will melt away in a blaze. What we await are new heavens and a new earth where, according to his promise, the justice of God will reside.” After celebrating Christmas (the birth of Jesus Christ the son of our Lord incarnate to bring us to our salvation) the news spread that a tsunami hit the Indian Ocean with devastating effects. Ironically while people in the West were sleeping, those in the East woke up to a new experience that will surely mark their lives.
Was this the Christmas message the world really needs to come to terms with itself? The hardships being created to many common citizens in the West with the excuse of modernisation and globalisation is nothing more than the greed of those who think they can plan the future. The shifting of the Western economy to the East with the excuse of competitivity is nothing but exploitation of the common citizens. Worker’s conditions, rights and standards of living are only a game in the hands of businessmen and politicians to satisfy their greed for gain, market share and power.
In the light of all this the West should realise who has the power to plan our future because, if not, while the East will rest it will be the turn of the West to encounter new experiences. Using buzzwords to deceive people will not help to solve problems. Therefore better heed the advice of what was written in the past – as it still stands true today – and keep it in mind throughout the New Year. Only God knows what the future has in store.