The Connecticut Tragedy

Right now, there are families and friends of little ones gathering together and weeping, holding onto each other, looking for answers, and as the rest of the world watches and waits, we can see that even just the answers to the immediate details are slow in coming. Right now, no one knows very much, let alone the answer to the question “why?”

The Christian Church must be careful as she answers this question, but not afraid. We know why these things happen, and the knowledge does stir us to weep with those who are suffering, to reach out and to give whatever we can to make the burden a little easier. But in the end, what we really have to give is the actual balm that heals the wound.

There is a festival in the church year that we commemorate, and usually it happens after Christmas, not before. It is the Feast of the Holy Innocents. Right after the joyous events of Christmas, right after shepherds moved swiftly to find the child, right after Wise Men followed a star in haste to worship the newborn king – not long after all of this, Herod moved swiftly, too. He sent his troops to Bethlehem to kill no small number of little children.

Joseph awoke from sleep, took his wife by the hand, wrapped the child Jesus and took to flight. The world was revealing itself. Almost immediately after Jesus’ birth did it begin to gag and writhe like an addict dependent upon sin, rejecting the flushing of the poison from its system. The world doesn’t want the presence of the Son of God. His presence means the end of sin, the defeat of the death, and the conquering of devil. It won’t stand for it, and King Herod, whether he realized it or not, was in league with these things. The gunman who attacked in Connecticut, showed by his actions that he and Herod are no different.

As has been said, the Christian Church weeps for these families. We reach out to give love and support, and most importantly, the Gospel – the Good News that Jesus Christ gives eternal rest to a world in such desperate need! We can do this because (as those of you who were present in worship heard last week) we are “a people prepared”! By the Word and Sacraments, we have everything we need. By that same Word, we’ve seen this type of behavior before and we are not surprised at what the devil, the world, and the sinful flesh can do. As horrible as it sounds, we are not surprised. This is the world. This is its normal function in sin. We are seeing it right now with the events in Connecticut – senseless killing, children murdered. When we see these things, they are shocking to us, but in the end, they are not abnormal in this world.

What actually is shocking and abnormal to the eyes of flesh are the events that just don’t fit our human understanding, that is, when God Himself steps into our world and begins its rescue through the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus. And then He uses water to wash away sin. He gives His very body and blood to you by bread and wine. He actually speaks to you through the voice of a man announcing His absolution and then preaching His Gospel of forgiveness. In this world’s reason, that is not normal. The world doesn’t need “normal”. We’ve seen the world’s normal. The world needs the Savior, Jesus Christ.

Know that Satan can and will do his best to fill the world with evil forces like Herod and the likes of gunmen pit against kindergarteners, but the cross and the empty tomb, those events to which we drive as Christians, they are God’s assurance to us that the devil, the world, and our sinful flesh are running out of time. Advent teaches this to us so clearly. We already know by the Gospel that we have been and continue to be rescued from this world for the world to come.

May the God of all grace grant to you His peace to know that though the world may rise up in fury (and we must do everything we can by God’s grace to fight back), we have true peace in the Holy Child born to save us. Now, it is our job to take that peace to those who need it most.

http://angelsportion.wordpress.com/2012/12/15/the-connecticut-tragedy/