16 December 2012
I. Introduction
-- turn in Bibles to Matthew 2:1-18
Matthew 2:1-18 (NIV)
1 After Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the time of King Herod, Magi from the east came to Jerusalem
2 and asked, "Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews? We saw his star in the east and have come to worship him."
3 When King Herod heard this he was disturbed, and all Jerusalem with him.
4 When he had called together all the people's chief priests and teachers of the law, he asked them where the Christ was to be born.
5 "In Bethlehem in Judea," they replied, "for this is what the prophet has written:
6 "'But you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, are by no means least among the rulers of Judah; for out of you will come a ruler who will be the shepherd of my people Israel.'"
7 Then Herod called the Magi secretly and found out from them the exact time the star had appeared.
8 He sent them to Bethlehem and said, "Go and make a careful search for the child. As soon as you find him, report to me, so that I too may go and worship him."
9 After they had heard the king, they went on their way, and the star they had seen in the east went ahead of them until it stopped over the place where the child was.
10 When they saw the star, they were overjoyed.
11 On coming to the house, they saw the child with his mother Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped him. Then they opened their treasures and presented him with gifts of gold and of incense and of myrrh.
12 And having been warned in a dream not to go back to Herod, they returned to their country by another route.
13 When they had gone, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream. "Get up," he said, "take the child and his mother and escape to Egypt. Stay there until I tell you, for Herod is going to search for the child to kill him."
14 So he got up, took the child and his mother during the night and left for Egypt,
15 where he stayed until the death of Herod. And so was fulfilled what the Lord had said through the prophet: "Out of Egypt I called my son."
16 When Herod realized that he had been outwitted by the Magi, he was furious, and he gave orders to kill all the boys in Bethlehem and its vicinity who were two years old and under, in accordance with the time he had learned from the Magi.
17 Then what was said through the prophet Jeremiah was fulfilled:
18 "A voice is heard in Ramah, weeping and great mourning, Rachel weeping for her children and refusing to be comforted, because they are no more."
-- as I'm sure everyone in here is aware, on Friday of this past week our country experienced one of the most horrific criminal acts in our nation's history when 20-year-old Adam Lanza went to the Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut, and began shooting staff and children at the school for no apparent reason
-- by the time Lanza killed himself, six adult staff members and 20 children were killed in addition to Lanza's own mother, who was killed earlier that morning
-- unfortunately, our country has not been immune to tragedies like this in recent years, with school shootings at Columbine and at Virginia Tech -- and other random shootings like the one at the Oregon mall last week and the shooting that severely injured former Congresswoman Giffords in Arizona in 2011
-- but none have seemed as tragic or as heartless as this shooting last Friday which took the lives of so many young children
-- in the aftermath of national tragedies like this it is common for us to search for reasons -- to grasp for understanding -- to try to make sense of such senseless acts of violence -- and as the grief continues to overwhelm us, it is also common for us to seek retribution and to cast blame -- to find some way to vent the anger and the hurt that threatens to overtake our very being
-- already we are seeing some blame the shootings at Sandy Hook on the accessibility of firearms in our country and calling for more gun control -- others are blaming the parents and the doctors for not recognizing and diagnosing the mental illness that may have contributed to Lanza's actions this week -- for not doing more to stop him before something like Sandy Creek happened
-- others are pointing their fingers at God, with some blaming God for not being there as Lanza stalked the halls and questioning how a loving God could allow such a tragedy, especially here at Christmas -- others are taking this opportunity to blame society for pushing God out of the public sphere and making public prayer in schools illegal -- "If God had not been removed from our schools," they argue, "then this would never have happened."
-- I've seen heated arguments on Facebook about the reasons for the Sandy Hook shooting -- I've seen this discussion explode in the social media and on the news shows as people from both sides of the political and religious spectrum argue and point fingers and cast blame
-- and I understand the reason why -- people in this nation are hurting and trying to find some answer to explain away the evil that happened last Friday while others are using this tragedy for their own personal or political gain
-- but what is lost in these debates -- what is forgotten in the vitriol being spewed on Facebook and other social media right now -- is what the families of those who lost their children -- their sons and daughters -- their wives and their sisters -- are going through at this moment
-- so while it is easy for us in the church to explain the reason for the evil at Sandy Hook as being the direct result of original sin and the fall of man in the Garden of Eden, it really may not be helpful at this time
-- for those who lost loved ones -- for those who are experiencing the grief of losing their children just one week before Christmas -- answers aren't what they need -- retribution is not what they seek -- they need time to grieve and to mourn -- time to weep -- they need comfort and compassion and hope -- and it is for these very reasons Christ established His church and gave us the command to "Love our neighbors as ourselves"
-- this morning, I want us to take a moment to consider what our response -- as the church of Christ -- should be in the wake of tragedies such as this -- and to see what we can do to directly minister to the people and families in Newtown, Connecticut
II. SHARE THE HURT
-- as we seek to minister in the aftermath of any tragedy -- whether it's a national tragedy like the shooting at Sandy Hook or a death in our family -- the first thing we should do is to share the hurt
-- this passage that I read from Matthew 2 is a familiar passage -- it tells of the Magi -- the wise men -- who come from the east following a star and seeking the Messiah
-- and every year we celebrate Epiphany on January 6th, the 12th day after Christmas, to commemorate the day the wise men found Jesus with His family in Bethlehem
-- but we typically stop our reading of this passage at verse 12, with the wise men having been warned by God in a dream to not go back to Herod but to return to their country by a different route
-- however, in doing so, we miss part of the reason for Christmas -- you see, Christmas is not all about babies wrapped in swaddling clothes and laid in a manger -- it's not all about angels appearing to shepherds in the fields announcing the birth of the Messiah -- it's not about wise men from the east or presents under the tree or stockings hung with care
-- it's about what the angels told the shepherds on that cold winter's night -- "I bring you good news of great joy that is for all the people -- today in the town of David a Savior is born to you -- He is Christ, the Lord"
-- the baby in the manger was born to be our Savior -- and the presence of a Savior implies a need for salvation -- a need to be saved -- but saved from what? -- our sin? -- yes -- eternal separation from God? -- yes -- but what else?
-- look back at verse 13-18
13 When they had gone, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream. "Get up," he said, "take the child and his mother and escape to Egypt. Stay there until I tell you, for Herod is going to search for the child to kill him."
14 So he got up, took the child and his mother during the night and left for Egypt,
15 where he stayed until the death of Herod. And so was fulfilled what the Lord had said through the prophet: "Out of Egypt I called my son."
16 When Herod realized that he had been outwitted by the Magi, he was furious, and he gave orders to kill all the boys in Bethlehem and its vicinity who were two years old and under, in accordance with the time he had learned from the Magi.
17 Then what was said through the prophet Jeremiah was fulfilled:
18 "A voice is heard in Ramah, weeping and great mourning, Rachel weeping for her children and refusing to be comforted, because they are no more."
-- how poignant are these verses this morning in light of the tragedy at Sandy Hook? -- do you see why this part of the Christmas story is seldom read, even though it points to the purpose of Jesus' birth?
-- although Herod was king over the Jews, he himself was not a Jew -- he had been appointed to his position by Caesar, and he knew his claim to the throne was tenuous at best -- and when he heard that One had been born who was the rightful King of Israel, he became worried about what would happen to his position
-- so Herod sent the Magi to find this child-king for him so he might kill Him and put an end to the threat -- when the Magi did not return, Herod became furious because his plans had been thwarted -- and since he did not know which child was the promised king of Israel, he commanded his soldiers to kill all male children in Bethlehem under the age of two so he could be sure the threat was removed
-- quoting the prophet Jeremiah, Matthew tells us this was a time of anguish -- a time of great mourning and weeping -- for the people of Israel, but especially for the mothers of the boys who were slain
-- this is what is going on in Newtown, Connecticut, this morning -- it is a time of anguish -- a time of great mourning and weeping as the parents of the slain children from the shooting at Sandy Hook grieve the loss of their loved ones
-- notice what Jeremiah says there in verse 13 -- Rachel refuses to be comforted
-- there is a time in the grieving process when there is nothing you can do but mourn and weep -- just as the women in Bethlehem did so many years ago and just as the parents in Newtown are doing this morning
-- when I first became a pastor and was confronted with a death in the congregation, I visited the family to console them in this time of loss -- I went in there armed with all the counseling tips I had learned in school -- I went in there with words of comfort and grace -- I knew what needed to be said -- I knew what needed to be done -- but rather quickly, I learned that what I knew was wrong
-- the family didn't need Christian platitudes -- the family didn't need me to tell them things would be okay -- they didn't even need me to read them Scriptures -- what they needed was my presence -- what they needed was for me to share in their grief -- and I learned that the best way to minister to those who are hurting is not to speak but to simply be there and share their hurt
-- when Jesus was told of the death of His friend Lazarus, He went to see Lazarus' sisters, Mary and Martha -- and even though we are told in the Scriptures that Jesus delayed His coming because He already knew what He was going to do -- that Lazarus would be raised from the dead and brought back to life again -- we are told He went to the tomb of Lazarus and wept, not because of the death of Lazarus, but because of the pain Martha and Mary were suffering -- He wept to share their hurt -- and we should do the same with those who lost loved ones this week at Sandy Hook
-- the first thing we must do is to share the hurt -- to grieve with the grieving -- to mourn with the mourning -- and to cry with the crying
-- there will come a time for words of comfort and hope, but that time is not now -- now we must join with them in their hurt
III. SEE THE HOPE
-- if you would, please turn over to 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18
1 Thessalonians 4:13-18 (NIV)
13 Brothers, we do not want you to be ignorant about those who fall asleep, or to grieve like the rest of men, who have no hope.
14 We believe that Jesus died and rose again and so we believe that God will bring with Jesus those who have fallen asleep in him.
15 According to the Lord's own word, we tell you that we who are still alive, who are left till the coming of the Lord, will certainly not precede those who have fallen asleep.
16 For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first.
17 After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever.
18 Therefore encourage each other with these words.
-- after the initial time of great mourning and weeping is over, the people who have been affected by this tragedy at Sandy Hook will be ready to hear words of comfort and hope -- it is at this time that we can speak the grace of God and the love of the Savior into the lives of these people
-- as I pointed out earlier, Christ did not just come to reign as the King of the Jews -- He came to be our Savior -- to save us from sin and death -- to save us from eternal separation from God -- and to save us from the hopelessness that has cursed this earth since the Garden of Eden
-- if there is one thing that Satan brought with him to the Garden of Eden that has wrought more pain than sin itself, it was hopelessness -- for sin took away hope -- it took away the promise of better days -- of brighter futures -- of a new tomorrow
-- in the aftermath of a great tragedy like that at Sandy Hook, it is easy to lose hope -- and it is here where we need to step in and minister to the hurting and help them to see the hope they have in Christ
-- for Christ came not only to redeem this world from sin but to make it new -- to bring beauty out of the ashes -- and to overcome evil and pain and anguish once and for all
-- the voices that cried out in Bethlehem -- Rachel weeping for her children -- were comforted by the baby laid in a manger -- by the Savior who died on the cross and rose again on the third day, promising eternal life and bringing hope back into the world
-- according to an ABC News report, some residents of Newtown began taking down Christmas decorations in the wake of the shooting -- while I can understand their intent -- while I can understand their reluctance to celebrate in light of the tragedy that has gripped their small community -- the Christmas decorations, more than anything else, should be displayed prominently -- for it is only in Christmas -- it is only in Christ -- that we find hope in the midst of a tragedy like this
-- Paul tells us here in verse 13 that we should not grieve like those who have no hope -- some Christians tell you that we should not grieve -- that those who have been saved should not grieve the passing of someone who has gone on to be with the Lord -- but that is not biblical
-- no where in Scripture are we told, "do not grieve" -- no where in Scripture are we told, "do not mourn" -- no where in Scripture are we told, "do not cry"
-- what we are told repeatedly is "do not fear" -- do not fear the things that happen in this fallen world -- do not fear the evil that stalks this land -- because Christ has overcome this world and conquered the evil and brought hope and life to us all
-- yes, grieve your loss -- mourn for those who are no longer in your midst -- mourn and weep with those who are hurting -- but grieve as those who are conquerors -- as those who know that even this tragedy will not end in pain but in glory and in hope of a greater future with Christ
-- in verse 17 we are promised that we will be with the Lord forever -- that is our hope in Christ -- that is our strong encouragement in times of great distress and grief -- this hope in Christ is what strengthens us and keeps us going through tragedies like the shooting at Sandy Hook -- through tragedies like the loss of a loved one
-- Paul says, "encourage each other with these words" -- in other words, Paul is saying, "don't give up hope, for hope was born at Christmas -- hope was realized at Calvary" -- as we minister to those who are hurting because of the loss of a loved one -- because of any natural disaster they are facing -- we should help them see the hope -- to know the hope -- to know Jesus and His grace
IV. BE THE CHURCH
-- which brings us to our last point -- to truly minister to those in Newtown, we must be the church
-- please turn over to 2 Corinthians 1:3-11, and we'll end there
2 Corinthians 1:3-11 (NIV)
3 Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort,
4 who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves have received from God.
5 For just as the sufferings of Christ flow over into our lives, so also through Christ our comfort overflows.
6 If we are distressed, it is for your comfort and salvation; if we are comforted, it is for your comfort, which produces in you patient endurance of the same sufferings we suffer.
7 And our hope for you is firm, because we know that just as you share in our sufferings, so also you share in our comfort.
8 We do not want you to be uninformed, brothers, about the hardships we suffered in the province of Asia. We were under great pressure, far beyond our ability to endure, so that we despaired even of life.
9 Indeed, in our hearts we felt the sentence of death. But this happened that we might not rely on ourselves but on God, who raises the dead.
10 He has delivered us from such a deadly peril, and he will deliver us. On him we have set our hope that he will continue to deliver us,
11 as you help us by your prayers. Then many will give thanks on our behalf for the gracious favor granted us in answer to the prayers of many.
-- it is far too easy for us to speak about going to church and to talk about where our church is located -- but we can never forget that the church is not a building -- the church is a community -- the church is a people, called out by God to be a royal priesthood -- ministering in His name to a hurting world
-- while we would never wish tragedies like the shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School to occur, it is in the midst of these tragedies that we see the church at its best -- when we see the church doing and being what Christ envisioned
-- to be the church simply means that we love one another as Christ loved the church and that we love our neighbor as ourselves -- in times of tragedy, it doesn't matter what political persuasion as a person is -- what race or gender -- what ethnic background -- what economic class or area of life -- or even what religion the person may belong to -- as the children's song says, "red or yellow, black or white, they are precious in His sight, Jesus loves the little children of the world" -- and so should the church
-- to be the church, we love -- to be the church, we become the hands and feet of Christ -- we become the voice of Christ -- we become the heart of Christ
-- and while we are not near enough to those in Newtown to sit in their living rooms and weep as they weep and mourn as they mourn, we can still be the church where we are
-- as we read in this passage, we are called to "comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves have received from God"
-- this may take the form of financial help, as we give to help the families of those who lost loved ones with their financial burdens in the aftermath of this and other natural disasters
-- this may take the form of sharing notes and cards of encouragement, either sent directly to the families or shared on the social media or other electronic methods
-- or it could simply be as the Corinthians comforted Paul in his hardships -- while they could not be there with him -- while they could not meet his physical needs -- they did the only thing they could -- they prayed
-- and as their prayers moved the heart of God, Paul tells us he was helped by their prayers -- that God's gracious favor was granted to them and God reached out and touched Paul in the midst of his troubles -- in the midst of his hardships
-- we tend to overlook prayer and the power of prayer in our lives -- we look at it as something that we do because we're Christians -- but we forget what prayer does
-- with prayer we touch the heart of God -- with prayer we carry our petitions and our needs directly to the throne of God -- and the God of all Creation -- the God who owns the cattle on a thousand hills -- the God who can move directly in the midst of those who are hurting -- will respond to the heart-cry of His people
-- as we talked about in our series on revival, God moves first in response to the fervent prayers of His people -- as we put our trust in Him and cry out to Him with our needs and the needs of others, God moves on our behalf
-- while we may feel that prayer is simply an exercise in futility because we rarely see the direct results, the impact of our prayers have eternal consequences -- we need to open our eyes to the power of God through prayer -- rather than looking at prayer as something to just tack on to the end of a service or at the end of the day, we need to look at prayer as the source of power in our lives -- as the catalyst for all that God wants to do in us and through us as we seek to minister in His name
-- while our heart may lead us to want to be the church through direct means -- by meeting the physical and emotional needs of those who are hurting -- we simply cannot in this case because of how far away we are -- but, we can meet their spiritual needs by calling out to God and asking Him to comfort them and to meet their needs -- physical, emotional, and spiritual -- through His mercy and grace and the church that is already there
-- it was the prayers of the Corinthians -- and solely their prayers -- that Paul credits with delivering him from deadly perils -- with saving him from troubles and hardships -- and it is our prayers, offered up as God's people in this place, that will touch the hearts of those affected by the tragedy in Newtown and minister to them despite our geographic separation
-- our prayers touch the heart of God, and while we are not there to minister to the people directly, God is there and He will touch them and minister to them in the midst of their grief
V. Closing
-- One of America’s greatest poets is Henry Wadsworth Longfellow -- in 1860, Longfellow was enjoying a time of great happiness -- his works were being recognized -- he was enjoying great fame -- and he was elated over the election of Abraham Lincoln which he believed signaled the triumph of freedom and redemption for the nation.
-- The very next year, the Civil War began, plunging the country into a time of tribulation and marking the start of Longfellow's personal trials -- On July 9, 1861 Longfellow’s wife, Fanny, was near an open window sealing locks of her daughter’s hair with hot sealing wax when her dress caught fire and engulfed her with flames -- Her husband, sleeping in the next room, was awaked by her screams -- As he desperately tried to put out the fire and save his wife, he was severely burned on his face and hands --
Fanny died the next day
-- Longfellow’s severe burns would not even allow him to attend Fanny’s funeral. His white beard, which so identified with him, was one of the results of the tragedy – the burn scars on his face made shaving almost impossible -- In his diary for Christmas day 1861 he wrote, “How inexpressibly sad are the holidays.”
-- In 1862 the toll of war began to mount and the number of the dead and wounded in the war grew to epic proportions -- at Christmas that year, Longfellow wrote in his diary, “A merry Christmas say the children, but that is no more for me.”
-- In 1863 his son, who had run away to join the Union army, was severely wounded and returned home in December -- the pain was too great -- there was no entry in Longfellow’s diary for that Christmas.
-- But on Christmas Day 1864 – at age 57 – Longfellow sat down to try to capture, if possible, the joy of the season by writing a new Christmas carol. He began:
"I heard the bells on Christmas day.
Their old familiar carols play,
And wild and sweet the words repeat
Of peace on earth, good will to men."
-- As he came to the third stanza, he was stopped by the thought of the condition of his beloved country -- the Battle of Gettysburg was not long past -- days looked dark, and he probably asked himself the question, “How can I write about peace on earth, good will to men in this war-torn country, where brother fights against brother and father against son?”
-- but still he wrote, and we read these words of heartbreak and anguish in the third stanza:
"And in despair I bowed my head:
“There is no peace on earth”, I said,
For hate is strong, and mocks the song
Of peace on earth, good will to men."
-- it seems like those words could have been penned by someone in Newtown, Connecticut, this very week -- "for hate is strong and mocks the song, of peace on earth, good will to men"
-- but in the midst of his despair -- in the midst of a national tragedy and the aftermath of personal loss, Longfellow turned his eyes to the heavens and his thoughts to the Savior born on Christmas Day and finished his remarkable hymn:
"Then peeled the bells more loud and deep;
“God is not dead, nor doth he sleep!
The wrong shall fail, the right prevail,
With peace on earth, good will to men.”
-- let us pray
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