Now let us now bow in prayer.

“Almighty God, our dear Father in heaven, now once again we gather together as a church now again not in a familiar manner. But we want to thank You for such a possibility. We do continue to commit each one of us unto Your loving hands. Lord, we pray even as we draw near to You that You might indeed draw near to us. And we pray, O Lord, that as we come together before Your throne of grace that we might once again be reminded that we are coming before the thrice Holy God, God who is holy, holy, holy, the Lord God Almighty. Lord, we pray that we may, therefore, come with a sense of awe and reverence and reverential fear.

As we come before the thrice Holy God, we are also aware of our sinfulness. We know that it’s so easy for us to be drawn away, so easy for us to fall into temptation daily. And indeed we know that we sin against You daily in so many ways, either by the sin of commission or sin of omission. We pray Lord for Your forgiveness. Once again, we want to thank You for that precious promise that if we confess our sin You are faithful and just and will cleanse us from all unrighteousness. Lord, we thank You that this is possible because of Your Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. We pray Lord also as we come before You, we remember every one of us here as we go through this difficult period of our life. We know O Lord that You have a purpose.

We know that we might not know Your purpose, Your reason that You have put us through this, but we know that You are sovereign and You are still in control even though it appears that the world has gone out of control. And so we rest confident in Your care and in Your Almighty hand. Lord, we also pray for Your blessing as we come together and look into Your Word. And we know that it’s only Your Word that can bring consolations and comfort and encouragement to all of us at a time like this. It’s not the words of men. It’s not the wisdom of men. It’s not the counsel of the world but the counsel and encouragement that comes from You.

And so we do pray as we now open Your Word. We pray for understanding, for we know that by ourselves we cannot understand spiritual things. And so we pray that You’ll do good to our soul. Grant us humility as we study Your Word, and grand us obedience because we pray all these in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, Amen.”

Alright, as I from time to time remind everyone of you that the high point of worship is when we come and listen to the Word of God because this is God’s Word. It’s God speaking to us. And first, I would like to read from our text. And our text this morning is taken from the Gospel of Luke and chapter 13. So please turn with me now to the Gospel of Luke and chapter 13 (1 3). Now this morning we are going to look at just the first five verses- the first five verses of the Gospel of Luke and chapter 13. So Luke 13, beginning in verse 1: “Now there were present at that season some who told Him about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mingled with their sacrifices.

And Jesus answered and said to them, “Do you suppose that these Galileans were worse sinners than all other Galileans, because they suffered such things? And I tell you, no; but unless you repent you will all likewise perish. Or those eighteen on whom the tower in Siloam fell and killed them, now do you think that they were worse sinners than all other men who dwelt in Jerusalem? I tell you, no; but unless you repent you will all likewise perish.”. Now I have sent to your handphone some pictures, and I would like you now to refer to those pictures. Now these are taken from the social media. And there are six alright- there are six pictures here in your handphone.

Now the first one is a picture of the Italian Prime Minister. He’s quoted to have said: “We have lost control, can’t understand what more we can do. All solutions are exhausted on the ground. Our hope remains up in the sky”. And then the other picture, Italy announces surrender. The Prime Minister there says: “Our control is gone; infectious disease is killing us. All possible relief on earth is over. Here is our look at the sky.”. Now, these details or information may be a little outdated, but I think the pictures is still relevant. The next picture is that of coffins lying on the ground, and in the next here is the message: “In case you are still not convinced to stay home for you and for your beloved ones, here’s a picture from Italy.”.

And the next picture we see a chaotic scene where they have to have makeshift facilities to keep the sick. And then we have this heart-rendering picture of soldiers. It says here: “My heart cries. This is the army in Italy not going to war but carrying dead bodies. Before we make jokes on the virus, before we take life for granted, just think of the people who are affected and realised this happened in the span of weeks.”. You see, people working together moving bodies from one place to another. And the final message is here in the last picture: “Covid-19 is not a joke, take it seriously before it’s too late. Please, stay home for you and for your beloved ones.”

Now I say that the later pictures from Italy were even worse. We were told that in one day there could be as many as almost a thousand dying in Italy. In fact, just yesterday we also learned that this whole disaster has already moved to the United States of America. In New York, we were made to understand yesterday one thousand five hundred died in one day. In other words, someone estimated in Italy one person died every five minutes. In New York, one person died every two and a half minutes. Now that is the scene that we have seen every day. These are pictures we see every day on our television screen or in your internet. Now, this is what we are talking about this morning. We are talking about disasters. And here in our text, we have two disasters recorded or mentioned.

The first one is in verse 1. It says here: “There were present at that season some who told Jesus about a disaster and that is the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mingled with their sacrifices”. Now, what is the meaning here of this verse? It means this, that the people were reminding Jesus of this particular incident that perhaps happened not too long ago. It is a well-known incident. People were talking about it. And the incident is about Pilate ordering the killing of the Galilean worshipper in the temple, and thereby their blood were mixed or mingled with the blood of the sacrifices. Now that is the first disaster mentioned in this text. Now the second disaster is mentioned in verse 4, and Jesus in response also reminded them of another incident or another disaster.

Now verse 4, Jesus said what about those eighteen? What about those eighteen who were killed when the tower in Siloam fell on them, when that tower collapse for one reason or another? We do not know, but it collapsed, and people inside were killed. And Jesus reminded them of that disaster. Now therefore the issue for us this morning, the subject is disaster. And that is what fills people’s minds today. It fills out mind not just because of the fact that we are watching or witnessing disasters around us. It fills our mind because we are actors. We are not merely spectators in this disaster; we are all actors. We are all in the midst of one. And when we are struck with a disaster, now it raises many questions in our mind.

And perhaps you have heard some of the questions being asked about the whole pandemic or this disaster or calamity that we are facing today. And it seems that the questions, now disasters always raise questions about God or raises the “God questions”, as if when there is no disaster God is not relevant. But all the same, the question seems to be about God. Where is God? I remember when 9/11 happened when the twin towers were bombed or crash or collapse. We asked: Where was God on 9/11? Perhaps some people ask the same question today: Where is God when we see people dying every day? Or people ask the ‘why’ question: Why God? Why do You allow such a thing to happen? Why must you allow people to die?

Or the ‘how’ question: How can God do this? The ‘how’ question is a challenge to God. It is basically casting aspersion on the character of God saying that perhaps God is not really the good God that people talk about. So how can God do this? But today, we want to ask what I believe to be the more important question. What should be the question that we should be asking today as we all go through a somewhat similar experience of a pandemic? I believe the more important question is this. What are the lessons? What are the lessons in a disaster? What can we learn? Is there some things that we should see? Are we listening perhaps to what God might be saying to us?

Now I believe that there are, and this morning from the text I would like to point out three lessons that we should and we must learn from a disaster. And they are these. First, the lesson in disaster is, first of all, a readiness for eternity. The lesson in disaster first of all is readiness for eternity. Now you see, disaster brings us face to face with death. And that’s the reason why when we were looking at those pictures from Italy and today you can perhaps look at those, I mean, pictures from Spain and France and UK and New York, we would see this that disaster brings us face to face with death. Now that is what they were talking about in verse 1. So what about those who have died, the Galileans whom Pilate killed?

What about those who died in verse 4 because they were crushed by the falling tower? Death. Death. The pandemic brings us, brings death into a sharp focus. Now I want to point out to you that that is in the mind of the people in this passage, and that is also in the mind of our Lord Jesus Christ. Now we see that when we look at the wider context of this passage, and that is from chapter 12. We know that from chapter 12 Jesus was already on this whole subject of death. Now see what Jesus said in verses 4 and 5, which we looked at last week. Now Jesus said in verses 4 and 5 of chapter 12: “I say to you, My friends, do not be afraid of those who kill the body”. Do not be afraid of Pilate who killed the bodies.

So He was thinking about dying. And after that, He says, “have no more that they can do”. And then in verse 5: “But I will show you whom you should fear: Fear Him, after He has killed, has power to cast into hell; yes, I say, fear Him!”. Now you see, Jesus is saying here: Now what should death teach us? Now we are talking about that. Jesus says, okay I’m talking about death here. Now death is in His mind, but the question is: What should death, what should these scenes of hundreds and thousands of coffins; this scene of people dying everywhere in the world, what should these teach us?

Now Jesus said this is what it should teach us because as He goes on in chapter 12 and then we are told in verse 13, that as the people were listening to the Lord Jesus Christ talking about death, now this is astonishing. Verse 13 is astonishing, but verse 13 is so common while we are witnessing death everywhere. Every day when people are talking about death, and here we have one man in verse 13: “Then one man from the crowd said to Jesus, “Teacher, tell my brother to divide the inheritance with me.”. Now here is one man in the midst of the discussion about death. He’s still thinking about money. He’s still thinking about inheritance. And he is asking what about my money? What about my inheritance? And I want you to notice Jesus’ response to this man.

Now I say this is astonishing. People are dying, and you’re thinking about your money and your property. And Jesus responded to this man in verse 15. In verse 15 of chapter 12, and this is what Jesus said. Jesus said to them: “Take heed and beware of covetousness, for one’s life does not consist in the abundance of the things he possesses.”. Jesus says get this into your head. Get this into your head. Life is not about things. One’s life, He said, does not consist in the abundance of possessions. Now that is what we should understand. And then Jesus goes on- goes on from there in verse 16 to tell a parable to press home His point, to make sure that people understand what He is saying here.

And the parable He tells is this. He said there was a certain rich man that yielded plentifully. And he says that this man thought within himself in verse 17 and said: “‘What shall I do, since I have no room to store my crops?’. And so he said, ‘I will do this: I will pull down my barns (or my factory) and build greater, and there I will store all my crops and my goods. And I will say to my soul, “Soul, you have many goods laid up for many years; take ease; eat, drink, and be merry.”‘“. Now you know what? Now Jesus is saying here in telling this parable that here is a man who had much. He had possessions, abundance of possessions. And his philosophy of life is eat, drink, and be merry.

Now what Jesus is saying here is this, is that death should teach us to rethink our philosophy of life- to rethink our philosophy of life to make us think what really is important because He goes on in verse 20: “But God said to this man”. God said to people whose philosophy is eat, drink, and be merry, and God would say to people who think that life is about abundance of things. He says you’re a fool because “this night your soul will be required of you; then whose will those things be which you have provided?’”. What’s really important? Verse 21, what’s really important? Now, this is what really is important. Now death should kind of forces us to re-evaluate our life, rethink our philosophy, and understand what really is important.

Verse 21, now this is what is really important, Jesus says: “So is he who lays up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God.”. Now what is really important is not to be rich in the things of this world but to be rich in the things of God, to be rich towards God. And then Jesus goes on to say: “And therefore”, now He makes the application. Therefore, this is how we should live our lives. Now death should teach us this. Verse 22: “Then He said to His disciples”. He says now this is the application. “Therefore I say to you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat; nor about the body and what you will put on. For life is more important than food, and body is more important than clothing.”

Now we need to understand what really is important. It’s not the physical things in our lives. And He goes on to say in verse 30: “For all these things the people of the world seek after, but your Father knows that you need these things. But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.”. Now that is what death should make us realise that there are far more important things than the things that people are living for every day in their lives. Now then Jesus drives home this point in this chapter (it’s a long chapter in chapter 12). And Jesus drives home this point by telling another parable in verse 39. In verse 39, a parable about a master.

And He says: “But know this, that if the master of the house had known what hour the thief would come, he would have watched and not allowed his house to be broken into. Therefore you also be ready”. In other words, He is saying that this man was not ready. He was not ready for his death. He tells them about this man to help them understand the importance of being ready. Then He tells them of a servant who was not ready for his master in verses 45 and 46.

Verse 45: “If that servant says in his heart, ‘My master is delaying his coming,’ and begins to beat the male and female servants, and to eat and drink and be drunk, the master of that servant will come on a day when he is not looking for him, and at an hour when he is not aware, and will cut him in two and appoint him his portion with the unbelievers.”. So we have one, a master who was not ready. We have here a servant who is not ready. So what is His point? His point is this. In the last verse, second last verse, verse 58 of chapter 12.

Now Jesus says My point is this. “When you go with your adversary to the magistrate, make every effort along the way to settle with him, lest he drag you to the judge, the judge deliver you to the officer, and the officer throw you into the prison.” Settle your score, that is what He is saying. Settle your score before it is too late. Verse 59: “I tell you, you shall not depart from there till you have paid every last mite.”. Seek forgiveness. Plead for mercy before it is too late. When your death, your dying day arrives, now that might be too late. And I believe that this is what the disaster should be impressing upon us. In other words, the lesson in disaster is readiness. Readiness for eternity. Why? Because the Bible says: “For it is appointed for men to die once”.

We will all die, whether because of Covid-19 or for other reasons, it is appointed for men to die once. But after this, what? After that, what? The Bible says it is appointed for men to die once and after that judgement. Judgement. And that is what Jesus is saying to the people in Luke chapter 13 when this whole subject or discussion about disaster that brings into a sharp focus this whole matter of death. They were thinking about death. The people were thinking about death in chapter 13. People are thinking about death today. They are counting how many people died yesterday, and they will be tuning in for latest updates to find out how many people will be dying today. But Jesus said, you are thinking about death, but I want to remind you about eternal death, about eternal destruction.

And so verse 3 and verse 5, now that is what Jesus is saying when He says: “I tell you, no; but unless you repent you will all likewise perish.”. Now the word ‘perish’ there, now Jesus is not just thinking about people dying, but Jesus is now thinking about people perishing eternally in damnation. And to underscore that, to emphasise that, He repeats that in verse 5: “I tell you, no; unless you repent you will all likewise perish.”. Readiness for eternity, that is the first lesson in disaster. Now the second lesson in disaster is this. It is that disaster should teach us that it is not about other people, it is about us. Disaster should teach us or the lesson in disaster is that it is not about other people, it is about us.

It is not about the Italians. It is not about the people in Wuhan. It is not about the people dying in UK or in New York. The question is not are they worse sinners, Jesus said. Now people might be thinking perhaps there’s a reason why there are so many people who died in Italy, or France, or Spain, or UK. Perhaps as some might be thinking that these are footballing nations that every Sunday they perhaps choose to go to the stadium than going to the church. Perhaps that’s the reason why they are dying to be made aware or awaken to this reality. Well, we do not know. Now people are dying, but it’s not about them. Really? They’re the only sinners? God judged them because they did wrong things?

The question Jesus says is not are they worse sinners. The question is: Are you not a sinner? Are you not a sinner? In other words, Jesus in this passage in Luke 13:1-5 is saying stop worrying about them. These people are coming to Jesus. He said what about these people? Why did God kill them if God allowed that to happen? Why did they die? Perhaps they were worse sinners. Now Jesus is saying stop worrying about them and start thinking about yourself. Are you right with God? Start thinking about your own life, your own relationship to God. Now notice that in verse 3, Jesus’ answer implies that they were all sinners and hell-bound. Listen to what Jesus says: “unless you repent, (you will like them) you will all likewise (He says) perish”.

Now I want to point out here that when the Jews heard this from the Lord Jesus Christ, now they could not stomach what He said. When Jesus implies that they were equally sinners as the other people, now they found it hard to accept. Why? Because the Jews never saw themselves as sinners needing to repent. They were always thinking themselves as the people of God, people who had the law, who kept the law. They were not as the Gentiles. You might remember what Paul wrote to say to them in Romans chapter 2- in Romans 2:17. And knowing the attitude of the Jewish people, Paul said this in Romans 2:17. He said: “Indeed you are called a Jew, and rest on the law, and make your boast in God”.

Now they are boasting. They are saying that we are Jews, so we are secure. We are not like the others. Now listen to what Paul said to them in the following chapter, Romans 3. Romans 3, beginning in verse 9. Now in response to this mentality of the Jewish people, Paul said in verse 9 of Romans 3: “What then? Are we better than they? Not at all (he says), for we have previously charged both Jews and Greeks that they are all under sin. As it is written: “There is none righteous, no, not one; There is none who understands; There is none who seeks after God. They have all turned aside; They have together become unprofitable; There is none who does good, no, not one.”.

Now that is the truth that the Bible is stating about humanity that there is not one single righteous person in this world. There is none who seeks after God, the Bible says. Therefore, the lesson we need to grasp is this that unless you repent, you will all likewise perish. The only difference is this. The only difference is that for some, judgement comes early. We do not know when our turn will come or in what manner or where it might happen. And therefore, be ready. And that is the point of the Scripture, be ready because your turn will come sooner or later. You will die. You will face the judgement of God. And if you die in your sin, you will perish in hell forever and ever. So it is about you. Are you ready?

So the lesson in disaster, as I say, is not about other people. Jesus said it’s about all of us. Now that leads us to the third and the final lesson I believe we should learn from a disaster. The lesson in disasters, therefore, is the urgency of repentance. The lesson in disaster is therefore the urgency of repentance. Now think about those people in verse 1. What were they doing? Perhaps they were worshipping. They were in the church, in the temple. Where were they? Alright, like I say could be in the synagogue. Did they know that Pilate was going to kill them in all likeliness? No. If they had known, they wouldn’t have gone there. Now think about those mentioned in verse 4. Who were these people who were in the tower? We do not know.

Perhaps they were office workers or perhaps they were tourists looking at the twin towers. Or perhaps they were people doing business, opening shops in the tower. Now we do not know. Did they see the disaster coming? Did they know that the tower was going to collapse? No! If they had known, they wouldn’t have gone there. Now let us now think about the many who were killed by Covid-19. Who are these people? There are all kinds of people, just as there might be all kinds of people in the tower. There could be ordinary people, but there could be famous people. Where were they killed? Well, all over the places- in Wuhan, in UK, here in Malaysia, in Singapore. Did they see the virus coming? No! They can’t see. They can’t see these viruses.

You see, all those questions are not important, finally speaking. It’s not important who you are or where you were or whether you expected it to happen. All these questions are finally speaking not important. The point is, disaster can happen, and death can occur to anyone, anywhere, anytime. Do you see the danger of perishing? Do you see the danger of dying and perishing into eternal eternity? Do you now sense the urgency of repentance?

Now if there is a message that we should learn perhaps, it is this. The urgency to make amends with God, to repent of your ways. If there is a message that we the church should bring to a world gripped by a pandemic, what is that message where virus can kill people anywhere, anytime? I believe that that message is this. It is the urgency of getting right with God. It is the urgency of repenting of your sin because Jesus says unless you repent, you will likewise perish, not just dying. Today, the Bible says, is a day of salvation. Today, the Bible says, if you will hear My voice, do not harden your heart. Seek the Lord, the Bible says, while He may be found.

Now, that is the constant message of the Bible, both in the Old and the New Testament. That must be the message of the church to a dying world. That is the point of what Jesus is saying here, the urgency of repentance. These things, I believe, are what we should all learn from a disaster, to be ready for eternity, to realise that it’s really not about other people, it’s about us, and to remember the urgency to make amends with God. May God bless you.

This transcript has been lightly edited for readability.