God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble (Psalm 46:1)
How do we respond to the worst mass-murder in American history?
Some words come to mind. Lament. Anger. Frustration. Empathy.
The absurdity of the situation is not lost on me.
An ISIS inspired act of terrorism, in Amercia, on a Gay dance club. Just let that sink in for a while.
Some have focused on this as another opportunity to lament gun laws. Others have made it about a clash of civilizations between Islam and the US. Still others have singled out the hate-crime element.
I, as a pastor, focus first and foremost on the grief that God must be feeling, yet again, at our sinful world. We are a broken, broken humanity. We hate. We divide. We war. We kill. We shun. We ruin. We marginalize. We revenge. We are a sinful and broken humanity.
Yet, it is for this humanity that Jesus Christ died. It is for this world. All of us. Our straights and our gays. Our Christians and our Muslims. Our North and South Americans and our Europeans and our Asians and our Africans. You get the point.
Why would God do this for such a flawed humanity? A humanity that kills each other because we are different and because we believe differently? Why?
I believe this is why God is our refuge and strength. Because at the end of the day, only God cares for the world -- and all of us in it -- enough to save it. God cares for us more than we care for ourselves.
Praise be to God for this. And praise God that, once again as God always does, the Lord Jesus will bring new life out of yet another human mess of death. Hope abounds always! I cling to this today!
God of faithfulness and love, we do not deserve what you have given. May we be worthy. Amen.
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