After Virginia Tech, where will Jesus meet us? -- FPC sermon excerpt
As many of you know, I went to Duke, and I’m proud of my Blue Devils.
But today I’m a Hokie. Today we’re all Hokies.
What happened at Virginia Tech on Monday was a horror. The worst mass-murder shooting in American history. We can thankful that FPC's seven students at Tech escaped physical injury, but we know that the emotional and spiritual wounds go very deep. Healing will take years, for current students and alumni.
And it is not just Hokies who are hurting today. The students and faculty of Westfield High School are feeling pain, since the shooter and two of his victims came out of that school. All of us who are residents of this area are struggling to make sense of this tragedy, and figure out how to respond.
The day after the shootings, a friend told me about a scene from the recent film “Blood Diamond.” The movie is set in 1999 Sierra Leone, where a civil war rages — a war fueled by conflict diamonds. People are kidnapped, raped, and shot, and at one point a character says, “Sometimes I wonder — will God ever forgive us for what we’ve done to each other? Then I look around and I realize: God left this place a long time ago.”
That’s how some of you may be feeling after the massacre at Tech. Maybe you felt the same thing after Columbine eight years ago, and after the killing of the Amish schoolgirls last fall. Such carnage shatters our peace, wakes us from sleep, interrupts and irritates and saddens and shocks. We end up wondering, like the character in “Blood Diamond,” if indeed God hasn’t left this place a long time ago.
But I want to assure you that God has not abandoned us. His Son Jesus is meeting us. The Risen Lord is showing himself to us, in our time of loss and grief, and he will continue to meet us. Even after Virginia Tech.
So, where is he?
First, Jesus is meeting us right here, in this service of worship. The Bible promises us that whenever two or three are gathered, Jesus is in the midst of us. It is so important for us to respond to these events as a community, and to look for where Jesus is at work in the aftermath of violence and death.
Second, Jesus comes to us and treats us like family. The response of people to the Virginia Tech killings has been amazing. Blacksburg churches have opened their doors to students wanting to sleep in a house of God, instead of a dorm. Memorials have popped up on campus, covered with notes and flowers … and on the internet. Prayer services and memorial services have been held in schools and churches across the state. A tragedy like this reminds us that we are, in fact, one big family.
Jesus treats us like family as well. When Jesus first appears to the disciples in John 21, he calls out to them across the water. They are fishing, and catching nothing. Jesus says, “Children, you have no fish, have you?” He seems to be teasing them, like a father would tease a child. They answer him, “No.” He says, “Cast the net to the right side of the boat, and you will find some.” They follow his instructions — reluctantly, I’ll bet — but when they do as he says they discover that their nets are filled to the breaking point (vv. 4-6).
When we follow the instructions of Jesus, we discover that we are given a surprising abundance of gifts. When we love one another, as Christ has loved us, we discover a richness in life that we never dreamed possible. When we pray for those who persecute us, we find a peace that passes all understanding. When we accept that we are a part of Christ’s family, we find ourselves accepted, embraced and supported for all eternity.
Third, and finally, Jesus speaks to us and shows us how to live. In John 21, he reaches out to Simon Peter, and makes a connection with him. He says, “Feed my lambs. Tend my sheep. Feed my sheep.” That’s the way that Jesus wants us to live, in relationship with him … and with each other.
Jesus is not asking us to figure out the motive of the Virginia Tech killer. He’s not challenging us to pick apart the flaws in campus security. He’s certainly not asking us to remain glued to our televisions, watching every sensational development that comes out of Blacksburg.
No, Jesus wants us to feed his lambs by caring for everyone who is hurting in the aftermath of this violence. He is asking us to tend his sheep by being good parents, so that no other young person will fall into insanity and isolation. He is asking us to feed his sheep — through worship and fellowship and education that gives us strength and inspiration.
But today I’m a Hokie. Today we’re all Hokies.
What happened at Virginia Tech on Monday was a horror. The worst mass-murder shooting in American history. We can thankful that FPC's seven students at Tech escaped physical injury, but we know that the emotional and spiritual wounds go very deep. Healing will take years, for current students and alumni.
And it is not just Hokies who are hurting today. The students and faculty of Westfield High School are feeling pain, since the shooter and two of his victims came out of that school. All of us who are residents of this area are struggling to make sense of this tragedy, and figure out how to respond.
The day after the shootings, a friend told me about a scene from the recent film “Blood Diamond.” The movie is set in 1999 Sierra Leone, where a civil war rages — a war fueled by conflict diamonds. People are kidnapped, raped, and shot, and at one point a character says, “Sometimes I wonder — will God ever forgive us for what we’ve done to each other? Then I look around and I realize: God left this place a long time ago.”
That’s how some of you may be feeling after the massacre at Tech. Maybe you felt the same thing after Columbine eight years ago, and after the killing of the Amish schoolgirls last fall. Such carnage shatters our peace, wakes us from sleep, interrupts and irritates and saddens and shocks. We end up wondering, like the character in “Blood Diamond,” if indeed God hasn’t left this place a long time ago.
But I want to assure you that God has not abandoned us. His Son Jesus is meeting us. The Risen Lord is showing himself to us, in our time of loss and grief, and he will continue to meet us. Even after Virginia Tech.
So, where is he?
First, Jesus is meeting us right here, in this service of worship. The Bible promises us that whenever two or three are gathered, Jesus is in the midst of us. It is so important for us to respond to these events as a community, and to look for where Jesus is at work in the aftermath of violence and death.
Second, Jesus comes to us and treats us like family. The response of people to the Virginia Tech killings has been amazing. Blacksburg churches have opened their doors to students wanting to sleep in a house of God, instead of a dorm. Memorials have popped up on campus, covered with notes and flowers … and on the internet. Prayer services and memorial services have been held in schools and churches across the state. A tragedy like this reminds us that we are, in fact, one big family.
Jesus treats us like family as well. When Jesus first appears to the disciples in John 21, he calls out to them across the water. They are fishing, and catching nothing. Jesus says, “Children, you have no fish, have you?” He seems to be teasing them, like a father would tease a child. They answer him, “No.” He says, “Cast the net to the right side of the boat, and you will find some.” They follow his instructions — reluctantly, I’ll bet — but when they do as he says they discover that their nets are filled to the breaking point (vv. 4-6).
When we follow the instructions of Jesus, we discover that we are given a surprising abundance of gifts. When we love one another, as Christ has loved us, we discover a richness in life that we never dreamed possible. When we pray for those who persecute us, we find a peace that passes all understanding. When we accept that we are a part of Christ’s family, we find ourselves accepted, embraced and supported for all eternity.
Third, and finally, Jesus speaks to us and shows us how to live. In John 21, he reaches out to Simon Peter, and makes a connection with him. He says, “Feed my lambs. Tend my sheep. Feed my sheep.” That’s the way that Jesus wants us to live, in relationship with him … and with each other.
Jesus is not asking us to figure out the motive of the Virginia Tech killer. He’s not challenging us to pick apart the flaws in campus security. He’s certainly not asking us to remain glued to our televisions, watching every sensational development that comes out of Blacksburg.
No, Jesus wants us to feed his lambs by caring for everyone who is hurting in the aftermath of this violence. He is asking us to tend his sheep by being good parents, so that no other young person will fall into insanity and isolation. He is asking us to feed his sheep — through worship and fellowship and education that gives us strength and inspiration.
posted by Henry Brinton | 11:11 AM
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