It has been a remarkable week. As I recovered from treatment against a spot of evil in my personal life in the guise of Lymphoma, evil seemed to roar its ugly head once again in our nation. From Boston to West, Texas, death and destruction suddenly affected countless people. All of us watched and waited for any news from Boston, praying that suspects would be captured before they could cause anymore ruin. And as we learned more about the massive explosion in Texas, our hearts went out to the families of the first responders who died so suddenly trying to save a city now nearly leveled as well as the nearly 200 injured. As if those were not enough, in Northern Illinois April showers became record braking floods as countless homes were damaged and a typical daily commute quickly became an endurance test of patience through detours.
Last week evil seemed so obvious. With such heartbreak, many questions came to mind. How do brothers living what appears on the surface to be a typical American life, plot and carry out a terrorist attack? Is it simply coincidence that these two terrible events occurred in the same week? Why did so many innocent people lose their lives or suffer injury without warning? Why does God allow such tragedy? Has evil won?
Investigations will eventually tell us why a fertilizer plant exploded and what steps communities can take in the future to prevent a repeat. Countless inquiries will attempt to answer every aspect of the Boston Marathon bombing. However, as we learned following 9-11, some questions will remain and beg for answers.
I find solace knowing that evil has already been defeated. While there are times when the consequences of evil are very apparent in our personal lives or in the lives of those in our community or nation, “the reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the works of the devil(1 John 3:8b)”. Yes, Jesus came to destroy evil. Through His death and resurrection, he succeeded.
Luke 10 describes the time when Jesus sent out 72 disciples on an urgent mission to heal and tell people that the kingdom of God was near. (It is a marvelous story well worth your closer examination.) When the 72 returned, Jesus greets them with the astonishing words:
“I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven. Behold, I have given you authority to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall hurt you (Luke 10:18-19).”
The enemy, Satan himself, was suffering defeat. Jesus continues saying, “Your names are written in heaven (v.20).” This is true victory, our salvation!
Yes there is much evil around us. Communities will be rocked by horrible, unfortunate explosions in the future. Moreover, we have no reason to believe that terrorism has ended in our nation. At times, like last week, evil will be obvious.
Scripture prepares us for such evil with simple, straightforward advice.
“Let love be genuine. Abhor what is evil; hold fast to what is good . . . Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer . . . Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good (Romans 12: 9, 12, 21).”
Let good rule over evil in your life. Be an example for others. We cannot allow evil to win over our lives.
See you in church,
Pastor Tom
Pastor Tom's Blog 