Reflections, Sermons and more

Thursday, April 19, 2007

 

            God of consolation, in your unending love and mercy for us you turn the darkness of death into the dawn of new life. Show compassion to your people, parents and loved ones of those who have returned to their heavenly home, in their sorrow.

 

            Be our refuge and our strength to lift us from the darkness of this grief to the peace and light of your presence. Give comfort and support to all who are in grief and in pain. Heal those who are still under medical care, returning them to their loved ones soon.

 

            Your son, our Lord Jesus Christ, by dying for us, conquered death and by rising again, restored life.

 

            May we then go forward eagerly to meet Him, and after our life on earth be reunited with our brothers and sister where every tear will be wiped away. May your love shine upon all who are suffering and in grief. Gives all of us the strength to find peace and forgiveness. We ask this through Jesus Christ our Lord.

 

 

            I knew that I had to finally speak out on the tragedy that has affect so many this past week with the murder of so many at Virginia Tech, here in Virginia.  Like most, I have been numb for days trying to understand, something that may never happen. How can any of us understand why anyone would do what this murder has done?  His ranting and comparing himself to Jesus only serves to worsen the pain and sets seeds for hate against him. But we must forgive … we can not forget … but we must forgive.

 

            This tragedy has made me think about the Holy Innocents, the male children murdered by Harrod in his attempt to kill the newly born Messiah. Mothers and fathers wept as they found their innocent children in pools of blood. No parent should have to ever bury their child, as it is through their children the parent lives on. 

 

            Why does God allow such evil to take place? Why did these innocent people have to die? Is God blind or does He not care?  I have heard that a lot and I can understand these questions.

 

            God so loved the world that He gave his only begotten Son to die for our sins. God is not the creator of such evil as we have seen this week. Everything and everyone God made is good. God is not the creator of evil, but He allows evil to live along side of us, giving us free will. God did intervene Monday at Virginia Tech. The witness of God’s miraculous interventions is only now becoming known.

 

            The holocaust survivor who barracked the class room door, giving up his own life, so his student could escape out the windows. Or the young man who by his actions protected the lives of other, losing his own in the process. More could have died this week, but the miraculous intervention of God hand saved many.

 

            God grieves when we grieve. God feels our pains of loss. God feels our fear. God is always there at our side, no matter what is going on around us. God never leaves us. He sent us angels to watch and protect us, and to carry us Home when we are called. Those who lost their lives this week at Virginia Tech did not die alone, and now they are at rest in the loving hands of God.

 

            Do not cry for the dead. Support and prayers for those who are now suffering in grief should be our Christian duty. It is the living who needs prayers and the strength to move on and to find joy again in their lives. The support of the Virginia Tech community, and the world community, witnesses that through all that has happened God is still with us and God will love us in our grief and suffering. “They will know we are Christians by our love,’ and we are seeing this love in action in our Virginia Tech family … in the family of humankind.

 

            Let us all continue to pray for the living that need us now. Let us pray that forgiveness will free us. Let us pray that this never happens.

 

            Eternal rest grant unto them O Lord, and let perpetual light shine upon them. May they rest in God’s peace. May their souls and the souls of all the faithful departed rest in the loving peace of their Creator. Amen.