Preaching When Tragedy Strikes
Preaching When Tragedy Strikes
If you’ve been preaching any length of time, you know what tragedy does to people. How do you go about preaching when tragedy strikes in your church or community? This post is the continuation of this series on toughest sermons you’ll ever preach. The first in the series is here.
I can think of many such tragedies. Maybe the worst, for me, was when a young boy was killed outside his house. He was riding his bike in the driveway. The house was on a busy street. What happened exactly? No one knows exactly how it happened, but somehow he got too close to the road just as a speeding car got too close to the driveway. The result was tragic. The ambulance was called, and the child was quickly transported to the emergency room at the local hospital.
I got the call telling me that I should get to the hospital. Of course, I dropped everything and got there as quickly as I could. By the time I walked into the emergency room, the child was declared dead. A father, crushed by tragedy was weeping by his beloved son.
Don’t Give Trivial Answers When Tragedy Strikes
I was so thankful for and proud of my church when they surrounded the family with love, with tears, and with practical help.
However, I also became very angry at some people who felt that they had to defend God, and they did so with what turned out to be trivial statements. The worst one was this: “God wanted him in heaven to keep him from something later in his life.” The worst variation on that was “God needed another angel.” Can you imagine?
Tragedy is not the time to try to guess at why God allows some things and prevents others. God is big enough and loving enough to meet people in their tragedy. In fact, one of the things that amazes me after many years of ministry is how often people say that they experienced God in the middle of an awful reality. No, don’t say such things!
So, what do you say in a message at a funeral? This is certainly preaching when tragedy strikes a family in your church. Your tragedy may not be the death of a child. It may be that someone is facing a cancer diagnosis, or a storm destroys a home or business. There are enough moments in life that will make you think that this is one of the toughest sermons you’ll ever have to preach when it comes to the worship service or funeral.
Preaching Jesus When Tragedy Strikes
One of the best passages for such circumstances, in my opinion, is John 11. In this passage Jesus gets the 
message that is good friend Lazarus is sick. Jesus then waits two days before traveling to Bethany, the home of Lazarus and his sisters Mary and Martha.
When he arrives, the sisters mildly rebuke Jesus. “If you had been here our brother would not have died,” each of them say. Read between the lines: “Why weren’t you here?”
Jesus never explains why he wasn’t there. Rather, he goes to the tomb, apparently with every intention of raising Lazarus back to life. But he weeps there! Why did he weep? Commentators express a few interpretations, but mostly it shows how Jesus was a “acquainted with grief”, as Isaiah predicted.
Share this with your people when tragedy strikes. Jesus feels the pain that you feel. He is not aloof from grief.
Jesus Going To War
But there is a second possible meaning to this verse, one that maybe is combined with the idea that Jesus felt the pain that the loss of Lazarus inflicted on the people. Meyers New Testament Commentary points out that the phrase that also describes Jesus here as “deeply troubled” has at its root the idea of being angry. In Ancient Greek it describes the snorting of a warhorse as he runs toward the battle. Jesus saw that things aren’t the way that they should be. So, as he approached the cross he prepared to do what was necessary to conquer death, once and for all. He was going to battle.
Conclusion
Preaching when tragedy strikes is a great time to tell people about the Jesus who loves them, who feels and responds to their pain. No, not everything is clear. There is no explanation usually for the pain. But we know that Jesus died so that he could prepare the way to a time and place where there will be no more tears, no more pain, no more death anymore. Tell them!
