A Prayerful Response

 

If you really fulfill the royal law according to the Scripture, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself,” you are doing well. James 2:8

What can one say in response to a mass killing in a homosexual nightclub in Orlando, FL last weekend? I have heard competing comments. One side says this is clearly judgment from God. The other side says this clearly not judgment, just an evil act that took many lives and can be attributed only to terrorists and God was not in it.

I am in conflict with these statements because I do not know how we see God as divorced from anything that happens in the world. Joseph  pointed out that God took what his brothers meant for evil and used it for good (Genesis 50:20). God does not plan evil, but he can use it for His good purposes.

Our Response

Let’s be clear, though.  Neither Christian nor non-Christian commentator can authoritatively speak for God regarding the Orlando massacre.  Christians (should) understand that God is never absent from any situation.  But we also understand that we get into a world of trouble when we start answering (or asking) “why” God acted or failed to act.  Our response should always be “what?”  What can I do for my neighbor?  What should I check or change in my attitude?  What is God teaching in the situation?

God is the only One who can deal with those who have died. I have obligations to deal with the living. From the distance I stand in Pennsylvania, there is little I can do for the grieving and those who were wounded in this attack.

Rather than waiting for my opportunity here, I would like to think that God has other things for me to do. How can we love our neighbors? Are we willing to communicate to people that God, in His love for us, hates our sin, that His Word is living and active, and that we can learn from it and grow from living it?

Love Your Neighbor

Will we teach that He still calls us to repent and believe as Peter is recorded doing in Acts 2? In the book of Acts, Peter says, “Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.” (Acts 2:38)

Christians in Florida are already serving. They are asking how they can love their neighbors because there has been a catastrophe. Do we, in other parts of this nation or the world, wait for a catastrophe, or do we start asking how we can love and serve our neighbors, all of them, before a tragedy occurs?

We can now pray for those who have been hurt or are grief stricken in Florida. How, though, can we pray for those who have chosen a homosexual lifestyle? …for Christians who will love and serve that community? Will we pray for the courage to speak the truth to everyone we meet about the love of Christ in dying for our sin?