RUNNING TO HOPE - RESPONDING TO THE 2013 BOSTON MASSACRE

As we continue to watch and read the fallout from today's acts of terror at the Boston Marathon today, I, like almost everyone else, feel a complete sense of sadness and outrage about this absolutely senseless cowardly murder that was perpetrated upon people who were out enjoying one of the very best civic days celebrated by any city any where in the world. Listening to President Obama's remarks from the White House press room, I appreciated his commitment to finding who was responsible for this action and bringing them to account.

However, even if we find who was responsible, and even if they eventually take a stand and tell why they felt compelled to do this, I think it will be an incomplete answer to the question, "Why?" My mind went back to a column I wrote in response to the Virginia Tech shootings that occurred six years ago tomorrow, and I stand by these words now more than ever before as we wrestle with acts of evil in our daily lives (emphases added for today's message):

...[S]omething moved within me to write about something I am seeing and hearing very little about in the midst of this discussion, and that is the true root of any answer to the 'Why' question: Quite simply, we live in a world where not everything goes according to God's will. Ever since Genesis 3, the world we now live in has not been as God originally intended. Through the crucifixion and resurrection, our Lord began the work of restoring creation to the way it ought to be. However, no one knows that day when He will come again and glory and all will be right with the world.

We, the church, have just gotten finished with our annual celebration of our Lord's last days, his death, and his resurrection. If I had one thing to say to you as you process this truly heinous day[...]it would be this:  Do not let anything in this world, nor anything that happens in this world, rob you of the hope that we have as Christians that better days are ahead. Good Friday and Easter Sunday remind us that ours is but a temporary residence in this world - that we have a future that far exceeds our wildest imaginations when it comes to pure unbridled joy. We worship a God of redemption and hope, not destruction and despair. This is not to minimize at all what happened[...]nor to minimize the pain and trauma that so many are experiencing at this time.  

To answer the question why leaves us with a quite unsatisfying human reality, for the ultimate answer is: We don't know. And we probably never will.  The good news is, however, we worship a God who is not up there looking down upon us, but a God who is walking with us, through the highs and lows of life. No matter what we go through, no matter how high or low the situation is that we find ourselves in, our God is right here walking with us, experiencing everything we experience. And in that, we find comfort and strength in times like these.

Make no mistake - today's news makes me very angry. The idea that people were innocently going about celebrating a truly great day and wound up with this is simply inexcusable, and it should bring outrage. Anyone who plants these kind of devices that maim and kill at events like the Boston Marathon are simply engaged in acts of evil and there is no justification - none - to do these sorts of things. None.

However, what bothers me even more is that there are people who do not have the hope of following the resurrected Lord. I simply cannot imagine living a life without the hope of knowing that death, as Paul reminds us, has no sting, has no victory.

May we, in responding to these events, be reminded once again that we simply cannot expect people to have hope because "it's the right thing." We, through the life, death, and resurrection of our Lord, know the joy of having hope.

As part of her Course of Study work, Kathy and I were speaking this afternoon about what is the purpose and function of the local church. Dare I say that central to our purpose and function is to spread the hope of resurrection.

Go, dear friends. Go in to your homes. Go to your office. Go to your school. Go to any and all you encounter, and make sure that through thoughts, words, and deeds it is apparent to all that our lives are rooted in the hope of resurrection.

Grace and Peace, Lamar

Every day to us is Easter, with its resurrection song. 
When in trouble move the faster to our God who rights the wrong. 
Alleluia! Alleluia! See the power of heavenly throngs.

 "Easter People, Raise Your Voices" - Verse 3