Horror in Aurora

James 5:13-16

We all know about the horrific events early Friday morning in a movie theater in Aurora, Colorado.  I first heard the report on the radio after I dropped the kids off at school.  CNN was in full swing with moment by moment coverage of the mass shooting in theater number nine that left twelve dead and fifty-nine wounded.  They ranged in age from four months to forty-five years old. 

While watching and listening to all the details as they developed, I felt sick to my stomach.  I was in disbelief as I watched a cell phone video of a man wearing a striped shirt covered in blood escorted out of the theater by a police officer.  He was in complete shock.  I listened in horror as eyewitnesses described the scene in the theater as “absolutely horrifying; a scene of claustrophobia, panic and blood; pure chaos.”

I remember back in 2006 when a similar tragedy struck the Amish community of Nickel Mines in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania.  The gunman, Charles Carl Roberts IV, entered the West Nickel Mines School, took hostages and shot ten girls, killing five before killing himself.  This brutally disturbing incident was a direct attack on the Amish traditions of pacifism and forgiveness. And the most amazing thing that came from this horrific event was the grace-filled, forgiving spirit of the Amish people.  They visited the wife of the shooter to demonstrate the amazing grace of God.  Many in the Amish community attended the funeral service for Mr. Roberts.  The Amish showed the whole world what the love, grace and mercy of God truly looks like.

The crazed gunman, Mr. Roberts, turns out was angry with God, angry with himself, haunted by guilt, fed up with life and driven by a hellish grudge.  These things haunted him leading to his destruction and shattering the lives of so many others.  As we learn more about the shooter, Mr. James Holmes, and what possessed him to commit such a horrible crime, there are things we will feel and experience that God wants us to forget and other things we must remember as we walk the long, winding road that is the Christian journey of faith. 

Three Things to Forget:
1. That Holding on to a Grudge has any Redeeming Social Value. No it doesn’t. There’s nothing good we can say about a grudge. Grudges are destructive. Grudges tear families apart.  They tear friendships apart.  They poison our souls and slowly harden our hearts.  Revenge is not sweet; it’s really sour, and in this case in Aurora its effects have caused a nation to retch and puke. God said, 'Vengeance is mine, I will repay.' As Christians we believe that Mr. Holmes will not go without punishment.  We also believe that his punishment is in God's hands.

2. Guilt is something we can’t get rid of. Yes we can. We think of guilt as if it has Velcro hooks that grab hold of our fuzzy souls and we just can’t tear it off. Yes we can. How many of us do this, holding on to the guilt of something in your past, an experience that you have not forgotten and it continues to haunt you.  I remember an incident in high school when I did something wrong and lied to my teacher about it, so I wouldn’t get into trouble.  I thought it would go away and be forgotten.  But this incident kept gnawing at me.  I couldn’t shake it.  I couldn’t forget it.  I was so afraid of what would happen if I told the truth.  I felt so guilty and ashamed and I didn’t know what to do.  When I finally did confess and came clean, I felt the weight of the world leave my mind and shoulders.  I still had to face the consequences of what I had done, but the hardship of that punishment was nothing compared to the guilt I experienced before my confession.

Christian faith feels like a radical commentary against trying to hide from our guilt: “Therefore confess your sins to one another, and pray for one another, so that you may be healed” (James 5:16).  Christian confession as forgiveness of sin and guilt is much different from carrying the sin and guilt of my actions around on my meager shoulders. 

Guilt for sins not only can be removed – let us never, ever forget, it WAS removed at the cross. But to grab hold of the forgiveness of God is the only means of removing guilt. And if we are honest, forgiveness can be quite scandalous...after all, it is offered to thieves on crosses, death row killers, school shooters, and even blue-white-or no collar sinners like us.

So guilt IS something we can get rid of, but we also need to remember that both horrific AND mundane sins are guilt-worthy and require forgiveness.

3. Life is Absurd and Meaningless. No it isn’t. Post-modernism and the growing belief that life has no real meaning or purpose have not been kind to us as Christians.  And if life has no meaning or purpose it may be because we’ve forgotten a few other things…here are some things we need to remember.

Things to Remember:
1. Forgiveness works. Back in 2006, it was reported that the wife of the killer was welcomed to attend the funeral of the girls and did.  The Amish community had forgiven Mr. Roberts for what had happened.  They extended that grace and forgiveness to those who most of us would find hard to forgive.  Forgiveness brings peace and wholeness to our lives.  I hope and pray that the Amish example of forgiveness will be what prevails in the aftermath of the horror in the Aurora shooting.

2. The Second Commandment. The Bible describes how one of the scribes came to see Jesus and heard them disputing and saw how well he had answered them.  He asked Jesus, “Which is the first of all the commandments?" Jesus replied, "The first is this: 'Hear O Israel! The Lord our God is Lord alone! You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength.' The second is this: 'You shall love your neighbor as yourself.' There is no other commandment greater than these."

Stan Purdum, editor and writer of The Wired Word, and contributor to Homiletics writes: “In thinking about the importance of moral education I thought about the difference between Deuteronomy 6:1- 9 (which clearly calls for moral education) and Matthew 19:16-22 (where the rich young ruler says about the commandments, ‘I have kept all these’). The rich young ruler was the product of a moral education, but he lacked one thing, Jesus said. And that lack was the absence of a personal commitment to live according to what his education had provided him. The Matthew version of this story (it’s also in Mark and Luke) includes the “Love your neighbor as yourself” command. By keeping so many of his possessions in the face of the needs of others, he was NOT loving his neighbor as himself. So moral education, by all means, but also something more, is the one thing we often lack—a personal commitment to live what we have learned.

3. Moral Education is important. Does anybody think that Sunday school, Bible study, worship and religious instruction aren’t important for our kids? Wrong!  Rev. Bob Kaylor, Senior Pastor of a UMC church in Park City, Utah, recalled once: “I’m in the middle of a sermon series on Wesley, who was always talking about sanctification as the process whereby we grow more and more into that perfect image of God. Can’t do that sitting our butts in a pew once a week (or, more likely, less). It takes discipline, practice, and modeling. I got very convicted this summer traveling around England in Wesley’s footsteps that my own preaching did not push hard enough at the demands of discipleship and that faith is not another entertainment option. When a mom says to me in the grocery store that, ‘Well, we haven’t been in worship or Sunday School because Jimmy has had soccer practice and it’s the only day he gets to sleep in and, well, he’s 11 now and can make his own decisions and yada, yada, yada’ I am more inclined to respond now by asking whether she cuts Jimmy the same slack on a weekday morning for school.  Which education is more important: academic or moral?  When this kid grows up and is faced with moral issues, a failing marriage, an addiction, depression or a whole host of other issues, won’t you and he both be glad that he spent all that time at soccer practice? Until we get serious with our people about the fact that faith isn’t a hobby, we’re not doing our jobs very well.”  A moral education is what’s lacking in today’s world, one that molds and shapes our worldview of what is right and what is wrong.  We have lost it.  We must reclaim it

4. Goodness abounds. We’re horrified because, in part, there is so much good in the world. Evil is the aberration, not goodness. Desmond Tutu was quoted in The Christian Century several years ago as saying: "The media tend to inundate us with rather unpleasant news. We have the impression that evil is on the rampage, is about to take over the world. We need to keep being reminded that there is a great deal of good happening in the world. Ultimately, good prevails."

The Reverend Bob Kaylor says: “We need to start living that reality. Somewhere along the line we got the idea that the afterlife was the penultimate destination for humanity, rather than having ‘ears to hear’ what Jesus was talking about—God’s Kingdom breaking into to transform THIS world and doing so THROUGH us. I think it’s time we started focusing people in that direction. The issue isn’t us escaping this sinful world, but transforming it through God’s grace.”

Yes, goodness does indeed abound in spite of the evil acts of terror we witness around the world.  I believe that as Christians, in the face of such acts of evil, we have an enduring hope in Jesus the Christ.  It’s a stone of hope cut and shaped from the rock of despair.  It’s a sure hope that the storm is passing over, that truth crushed to earth will rise again, that our sorrow may last for the night but joy comes with the morning.  It is a sure hope that even though we are afflicted in every way, we are not crushed; perplexed, but not driven to despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed.  It is sure hope that the despair and hopelessness and sadness on Friday would be transformed into joy and promise and happiness for all who suffer and struggle life’s battles.  For we know we may lose a battle along the way, but we are confident that God will win the war.

Songwriter and recording artist, Michael W. Smith, sang for the people grieving and suffering in the aftermath of the shootings in Columbine High School. His song, “Healing Rain” is very fitting:
Healing rain is coming down
It's coming nearer to this old town
Rich and poor, weak and strong
It's bringing mercy, it won't be long …
Lift your heads, let us return
To the mercy seat where time began
And in your eyes, I see the pain
Come soak this dry heart with healing rain.

May we all experience this healing rain.  Amen.