It is easy to look around us and ask, “Why?” “Why is this happening?” “What has happened that we are being inundated with flames and smoke and ash?” The simple, short answer is that these things God has sent to bring us to Him, to remind us that we must rely only on Him for all that we need, most especially forgiveness and salvation.

The other side of the coin is that it is not the wrath of God against any particular sin committed. We cannot blame any particular sin for these evils, spare perhaps one: that of our first father in Eden. However, it’s not because you have committed a sin or that I have or that our neighbors up and down the state have that these fires rage around us and, as it sometimes seems, upon us. These fires, as all disasters, natural and not, are constant reminders that we live in a sin-stained world—we live in a world cursed by God. “Cursed is the ground for your sake,” God spoke to Adam before expelling humanity from the Garden (Genesis 3:17)

What has followed are days of hardship and turmoil. Creation was turned upside down, literally at times, it seems. There are and have long been disasters and wars, brother kills brother, sister steals from sister, husbands and wives have sex with someone other than their spouse, and neighbor spreads lie after lie about neighbor. We read of earthquakes and volcanoes in the newspapers, see the images of tsunamis on television, hear of a school shootings on the radio, and now, we walk outside and we feel the heat, smell the smoke, and taste the ash in the air. We are attacked on all sides—all of our senses are under seige—with the wages of sin.

The wages of sin is death. (cf. Romans 6:23) We see the death of forest and grass all around us as it dries up and burns, much like the branches cut off of the Vine. (cf. John 15:1-7) Decay is all around us. Even right now, creation declares the Law of God to us, in all of it’s raging, wrathful fullness. In all of these things are we given to recognize the Law of God at work: in the little disasters we continually face in our lives, the tragedies that strike around the world, and now, most especially, in all of the burning we see around us. And by it all, we are tempted to wonder, “Are these the last days?”

Yes, in fact, they are, but the end is not yet.

And you will hear of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not troubled; for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet. For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. And there will be famines, pestilences, and earthquakes in various places. All these are the beginning of sorrows. (Matthew 24:6-8)

“All these are the beginning of sorrows,” Jesus said...the beginning. Then, He goes to say what we have in tonight’s text. “So you also, when you see all these things, know that it is near—at the doors!” It is near—at the doors, even—“but the end is not yet.”

And so we endure tribulation. We endure days of trouble. Because these things are promised to happen—we will see them, there is no escaping them until the Christ returns. Therefore, we take them as a reminder to pray to our Lord, the Creator and Redeemer. “In the day of my trouble I will call upon Thee: for Thou wilt answer me,” we’ll pray in a moment. (Psalm 86:7) The Psalmist also wrote, “Call upon Me in the day of trouble; I will deliver you, and you shall glorify Me.” (Psalm 51:15) “Come quickly, Lord Jesus,” we pray, “and in the meantime, grant us peace and mercy.”

And answer He does. Listen to Him, for His answer is always the same, “I am with you,” and, “Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by your name; You are Mine.” It’s what drove our dear Dr. Martin Luther to write, “Baptismatus sum!” all over his little room where he had been locked up to protect him from those who sought to murder him—I am baptized! It’s what gave the hymnwriter Horatio Spafford the courage to write, “It is Well with My Soul,” after losing his 4-year old son in 1871, his business to the Great Chicago Fire later the same year, and then all four of his daughters at sea in 1873.

When peace like a river, attendeth my way,
When sorrows like sea billows roll;
Whatever my lot, Thou hast taught me to say,
It is well, it is well, with my soul.

Though Satan should buffet, though trials should come,
Let this blest assurance control,
That Christ has regarded my helpless estate,
And hath shed His own blood for my soul.

My sin, oh, the bliss of this glorious thought!
My sin, not in part, but the whole,
Is nailed to the cross, and I bear it no more,
Praise the Lord, praise the Lord, O my soul!

And Lord, haste the day when my faith shall be sight,
The clouds be rolled back as a scroll;
The trump shall resounds, and the Lord shall descend,
Even so, it is well with my soul.

Yes, the Lord answers our cries for mercy, and He reminds us that He is and has been merciful. Look to the cross, for there you see the all-encompasing mercy of our Lord. There, see the Son of God nailed having taken your sin and infirmities, your worries and cares, and removed them from you, “not in part, but the whole.” Let the fires rage, let the disasters come; “take they our life, goods, fame, child, and wife, let these all be gone, They yet have nothing won; the kingdom ours remaineth.” Yes, dear friends, we look to the Word, which tells us, “The LORD is good, A stronghold in the day of trouble; And He knows those who trust in Him.” (Nahum 1:7)

God is our refuge and strength,
A very present help in trouble.
Therefore we will not fear,
Even though the earth be removed,
And though the mountains be carried into the midst of the sea;
Though its waters roar and be troubled,
Though the mountains shake with its swelling.
The LORD of hosts is with us;
The God of Jacob is our refuge. (Psalm 46:1-3, 11)

When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; And through the rivers, they shall not overflow you. When you walk through the fire, you shall not be burned, Nor shall the flame scorch you. For I am the LORD your God, The Holy One of Israel, your Savior...

He will send relief in His good time and according to His own plan. Still, we continue to cry to Him for mercy and relief. “Send rain, O Lord. Grant peace, we pray, in mercy, Lord.” And we trust, because we have learned to rely on Him for our salvation, and He has promised to meet our needs. So, for the time, being, we praise and thank Him for that which He has given us, most especially His Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.

God calls Himself your Savior. He is the one who has redeemed you and placed you, by faith, into the kingdom of His Son. Come hell or high water, you cannot be removed from this kingdom—let these or any other disaster or illness or anything else that serves to reminds us of our mortality come. These things will pass: “Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will by no means pass away”—His words which declares to you that for the sake of Christ, though the fires rage, you are baptized and you are His, He is with you...that is to say, you are forgiven for all of your sins.