Hope in the Face of Pain – Sandy Hook Elementary School, Newtown, Connecticut

Hope in the Face of Pain – Sandy Hook Elementary School, Newtown, Connecticut

“We do not know what to do, but our eyes are on you.”1
I heard the question loud and clear on CNN, “God, why did you take them?”
Twenty-six people gunned down yesterday--20 of them children … horrific, should never happen. A small town rocked to its core, as the rest of the world looks on, asking, ‘How? Why? And Now, what?’

Addressing the questions – Why did God take them? Let’s be clear, God did not take them; a sick young man filled with evil killed these innocent people. Okay, well why did God allow it? Since the creation of humankind, God gave people freedom—freedom to choose good or evil. God gave people freedom to choose him and love him and keep his commandments, which thereby includes the freedom to reject him, to reject goodness, and opt for evil. It would not be true freedom, if only goodness and love were an option; we would not have a true, pure, free love for God … if only love was available to us. But with our freedom comes the potential for evil, destruction, suffering and devastation.

In times of tragedy, the only way to move forward is through HOPE. Hope must come from the Lord or it is only a stopgap measure. Kind, inspirational words are great, but unless they are based on the divine, supernatural love of God, they are just words that evaporate into the air. Whereas HOPE in God is built on the eternal – the eternal nature of God, the everlasting love of God, the omnipotence of God, and the promise of eternal life in God to those who put their faith in him. Hope must be linked with the eternal or it is fleeting.

What do we know to be true? We are in the season of Immanuel … Seven hundred years before Jesus was born, it was prophesied that he would be with his children … “The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel” (which means “God with us”).2 In the face of tragedy, God is with us.

The power in the Word of God is true and lasting—it stands forever!3 So let’s go to truth. Paul wrote, ‘May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope.’4 Jesus said, “I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.”5

A prayer -

O Lord God, you promised to be with us—to never leave or forsake us. Grant that we might feel your presence as we look to you right now. I am mindful that when we do not know what to pray, you are praying for us to the Father.6 For those who lost children or family members on Friday, we pray … O God, comfort them. You taught ‘Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.’ Comfort now those who are grieving and mourning. Shield them with your wings, cover them with your feathers, Lord God.7 What the evil one meant for evil, for harm, redeem it, O God!8

O God, might we by seeing the face of evil turn to you. God, might we look in the mirror and see what personal evil we might need to abandon—selfishness, pride, deceit … And then God MIGHT WE LOVE BETTER.
Cause us to love you more fully, and to love others better … and to express that love. Change us from the inside out, dear Lord.
Redeem us, O God.
In the name of Immanuel~
Amen

1 – 2 Chronicles 20.12
2 – Isaiah 7.14; Matthew 1.23
3 – Isaiah 40.8
4 - Romans 15.13
5 - John 16.33
6 - Romans 8.26
7 – Psalm 91
8 - Genesis 50.20