Apologetic Response

I heard last night from a Hokie about an organization that is planning a protest around the funeral services of the students who were killed this week at Virginia Tech. If I am understanding this correctly, this organization has existed for several years and operates under the premise that many tragic events are a direct judgement from God and that the people who were killed are wicked and should not be mourned but that their loss should be accepted because God has extricated evil from among us. By this reference, this organization protests at the funerals of fallen soldiers from Iraq. Eventually, a biker group caught wind of this and wasn't going to have any of that and now stand shoulder to shoulder in peaceful opposition to this group so that they do not interfere with the families who are grieving.

I was thinking this morning about the beliefs of this group. It seems to me to be a very over simplistic, black and white view of the world where God rewards good people and punishes bad people. But Scripture and history both show us that this is not a universal, unconditional truth. In God's providence of this fallen world sometimes the wicked prosper and the righteous suffer. There is a negative and positive condition at work here. The negative is that we are all bound under the pains of the fall and the birth bangs of redemption and there is suffering inherent in that. The positive is that God is so full of love that his mercies extend even to those who have rebelled against him. I believe this is what theologians call "common grace" and is said perhaps most eloquently by Jesus when he instructs in the Sermon on the Mount, "I say to you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you in order that you may be sons of your Father in heaven; for he causes His sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. (Matt. 5:44-45)". In fact, Jesus refuted this very notion that in tragic events the especially wicked are being punished: "Now on the same occasion there were some present who reported to Him about the Galileans, whose blood Pilate had mingled with their sacrifices. And he answered and said to them, "Do you suppose that these Galileans were greater sinners than all other Galileans, because they suffered this fate? I tell you, no, but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish. Or do you suppose those eighteen on whom the tower in Siloam fell and killed them, were worse culprits than all the men who live in Jerusalem? I tell you, no, but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish. (Luke 13:1-5)"

I have not researched this, but I wonder if this group (which has a Christian Baptist name) is constructing their theology out of one OT passage. Ezekiel 24 tells the story of God pronouncing judgement on Jerusalem and in a heartbreaking illustration of what is to come, Ezekiel's wife will die but Ezekiel is not permitted to mourn for her. "And the word of the LORD came to me saying, Son of man, behold, I am about to take from you the desire of your eyes with a blow; but you shall not mourn, and you shall not weep, and your tears shall not come. Groan silently; make no mourning for the dead (v.15-17)."

The problem with heresies is that there is usually some small kernel of truth entangled in a web of lies and false assumptions. Clearly, God did use nationally tragic events to judge Israel and other nations in the Old Testament. And I say this with great patriotic love in my heart, but it is not as though America is completely undeserving of judgement. But, as Pastor Bo wisely instructed us just last week, typically God's judgement comes to us not in the form of overwhelming acts of power, force and violence, but in the form of withdrawing his hand when we consistently refuse to acknowledge him or embrace his righteousness and leaving us to our own devices.

Please pray for those who will be mourning the loss of loved ones in the days ahead and for this group ,that they would see the truth and that they would not be disruptive or disrespectful to those who grieving.