Making Sense of the Senseless

In the wake of the Texas Church mass shooting, many folks are asking themselves the question, “Am I safe?” This very question is one that is asked when our lives become unsettled by some devastating event, such as terrorist attacks, mass shootings, natural disasters, or a water crisis. It was not too long ago that the West Nile virus was causing quite a stir. However, nothing hits home more than the senseless shooting of people in the act of worship. The true danger in the aftermath is fear and anger.

The act is senseless not because the people were worshipping. It is senseless, because they were in a peaceful gathering where violence makes absolutely no sense. It is impossible for us to get our head around such activities. In fact, outside of war killing make little sense. When little children and young people are involved it seems even more senseless. However, it does make sense to the one doing the shooting.

The one who commits the crime, pulls the trigger, seeks out his/her target, is certain that what they are doing makes sense. Something in the mind of the attacker has convinced them that what they are doing, ought to be done. No matter how irrational that individual is, they are acting within the realm of their own sense-making reality. Nevertheless, the majority population fails to find any logical reason that such shootings take place.

In the church, the logic (perhaps) is more easily defined. We live in a fallen world where sin and death work hand in hand. The first recorded act of murder happened as a result of worship. Cain’s murder of his brother over an offering makes no sense. It doesn’t make sense today, and it didn’t make sense then. In a very odd twist, God did not sentence Cain to death; instead, he sends him away from his community (a discussion that we will save for another time). Senseless acts have two things in common, they generate fear and anger.

Fear and anger have both a positive and negative effect on society.  With the positive, we generate boundaries out of fear that our children will get hurt. Positive anger, tells us that something is not right and leads us to protect the vulnerable. The negative side of fear leads people to build walls (physical and metaphorical). Fear can prevent us from doing the very things we need to do. Fear may lead us to prejudice, hatred, and anger. Anger, when it is unleashed often seek vengeance, it loses sight of mercy, and wants its pound of flesh. Anger, often results in other forms of violence.

Sunday’s mass shooting in a Texas Church should cause a certain level of fear and anger. As believers in Christ, we should make sure that these two impulses do not take god-like authority of our reason. Fear should push us toward God, not toward anger and violence. Anger should push us toward spreading the Good News of Jesus Christ. In response to these horrible events, we must turn to God and seek his guidance. Fear and anger will threaten to undermine our faith in Jesus. Some will question God’s ability to protect his people.

Many questions will arise after this mass tragedy. Answers will not always satisfy. Nevertheless, as the Body of Christ, we are to respond as Christ is responding, not as the world responds. For our brothers and sisters in Texas and all those effected around the country, we are to mourn with them in their loss, lift them in prayer, and we must be prepared to share the Good News of Jesus all the more.

The solution to fear and anger is faith. We are to put our faith in the Triune God. Faith does not guarantee we will not be killed. Faith in God means that no matter what happens in this life, we trust God. The Psalter once said that some folks put their trust in horses and chariots (the police, military, weapons), but we put our trust in the Lord our God. For a little while, we will suffer these kinds of tragedies. That does not mean we ignore them and just let them happen. It means that they will come, but they will not last forever. The day is coming, and has now come, when senseless sin will be washed away, and the Kingdom of God will arrive in its fullness.

Today, as we mourn this tragedy in Texas, let us turn our hearts toward God. Let us, confess our fear and our outrage. Trust the Lord, for it is in Christ Jesus that we now find our hope, our peace, and our security. If we are called upon to suffer in this life, let us do so with the holiness of our Savior. May we like Jesus look to heaven and cry out, “Father, forgive them, they haven’t a clue what they are doing!”

Thursday Thoughts 8/31/17

As I sit on a beautiful sunny, cool, August day in Michigan, I find myself a bit melancholy. Is it the winding down of summer, the terrible devastation that is taking place in Texas, or the riotous nature of some in our country? Perhaps it is a bit of all that is happening. I suppose when you do forty-plus funerals in a year you tend to be a little more introspective. Searching one’s heart to see if there is anything that needs adjusting isn’t a bad thing.

It seems that it is hard for some today to find a foothold of hope, a sense of peace, or a spirit of long-suffering. I would expect that those outside the teaching of Jesus would search and find whatever makes them feel better. However, in the Body of Christ, I would expect that we would be more patient, less quick to judge, readier to forgive, to first think the best of others, to keep no record of the wrongs, and to encourage one another to keep pushing toward the goal of our faith.

Instead, I see much of our culture pouring out of the mouths of “believers”. I am not sure why we are still so prone to get wrapped up in civilian affairs (myself included). Perhaps, what is causing this melancholy mood is that I am a part of this culture. For a while I resist, and then I see how I slip into the tirades of nonsense. Oh, don’t get me wrong the nonsense makes perfect sense to this world, I just don’t think it make sense in the Kingdom of God.

I wonder if I am losing sight of the things of God? Jesus tells me to fix my eyes on things above. To always remember what it is that God has left me here for, to remember I’m on his mission. His mission of reconciliation. I am to cry out in a world of hate, GOD LOVES YOU, PEACE, PEACE!!!!!  Am I really going to die on the cross of national history? Am I really going to die on a cross of humanistic freedoms? Am I really going to kill my neighbor over a notebook? Do I really hate my brothers and sisters in Christ so much that I would alienate them over earthly politics?

God, I am a bit melancholy. Because there are so many hurting people, and I fear I may cause more hurt. My words, my thoughts, my actions, do they really fit in with your mission? I read your word and you have told me to fix my eyes on you. You have told me that everything above is worthy of my attention, it will last an eternity. You have told me that the things of this world are not worthy of my focus. The monuments, the flags, the notebooks, the cars, the houses, will all wither away by rust and moth. But people Lord, all people, are so precious to you. Are they precious to me? Help me Lord, to know your love more, to not simply believe, but to have faith, faith that your goodness is still coming into the world, and that I will live into that goodness, so that others may know your love and your peace. Forgive me for those things that I have chosen that have no place in the life you have called me to live. Forgive me, as I also forgive others. Help me, to love – Agapé. Your son!

Thursday Thoughts 7/13/2017

            The world would be better off if Christians would just die! Well, that is an abrupt statement. Ok, before you freak out, yes it would be better off. Oh, wait that didn’t help. Ok, let me explain. The world would be better off if Christians would die, but not as we understand death. The fact is, if we are truly the people of God, through Christ Jesus, we will not die. However, we must die if we are to be Christian. I would argue that one of our biggest problems is that we are just not very good at dying.

            So, what do I mean by dying. Some of you have already figured out where I am heading, maybe. Jesus once told his disciples that unless a seed dies, it cannot come to life and produce a live plant, multiplying over and over (John 12:24, my paraphrase). The whole concept of dying is not, or should not, be foreign to believers. (When I say believer, I mean those who are actually disciples, followers, of the person Jesus of Nazareth).

            The world suffers from those who call themselves believers but have not died. This is a real problem. Some of us have understood that to be born again we have to repent and believe in Jesus, but we have not died. When do we die? We die with Christ Jesus and are made alive in Christ by the power of the Holy Spirit. This death is not just a metaphor. When we believe in Jesus we are as good as dead to our former life, and we are really alive in Christ Jesus (Colossians 2:13). When we are made alive in Jesus, our old humanity has been crucified (Galatians 2:20). We now live in the new humanity of Jesus. He is the first born of the dead (Colossians 1:18), and we are born into his life.

            What this means is that we are now given this wonderful gift of life and liberty. Not the kind of liberty that comes on July 4^th in the USA. It is a liberty from our selves. It is a freedom to love God and to love others. It is a liberty from loving myself so much that I am at odds with God and other people. The Apostle Paul tells us that we are living sacrifices (Romans 12:1). That is a pretty interesting thought.

            We are to be living dead people. No, not Zombies. We are truly alive, but we are dead to ourselves. God has given us this precious gift of his grace, mercy, and love. He has given us his Son and the gift of his Holy Spirit. God both saves and sanctifies (sets us apart for holiness). We cannot be holy through our own works, so daily we live, sacrificed for his purposes. We become devoted to his good will.

            You see he (God) is ever strengthening our trust. He gives us the ability to respond to his offer, and we begin to see that he has our best interest in mind. As we trust him, he also shows us how he is working in other people’s lives, and invites us to witness what he is doing by inviting us to act on their behalf as his ambassadors. All of this is initiated and carried out by God and his gracious activity in our lives.

            When “Christians” are alive but not dead they often become like zombies. They have the appearance of life, but they deny its power. They will either be useless to humanity, or they will destroy it with selfish ambition, attitudes, judgements, and false witness of God. This leads me to think one thing, the world would be better off if, as a Christian, I would die. Not if I were dead, but if I would die.

            Oh, Lord make me a living sacrifice as I trust you. Help me to respond to your grace and may your will be done on Earth as it is in heaven. Create in me a new heart that is free to love you and others and to deny myself daily. – Amen.