The message today was second in a series of seven letters to the seven churches in Revelations. Missed the first one, so I ordered it on tape, will blog about it later
The second letter was the letter to the the church in Smyrna- the first "urban church" a church with physical poverty but spiritual wealth. A suffering church. This is a message spoken about suffering. The 10 days of persecution refers to the the limit that is placed on suffering. Suffering to the point of death refers to the fact that the suffering may be so great as to lead to that, but that is not the end all. Our pastor illustrated this by stated that there is a boundary both in the time frame of suffering and the extent of suffering. It can only reach to the point of death. But there is something beyond this boundary and that is the time of judgment which encompassed both grace and forgiveness or a death sentence to the second death. A death that refers to hell and eternal suffering and separation from God. A kind of suffering that I believe we can't even fathom. The letter to Smyrna indicates that the believers there will not be hurt at all by this second death. The tone of the message was partially set to the reality that we had a funeral for our church family the day before for an infant who died in utero just a few days before he was due to be born. He was a beautiful baby, perfect in every way, but tragedy struck in the womb and left his family and friends and our church confused, heartbroken, and deeply grieved. It was a time of suffering. And so our pastor stated that you can not comfort people by saying "this is God's will" It is never God's will for tragedy to occur. There is a falleness to our world and there is an evil being at work bent on our destruction (Satan) but God can work his will through horrible circumstances. And the extent to the tragedy can never reach beyond the grave. After that we are to be found in the presence of Christ. Our Pastor says there is no scriptural evidence we can find to support that God is the author of tragic circumstances (I don't know that I agree but I will address that later). But that tragedy is a part of our reality and always will be but it has a boundary, it can not rob us of hope and it can not keep us from living a life that is fruitful and full of purpose, but it stays with us, it reminds us that we have been touched by it whenever we bump into it in our life. But it can never be strong enough to separate us from what truly matters and that is the love of Christ.
My take-I understand the tone of today's message and felt that it offers a sense of hope and healing to those still reeling from the blow of the baby's death. It is then that we question "why God why?" And while I agree that we should never tell grieving people that a tragedy is "God's will" It sounds trite and it makes God out to be one who is out to assault us, I have to say that I believe some tragedies are in fact God's will. Let me explain-I think the Bible itself is full of "Tragedy"
But let me also say that our definition of tragedy, based on our limited scope is very different from God's definition of tragedy. God sent a flood to destroy most of the earth, God continually destroyed his own people narrowing them down to just a remnant. God sent his own son to die for the sins of mankind. Are these not examples of ways that make us question God's system of redemption? And if even the winds and waves obey Him, as they did when Christ stilled the storm, could not God prevent some natural disaster like hurricanes or floods or even the tsunami? If we can't accuse God of abuse, can we accuse Him of neglect? I mean who wouldn't report to the police a crime that we heard was about to happen. If we were to stumble upon plans for a terrorist attack or a school bombing, are we not held responsible to inform authorities, to do what we can to prevent it from happening? Surely God sees tragedy before it unfolds so why doesn't a God who supposedly loves more than we can even imagine loving, do something about it? And why are there some cases where he does seem to intervene? Why do some people have stories of miracles or of narrowly escaping death that they credit to God. Who is this God who has the power to change things but often doesn't?
Well, I have to come back to the belief that His view of tragedy is different from ours. His view of tragedy is losing one of His own to that second death and He will do what He needs to do to intercede on our behalf. I have one small picture of that from my own experiences. I had to take each of my children in for immunizations to protect them from deadly diseases. It is very hard for a mother whose goal is to protect her children to subject them to pain. It was especially hard when the nurse asked me to help hold them down. "My children" I thought, are not going to understand why Mommy is not going to protect them but is going to be an enemy preventing them from escaping pain. Furthermore, they have no concept of what Polio is or diphtheria or Mumps or measles or Hepatitis. They will only know that they are experiencing pain and Mommy is allowing it." And so I held down the upper part of their little bodies while they screamed as nurse jabbed four different needled into their legs and all the while I bent close and whispered in their ear of my love and kissed their temples, and when it was over I held them close and let them cry in my arms. This, I think gives me a small inkling of who my God is. The most horrifying tragedy I can possibly imagine is nothing, NOTHING, compared to what God knows to be tragedy. He has experienced both having come to life in human form, suffered human suffering, and then suffered Hell on the cross. He knows the difference, and He will do all He can to rescue us. We can't see how, much like my children can't see the difference between a round of immunizations and the crippling, life threatening disease of polio, but I have to trust that my God is more loving than I can ever possibly imagine, in all circumstances. And that when suffering comes my way ( and I believe it eventually comes to all) He will be there, bending down whispering of his love and holding me as I weep.
Of course, I hope it goes without saying that these are words that someone experiencing a tragedy need not be given for comfort. Someone in the midst of a crisis needs for us to enter into their grief, to mourn with them, pray with them, hold their hand, allow them to question without giving answers, allow them to experience the full gamut of emotions without judgment, to take hold of their burden with our own two hands and do whatever we can do to help lift it and carry it with them.
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