Making Sense of Senselessness

In Rama was there a voice heard, lamentation, and weeping, and great mourning, Rachel weeping for her children, and would not be comforted, because they are not. Matthew 2:18

Each of us were horrified to learn of the tragic shooting of defenseless children in Connecticut on December 14, 2012, just 11 days before Christmas. It is ironic that a few days before the world’s most celebrated day, there was a slaughter of innocent children, similar to the Biblical account of the first Christmas when Herod sought to kill the Christ Child by having all children age two and younger murdered. The grief of the parents in Connecticut, other family, friends, and teachers is inconceivable. The question of “Why?” comes to minds. It is one thing to kill soldiers at Ft. Hood or college students at Virginia Tech, but quite another to murder defenseless children in a secure environment… But wait a minute! Are we talking about a school or a mother’s womb?? GOD says…

“All they that hate me, love death” Proverbs 8:36

Whether life is taken before or after birth, a life is a life, and murder is murder. I wonder if there is an abortionist out there who sensed horror at the senseless murder of 20 young children at school? I wonder if the President will re-consider his stand on “Partial-Birth Abortion,” a procedure that is more gruesome than a “mere” shooting; a procedure that involves piercing the skull of a baby that has been born (all except the head), then the extraction of its brains makes the head smaller for the rest of the birth. THIS tragedy happens every day, yet there is very little outcry from anyone, even preachers. I’m not holding my breath for the President to change his position.

“We’re Here For Them”

America is under the judgment of God. Any nation that kills its most defenseless, approves the perversion of God’s design for marriage, and defies the God of Israel by pressuring them to surrender land that HE gave them is a nation destined for the judgment of God. Whether the Ft. Hood shooting, thousands killed by Muslims on 9/11, hurricanes Katrina and Sandy, stock market crashes, or the devastating tragedies of Virginia Tech or a Pennsylvania Amish school, America is clearly under the judgment of God. What can and must we do? The night of the Virginia Tech massacre we were watching the news special with Brian Williams. What I vividly recall from the live program that night was the fact that a local pastor, Tommy McDearis, in Blacksburg, VA, home of Virginia Tech, was part of the panel. His church, Blacksburg Baptist Church, was a counseling station for all who were affected by the shooting. I will never forget what he said when they TWICE asked him an open-ended question on a national broadcast: “What do you tell those who come to you?” Here was a national and international broadcast in which a BAPTIST “pastor” was asked such an open question. What was his answer? Did he mention the Bible? NO. Jesus? NO. What about even a generic reference to “God”? NO!!! BOTH opportunities he had to give a solid, Biblical answer to such an opportunity-laden question he said, “We’re here for them.” This answer was bereft of ANY solid direction for a lost world.

The Greater Tragedies

From the disintegration of the meaning of marriage to the murder of innocent children in a school, we are seeing tragedies transform our nation on the inside. Are there greater tragedies than these? Yes, and they form a scarlet thread throughout all tragedies. These are the lack of a solid Biblical answer from religious leaders who claim to know God and His Word. As the religious leaders of Jesus’ day were the problem, so today, religious leaders are the greater tragedy. From Baptists, Catholics, and Unitarian Universalists; to Bob Jones, Clarence Sexton, Billy Graham, Pat Roberson and the pope, religious leaders of all stripes and persuasions are not giving the Biblical answers that a lost world needs. The greater tragedy than any hurricane or murder spree is the silence of religion in the face of devastation! This silence leaves a nation to flounder with no answers!

"If the foundations be destroyed, what can the righteous do?" Psalm 11:3

The Answer

What are the answers? Let us be clear: the answer for our nation is NOT “the Gospel.” God’s plan for healing a nation is His people repenting. GOD said,

"If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land." 2 Chronicles 7:14

What are the answers concerning tragedies?

For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive. 1 Corinthians 15:22

1. There was a real Adam created by God at the beginning (Matthew 19). a. The age of the earth (i.e. mankind) is thousands of years, not millions. b. The Genesis/creation account is reliable and the Biblical genealogies are important. 2. Adam and Eve disobeyed God, and He (as the just Judge of all the earth) brought judgment. 3. “Bad things” are not the fault of a perfect and holy Creator, but judgment from God resulting from the sin of our “first parents” and life in a fallen world. As the world more and more rejects the idea of a Creator/God Who is holy, perfect, and just, these are answers that are being ignored in our culture and by religious leaders. The world is asking “Why?” but religion is saying “We’re here for you” (or "Jesus is here for you"). To make sense of the senseless, we MUST get back to the foundational truths of Genesis and share them with the world!