The words prayer, hope, blessing, gift, and tragedy all occured numerous times last night in a 20/20 Nightline documentary. In what is being dubbed "The Movie Massacre," breaking news in this leading story was reported to a vast viewing audience hungry for answers. While sparse information and insider accounts sought to satisfy this appetite, many I'm sure still longed for more; their soul's uneasiness not the least bit satisfied. It's hard enough for a Christian to watch something like that and struggle through the why's and what for's. How much more confusing and unsettling must it be for those without a Biblical perspective on sin, suffering, and the sovereignty of God?
When planes get flown into buildings, when drunk drivers cross the double yellow line, or when one man ends the lives of dozens in Aurora, CO, and forever alters the lives of many more...what is the answer? Why and whose to blame? And if there is a God up there out there somewhere, how can that jive?
I'd venture to say that anyone you talked to on the street today would agree that what that killer did was wrong. Who could possibly answer, "Well, it might seem wrong to you, but that's just your opinion. It all depends on your personal stance and standard." Now that might work for the philosophy room or a campfire discussion, but if Diane Sawyer had mentioned anything to the tune of that proposed response, there would've be a gargantuan outlash. Everyone of sane mind and sober spirit must concede that this was a tragedy, evil and wicked. Must you concede then that evil has a source?
One of the points repeteadly made throughout the night was this idea that life was a gift not intended for squandering, but for enjoying to the fullest. We don't know how long we have here on this earth, each day is a blessing. Our time should consist of reveling in the midst of our loved ones while taking nothing for granted. Sad days such as these should serve as a reminder and a wake up call to us all. A reminder to be thankful to and for the gift though, or the giver as well? Should we rip open the package without first reading the note from the sender, the source whose goodness made it a reality?
It also seems strange that this goodness is especially highlighted in the midst of a season when it's seemingly not present. When evil and suffering rule the dark night, what dawn is there to eagely anticipate? What comforting words can a neutral and secular TV anchor give a crying mother whose daughter was taken all too suddenly in the prime of her life? We naturally know it's right to condole, but does Diane Sawyer have the right club in her proverbial golf bag to hit an accurate shot in that situation? What about Christians...do we? Does anybody?
I think the answer for us as Christians is yes and no. We should always be prepared, as 1 Peter 3:15 says, "to give an account for the hope that is in us, yet with gentleness and reverence." Our hope in trying situations is what a lost world longs to glean. Though we know not why shootings take place, that's not our job to communicate anyway. We must share what we know to be true about the sources of good and evil, and the "already" and "not yet" variety of Christ's victory over sin and Satan at the cross. That victory is final, yet unfinished. It's already won, and irreversibly so, and the day is hastily approaching when Christ will return and put an end to the enemy's activity forever. Yet Satan still is allowed by God to prowl around the earth in search of prey. Why does God allow him to wreak such havoc?
The most helpful thing for me to turn to is the cross itself. Later explaining the situation that surrounded the crucifixion, Peter prayed to God in Acts 4:27-28 that "truly in this city there were gathered together against your holy servant Jesus, whom you anointed, both Herod and Pontius Pilate, along with the Gentiles and the peoples of Israel, to do whatever your hand and your plan had predestined to take place."
My Spiritual Formation book at seminary summarizes well what this implies:
In one and the same action, Herod, Pilate, and the Romans, and the Jews committed the greatest miscarriage of justice in the history of the world. Yet, this atrocious act fit in accordance with God's plan. D.A. Carson writes that:
"A moment's reflection discloses that any other account of what happened would destroy biblical Christianity. If we picture the crucifixion of Jesus Christ solely in terms of the conspiracy of the local political authorities at the time, and not in terms of God's plan (save perhaps that he came in at the last moment and decided to use the death in a way he himself had not foreseen), then the entailment is that the cross was an accident in history.... On the other hand, if someone were to stress God's sovereignty in Jesus' death, exulting that all the participants "did what God's power and will had decided beforehand should happen" (Acts 4:28), while forgetting that it was a wicked conspiracy, then Herod, Pilate, Judas Iscariot, and the rest are exonerated from evil. If God's sovereignty means that all under it are immune from charges of transgression, then all are immune. In that case, there is no sin for which atonement was necessary. Either way, the Cross is destroyed."
The only conclusion then is that somehow, in some mysterious way that is beyond our full comprehension, God's sovereignty (His absoulute control and rule over the universe) and our human responsibility fit together. So somehow, someway beyond our ability to comprehend, what happened in that movie theater shooting was a part of God's plan, and the shooter is guilty as charged!
In one of his books, Tommy Nelson tells the true story of a man whose son was killed in a motorcyle accident. Someone came up to the grieving father and said, "Where was God when your son was killed?" The father looked his friend in the eye and said, "He was in the same place He was when His Son was killed. He was with my son, and He will use his death for His own purposes."
We worship a wonderful, awe-inspiring God. He's a good God, a loving God, a merciful God; but He's also mysterious. His ways are not our ways. Like Job said in Job 26, all the wonders of God's workings in creation are "but the outskirts of his ways, and how small a whisper do we hear of him! But the thunder and fullness of His power who can understand?" We worship a God we aren't able to fully grasp, because He's that amazing and magnificent! Would you prefer that your God could be fully comprehended? Our greatest gift from Him will be getting to unlock the treasures of His rich beauty and majesty for all of eternity in heaven. It'll take that long (forever) to plumb the depths!
These words and this post may not be so profitable for comforting the afflicted. Who would dare venture or attempt to explain away pain of such magnitude. But just maybe this could aid someone in seeking to better grasp why evil sometimes seems to be winning.
So where was God when sons and daughters were being brutally massacred in Colorado? Answer this question by making a beeline to the gospel and to Calvary.
"On a hill far away, as the old hymn reads, "stood an old rugged cross, the emblem of suffering and shame. And I love that old cross where the dearest and best for a world of lost sinners was slain. So I'll cherish the old rugged cross..."
