JOY FOR SUCH A TIME AS THIS

I can only imagine what the families in Newtown, Connecticut are feeling right now. I weep with them. Even as I write this and see their little faces on news reports I find myself wiping tears from my eyes. No doubt there were already presents under the tree for the little ones whose lives were snatched away on Friday. Grandparents had plans of traveling to see their families to celebrate the birth of Jesus but instead they are traveling to bury them. Is it possible for them to have hope or experience joy at such a time as this?  It is not only possible, but it is even rooted in such a time as this. Jesus was born into a world filled with violence, murder, and oppression. His birth brought about a tragic situation. The wise men who came to Herod were looking for this newborn king of the Jews. Herod responded to this competition by having all boys in Bethlehem 2 years old and under murdered.

When evil like this invades our lives we are reminded of the reason for Christ's Advent. Jesus came to put days such as this to an end, but to do so he also had to be touched by it personally. Though he is fully God, Jesus did not shield himself with his divinity, or float above the pain of human life. Rather, he jumped right into the middle of it and fully immersed himself in the human experience by becoming flesh. (John 1:1,14; Hebrews 2:17) Jesus did this, not to learn what being a human was like, but to give us assurance that our High Priest knows what we are facing. We have strong sympathetic arms to fall into in in times like this. (Hebrews 4:15) But Jesus is not merely sympathetic, he is able to do something about our situation and IS doing something about it. Jesus came to destroy evil, suffering, and pain by becoming its target. Like the heroic teachers at Sandy Hook, Jesus shielded his people with his own body. Jesus knows betrayal and what it is like to be murdered. He was betrayed by a close companion and handed over to be killed by his own people.  The pain moms and dads are feeling because they can no longer hold their little ones is a pain Jesus very familiar with, and it is a pain he came to heal. The joy of this wonderful truth and promise is not the kind of joy that we experience when our team scores. This joy is impervious to all of the pain this world has to offer.

Dietrich Bonhoeffer was no stranger to suffering and sorrow yet he possessed a joy in Christ which he described as "invincible" and "irrefutable." The German pastor trained men for ministry underground during World War II and worked hard to encourage them in the midst of suffering under Nazi oppression. In his final letter to his friends he wrote these words to remind them of the joy they have in Jesus.

"A sort of joy exists that knows nothing at all of the heart’s pain, anguish, and dread; it does not last; it can only numb a person for the moment. The joy of God has gone through the poverty of the manger and the agony of the cross; that is why it is invincible, irrefutable. It does not deny the anguish, when it is there, but finds God in the midst of it, in fact precisely there; it does not deny grave sin but finds forgiveness precisely in this way; it looks death straight in the eye, but it finds life precisely within it...Full of joy, we are enabled to believe that there was and is One to whom no human suffering or sin is foreign and who in deepest love accomplished our redemption. Only in such joy in Christ the Redeemer shall we be preserved from hardening ourselves where human suffering encounters us." 

Can such a death-defying, solid, overflowing joy be found for those who grieve the loss of their loved ones? Indeed, by faith in Jesus there is joy invincible and irrefutable which no tragedy can overcome!
Though sin and evil continue to affect us today, the Gospel of the Kingdom points us to a day where every tear will be wiped away by God himself. Tragedies will cease. Evil will be removed from the earth. God will judge the world in righteousness  Not one single act of violence will go unpunished! The Christian's joy is anchored in the Savior who is making all things new and cause the memory of such horrific acts to no longer be remembered!

May this joy be the anchor of every grieving heart in Newtown and throughout all the the world. Amen.

"He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.” And he who was seated on the throne said, “Behold, I am making all things new.” Also he said, “Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.” (Revelation 21:4–5)