Whoever is at fault, and wherever the blame lies, the last few weeks in America have shaken many people’s confidence in the financial system.
You probably know the news as well as I do. What’s really important from an evangelical Christian point of view is the opportunity this crisis has created. We are being called to examine where our hopes lie and witness to a confidence not ultimately in the market but in our God and his Word.
The Puritans had a whole species of sermons reserved for the aftermath of crises. Bad winter, bad storm, defeat in war — and scholars have identified a characteristic response from some Puritans called a ‘Jeremiad’. That is, they asked God’s people to repent. Often the hope was that such difficulties would lead to a softening of the heart of the unconverted and a turning to God in masses. The same pattern has been true more recently. After 9/11, the hope was that many people would turn to God and, indeed, reports came in of church worship services being packed with people seeking help and hope.
