Some thoughts on the Shootings in Aurora, Colorado

Sometimes when I pray about painful situations I don’t know what to say.  The situation is so overwhelming and the emotions are so raw that words fail me.  Maybe you can relate.  In moments like that I often take comfort in Romans 8:26-27, “Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words. ²⁷ And he who searches hearts knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God.”  (ESV)  The Holy Spirit prays on our behalf translating the pain in our hearts to prayers before the throne of God. 

As you know, just such a painful incident took place very early last Friday morning when a gunman entered a theater and opened fire shooting 71 people and killing 12 in Aurora, Colorado. 

My family and I were on vacation at a remote campground in northern Michigan when the shooting took place.  The first that I knew something was wrong was when I saw a Facebook post from our Youth Director, Jeff, encouraging people to pray.  He ended his post with these words, “Lord, have mercy.”  An excellent prayer for a time like this. 

As I’ve been reading the news stories, people have suggested all sorts of causes for this crime.  Some proclaim that this is another sad sign of the culture of violence fed by scenes of brutality is movies, video games, and other entertainments.  Others have stated that this is yet another symptom of too-easy access to guns and the problem with armed civilians.  Yet others have argued that the opposite is the case; that if more people had been armed in the theater those gathered there would have been able to defend themselves.  Most have questioned the motives and psyche of the shooter. 

Each of the above “causes” may or may not have pieces of the answers to the questions of how and why such a terrible thing could happen.  As Christians, though, we know there is a deeper cause.  We know that evil is real.  Jesus said, “The thief comes to steal, kill and destroy.”  (John 10:10)  In this scenario we see stolen futures, killed children and loved ones, and destroyed lives.  The devil/thief was at work through the shooter in that theater. 

The cold fact is there have been people of violence in our world since Cain killed Able.  Over the centuries names like Hitler, Pol Pot, Jack the Ripper, Vlad the Impaler, Caligula, and others have personified such evil to us.  Just yesterday my family and I stopped at the River Raisin Battlefield in Monroe, Michigan, where, during the War of 1812 the wounded Americans were massacred despite a promise of safety. 

No, man’s violence on his fellow-man is nothing new in our world. 

Tragedies like this highlight for us that we are not home yet.  Because of this it is all the more important that we live as people of hope sharing the love of Jesus where and when we can.  None of us knows when our time on earth will be done.  Nor do we know when our friends who do not know Jesus will be at the end of their lives! 

The love and hope we have in Christ is the only thing that can change the heart of a man, woman, or child.  The cross and empty tomb are the only cure for the sin that breeds such violence in our world.  At times like this we gather to Christ and raise our prayers to God on behalf of those involved – even a simple eloquent prayer like, “Lord, have mercy!” 

This week I’m not going to offer any questions to ponder.  Instead, please take some time to pray.  Hopefully the following list will be helpful for you.

-         Pray for the survivors of the attack – for the healing of their bodies, minds and spirits. 

-         Pray for the families and friends who grieve the loss of their loved ones.

-         Pray for the shooter, James Holmes, that he might know the love of God and experience the life-transforming salvation Jesus gives through the cross. 

-         Pray for his family. 

-         Pray for the police, firemen, EMTs, doctors, nurses, and any other first responders who, in the process of trying to save lives, saw things no one should have to see.

-         Pray for justice. 

-         Pray for the end of fear.

-         Pray for the innocent, defenseless, victimized and abused who suffer at the hands of others. 

-         Pray for God’s people in Aurora that they might be able to show God’s love and peace to the people in their community. 

-         Pray that people would be turned from violence and that God’s peace would fill everyone’s hearts. 

-         Pray for Jesus to return and bring all violence, sorrow, pain, misery and death to an end. 

-         Pray that until Jesus returns we would be enabled to be His witnesses to reach one more with the Gospel. 

All That is Gold Does Not Glitter

Every Monday we have a staff meeting at church.  We discuss business and schedules at that meeting, but we spend most of our time in some kind of study of God’s Word.  Recently we have been studying the Ten Commandments by reading Luther’s Large Catechism.  I was struck when Bob pointed out something in Luther’s discussion on the Conclusion of the Ten Commandments.  Luther wrote:

                    

I am of the opinion, indeed, that [in the Commandments] one will find his hands full and will have enough to do to keep these commandments:  meekness, patience, love towards enemies, chastity, kindness, and other such virtues and their implications (Galatians 5:22-23).  But such works are not of value and make no display in the world’s eyes.  For these are not peculiar and proud works.  They are not restricted to particular times, places, rites and customs.  They are common, everyday, household works that one neighbor can do for another.  Therefore they are not highly regarded.

But the other works cause people to open their eyes and ears wide.  Men aid this effect by the great display, expense, and magnificent buildings with which they adorn such works, so that everything shines and glitters.  There they waft incense, they sing and ring bells, they light tapers and candles, so that nothing else can be seen or heard.  For when a priest stands there in a surplice garment embroidered with gold thread, or a layman continues all day upon his knees in Church, that is regarded as a most precious work, which no one can praise enough.  But when a poor girl tends a little child and faithfully does what she is told, that is considered nothing. 

People of all times have been drawn to things that seem glorious, spiritual, and somehow special.  Unfortunately we overlook the common, normal, aspects of life which display our faith and give evidence to what God has done for us. 

On Sunday we read Mark 6:1-13 which tells about when Jesus went to His hometown and was rejected, at least in part, because He was so normal to the people there.  They said, “Isn’t this the carpenter?  Isn’t this Mary’s son and the brother of James, Joseph, Judas and Simon?  Aren’t his sisters here with us?”  In other word, “This guy is just like us!  How can he be special?” 

The same thing happens with the way we receive God’s gifts.  Consider prayer.  How often people treat prayer as a last resort!  We would be better to pray – which looks like doing nothing – and then act using the talents and abilities God has given us!  Or think of how we treat God’s Word.  So many people complain that their faith is weak, yet the very thing that would strengthen that faith sits dusty on the table.  Reading the Bible looks so … boring, normal, unromantic. 

God, however, chooses how He will work, and He has chosen to work in some very common, even boring, things, and through very run-of-the-mill, normal people.  I think that’s good news, especially for everyday people like me and you! 

We don’t need to do super, amazing, wonderful things to be Jesus’ disciples.  He does all that for us – dying and rising, creating faith, and empowering us to live for Him.  He then uses our mundane lives in miraculous ways to share the hope of salvation with others.  So much of following Jesus boils down to everyday circumstances and choices made trusting in Jesus as we live in His forgiveness. 

Yours in Christ,

Pastor Tritten

Questions to Ponder

-          Have you ever been disregarded because of your history?  Has anyone ever scorned you witness because they remember you from “way back”?  How did that feel?  Was it fair?  Why or why not?

-          Are there people in our midst that we discount because of their history, age, life situation, etc.?  Are there folks in our lives that we assume cannot be useful in God’s Kingdom? 

-          Mark 6:1-4 highlights Jesus’ humanity.  We often stress the fact that Jesus was true God, but do we sometimes do so to the exclusion of the fact that Jesus was true Man as well?  Is it important to confess that Jesus is both fully God and fully Human?  Why or why not?

-          What does it take to amaze Jesus?  Take a look at v. 6.  There is only one other passage in all the gospels that speaks of Jesus being amazed.  It is Luke 7:9.  What do these passages teach us about what God desires from us?

-          There was clearly nothing in Jesus outward appearance that drew the people of Nazareth to believe in Him.  They saw Him as a normal hometown boy.  Isaiah 53:2 foretold that this would be the case.  Do we ever dismiss or downplay things that outwardly look normal but that God uses to bless us?  What role do Baptism, the Lord’s Supper, God’s Word and prayer play in your life?  What are some of the physical blessings God has given you that you might be taking for granted? 

Talitha Cumi - when suffering meets mercy

Dear Sisters and Brothers,

Have you ever feared for one of your loved one’s life and health? 

I remember when I learned that my grandfather’s cancer had returned.  I was in college at the time and I was so angry with God.  My grandmother had already outlived two husbands, and now her third husband had been told he had six months to live!  Weikko, my grandfather, was such an incredible man.  I had never seen my grandma so happy as she was with him.  And to have battled cancer, survived and then to find that the cancer had returned … it all seemed so unfair.  God and I had a conversation that night; the kind of conversation where I start doing all the talking and which slowly turns into a time of holy awe and confession, “God, I spoke out of turn.  You are my hope.  You are my salvation.  I have no one else to turn to.  There is nowhere else to go.  All I can do is trust you.” 

Our scripture readings this Sunday confronted us with the problem of suffering.  This is an uncomfortable topic for us.  We often see suffering as pointless, meaningless, and altogether evil.  There is an idea among Christians that when bad things happen, the devil causes them, and when good things happen, God is blessing us.  But these readings show us the God is in the middle of the bad things that happen in our lives.  Lamentation bluntly points out that grief and affliction are God’s punishment upon our sin and the sins of the world. 

I don’t like that. 

Yet, even as we saw God’s justice and discipline, we also saw God’s mercy in Christ as Jesus comforted a fearful father, healed a long-suffering woman, and raised a daughter from the dead. 

I want to be careful and clear here.  Suffering, sickness, disease, injustice, and all sorts of afflictions are consequences for sin.  “The wages of sin is death.”  Those miseries that lead up to death are like a down payment.  But suffering is often the occasion that God uses to display His love and mercy.  God uses these awful experiences as a blessing to strip away all the things that distract us from Him, to help us to trust Him all the more deeply, and to show us how great His love and faithfulness are. 

Stop and consider:  How did God most powerfully display his love for us?  Was it not through the brutal suffering and death of His own beloved Son?  Did not Jesus pray, “Let this cup pass from me; yet not my will, but yours, be done!”?  If God brought about our eternal salvation through suffering and death, can He not build faith, bring deliverance, and give life through our suffering? 

“But I don’t want to suffer!” I say.  But, O, the compassion I have experienced and the mercy I’ve learned through the hard times of life! 

Seeing the suffering of others gives us the opportunity to share God’s love.  There is a saying, “People won’t care how much you know, until they know how much you care.”  It is good and right for us to care for the physical needs of others, to take meals to the sick, to feed the hungry, to petition government and start church initiatives to provide health care for those who cannot afford it.  These all show God’s love.  However, we must never forget that these are but symptoms.  The disease is sin.  We have the cure for this disease – the blood of Jesus which cleanses us from all unrighteousness.  We want to both show compassion to the suffering and share the salvation of the Cross of Christ. 

Yours in Christ,

Pastor T

Questions to Ponder

-          Look back at Mark 5:21-43.  Can you sympathize with Jairus?  How have you feared for a loved one?  Did you “come to Jesus” and “fall at his feet”?  What was the result?  Did you experience that Jesus went with you?  If so, how?

-          Have you, or has someone you know, dealt with a chronic illness?  The woman Jesus healed had suffered from a gynecological illness for twelve years, and “had suffered much under many physicians, and had spent all she had, and was no better but rather grew worse.”  How do such illnesses impact one’s hope, joy, and faith?  Where do you turn when all your earthly resources run out?  Is it valid to go to doctors and use earthly resources while trusting in God for healing?  Why or why not?

-          How did Jesus respond after the woman touched Him and was healed?  Why do you think it mattered to Him who had touched him?  How is the woman’s response helpful for us? 

-          When the messengers told Jairus that his daughter was dead, how do you think that impacted his hope?  How did Jesus respond?  When does believing God’s promises in the face of cold hard facts seem foolish to people?  How does Jesus response challenge and comfort you?