Title: ?Why?? Scripture: Lk 13: 1-5
Type: Special Occasion ? Sept. 11, 2001 Bombing Where: GNBC 9-16-01
Intro: On Tuesday morning I was reading the Cedar Rapids Gaz., and drinking my coffee when came upon an interesting editorial for the day. Bill Ferguson, columnist for the Warner Robins (GA) Daily Sun, wrote a tongue-in-cheek editorial entitled: America Needs a Distraction?w/o Bill Clinton we?re too Focused on our Own Troubles. Before I had finished reading the paper I received two calls, simultaneously, telling me that we had gotten more of a distraction than Mr. Ferguson could have ever wanted or dreamed of happening in even his worse nightmare. And I suppose, one of the first questions that popped into the minds of millions who witnessed this event was: ?Why?? ?Why does this sort of thing happen?? ?Where is God in the midst of this tragedy?? ?What should be my response to this type of event??
Prop: This morning we will attempt to answer these three questions surrounding the Trade Center and Pentagon tragedies.
BG: 1. As bg to message want to look at time when Jesus was asked to make sense of two awful events. 2. Even in such a time period as then, people were as concerned then as today as to why evil events take place and what our response to these should be.
Prop: So again, this morning, let us examine three significant questions surrounding such an awful event.
I. Why Does Such an Evil Event Take Place? (Lk.13:1-5)
A. Evil and suffering are realities in life. (Christian Science doesn?t offer hope ??all in mind?
1. Tragedies, although not to this same level of magnitude, are nothing new in the history of man?s fallen race
Illust- In this account Jesus was asked the similar question of ?Why?? When faced with two separate incidents. These stories could have been in the local papers at that time period, as fresh in their experience as New York and Washington is in ours. In one instance Rom. Military gov., Pilate, had sent soldiers into temple to kill a group of Jews from Galilee, suspected as insurrectionists. Result was outrage! Pagan Romans trample on all that was holy in entering and defiling temple. Second, Jesus tells account of another tower, tower in Siloam that fell killing 18 men..
2. Jesus teaches His followers two important lessons in this passage.
a. 1st: Don?t be surprised when this type of thing happens. This is the natural result of living in a fallen world. Adam?s sin in Gen. 3 was no small event, it was a Catastrophe! All death entered into the world as a result of that one act of rebellion. (Could happen always)
b. Don?t assume those who suffer in such events are worse individuals than you or me. v.3-4 Jews of Christ time believed that when bad things happened was result of sin in that individual?s life. ? response to sickness or catastrophe. Sometimes there aren?t easy answers and sometimes the good (relatively speaking) die along with those we assume to be evil.
B. What Other Reasons are there for this Specific type of Event taking place?
1. Worldviews are in conflict and all religions don?t basically teach the same things!
a. Obviously it is wrong to say that all Muslims are guilty of such actions. The vast majority of Muslims are decent people, love family, attempt to get along w/neighbors. Also, those who call selves ?Christians? have been guilty of great acts of treachery. Yet, the world has been awakened to the ugly face of Islam. What we experience, others have lived with for thirty years in Sudan, in Indonesia, and other lands around the globe.
b. The official position of Islam is that her martyrs go directly to heaven:
The Prophet said, "The person who participates in (Holy battles) in Allah?s cause and nothing compels him to do so except belief in Allah and His Apostles, will be recompensed by Allah either with a reward, or booty (if he survives) or will be admitted to Paradise (if he is killed in the battle as a martyr). Had I not found it difficult for my followers, then I would not remain behind any sariya going for Jihad and I would have loved to be martyred in Allah?s cause and then made alive, and then martyred and then made alive, and then again martyred in His cause." (Sahih Bukhari 1.35, also Sahih Bukhari 4.386) It is therefore not difficult to understand why some extremist Muslims (eg. the Hamas) were willing to die for their terrorist acts. Jesus said:] `` Not everyone who says to me, ?Lord, Lord,? will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven??
2. Need to realize: Our Nation is not Innocent in the Face of God, and He could certainly have allowed such an event (God is either omnipotent or not, if is, then has to allow)
Illust- Just last week we were studying Jer. 3; God had allowed Israel to be attacked and removed by Assyria. Babylon stood at the gates about to rape the land of Judah. Why? For worshiping false gods (if ever a god in America is our money!), for wicked behavior, for the bloodguiltiness of the nation. America carries the bloodguiltiness of at least one million unborn children each and every year for last __25__yrs. God does not look upon such barbarism w/favor.
C. Applic: Evil and suffering are realities in life, yet there is hope to be found in Xst if repent.
II. Where is God in the Midst of Such an Evil Event?
A. Some immediately think existence of evil eliminates the possibility of Omnipotent God.
1. What are the causes for evil and suffering in this world?
a. Much of the suffering in the world can be directly traced to the evil choices men make. Seen daily in crime. Yet people want to blame God! Illust- Boom Boom Mancini, after killing Korean boxer in the ring: ?Sometimes I wonder why God does the things He does.?
b. Some suffering is allowed by God as a judgment or punishment. (already explained)
c. Finally, God has an implacable enemy in Satan. Although defeated, he has been allowed to work his evil deeds until the final judgment. There is the world a force of evil stronger than man himself, this is clear from the revelation of God?s Word. And as the parable of the Tares (Mt. 13) explains, Satan finds great pleasure in ruining God creation and causing suffering. (Not too pop. in our inclusive culture of tolerance, but I believe Islam comes from the same pit as all other false faiths, the pit of hell, and when Mohammed saw in his vision an ?angel of light?, it was the same deceiving angel of light (II Cor. 11:14) Paul spoke of in warning true believers. (Pres. Bush stated: We will rid world of evil. Impossible.)
2. Does the Existence of Evil Mean God doesn?t exist or at least isn?t Omnipotent?
a. JS Mill?s argument ? ?If God desires there to be evil in the world, then He is not good. If He does not desire there to be evil, yet evil exists, then He is not omnipotent. Thus, if evil exists God is either not loving or not all-powerful.? fails in exact reward concept. You see the whole of the Gospel, as previewed in the OT and broadcast in stereo-television in the NT, is that God?s goodness consists not only in His justice, but also in His love, mercy, and kindness. (p. 111 Know Why?, Little.) II Pet. 3:9 ??The Lord is not slow about His promise?not wishing for any to perish but all to come to repentance.?
b. Illust: Robinson Crusoe: Conversation w/ Friday: Friday: ?But if God much strong, much more than devil, why God no kill the devil so make him no more do evil?? ?You may as well ask,? asnwers Crusoe reflectively, ?why does God not kill you and me when we do wicked things..." (You see we might all feel justified in asking why God doesn?t destroy all evil right now. Yet I don?t think too many of us would like the result. For if God were to stamp out evil today, He would do a thorough job of it. If He decreed to remove all evil from the universe this evening, who would be left at midnight to enjoy it?!
B. God has and will deal with the issue of Evil.
1. God has already judged all sin and evil behavior in Christ.
a. We really don?t want God to eliminate all evil right now!
Free will was a risky gift to give to man. Basic reason for evil in the world is man?s responsibility, not God?s. Could he stop it? Yes, but in doing so, as Crusoe said to Friday: He would have to destroy us all.
b. All sin judged in Xst at Calvary. ? once and for all. That is why man can be saved. Your &my sin has already been judged and covered. It is transferred to our account by faith in Xst.
2. Every Individual will ultimately face an eternal judgment.
a. Heb. 9:27 ?Inasmuch as it is appointed for men to die once and after this comes judgment.?
b. Illust- At the moment those planes and people went into eternity the different individual?s fate was determined. No more opportunities for faith in Christ. Some split hell wide open and those who trusted in Christ were ushered straight into Heaven?s halls!
C. Applic: Such awful displays of evil cause us to look to God for solace and comfort? It isn?t atheism or agnosticism, but rather Christianity, that helps when it hurts!
III. What is to be My Response in Light of Such an Event? (two groups to make response)
A. The Response of the Christian
1. Scripture teaches: ?Judgment begins with the household of God.? (I Pet. 4:17)
a. Repent: American Christians need to repent of how we have far too often failed to be salt and light in our communities! We talk about salvation, and all-powerful God, and we?re too tired or too depressed to go to church on Sunday mornings. We work fifteen jobs so we can be in hock to our eyeballs, then we question if we can tithe or give a gift to a missionary. We fill up on R-rated movies and have little time to read our Bibles or go SS. Our marriages and families are in disarray and we listen to Sally and Oprah instead of the Savior.
b. Pray: I?ll be first to confess lack of diligence in praying for our leaders. Also to pray for nation, and for revival. (Revival will not come without prayers of God?s people 1st!)
2. Seize the Day for God?s Glory!
a. This is not a time for fear but a time for faith and bold proclamation! Illust- This week several of you have contacted me to tell me about the opportunities God is giving to witness and share that you have never had before! PTL. (II Tim 4:2 ? ?preach the word; be ready in season and out; reprove, rebuke, exhort?v.5- endure hardship, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry.?
b. We are to be the most joyful, hopeful, and helpful people on earth. I?ll give you a clue, they didn?t ask for leaders of ?People for the American Way? or ?American Civil Liberties? or any of the other secular sensationalists to go to ground zero. But they have been begging for pastors/priests.
B. The Response of the Person who is not a Christian or Unsure About whether or not he is a Christian. The person outside of Xst has Received a Great Wake-up Call to throw self on God?s mercy.
1. Illust- The two items that shook me most about this disaster were seeing the hopeless individuals jump out of the building to a certain death, and second, to think that of the thousands killed, most of them probably were having a normal day, and I doubt few if any ever had a thought when they left for work that they would go into eternity by mid-morning.
2. Illust- Life is like that. Death is a reality and very few of us control the moment we exit this world. Are you ready for eternity? If you have not accepted Xst you aren?t ready. What do you do to know for sure? Apostle Paul answered question: Rom. 10:9 ?If you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you shall be saved.?
C. Applic: What will be your response?
Conclusion: My good friend Jim Rea contacted me the day after the attacks. Pastoring for nearly 30 yrs. in N. Ireland, Jim has known over 150 different friends, acquaintences killed during troubles. Asked: Jim, what do you tell people in times such as these? ?Chris, I often tell them the wee story of Joseph in Genesis.? Jospeh was sold into slavery by brothers, mistreated, false charges, thrown in prison, forgotten. Yet in time, God blessed life. Years later 2nd most powerful man in world. Brothers came crawling to him for food. When revealed identity they were afraid. Yet, Joseph?s response was telling: Gen. 50:20 ?As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good?? And so, these terrorists meant it for evil, but God is going to use it for good. (Revival, Regeneration in you today?
