Easter,
Brussels and Evil
Jeff Lampl
March 26, 2016
The Bible tells that Jesus . . . .
came to destroy the works of the devil. The horror of the bombings in Brussels is
difficult for most of us to reconcile with Easter.
Christianity tells us that on
the cross Jesus defeated the trifold powers of sin, evil and death. So, how can that be true and the Brussels
bombings be true at the same time?
The main message of Easter is
that what God did for Jesus by resurrecting him from the dead, God is doing and
will have done for every square inch and every split second of the universe,
that is it will all be resurrected, restored, and renewed. This cannot not happen. That is the message of Christianity.
The most evil of events ever
to have occurred, including 9/11 and Brussels this week will be used by God in
the restoring of the world. God doesn’t
create evil, but he uses it. In the end
the worst of all evil will find itself simply a pawn in God’s hands.
Where was Jesus at the
American Airlines counter and in the subway car in Brussels. He was there, dying with those who died,
providing help for the wounded. But it was
“Friday”. Sunday is on its way.
Where was he when the
deceived young men were planning and perpetrating in the attacks? He was allowing them to exercise their will
on behalf of an evil power, against God himself (albeit unwittingly), and
against others. In other words, God
allowed them the same freedom to choose evil that he grants us when we, even
knowingly, choose to ignore God and instead insult, lie, manipulate others,
seek our own well-being at the expense of others.
I sometimes wonder if the
difference between me and the worst of the worst people on earth is only a
difference of degree. Do you recall how
Jesus said that insulting others is the same as committing murder? What if Jesus really meant that?
Here is a letter about God
and evil that I wrote to the church family years ago. I hope that it helps you process how to live
in our world where evil has been defeated, but not yet finally removed.
Suffering How
can a Good God allow evil and suffering?
God
made a good world in which He created Human beings in His Image. This means primarily that humans have been
created with free will, the freedom to live in concert with the reality of a
God centered universe or the freedom choose self-centeredness. It is not difficult to imagine the impact of
7 billion people on society and nature.
To destroy evil and suffering would mean to destroy people. God is patient, will not withdraw free will,
and works at every moment to draw people out of their sin an into trusting
Him. It’s a messy process. In a broken world, broken things happen. Meanwhile God is working from below and from
the margins to repair the world
Dear Church Family,
Some
of you are teachers and leaders. Many of
you are parents. All of you will need to
deal sooner or later with the question of how a good God can allow bad things
to happen.
Following
are a few pastoral and biblical perspectives which I encourage you to consider
as you communicate with your children, students, colleagues and friends about
why tragedy happens.
1. God didn’t
do it. He doesn’t bring about tragedies. He allows them. In a broken world broken things happen. God prefers
to give us free will as opposed to creating us as puppets on a string. This allows therefore for human error, failure,
sin, brokenness and pain.
2.
God never wastes a hurt. He is totally and only good, and He has a
future and a hope for every person, none excluded. (see Jeremiah
29:11) All any of us needs to do is to
accept it, believe it, and follow Jesus, the One who puts it all back together.
3.
There are no satisfactory answers to the question “why.” The jar will
never comprehend the mind of the potter. (see Isaiah 29:16) Most of the
answers that we give to the question “why” end up being trite, or wrong,
or a misrepresentation of God.
4.
Avoid seeking blame or “justice.” As painful and difficult as it is to do (for
some almost impossible) forgiveness heals, blame kills. No amount
of human “justice seeking” will heal.
The legal system may need to come into play at times, but extreme effort is required to
dislodge seeds of bitterness from the heart.
They grow and poison and eventually kill.
5.
Be real. The “why” question, although unanswerable, is
great as a cry of anguish. The Psalms
are full of all the contradictory human emotions of pain, hope, anger, sadness,
joy, bitterness and love. You can openly
bring it all to God. When you’re real
God has “raw” material to work with and heal.
6.
Talk with
your children and friends.
7.
Pray and never give up. (Luke 18:1)
God heals. Those who have not
been physically healed will have been healed in the next life. They are now with God in Paradise. Let’s thank God that you and I can have that
healing too.
But
do pray for physical healing, also for spiritual and emotional strength for the
family and friends of those facing pain.
God has His best in store for all of us and prayer makes a huge
difference. Sometimes our biggest
failure is that we stop praying too soon.
Where we are today is not the end of the story. God has good chapters for each of our lives,
which He has yet to write.
8.
“Spiritual warfare” is a biblical metaphor and it is real. Evil
exists as does the “evil one”. There is
a force (Jesus named it Satan) outside of ourselves which
seeks to destroy God’s creation and that includes people. God has conclusively dealt with it on the
cross, which means resurrection and restoration, not defeat, are the end of the
story.
9.
Yet the best way to frame suffering is not to focus on the evil but on
what God is doing through it all. What I see is God
turning many, many of us more and more to dependence on Him, into deeper and
more intense prayer, and into a deeper personal experience of Him. That is a fantastic
outcome. It is the outcome that, of all
outcomes, is most fully life-giving.
10. None of us is guaranteed a tomorrow. Assuming we’ll
be here tomorrow is presumption. Each of us needs to learn better to live in
the “now” and be genuinely grateful for it.
11. For me,
the most important thing is that all those who have allowed Jesus to connect
them to Himself will live again, indeed will see each other again. Each of us can
have a reunion with loved ones we have lost.
“If for this life only we have
hope . . . . we are a pretty sorry lot.” I Corinthians 15:19. The longer I live the more true I know this
to be.
Follow on Twitter @jefflampl
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