Tragedy and the Questions of God

December 17, 2012 - Three days have passed since our country experienced one of the worst tragedies in recent memory. A young man named Adam Lanza walked into Sandy Hook Elementary School and began shooting and killing teachers and children. In all, 29 people (including Adam Lanza) lost their lives during a time when everyone is gearing up for the most festive time of the year- Christmas. I heard the news around noon on Friday while in the car running errands. At first, I turned off the radio when I heard the initial reports. I would not hear such horrible pain. No, no. It cannot be. Not little children. The rest of the details began to come in like a dark overcast cloud that shut out the sun. I will not repeat them here. Today, I sit at my office desk. To my left are the pictures of many of those children and their teachers. The smiles, the futures, the hopes - all there in color on page A6 of the Wall Street Journal. And on the next page are the articles on renewed voices in our legislature on gun-control laws or what made Adam Lanza do what he did or what we could have done to prevent this. And, of course, the ever-predictable question: “Why did God let this happen?”

The day before, on Sunday, I felt the Spirit of God move me to ditch my sermon which I had prepared. It was going to be on the topic of the undignified and the chair at the table that God has for them as we looked at the shepherd story in Luke chapter two. Instead, God moved me to Amos 4 and the question of calamity.

One of my seminary professors - Dr. Walter Kaiser - was once asked about another tragedy. It was 1963 and President John F. Kennedy had been assassinated. In the front row, “Bill” asked, “Why did your God do that?” The class erupted into many theories as to why God allowed the president to die - booze, womanizing, how the Kennedy family made their money. Donkeys and elephants ran all over the room, until Dr. Kaiser asked, “Maybe we should look at this a different way. Why did God let this happen to us? After all, we are Americans and this was our president.” The next question was, “Well, how do you know if God is trying to speak to the nation with tragedy?” Kaiser had been quite confident up until that last question, but was now pondering in his own mind, “Yeah, how do I know? I was dying to hear what I had to say.” But, then it hit him like a thunderbolt - Amos chapter four: “Here is how you know - if the tragedies come in a series - that may well be God trying to call a nation to repentance.” In our service, we then read Amos chapter four which talked of God allowing famine…but the people would not return to Him. And then, drought… but the people would not return to Him. And then, locust. And then, plagues like in Egypt. And then, war and military defeat. Yet, you would not return, would not return, would not return. Amos draws his prophetic utterance to a climax:

“Prepare to meet your God, O Israel” (Amos 4:12)

And certainly, this tragedy is not an isolated incident. Have we forgotten what happened at Chardon High School just under a year ago? What about in the theatres of Aurora, CO? Was Hurricane Sandy just an aberration, or a tragedy in a series of events? And now, Newtown, Connecticut, joins the list.

This Monday afternoon, as I ponder more images and more news and more “solutions” and more questions, I am feeling angry. I am angry that these children have been torn from their families in the most horrific and violent of ways. I am angry that these families will see under their Christmas trees packages that will never be opened by their intended recipients. And I am angry that we still keep asking questions like, “Why did God let this happen?” Yes, I am angry about that question, because we keep asking it and never bother to seek an answer. And perhaps the answer is, “Why is God to blame?” These thoughts have been uttered before, but since the question continues to be asked, the answer I’ll give need repeating.

• Was it God who began questioning His own existence for the purpose of being freed from a Judeo-Christian morality?
• Was it God who introduced the idea that humans were simply more-developed animals, that the soul was an antiquated piece of superstition, that life was merely a cosmic accident and our current state was the result of a mindless (and often bloody) process of natural selection? Did God eradicate the idea of us being made in His image or did we?
• Was it God who wrote the legislation to remove Him from our schools, from our courts, from the public square, from even the Nativity scenes that celebrate a “holy day”?
• Was it God who began to devalue human life to the point where six million died in concentration camps during WWII, 20 million died while Stalin tried to create a communist utopia in Russia, 50+ million died while Mao Tse Tung tried to create a communist utopia in China and 25 million babies have been exterminated in the wombs of their mothers, 94% of the time out for convenience’s sake?
• Was it God who produced sequel after sequel after sequel of the blood-thirstiest movies one could ever imagine? To watch even one of the “Saw” movies is to watch the simple shaping of a culture of death - human beings dismembered in the most ghastly and creatively macabre ways, solely for our entertainment!
• Was it God who then developed new ways to participate in this fascination with death, making the slaughter more interactive through the technology of gaming? Now, you can actually earn POINTS by killing! That, apparently, is the only value left in human life.

At every turn, our culture and our country have de-valued the sacredness of life and the goodness of God’s commands. We have lost our way and now we have lost our minds. And then, someone comes along and cashes in on our society’s values…AND IT’S GOD’S FAULT?!!!! Yes, this makes me angry!!

Amos’ answer to this question is this: why have you not yet returned to God? Why have you not yet repented of the world YOU have created? We as a country stand condemned by this horrible act!! The question is not,

“Why did God let this happen?”

The question is,

“Why did WE let this happen?”

And the answer is not, “Well, we need new legislation!” That may (or may not) be true to some extent but it is not the solution. Have we not yet understood the point of the entirety of the Old Testament?! They had laws on top of their laws!! And yet, those laws could not change the human heart. If anything, the laws simply inflamed more rebellion (Romans 7:7-25)!! The answer is not banning certain guns or certain video games or certain movies. That is treating the symptoms. No, we are called to prepare and meet our God. And that God is Jesus of Nazareth. When we meet our God, we meet a God who forgives sin, restores the soul, inscribes His laws onto our hearts (Jeremiah 31:31-34; Ezekiel 36:22-28; 37:24-28). The answer is one of surrender. Allow God to reshape your understanding of life and sin and redemption and goodness through Jesus. Receive from God the beginning of a new journey by accepting His grace through trust in Jesus and His atoning death for your sins. Do not compartmentalize your belief about God, but allow it to reshape your worldview. Don’t accept the values of our culture simply because they are the values of the culture.

As I write this entry, I am looking at two pictures in particular. One of little Emilie Parker - because she reminds me so much of my own daughter - and one of Vicki Soto, a 27 year old teacher who died in that horrible massacre. One picture brings me profound sorrow. Emilie was supposed to be drawing Christmas cards for people with her crayon set today. But she cannot. She is gone. The other picture brings me hope. Vicki Soto lost her life as well. But, she offered what no one could offer holding a view that human life is of little-to-no value. She offered her life for her students. She acted as a human shield between the gunman and the children. She pictured for us something that is completely irrational if our culture is to be believed - self-sacrifice. She gave us a picture of Christ and a reminder that this culture of death has not completely enveloped us yet.

But, the choice, as a nation, is ours now. Can we stop blaming God enough to look at ourselves and what we have become…and return to God?

Needy Sinners and Fearsome Angels

The story of the shepherds at the birth of Jesus is one which we tend to romanticize, a part of the story that can become pale and lifeless if not seen through the biblical lens.

In Jesus’ day, shepherds were a scurrilous bunch, generally speaking. They were considered liars and thieves by the general public. They came to the manger in desperate need.

We also tend to downplay the fear that is in this story. The shepherds on the Hallmark cards are mildly reverent. Dietrich Bonhoeffer wrote that we tend to come to this scene in the Christmas story and we “no longer feel the shiver of fear that God’s coming should arouse in us.”

This Christmas, make sure to paint the Nativity scene with needy sinners and fearsome angels. Paint your Christmas story with the bold colors that surround the coming glory of God veiled in flesh. Cast aside the tame and rather dull Christmas portrait and see again the Christmas story of the Bible - a wild, extraordinary, supernatural event that would turn the world upside-down!

Joy To The World

I don’t think I could say this any better than one of my true spiritual heroes, Dietrich Bonhoeffer. Concerning the joy of the Christmas celebration, Bonhoeffer says this:

“Joy to the world!” Anyone for whom this sound is foreign or who hears in it nothing but weak enthusiasm, has not yet really heard the gospel. For the sake of humankind, Jesus Christ became a human being in a stable in Bethlehem. Rejoice, O Christendom! For sinners, Jesus Christ became a companion of tax collectors and prostitutes. Rejoice, O Christendom! For the condemned, Jesus was condemned to the cross on Golgotha. Rejoice, O Christendom! For all of us, Jesus Christ was resurrected to life. Rejoice, O Christendom!...All over the world today, people are asking, Where is the path to joy? The church of Christ answers loudly: Jesus is our joy! Joy to the world!

Christmas: A Revolutionary Event!

Our culture has been so influenced by Christianity that we sometimes miss some elements in the Christmas story. The story is so familiar to us that we perhaps don’t realize just how revolutionary the birth of Christ was!

For instance, at the birth of Jesus there was a lot of talk about this “child”. We might miss the impact of this word, but in Jesus’ day, children were often the objects of scorn by Roman culture. They were seen as weak, fearful, and helpless.

There was a stark contrast between Jesus “the child” and “Herod the Great”. Herod was not the cardboard villain of our children’s Christmas plays (if he even gets a part in the play). Herod was the guardian of the Pax Romana. He was considered nearer to the gods than the rest of the peasants. He was feared. He was the “king of the Jews” and a “friend of the Romans”. He was famous for his ambitious building projects. He was, in his day, truly “Herod THE GREAT”.

No one ever called this “child” born in a stable, “Jesus the Great”. And yet, how Jesus turned history on its proverbial head! How Jesus turned our perspectives on life, human worth, God’s grace and even children on their proverbial heads too!

Never forget that Christmas was a truly revolutionary event: indeed, THE revolutionary event in all of history!

Choosing with Discernment

Decisions face us every day and that can be scary!

What we decide means not simply what we choose, but also what we reject (every decision means you and I have decided against something in making a positive choice). In fact, the word “decide” is rooted in the word “to kill” - de-cide, like “homi-cide”, “sui-cide”. We choose, and thus we kill, other options. And in doing this all-important act, I am more concerned than ever that Christians do this well.

The Book of Proverbs calls us away from choosing randomly, or by our emotions, or even by reason! Instead, we are called to use the gift of discernment. Reflect on Proverbs 2:1-10 in which we see a simple “if-then” format for how we get this wonderful treasure called “discernment” (the Hebrew word - binah - is sometimes translated “understanding”).

You will find that while not all of us can be members of Mensa, we can all acquire wisdom and discernment through the simple practice of loving and living God’s Word…if we choose!!

The Doctrine of Vocation

Gene Edward Veith’s little book titled God at Work is a very refreshing book on the doctrine of vocation.

In this book, Veith talks about how God has provided food for him and his family, brought healing to him and his family, etc…. Of course, as he explains it, God provided food through a local baker. God provided healing through medical professionals. God got other goods and services to him through the hard work of others. This is the doctrine of vocation - that God typically uses our talents, gifts, efforts and jobs to serve one another.

What meaning is brought to those areas of our lives when we realize that whether we do something highly-skilled like bypass surgery or something innovative like run a business or perhaps something non-sensational like raising children or changing the oil in cars, we are serving God by serving our neighbors.

This is why we are called to hard work and find satisfaction in a job well done.

Commitment to Prayer

Last week was another wonderful Milestones event where we celebrated family dedication, new members, remembering those who passed away this year, communion and baptism. It was so exciting to celebrate these moments for each family and individual!

One of the things we did during Milestones was a vow of commitment. Along with vows to honor God in our families, with our marriages, children, etc., was a pledge to begin and end each day with prayer specifically for one’s family and the Fellowship family.

I would like to make sure that anyone who was not able to attend Milestones will nevertheless have the opportunity to make this pledge of prayer! We need to pray for our families, for our church family, and yes - for our country. Make sure that the first and last thing you say each day is a prayer for others!!