The Blame Game

The Blame Game and the Christian Response to Calamity

The blame game. Is this an appropriate thing for Christians to be playing? I mean, with everything that's going wrong in the world, is the blame game a good thing or a bad thing? Is it a Christian thing to do?

My name is Pastor Chris Rosebrough, and I'm the pastor of Kungsvinger Lutheran Church in Oslo, Minnesota. And we're taking a look at all the things that are going wrong in the world and whether or not it is a Christian thing to actually blame everybody else for what's going wrong.

I mean, think of it this way. Here we are in the middle of a pandemic. We've all been locked up in our houses for more than a month. In fact, at Kungsvinger, we haven't even been able to have a public church service in well over a month.

And we had to do it online during Easter. And, of course, if you watch the media, then people are sitting there saying, whose fault is this? They're saying it's Trump's fault, or it's China's fault, or it's the Democrats' fault, or it's just fill in the blank, your favorite people that you would like to vilify.

It's their fault. It's a government conspiracy. It's the Illuminati. It's a cabal. It's all this kind of stuff. But note here in our area, I mean, it's not just the pandemic we had to deal with. We just got through with a flood.

But worse than that, in the fall, because of all the moisture and precipitation that we had, we had major crop failures. And so for us, it's like we recognize there's a lot more going on here than meets the eye.

And just simply blaming somebody else kind of misses the point. In fact, things like this, when they happen, God is trying to get our attention. But let's take a look at a biblical response to this, shall we?

Jesus’ Warning Against Explaining Tragedy by Blaming Others

On screen here, we're looking at my Bible. And one of my Bible programs, I use Accordance when I'm teaching. And in Luke chapter 23, we find this account where there are people who lost their lives in a terrible way.

And they bring this to the attention of Jesus. And listen carefully to what he says. He says, there were some present at that very time who told him about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mingled with their sacrifices.

And so Jesus answered them. Do you think that these Galileans were worse sinners than all the other Galileans because they suffered in this way? No. No, I tell you, but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish.

Or those 18 on whom the tower of Siloam fell and killed them. Do you think that they were worse offenders than all the others who lived in Jerusalem? No, I tell you, but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish.

In times of pestilence and major calamities, these are times for us to soberly consider the fact that we all are sinners. And that when it comes to the terrible things that are happening in the world, Scripture is clear that because of our sin, that the entire world, the universe of creation, has been subjected to futility.

The reason why there are famines and earthquakes and pestilences is because of our rebellion against God. And that's really what's at the heart of it. Times like this call us to consider our own sinfulness, but also consider this.

The good news is that God has mercy on those who call to him. All who call on the name of the Lord will be saved. And because Jesus has bled and died for our sins, we have forgiveness and mercy from God rather than the judgment and wrath that we deserve.

So one of my favorite prayer books is a prayer book by the name of Stark's Prayer Book. And this is what the cover looks like. We're looking at a Kindle version of it. But in Stark's Prayer Book, there is a prayer for times of widespread sickness.

And there's an exhortation here and a prayer. And consider very carefully the very wise words written by Stark. And this was long before recently. This is a prayer book that's been around for a long time.

He says, so here's the exhortation taken from Deuteronomy 28, 15, verses 20 and 21. But if you will not obey the voice of the Lord your God, be careful to do all of his commandments and his statutes that I command you today.

Then all these curses shall come upon you and overtake you. The Lord will send on you curses, confusion, and frustration in all that you undertake until you are destroyed and perish quickly on account of the evil of your deeds.

Because you have forsaken me, the Lord will make pestilence to stick to you until he has consumed you off the land that you are entering to take possession of it. And in the exhortation, Stark writes, when wrath, tribulation, and anguish come upon those who do evil, contagious diseases and pestilences must certainly be included in that anguish.

To a large extent, this plague comes when people put no faith in the word of warning and admonition, when they serve God only outwardly and not with their hearts, when they even put God out of their minds entirely by their disobedience, when they despise the servants of God, when the people become bold and unruly, when fornication and murder are rampant, when no admonition to repentance is any longer heeded, on account of adultery, on account of blasphemy, on account of pride, on account of other sins.

Now when God inflicts this chastisement, it is necessary that people repent because the Lord allows himself to be entreated according to his mercy. Hence David from among three plagues, he chose this one rather than the others.

And so he's invoking the fact that when David had sinned against God, God gave him three choices as to how he would be punished, and he would rather fall into the hands of God. And so he prayed, he permitted, basically he chose a pestilence that would last for three days, trusting himself to the mercy of God.

Repentance, Mercy, and Christ’s Atoning Death

And so the idea here is that rather than looking at this time and sitting there going, whose fault is all of this calamity and all this stuff that is happening? Instead, humbly consider the fact that we all are culpable, I'm culpable, I'm responsible for the pandemic, and in some way you are too.

This is a result of our sin. But we just celebrated Easter, and before Easter Good Friday, and on Good Friday, Jesus Christ, the Son of God, took all of your sin and mine upon himself, bled and died, so that we can be forgiven and pardoned.

And Jesus is the one calling us to repent of our sin. So use this time when you're locked up and considering some of the bigger things as you walk through the valley of the shadow of death, and in the very dangers that we all find ourselves in right now as a result of the pandemic.

And don't use this to sit there and say, I knew it, it was their fault, or their fault, or their fault. But instead note that because this is a pestilence that has come upon the whole world, there's no place that is unaffected by this pandemic.

That instead we should say, you know what, I need to consider the fact that because this has come to my neighborhood, to our town, to my state, to my country, that in some way this is a wake-up call from God, not to get our acts straight, but to repent and to be forgiven, and then bear fruit in keeping with repentance.

Hopefully you find this encouraging. And kind of as a way of kind of working our way out of this little devotional thought, here's some of the prayer that Stark writes in this regard to when times of pestilences come.

Stark’s Prayer for Deliverance, Mercy, and Forgiveness

O strong and mighty God, great is your wrath against willful sinners, who will not permit your kindness to lead them to repentance. For a time you deal with people like a loving father, who seeks with much patience to draw back his disobedient children to himself.

But then when people willfully abuse your grace, you manifest yourself as stern, as a stern judge. We too are experiencing this now, O just God. We hear that in many places, in fact in our own state, in our own towns, a contagious disease has appeared, devouring many thousands upon thousands of people, so that death is a guest in many homes, and there are not enough hands to bury the dead.

We are consumed by your anger, and by your wrath we are troubled. We have not strong reasons to fear that you will send this spreading contagion also into our borders, and into our city, into our houses.

O jealous God, we need not think that those on whom your heavy rod is now descending are worse sinners than the rest. Rather, instead, we confess that we all deserve to perish like them. There is found among us security in our sinfulness, contempt of your holy word, stubbornness, wastefulness, fornication, unrighteousness, worldliness, and pride.

Yes, there is scarcely any fear of God in our land, and the godly ceases, and the faithful fail among the children of men. If you, O Lord, kept a record of iniquity, O Lord, who could stand? So, O Lord, when you said, Seek my face, my heart said to you, Your face, Lord, do I seek.

You have no pleasure in the death of the sinner, but that the sinner turn from his way and live. Therefore, we abhor ourselves, and we repent in dust and ashes. Do not look upon our countless sins. Graciously pronounce us not guilty.

Comfort us in our distress, and remove all punishment from us. We have sinned along with our ancestors. We have committed iniquity, and we have done wickedly. Command the destroying angel who is wielding the sword of vengeance to cease, and say to him, Enough is enough.

Let us live, that we may glorify your name. Although we do not deserve any mercy, we are in need of it. Although we are children of death, you have promised the penitent that you would exercise mercy instead of justice toward them.

O grant us your grace and life for the sake of Jesus, our only mediator and advocate. Have mercy, have mercy upon us, O God of mercy. Be gracious to us, and spare us, good Lord. That's a good prayer, and one that I hope will at least add a little bit of understanding and meaning to all the suffering that is happening in the world, and this pandemic that just doesn't ever seem to go away, just continues to get worse and worse.

This is a time for us to consider our own sin, even more than that. Consider the mercy and grace of Christ that is offered to us as a free gift. So repent of your sin, be forgiven, and live, even if you die, in the name of Jesus.

Church Website, Online Services, and Closing Blessing

Now, if you found this helpful, you can share this video down below, but come visit us on our website. Go to kongsvingerchurch .org, where you can find our and Sunday School lessons there for you to work through during your time of being locked up in your homes.

And we also are having our church services online during this time, and you're welcome to come and join us. And then when we're able to meet back in person, if you're able to come visit us, please do so.

Kongsvingerchurch .org, you can find all the information on our address, all of our teachings online, as a benefit to you. So until next time, may God richly bless you, and the grace and mercy won by Jesus Christ, and his vicarious death on the cross, for all of your sins.

Amen.