At church this morning, the pastor's sermon was about the recent
tragedy in Newtown, Connecticut. The pastor said that Christmas from
now on may be an especially hard time for the families of the children
and faculty members who were shot at the elementary school, for this
tragedy occurred shortly before Christmas. The pastor referred to the
story in Matthew 2, which states in v 16 (in the KJV) that Herod "slew
all the children that were in Bethlehem, and in all the coasts thereof,
from two years old and under, according to the time which he had
diligently enquired of the wise men." Tragedy occurred in association
with the birth of Christ, my pastor said. The pastor then told us that
Jesus' coming did not eliminate evil or human sinfulness.
Then
what did Jesus come to do? What I got out of my pastor's sermon is
that Jesus came to defeat death, to atone for our sins, and to model
God's desire for the cosmos through his healing of the sick. That makes
a degree of sense to me. Why we should have to wait a long time for
Christ to return and clean up the world of sin, however, I do not know.
I thought that Christ was beginning the process of binding Satan at his
first coming (Mark 3:27). Has that process been interrupted, only to
resume after Christ comes back?
That said,
I'm praying for the families of the victims of this massacre. I know
that I'd feel horrible if someone in my own family were killed.
Something
else that stood out to me in this morning's service was what someone
said during the prayer part. The pastor was asking for prayer requests,
and a young man who has recently started coming to our church talked
about hard times, then he remarked that he is here because of love. I
don't know what exactly he meant by that, or what personal experiences
lie behind his statement. But it is a profound statement: We're here
because of love. Many of us can testify that we are here on account of
the people who loved us. The children who survived the shooting
survived because teachers heroically protected them from the shooter.
Was the shooter himself loved? I can't entirely say because I don't
know. From what I have read, his Mom went to bat for him when he was a
student in elementary school because she wanted for the school to meet
his special needs, which indicates love on her part. But he was a
loner, who felt uncomfortable socially. From what people have said, his
family had the resources for him to receive mental health treatment,
but I doubt that he found a safe place where he felt comfortable
sharing. I wish that he had.