Like you, I've had strong reactions to the heinous bombing of the Boston Marathon. Peoples' varying reactions to this tragedy remind me of the way people grieve after the death of a loved one - differently. Now that 24-7 visual media ensures we are all connected, it is as though each mass tragedy occurs in our own town and is our own loss. That is neither good nor bad (just like it was neither good nor bad that 200 years ago, news of this event in Boston would have reached Huntersville days, weeks or months later), it is a fact to be dealt with humanly and spiritually in this 21st century.
So there is a bit of grief and shock all of us Americans are experiencing to varying degrees. Some are profoundly emotionally attached to this event, others choose to only read the headlines. During funerals, I often counsel "in the immediate aftermath of a loss, don't fixate on whether you are grieving properly or not. Be how you be. The closer to the loss you are and the more sudden it was, the more likely you are to be in some sort of shock for a while - so its okay to grieve how you grieve - some will be overwhelmed with sadness, others will seem as though they are too happy too quickly. Give each other immense grace, more than normal, to grieve in your own way. It is later that you and some friends will need to intentionally ask yourself 'am I grieving well, moving through it, or getting stuck in some unhealthy way.'"
So I pray for you today, friends, in your personal and national grieving. Evil is among us. One fruit of a life lived following Jesus' prescription of humility and repentance is to be in touch with the darkness inside. The shadows of evil in me are most often manifested in petty ways only I see - the intentional slight I give, mental character assasination, wishing evil on others, etc. Sometimes I have allowed evil in me to block out the Spirit of God long enough to do things I dare not tell you about, acts I would not characterize as merely petty. Following Jesus into a life of humility and repentance over my own sin leads me to be less shocked by evil that is 'out there,' less devastated by evil which manifests itself so ruinously on large numbers of people in an event like this. I don't equate my sin or yours with an act of terror. But I can extrapolate from here to there if I take the time to do some ethical, spiritual, and psychological calculus (or is that precalculus?). So the Jesus-led practice of repenting prayer to my Heavenly Father is one daily way of living prepared for such days as this.
And then my prayer for you and I today is 1 Samuel 12:20 “Do not be afraid,” Samuel replied. “You have done all this evil; yet do not turn away from the Lord, but serve the Lord with all your heart."
So I say to you from God's Word - 'Do not be afraid,' even as you sing these blues together and to the Lord. We will sing the blues perhaps with more soul and nuance together this Sunday at Lake Forest for week two of our House of Blues series (subject: despair & depression, guest artist: psychodelta blues artist Kerry Kearney from NY).
In the words of Jesus from last weeks' sermon on Luke 12: "Fear not, little flock, for it is your Father's pleasure to give you the Kingdom." Jesus' death and resurrection secures the certainty of the coming Kingdom of God in full, where evil and any who cling to it will be banished 'outside' of God's presence and Kingdom, where there is darkness and worse. This bombing does not cast any new light on whether Jesus is risen from the dead and will come again. This bombing is, in fact, the very reason why the news about Jesus is called 'gospel' or 'good news.' Because there's always been bad news, and Jesus died to redeem it all! Jesus did not attempt to rise above evil in this world, deny it, explain it away with philosophizing, or be merely heroically virtuous in the face of it (other religions' approaches to evil). Jesus took it on himself, died FOR evil and the suffering it causes, and triumphed over it.
Back to Samuel's counsel to us: "You have done all this evil, yet do not turn away from the Lord.' You and I have done evil. Some monster among us, representing the most bitter fruit of our cultural sins or those of another culture, have done THIS evil, THIS week.
When Samuel says 'yet do not turn away from the Lord,' I wonder how he knew the tendency of my heart? When I glimpse my own petty sin, I'm tempted to turn from the Lord in shame rather than run to him for the grace and cleansing he offers in Christ, and thus the favor of his presence in spite of my sin.
How did he know the tendency of our heart 'turn away from the Lord' in the face of the evil perpretrated on those bystanders in Boston by some monster? Anyone who has faith in Jesus has already allowed him to answer the question of evil and suffering with the cross and the resurrection. Yet in a moment like this, some of us (for our own individual reasons) feel as though we must reopen that question 'how can God be good and this be so bad?' Its a good and healthy question, but our culture fixates on it as a temptation toward unbelief, or to return to unbelief and 'turn away from the Lord.' Our restless soul seeks reasons to leave our rest in Christ and return to pathless wandering away from meaning in our Father's house.
If this question is troubling you this week, return to the time when the Lord gave you the answer of His resurrected presence in your suffering through the cross, and his now-and-future victory over evil through the resurrection. There was no lack of evil in the world and in society at your time of first faith - ask yourself what has changed since then? And ask the Spirit of God, whom Jesus named 'the Comforter' to comfort you from the weariness of this world in living alongside evil that wants to simply wear you down and away from the love of your Father. And be gentle with yourself if this raises doubt for you - but be persistent to discuss it with close friends who follow Jesus. And worship your doubt in our House of Blues series during 'doubt week' Sunday after next (we are going to hold two evenings of discussion about our doubts afterwards, by the way). I will give you resources at that time for this question. Right now I point you to NT Wright's book, "Evil and the Justice of God."
Finally, I offer you this practical guidance: When Jesus says 'Do not worry about tomorrow...for today has enough trouble of its own," I find a few corollaries:
-'Today' is not 'yesterday,' so if you find yourself returning to media stories about this over and over, take a break. Don't relive Monday's initial shock, the pictures and immediate horror over and over. Because of media we can allow ourselves to be perpetually traumatized, and I think Jesus says 'worry about TODAY's trouble, not yesterday.' Especially limit your children and teenagers exposure to media about this. It is the parents responsibility to monitor and limit intake of all forms of media for their kids including teenagers - this is a good time to be thoughtful about that.
-I personally extend this to 'worry' and 'trouble' that are not personal to me. It is good to be in touch with the need and trouble in other parts of the nation and world, enough to be part of solutions. But do not over invest emotions, sympathy, and empathy in troubles that are far away, or you will not have it sufficient for trouble that exists next door to you or in your own home. We can be tempted to over-grieve and care for trouble far away, as a way of not acting on the trouble close by.
-Samuel finishes the above Word from God by saying: "but serve the Lord with all your heart." So take the encouragement to 'not be afraid' and 'not stray from the Lord' now down to the level of action: SERVE the Lord - how? Through concrete loving actions that are signposts of hope to others in their blues and trouble as vicitms of evil. DUDE I saw this last week, when the single mother of three at our church died suddenly - the Lake Forest Tribe sprung into action. They didn't just sit around wallowing in the grief or questions, they didn't only 'not be afraid yet trust the Lord,' they did so by actively 'serving the Lord with all your heart.' Food was brought, educational funds were established and filled for the children, people took the kids shopping for funeral clothes, a school teacher and a preacher to the family shot hoops with the children, attorneys in the church gave quick loving legal advice in a tricky situation, etc. etc. It was BEAUTIFUL and was all the hope I needed. THAT is what I observed at the funeral and wept over - the beauty of Jesus-people serving, as signposts and billboards of HOPE in this house of blues. The hope of the resurrection. The hope that all things will be made new, and all shall be well. All manner of things shall be well. 'For my Father is pleased to give you the Kingdom.' - Jesus
