Osama Bin Laden and the Lord of the Flies

One of the world's most famous villians, a man who cared nothing for the murders of innocents and celebrated their deaths in his twisted vision of the future, is dead.  Will terrorism die with him?  Could the death of this one man put a stop to the global Jihad that has been declared against the West and Christianity?

The short answer is no.  That isn't what everyone wants to hear, but it's the sad truth.  There are still plenty of evil men (and some women) in our world eager to commit similar acts of sin against their fellow man.  When Hitler envisioned the destruction of the Jewish people he would have been just another racist if there weren't millions of "good" Germans willingly joining in the killing.  Remember, Hitler was elected by popular vote before he took power in Germany.  Osama Bin Laden too was very popular among the millions of young Muslims who share his hatred.

How does any of this relate to William Golding's novel, Lord of the Flies?  In the book, the character Simon seeks to explain to the boys who have been stranded on the Pacific island with him that "mankind's essential illness" is what they have to fear.  The boys on the island have been growing increasingly afraid of an imaginary "beast" whose existence they have tried to deny, but the fear of which continues to grow just the same.  Simon explains that there is no external beast to fear, but rather "the beast is us".  The only evil they have to fear is the evil within themselves.  Humanity's essential flaw is that we are depraved.  We are mired in sin and unable to live together in peace. 

As shocking as it may sound, the evil in men like Osama Bin Laden and Adolf Hitler is not different in kind from the evil that resides in humanity as a whole.  It is certainly different in degree; most people never approach such scale in the evil that they do, but as Romans reminds us, "all have sinned".  We have all fallen short of perfection, we have all commited sins against ourselves, our neighbors, and our God.  We have all taken steps down the path that leads to Hell.

Is it a good thing that Osama Bin Laden is dead?  Certainly.  Did he deserve to die because of his crimes?  Absolutely.  Will terrorism cease now or in the future?  Sadly, no, this form of evil may be new, but the depravity that spawned it is not.  So what should we do if the battle that we're fighting cannot be won?  Even if we cannot win a battle against evil in our world, we must still support and honor those who try to protect the innocent and administer justice.  We must all strive to instill virtue in the next generation, work to protect the innocent as best we can, and tell the world that the only cure for our self-destruction is the saving grace of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

Sermon Video: "I am sending you" John 20:19-21

As the disciples huddle behind locked doors on the evening of the first Easter, Jesus suddenly appears in their midst and tells them, "Peace be with you."  These words and the proof of Jesus' resurrection later form the basis for the remarkable willingless of ten out of eleven (all but John) of the disciples choosing martyrdom over abandonment of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.  Even today, Jesus offers his peace to any who are willing to accept him.

To watch the video, click on the links below:
Sermon Video Part 1
Sermon Video Part 2

If God is Love...

The modern world doesn’t like absolutes. It recoils from calling even the most vile acts evil. It dismisses the idea of hell as an antiquated notion that the Church needs to rid itself of. It looks at the morality of the Bible as a suggestion, something that can be changed when needed. That is why it is so interesting that this same mindset has latched onto the declaration of the Letter of First John that “God is love”. If God is love, they say, he wouldn’t send anyone to hell. He wouldn’t fault anyone for believing in a false religion, or no religion at all. The God who is love will always choose love over any other quality.


Sadly, this particular God doesn’t resemble the God of the Bible. He isn’t the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Nor is he the God who revealed himself to Moses and gave his Covenant people the Law. To reduce God to a one-dimensional principle (even one as fundamental to his nature as Love) is to treat God like a force, and not a person. But the God who chose to reveal himself to us through the Scriptures is clearly a person. God has emotions, God gets angry, God laughs, and yes, God loves.

God cares about holiness. He can’t accept rebellion, he can’t ignore sin. How do we know, besides the fact that the Bible is full of God saying exactly that, consider that God cared enough about sin that he tossed Adam and Eve out of the Garden. He flooded the world in disgust in the day of Noah. He leveled Sodom and Gomorrah, and put the sons of Eli to death for their blasphemy. God made his people wander in the desert for forty years because of their unbelief, and he decreed that the people of Canaan were so evil that they must be wiped out, all of them. God takes holiness serious in his people too. When David sinned, the unborn child died as a consequence. When the whole nation of Israel wandered away from him, he sent them into captivity. When Judah did the same, they followed suit. God cares enough about holiness that he sent his own Son to die on the Cross to save us from ourselves. God is love. No doubt about that, why else would he go to such lengths to try to redeem us?

Is hell real? You’d better believe it. Either hell is real, or God is a liar. Either hell is real or Jesus died in vain. Is there any point in worshiping a God who lies to us? Any reason to worship a God who would put his Son through torture for no real reason?? So, go ahead, tell everyone that God is love, just don’t forget to also tell them that God is Holy. And oh, by the way, we’re not. Either we fix that problem through faith in Jesus Christ, or we’re going to hell. Not because God sends people there, but because we earned it.

The Lord of the Flies and Schindler's List

In a few day my students will begin writing an essay on the nature of humanity.  They've been reading through William Golding's excellent "Lord of the Flies" in which he seeks to show through the total breakdown of the society of a couple of dozen boys stranded on a small island that the evil that mankind confronts comes from within.  We can't hide from it on a island because we brought it with us when we came there.  Despite the best efforts of some of the book's characters, a meltdown into violence and chaos follows...Last year I used the heart-wrenching true story contained in "Schindler's List" as a way to further the theme and allow my students to write about human nature.  After watching the unspeakable inhumanity of the Holocaust, is it possible to still see good in man?  Can the redemptive acts of Oskar Schindler and Itzhak Stern stand up against the casual evil of Amon Goeth and the countless "good Germans" who didn't give a second thought to the massacre of innocents in their midst?
This is no small question, and one that occupies the minds of many Christians as well.  The level of evil in our world should, at the least, give us pause and send us back to Scripture seeking answers.  With Easter just ending, we are all aware of the injustice and inhumanity displayed when Christ was crucified.  This is nothing new.  God was disgusted with humanity in the day of Noah.  We haven't changed much.  The absolute reality of evil requires us to throw ourselves on the mercy of God and trust wholly in the Blood of the Lamb to save us from ourselves. 
In the end, this is why the Love of God isn't enough.  {Sorry, but it's the truth.  Love alone fails, without Christ we would all be doomed despite God's unchangeable love for us}To simply say that God loves us and it'll be ok doesn't cut it.  God cannot have any part in the evil that engulfs our world.  Holiness and sin do NOT mix.  There is no remedy for our desperate situation apart from Christ.
What will my students write?  How many of them will choose to see the courage of Oskar and the crazy Hope of Itzhak as proof that there is hope in humanity?  How many will recoil at the evil of children murdered simply because they were Jewish and conclude that humanity is beyond hope?
Is humanity evil?  Yes, none of us are free of guilt.
Are we beyond hope?  On our own, yes.
Thanks be to God for the nail-pierced hands that gave us hope.

Sermon Video: "Jesus had to rise from the dead" - John 20:9

The account of Resurrection Sunday in the Gospel of John contains a note from the author that Peter and John didn't understand that "Jesus had to rise from the dead".  Not simply that he did rise from the dead, but that it was predicted, necessary, and inevitable.  As the Messiah, the Lamb of God, and the sinless Son of God, the grave had no hold upon Jesus.  He had to rise from the dead.

To watch the video, click on the links below:
Sermon Video Part 1
Sermon Video Part 2