2 Samuel 7:1-14a; Psalm 89:20-37; Ephesians 2:11-22; Mark6:30-34, 53-56 ByWednesday each week, I usually have a rough idea of how the sermon for theupcoming Sunday will unfold. So, bymid-day on Wednesday, Teresa will receive from me a picture for the bulletincover. I have to tell you, I had to setthat sermon aside after I heard the news of the horrific tragedy in Aurora,Colorado. Like many of us, I woke upFriday morning to a nice cup of coffee and I turned on the news and sat in myeasy chair. The Special Report bannerwas flashing on the screen and I had a sick feeling in my stomach, similar tothe one I experienced when I learned of the tragedies of September 11th,eleven years ago. The broadcaster announced with great concernin her voice, “ At 12:30 a.m. in the morning, on Friday July 20, 2012, at a normalannual event( a summer movie release) one of largest mass shootings in UShistory took place.” She continued to report that there were “ 71 victims, 12killed, and 59 injured in a movie theatre in Aurora, CO.” The alleged assailant was “24 year old JamesHolmes a PhD student at the University of Colorado.” The rest of the newscast included somedetails of the tragedy, some information about the shooter, and then came what forme, was the most emotional part of the newscast: the pictures of people in tears holding eachother, and the desperate pleas and cries from friends and family who wereasking this question, “Why?”
As Iwatched the interviews of the victims and family, I heard how raw and ripe the emotionsof anger, helplessness, sadness, grief, and confusion abounded. “Why,” seems to be the question we all wantto ask. There are not many words ofcomfort in times like these although we try. Sandy Phillips the mother of Jessica Ghawi, an aspiring journalist whowas killed, said, “"I'll never have her to hug again, or get a textmessage again or get a funny Facebook picture." "That's the hard partright now ... knowing those are things I'm never going to experienceagain."[1] Many of us saw the video of Tom Sullivan, whoseplea for news of his son was so heartbreaking. His son, Alex was celebrating his 27th birthday the night ofthe movie, and we find such irony in his son’s last text message, “'Oh man one hour till themovie and its going to be the best BIRTHDAY ever.'[2] There are so many stories that will be told overthe next few weeks; stories of loss, anger, pain, broken hearts, andblame.
We also wrestle with trying tounderstand how a bright, intelligent honors PhD student, could do such ahideous act? We wrestle with our ownfeelings toward him, feelings of anger, disgust, and possibly even a secretdesire for vengeance. Then, we imagine what hisparents are feeling as they learn of what their son did to so many people. “Why,” is our question as we reflect on thisevent. We may be asking other questionsas well, “Why would God let this happen?” Maybe we ask, “What good could come of such a tragedy?” Some religious folks may even say, “God has aplan in all this and there has to be a reason.” Really? We are wrestling with amystery here, and we should be cautious about trying to seek answers where theremay be no clear answers to find. Do wereally believe that the God of the cross, would somehow want this to happen?
Jesus’ministry is surely a ministry of liberation, of the resurrection but we mustknow that creation is, by definition, limited. Jesus, in his ministry, consistently sought to free people from life’s diminishingforces (illness, mental and spiritual afflictions, demonic spirits, even death). Jesus never says “just suck it up,”although he does say “do not sin anymore.” The heart of our “Why” question seems to rest in the nature of creationitself and the nature of human freedom, and not why God would make this happen.
“Creationis not the Creator, and doesn’t share inthe Creator’s perfection. Our universeand we as creatures, are still in process. We are by God’s salvation work, moving into greater perfection in God’screation. However, Paul asserts inRomans 8, that there is a tendency in all of creation to fall back into decay. There is an interplay within the createdorder of itself, a moving towards perfection, and at the same time falling backagain. God allows this freedom to playitself out, but God doesn’t stand by, as impersonal, because God of the Bibleis the one who saves us and saves us in history, in the workings out in time ofour movement towards life, even in our falling back into decay. This work of creation, this struggle ofmoving toward the perfection of God, and the falling back into decay may not beapparent in any individual life because some it may be, that in some unknownmystery, it is God’s very long-range perspective at work.”[3]
Tragedy,pain, anger, loss, human evil all seem present in tragic events brought aboutby human decay, evil, and sin, and yet we ask, “Why, God?” Maybe a glimpse into this awful mysteryemerges if we can accept that “Moral evil is the tragic implication ofcreaturely freedom.” “Creation is the creation of finite freedom; it is thecreation of life with its greatness and danger . . . The creation of finitefreedom is the risk which the divine creativity accepts.”[4] God took a risk with human choice sothat love would be a matter of freedom and not coercion. It isnot a cut and dried answer, it does not fulfill the desires of our modern predispositionsbecause we are still left with “Why.” That my friends, may be all we have. We don’t know the answer, and honestly it is okay to be in a situationof darkness and mystery. Maybe mystery sometimesis good, because that’s where in our suffering we are forced to reach out forGod’s presence. We reach out to senseGod’s touch and if we are honest, we need tell God what is on our hearts, weneed seek answers that come only from beyond ourselves.
Ifind great comfort in our President’s wise words the other day, when he remindedus of the uncertainty of our lives. ThePresident said, “Life is fragile, our time is limited. "We're going tostand by our neighbors in Colorado during this extraordinarily difficult time.Such violence, such evil is senseless; it's beyond reason." He continued, "Whatmatters at the end of the day is not the small things; it is not the trivialthings ... Ultimately it is how we choose to treat one another and how we loveone another."[5] As Christians, our response should be to standby our sisters and brothers, because how we love one another is what isimportant.
Weall have had experiences of suffering in which, we know we have in some way,experienced grace. Maybe in the mysteryof the “Why,” we can be present for each other as Christ is present with us inthe tragic. When we have experienced God’slove, it is so important to let God’s love be incarnated in us. The more we ourselves have experienced salvation,the more confidence we have to carry it into situations like these. When we consider the cross, we know in thesuffering of creation that God is with us. The shadow of the cross extends forward and backwards in history and in a a paradoxical way, we areunited with Christ precisely when he cries out “My God, my God why have youforsaken me?” God identifies with our “Why”questions, God knows our pain, and God cries out too. Many of us may stand in the midst of thistragedy and cry these same words. The reality is the God who is the ultimategiver of freedom, has not abandoned us. In our human freedom to choose love, life, and peace, or to fall backinto the decay of death, tragedy, and evil, Immanuel stands with arms wideopen, and says, “I am with you.” We maynot know the reasons, we may not know the why, but we can know that God is withus in the riskiness of freedom and love.
Sowhat can we Christians do in the midst of the lives lost, the families broken,the death, the pain, the anger, and the desire for answers? We need to do what we do best, pray. We need to be present in prayer, as God ispresent with us. Our hearts can joinwith the hearts of those in pain who cry, “My God, My God, why have youforsaken us?” We can allow the grace ofGod in us to be incarnated in our presence with them. Do we load up and go to Colorado? No, but maybe we make it known that we lovethem, we pray for them, and we join them in their grief and pain.
Inthe Gospel reading today, people were bringing the sick before Jesus knowingthat if they would but reach out and touch him, they would find healing. Maybe that is the only answer we have today,in the midst of the Colorado tragedy. Maybe what we must do is in prayer, bring the victims, the survivors,and our own broken hearts before the Master, and trust that in some way and insome mysterious time to come, he will bring healing, peace, and rest.
[1] http://www.cnn.com/2012/07/20/justice/colorado-shooting-victim-ghawi/index.html[2] http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2176810/Dark-Knight-Rises-Colorado-Shooting-Last-tweet-Alex-Sullivan-died-going-premiere-birthday.html#ixzz21Gfgi51a[3] Excerptsfrom Notes taken in lectures from Pastoral Theology class 2007, The Rev. Dr.Julia Gatta, Professor.[4]IBID[5]IBID
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