SoulThirst

Every generation has its defining events. One such key event was Columbine, on this day April 20, 4 years ago. Some of you in high school now perhaps still remember it (most of you would've been in junior high or younger at the time), but the events of Columbine were probably the most vividly real to those of us who were in high school at the time; that was my senior year. The days following the incident, high schools all over the nation were on alert; even some students at my school were afraid to come to school. Columbine victims like Cassie Bernall and Rachel Scott were hailed by the Christian community as "martyrs," and their life & death became rallying points for many Christians- especially youth groups at the time. Christian artists, speakers, and whole cities rallied behind the spiritual significance of the Columbine events. I suppose that it's easy to look back & see it as yet another example of "Christian fads," but I suppose part of that is cynicism speaking. (Actually for a very well-written, factual, yet piercing account of the entire Columbine story, mostly about the people, check out Day of Reckoning: Columbine and the Search for America's Soul, written by Wendy Murray Zoba, senior staff writer for Christianity today).

The irony this year, is that the anniversary of Columbine falls on Easter Sunday. On the day where churches around the world celebrate the Risen Lord, it is also the day to remember a horrible tragedy- one which would lead any thoughtful person to seriously question God. After all, "why would this loving, great God allow innocent high school students to be brutally murdered?" Some thoughts, which came from today's Easter message by Greg Jao (so the wisdom is not my own)- for the CCMC Youth, this is a reminder, and for the rest of you, a summary.

How do we celebrate and worship, even in the midst of living in a broken, wounded, & evil world?
If there is no resurrection of the dead, then not even Christ has been raised. And if Christ has not been raised, our preaching is useless and so is your faith. More than that, we are then found to be false witnesses about God, for we have testified about God that he raised Christ from the dead. But he did not raise him if in fact the dead are not raised. For if the dead are not raised, then Christ has not been raised either. And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins. Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ are lost. If only for this life we have hope in Christ, we are to be pitied more than all men.
1 Corinthians 15:13-19

On Easter we celebrate Christ as the Risen Lord. If Christ only died, but remained in the grave, then our faith has no meaning- our God has no power. If the nihilists are right, and existence is meaningless, then our faith is merely wishful thinking & delusions. Our sufferings are meaningless, as well as our joys. However I have not met a single person who is content with that philosophy of life; who would be? There is nothing to live for, and certainly nothing worth dying for. Why are innocent teenagers gunned down in their own school? Why do nations wage war? Why does God at times seem quite indifferent to the "difference" between righteous and the wicked? Christians profess belief in a God who allows the rain to fall on both righteous and unrighteous; the Psalms testify to the sufferings of the righteous yet the prosperity of the wicked. What is God doing?

I don't have the answer, but I do have a place to start: the resurrection of Christ. What's the difference that the resurrection makes?
1. We have hope in the midst of difficult circumstances, hope enough to keep following Jesus
2. We have confidence in the midst of injustice
3. We have confidence that sin and evil do not have the final word- God does.
We can't always explain God- to others, or ourselves- and we won't always understand why. But we can say that one day, all wrongs will be made right, every wicked deed judged, and every righteous act rewarded. God's love was demonstrated in the sacrificing of His only begotten Son; God's justice was demonstrated in the raising of Jesus- the sinless one- a statement that "He will not remain unjustly crucified, but He will be glorified." Whatever happens in this life, whatever we see as "unfair," will be made right in that Last Day. The challenge of faith is to believe in what cannot be seen; one such thing is that there will be a new & better world- completely new- when Christ returns. It takes faith to have that hope and to look ahead, being certain of what we cannot see right now, of being certain of it even when what we do see seems completely opposed to that hope. But if you believe that this world is not the end, that there is more promised to us by God, your view of the world might be different.

May Easter not be the only day that you remember the resurrection of the Lord. There is an old traditional bedtime prayer, & part of it goes like this:
As I lay me down to sleep
I pray the Lord my soul to keep
If I should die before I wake
I pray the Lord my soul to take
Seems somewhat morbid and depressing, thinking & praying about death every night. But I don't think it's necessarily paranoia or depression. Because in fact, every night, we lie down, essentially helpless for the next 6-8 hours (plus or minus, depending on your sleep schedule). We wake in the morning, really only because God gives us life for another day; there's nothing we did during our sleeping hours that contributed to our waking. And so in the morning we rise again. You could say I'm reading too much into it... but I think each night as we lie down and each morning as we rise, we are reminded that
1) God holds both life and death in His hands
2) If we have been given the grace to live this day, to rise, then there is still hope- for the world and for ourselves.

I'm so proud of all of you who got baptized today... I've watched some of you struggle & grow in faith, even just this past year, and I'm proud of you. To you all this day is even more personal- the symbolism of baptism is in being raised with Christ. This "new creation" doesn't mean perfection- not yet at least- you will still struggle; but you go through all that with hope, knowing that sin, sorrow, and struggle do not have the last word.

There's a hymn/song from Bill & Gloria Gaither (probably only those of you ages 21 & up know of them), the words of the chorus proclaiming:
Because He lives, I can face tomorrow
Because He lives, all fear is gone
Because I know He holds the future
And life is worth the living, just because He lives

Whatever your tomorrow brings, Christ is risen.

posted by Andy Chang @ 11:48 PM