I�ve never done this before, and may never do it again. But here is a draft of the sermon I hope to preach tomorrow (12,16,12). I hope, with God�s help, that the sermon changes for the better when I preach it. (If nothing else, I won�t be preaching the typos and grammatical mistakes!) But wounds heal best when addressed promptly.
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�Why do You stand afar off, O Lord? Why do You hide in times of trouble?� These are the words of Psalm 10:1. They are also words which resonate in our hearts today as we reflect on this week�s shooting in Newtown,CT.
Friday morning a gunman shot his mother, drove to the school that he apparently attended as a boy and shot up two classrooms killing himself and twenty-six others. Twenty of the victims were children, mostly kindergartners. It is the nation�s second largest school shooting ever. The same day a knife-wielding man slashed 22 children and an adult at an elementary school in central China. Two years ago, a man slashed 28 children, two teachers and a security guard in a kindergarten in eastern China.
How do we respond?
One news site said, �The massacre has elicited horror and soul-searching.� In times like these we may well recoil in horror. We may well ask questions of God, such as, �Where are you� in our trouble? But we should also question ourselves.
Tragedies assist soul searching. They challenge our assumptions. They drive us to meaningful response.
Challenging Our Assumptions
Sinners Are Worse Than We Think
How often have you heard people describe humanity as being �basically good?� This is the predominant sentiment in our culture. It was the predominant sentiment prior to the First World War. But the war shattered that illusion. The illusion has again been shattered.
John Piper responded to the shootings by saying, �The murders ofNewtownare a warning to me and you. Not a warning to see our schools as defenseless, but to see our souls as depraved. To see our need for a Savior.�
If I had read to you on Wednesday God�s description of the wicked as summarized in Romans 3 you might not have believed it. Is it really so, concerning natural man, that �There is no one righteous, no, not one�? But now listen to an extended quotation from Psalm 10 which is quoted in Romans 3. �His mouth is full of cursing and oppression; under his tongue is trouble and iniquity. He sits in the lurking places of the villages; in the secret places he murders the innocent; his eyes are secretly fixed on the helpless. He lies in wait secretly, as a lion in his den; he lies in wait to catch the poor; he catches the poor when he draws him into his net. So he crouches, he lies low, that the helpless may fall by his strength. He has said in his heart, �God has forgotten; He hides His face; He will never see� (vv. 7-11).
The Righteous Are Not Like the Wicked
Those who say that believers are just as ungodly as unbelievers need to check back in with reality. When was the last time that that a converted Christian committed this kind of act? When was the last time that a man who was both broken by his sins and trusting in Jesus as his Savior ever engaged in this kind of wickedness? I�m not saying it has never happened. But when a believer commits gross sins it makes the news because it is the exception to the rule.
Don�t believe it when you hear that �everyone looks at pornography and cheats on their taxes and steals from their employers.� It�s not true. There are righteous men and women in this church who do none of those things by God�s grace.
This murderer did not know Christ. He had not found in Jesus peace for his weary soul. His life told his story.
Hell is necessary, heaven is desirable
Hell and Heaven are the frequent butt of jokes, and the subject of fanciful, unscriptural imagination. John Lennon urged his listeners to join him in dreaming that there was no heaven. �Imagine there�s no heaven. It�s easy if you try. No hell below us. Above us only sky. Imagine all the people living for today.� When everything is going well that dream offers a glimmer of hope.
But try offering that �hope� to people who have tragically lost loved ones. Or to those who are sliding down the bank into the river of death. They will see this as the offensive doctrine it is.
There must be a hell for the wicked. If there is not, then this tragedy cannot be resolved justly.
There must be a heaven for the righteous. If there is not then we have no real reason for going on in this valley of tears. Paul himself had been given a glimpse into this heaven (2 Cor. 12:1-6). Because of this vision he both yearned to depart from this life and be in heaven with the Lord and persisted in his labors for the day knowing that this reward was held out before him.
Responding Meaningfully
In a press conference following the shooting President Obama said the following. �We�re going to have to come together and take meaningful action to prevent more tragedies like this��Whether we can prevent tragedies like this is doubtful. But whether we must take meaningful action is certain.
Get Ready to face a similar situation
Because of man�s fallenness you can count on experiencing a tragedy that will rattle you to your core. Solomon, reflecting on the sadness of the fallen world said this: I �saw all the oppression that was taking place under the sun: I saw the tears of the oppressed� and they have no comforter; power was on the side of their oppressors� and they have no comforter� (Eccl. 4:1).
Jesus said something similar to disciples as the shadow of his own cross came more into view. �In the world you will have tribulation� (Johns 16:33). Jesus does not say this to scare us; he quickly adds, �but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.� He says it to sober believers and to urge us to prepare for pain.
Humble Yourself Before God
President Obama quoted from Psalm 147:3 �May God �heal the broken hearted and bind up their wounds.�� These words in Scripture are not so much a request to God but a promise of God. God will heal the brokenhearted. He will bind up their wounds.� But who are the brokenhearted? Who are the wounded? Psalm 147:6 tells us. �The Lord lifts up the humble; He casts the wicked down to the ground.
I quoted earlier from John Piper�s response to the shootings. He goes on to say, in light of this tragedy we must, �humble ourselves in repentance for the God-diminishing bitterness of our hearts. To turn to Christ in desperate need, and to treasure his forgiveness, his transforming, and his friendship.�
Live every moment as if it could be your last
You and your family and your neighbors are one heartbeat away from eternity. I may never get another conversation with my child. This worship service may be our last. This sermon may be the last you hear. Today may be your last day to repent and believe. Tonight you might stand before God.
This is not an evangelical scare tactic. This is a reality check that we all desperately need. The ungodly believe that �all things continue as they were�� (2 Peter 3:4). But we all should know better.
President Obama said we should go home and hug our children and tell them that we love them. He was right. This is what we should do every day with the people God has put in our lives. One reason God commands us to never go to bed angry is because some angry husbands have woke up to find that their wives have slipped into eternity while they slept. If your wife were taken from this life right now, what regrets would you bear?
Preach Christ as the Hope of Glory
This week, Catholic Nun from our city sent me an email asking me and others, �What do you think are the three most urgent unmet needs in our area?� The answer is: The gospel, the gospel, the gospel. The time to speak is now.
Many people are saying that God doesn�t understand or act in the midst of tragedies. God understands tragedy. He sent the only innocent man, his dearly beloved Son to the cross to make murderers his family members.
�Why do You stand afar off, O Lord? Why do You hide in times of trouble?� The answer is, �He doesn�t.� God reveals himself and his gospel in times of trouble. God has never been nearer than right now. Let us be careful that we do not stand far from him and hide ourselves from him during this time of great trouble.
