This post is a summary of the sermon I preached on March 30th regarding the recent murder/suicide tragedy that took place in Iowa City. A man beat his wife and four kids to death in their home before killing himself on I-80 by ramming his car into a concrete barrier. The Iowa City community was left with many questions in trying to deal with the horrific outcomes of a "good family." I decided to preach a sermon dealing with the two most common questions our community had regarding the tragedy and what God's Word had to say. So here are the main points and the Scriptures that go with them.
Question 1 – “Why did this murder/suicide happen?”
One word: sin. We live in a world system that from the time of Adam and Eve has been dominated by sin—the choosing to operate in opposition to God’s law and purpose. The result was and has been evil, selfishness, pain and suffering and the apostle John was right in describing the condition as darkness. The apostle Paul agrees about the state of our world by saying:
“Be very careful, then, how you live—not as unwise but as wise, making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil.” ~ Ephesians 5:15,16
This condition is not limited to a select group of people or places; instead it is inclusive and complete. Sin and evil are equal opportunity employers. The Bible makes it crystal clear, in both testaments, sin is a curse for all people of all times (Isaiah 53:6; Psalm 130:3; Romans 3:23; Galatians 3:22). The only way to break free from the law of sin and death (Romans 8:2) is to change the way you live, believe in Jesus Christ, and enter into a covenant relationship with him through baptism. When this takes place, our sins are forgiven and God puts his Holy Spirit within us to restore and redeem our lives. Many of you who are reading this, live as testimonies of the power of God in this dark world. There is but one hope for this world and that is the one true light…Jesus Christ.
Now what I have just told you flies in the face of today’s secular humanism that teaches this truth: the world and humanity is good. Secular humanism’s solutions to the problems of the world are education and talking. How many times in your life have you heard the phrase, “If we could just sit down and talk we could work things out.” Listen, there is but one hope for this world and it starts with Jesus Christ. The problem is that we have bought into the idea that we can manage, control, or hide our sins—even those of us who are Christians. We forget the power of sin. Sin is never personal, sin is not just our own. When you sin, it affects your spouse, kids, family, and co-workers. To get a good example of this read about David’s affair with Bathsheba in 2 Samuel 11 & 12. The more David tried to manage and hide his sin the more people it affected.
What this all means is that as long as there is sin in the world, even hidden and managed sin, people are going to be hurt. Sometimes even innocent family members, friends, or just plain bystanders. Our job as believers in Jesus is to help people find the answer for the sin in their lives. Our job is to point them to Jesus so that the light of the world may shine his light into the dark places of people’s lives.
Question 2 – “Where was your god on Monday morning?”
This was an actual question from our community that showed up on the IC Press Citizen comment board. As you can tell, it was written in a condescending fashion, but it is a legitimate question none-the-less.
Well, to answer the question, “Where was your god on Monday morning?” I would have to say without a doubt that God was there. He was in the room, totally aware of every little detail that took place. I know this because Jesus said nothing happens on earth that God doesn’t know about. He even knows the number of the hairs on your head (Luke 12:6,7).
So why didn’t our good and loving Heavenly Father do anything? Think of it this way. What if God was superman and every time there was an atrocity against an innocent person he flew in and rescued them and punished the perpetrator? That means every single one of us would stand guilty of harming an innocent person. We all have lied, stolen, gossiped, slandered an innocent person and sometimes even worse. Not one person would escape the punishment. So God waits and watches.
What is God waiting for? He is waiting for his followers, the ones that he put his Holy Spirit in to make a difference. You see, it’s not that God isn’t engaged in what is happening in this world; He’s very much engaged. It’s just that he is working through his people. Why do you think the church is referred to as “the body of Christ?” We are his hands and feet here in this world, and so our love, ministry, compassion, service, and prayers make a huge difference.
What this means is that everyday you lock eyes with a broken, hurting, confused person who is in need of Christ’s love. The people living in the beautiful homes in your neighborhood--they may be hurting. The person with the nice SUV full kids may be extremely broken. The person in the cubicle next to yours may be at the end of their rope. You have been commissioned by Christ to communicate the Good News in whatever way possible, to who ever you connect with. Your Spirit filled life makes a difference in this world!
Maybe our failure to “see” has kept us from realizing the impact of Christ in this dark world. What if God removed his presence from this world? What if he removed his Word, his people, and his Spirit? Then the murder/suicide tragedy our community experienced wouldn’t be a once every twenty year event, instead it would be a daily experience. Maybe since these kinds of tragedies don’t happen everyday is proof that God is working in this world and that his people are making a difference—just something to think about.
Let me leave you with this parting thought. Horrific tragedies are going to continue to happen. Innocent people are going to continue to be hurt and taken advantage of or worse. However, don’t forget this one truth: one day Jesus is coming back. (Take a moment and read Revelation 19:11-16 to get a picture of what it will be like.) When Christ comes back every wrong and atrocity will be made right and everyone who knows Christ and has a relationship with him will be shown much mercy and grace. But to those who don’t know the King, they will receive a wrath and vengeance unlike anything known here on earth. God is watching and he knows what is taking place and one day it will be made right! So the question you need to answer is this: “Do you know Jesus?”
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