It was around Easter time a number of years ago and a series
of deadly tornadoes swept through eastern Alabama and western Georgia –
destroying homes, businesses, and churches; tragically killing a number of
people getting ready to celebrate the resurrection of our Lord. I remember
listening to a sermon from the late Frank Harrington, preacher of Peachtree
Presbyterian Church, who noted that evil seems to especially raise its very
ugly head at these special times of Christian celebration.
Here we are again as a culture, in these days of Advent
leading up to the celebration of the birth of our Lord – and evil seems to have
especially raised its very ugly head at this special time of Christian
celebration. The headline on the front page of today’s Atlanta Journal-Constitution sums up well the reality of moments
like this: “Details emerge, but few answers.”
On this Sunday morning in the middle of Advent, Christians
are going to church to worship God with serious questions on their hearts. It
is interesting to observe how many believers I have either heard say or read a
comment on Facebook that said something similar to “Lord, come quickly.” In an
odd kind of way that comment reflects the reality that Advent is actually about
preparing for the reappearing of our Lord. Hopefully we won’t forget our own
role in preparing for the reappearing of our Lord by being the body of Christ
to the world as we expand the rule of the King by expanding His kingdom!
Yet what is also true is that o this Sunday morning in the
middle of Advent, lots of non-believers – some of whom want to believe – are staying
home watching the news or perhaps watching anything but the news because they
can’t stand to hear any more and are wondering what is with a God who allows
twenty innocent little children to be murdered.
The apostle John, in the opening chapter of the fourth
gospel speaks to moments like this. Two things in particular stand out to me.
In John 1:5 he says, “The Light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did
not comprehend it.” And then a few sentences down, in verse eleven, he says, “He
came into His own, and those who were His own did not receive Him.” In response
to our question, “why doesn’t God do something?” I think John would answer, “He
has!” No desire here at all to minimize this awful, all but unspeakable tragedy
– but I’m not sure solace is found is suggesting God hasn’t done anything about
such evil.
If we read a little further in John, we discover “but as
many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, even
to those who believe in His name, who were born, not of blood nor of the will
of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.” (1:12, 13) The “children of
God” as defined here simply don’t do the kind of evil we witnessed on Friday.
They simply don’t. The good news of the gospel is that God has acted, once and
for all, in the person of Jesus of Nazareth in a way that enables us to renew
and restore our God-intended purpose when God made the world in the first
place.
Luke tells a story about a man named Simeon (Luke 2:21ff) who
is described as “righteous and devout, looking for the consolation of Israel.”
In meeting the requirements of their Jewish faith, Mary and Joseph take baby
Jesus to the Temple and among the people they meet is Simeon. When he sees the
baby Jesus, this old, Spirit-filled man takes the baby into his arms and
declares, “Now Lord, You are releasing Your bond-servant to depart in peace,
according to Your word; for my eyes have seen Your salvation, which you have
prepared in the presence of all peoples, a Light of revelation to the Gentiles,
and the glory of Your people Israel.”(2:29-32)
If Simeon is right, then we are confronted with the reality
that God has acted; but like those of Jesus’ own time, the “darkness has not
comprehended it.” Again, children of God don’t do evil like this. A really
sobering question for me is how in the world could a young man like the one who
did this get to that point in his life – in an age when the church has so many
resources to announce to one and all the good news that in Jesus, God has acted
decisively to defeat sin and death? Equally sobering is the fact that we tend
to notice the awful expressions of evil, but the pages of the same AJC that announced “but few answers,”
almost daily has stories of innocent children killed by evil adults who
apparently “have not comprehended” that the Light is shining in the darkness.
Yet the “public clergy” in our culture, presumptuous enough to suggest that
they speak on behalf of the Kingdom of God, are more interested in who gets
elected president; who can or can’t get married; when, if ever is abortion
permitted; and, if you live in Georgia, that earth-shattering moral issue of
whether or not a convenience store can sell beer on Sunday.
Can there be any wonder that “the darkness doesn’t get it?”
Jesus had lots to say about moments like this – none more
convicting than Luke 13. To people who seem to be following Him around and
asking thoughtful questions about a tragic expression of evil led by Pilate
where innocent blood was shed in the midst of Temple worship, Jesus said, “repent.”
Some will be quick to say that the evil world around us
needs to repent. Who could argue that point? But the more thoughtful among us
will reflect a little on the brutal reality that if we were more engaged in
expanding the kingly rule of Jesus in this world, there would be less news like
this awful tragedy and fewer stories in the daily editions of the AJC where this kind of evil happens
right around the corner from us.
In that context, the word “repent” is staring me right in
the eyes in this season of Advent as we prepare for the coming of our Lord.
No comments:
Post a Comment