Dr. Scott Rodin is a good friend and a fellow participant in a small men's group here in the Spokane area. He also has his own blog (http://wp.kingdomlifepublishing.com) and from time to time we do "blog sharing." This morning, Scott's message was so powerful that I asked if I could share it here on my website. I hope you are as impacted as I was by is words of both encouragement and admonition.
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In this brief blog I use the term ‘Newtown’s child’ to refer
to all of the loss we suffered in Newtown, Connecticut one week ago today.
I’ve heard people say that the tragedy of Newton’s child was
made all the worse because these children died so near Christmas.
I disagree.
The hope, the peace and the comfort for the families of
Newtown’s child are embodied in the coming of Bethlehem’s child.
To every child whose life was ended in Newton, Bethlehem’s
child says, ”Your story is not over, for because I live, you will live also.”
To every grieving parent who laid Newton’s child in a grave
this week, Bethlehem’s child says, “I am the resurrection and the life, those
who believe in me will never die.”
To a nation and world that grieve for Newtown’s child and
are overwhelmed by the presence of evil in our midst, Bethlehem’s child says,
“In this world you will have trials and tribulation, but be of good cheer, I
have overcome the world.”
If ever there was a year for us to draw nearer the manger
and kneel in wonder and adoration at Bethlehem’s child, it is certainly this
Christmas. Only there will sorrow be
turned into hope, and grief give way to comfort and peace.
But there is more.
There is no ‘silver lining’ in this tragedy. We will look in
vain to find one. Evil offers no such
thing. Evil is evil to the very edge of
its influence and presence. This
Christmas must remind us that Bethlehem’s child came not to help us find some
good in the presence of evil, but to execute its utter destruction.
As we cry out, ‘when will this evil be ended?’, Bethlehem’s
child cries out, ‘it is finished.’
Evil’s fate was sealed on the cross.
How can this be in the face of this demonstration of evil’s
growing grip in our nation? The defeat
of evil happens through the small, daily victories of God’s people, who live
and pray and minister and work in his name and with the power he promised us.
Our response to the loss of Newton’s child must be to claim
the promise that is ours in Bethlehem’s child, and with that promise, to change
the world where we live. We are the
hands and feet of Jesus. We are the
ambassadors of Christ, called to be salt and light wherever we go. We have been given the authority to drive
evil out of our homes, our schools, and our communities. Will we claim it?
We are not left defenseless in this battle. Our weapons against the enemy are
forgiveness, love, generosity and truth. Against these, all evil is rendered
powerless. And they are each available to us in unending abundance because of
Bethlehem’s child.
Today we look back and remember the lives that were lost,
six adults and twenty children who will never be forgotten. All of us will ponder Newtown’s child in our
hearts this Christmas. But we must even
more look forward to Tuesday, to the coming of Bethlehem’s child, believing
that the final victory over evil and death that is the promise and product of
this divine birth, will one day in some unimaginable way swallow up the grief
and overwhelm the sorrow of the loss of Newtown’s child.
This one tiny birth brings to the world the truth of the
real state of evil, and empowers us, even in the shadow of Newtown’s child, to
proclaim with the deepest conviction, ‘O death where is your sting? Oh grave, where is your victory?’
Oh come, let us adore him.
Dr. Scott Rodin | December 21, 2012 at 8:36 am
