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Thinking Jesusly about the Tragedies of Orlando
Men show their characters
in nothing more clearly than in what they think laughable.
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
German dramatist, novelist, poet,
& scientist (1749-1832)
The stories coming out of Orlando over the last weeks have been
heart rending. Fifty people brutally and
senselessly murdered for reason(s) we’ve yet to fathom. That they were gunned down in an
establishment that catered to a gay clientele does not make the news any more
or less tragic. It is what it is. But how do we make sense of this kind of
tragedy? As details continue to surface
regarding the shooter, motive, affiliations, etc., there is a possibility that
we may know more but never know why.
At a venue not far away, we also learned of the tragic death of two-year-old Lane Graves who, while vacationing
with his family at a Disney resort, was snatched by an alligator in the
shallows of the resort lagoon just steps away from the hotel. Despite his injured and anguished father’s
best efforts to rescue him from the beast’s jaws, the boy was taken below. The
boy’s body was recovered from the waters hours later. This incident also begs the question
why. However there is little we can gain
from an investigation except perhaps what the corporate giant will do to
protect itself and how the family will respond in their grief. An alligator is what it is; ferocious,
unpredictable and living in a habitat long extant before Mickey Mouse was even
a budding idea in the mind of his creator.
Yet this will not stop people from making guesses and stating
opinions. Why would Omar Mateen go to a
club that he had frequented, and gun down 49 others? Why would an alligator, that could have had
his fill of other more familiar prey, go out of his way to attack and kill a
young child? Yet in the case of the
terrorist killings, there are some who see things quite differently. As a follower of Jesus Christ, it was with
dismay that I read of a pastor in California who, smiling and stating quite
matter of factly, that he saw nothing but “good news” in the attack on the
Pulse nightclub. I will not dignify the statements made to the Verity Baptist
Church congregation by this person in this post. You, the reader, doubtless have the capacity
to find them on your own or, with news feed alerts being what they are, they
have probably already found you.
Yet how could someone see the sudden, capricious and vicious
deaths of 49 individuals as being good, or even welcome news? How could a person who claims to serve God,
calmly rejoice in the demise of people he’d never really met or known? How could a minister of the good news of Jesus
Christ go so far afield of the teachings of the one he claims to follow?
A (not so) New Double Standard
There was a time not so long ago that when the phrase “double
standard” was used, it spoke of the expectations for men and women in their
respective spheres. The “glass ceiling”
that continues to thwart women from earnings equality is a classic
example. At one time it was allowable to
pay women less because men had families and thus needed the pay “more”. Archaic though it may sound, it was acceptable
until legislation made it illegal and newer, less visible ways were attained to
continue that status quo.
In a similar way, some believers use their own double standard
by which they live out their faith, if one can call it that. I am reminded of the conservative party of
Jesus’ day, known as the Pharisees, which had the double standard technique down
to an art. Turning a deft hand at “end run” philosophy, they would set aside
those portions of the law and the prophets that they wanted to be able to say
they kept but in their own fashion. They
could be severe in their adherence to selected portions of scripture,
condemning others and worse for not following their example, while paying lip
service to the other, more “inconvenient” truths of God’s word.
I tend to feel that today believers too have difficulty with
certain passages of scripture and allow them the luxury of adopting a
regressive revelation. In the opening verses of the book of Hebrews, a
statement is made regarding revelation of which all believers ought to take to
heart; “In the past God spoke to our ancestors through the prophets at many
times and in various ways, but in these last days he has spoken to us by His
Son….” (Hebrews 1:1-2a). The writer is
stating that God’s revelation of himself has been made at many times and in
various ways but the culmination of this is found in Jesus. He is the most perfect reflection of God’s
revelation to us that we should not seek to return to those times prior to his
coming.
Jesus came bringing a message of reconciliation and grace. But there were those who had long nursed hopes
their Messiah would finally get around to beating up on the Romans and restore rule
to the house of Israel. This obsessive preoccupation
with end times events and minutiae can turn into a full time job as so many
Christian broadcasters can attest.
However, despite Jesus’ detailed descriptions of end time happenings,
his focus was clearly elsewhere. His parting
words to his followers in Matthew 28:18-20 & Acts 1:7-8 reminded them of
their task; Take his message of grace and reconciliation wherever they went,
make, and baptize disciples. Even with his
mandate clearly stated, their desire to recast His vision led them to once again
press the question regarding the restoration of Israel’s national sovereignty.
This propensity to yearn for the good old days when foes were
completely vanquished and their enemy’s children were dashed against the rocks
(Psalm 137:8-9) seemed so reasonable.
Why hadn’t Jesus seen things their way? Why didn’t he just come as the
conquering leader like they were always told?
The answer of course is that Jesus came to recast the narrative based on
grace and reconciliation. This take us back
to the double standard mentioned earlier.
My contention is that there has been a reshaping of the Jesus
narrative in the church where we are able to see the error of untruth but for
some reason are blinded to the error of “ungrace”. Using this narrative, it becomes easier and
more “biblical” to laugh at the deaths of 50 people (including the Muslim shooter
who, along with gays, is on a “people okay to hate” list). With this narrative, it is okay to love Jesus
and hate those who don’t agree with him.
Now we come to Jesus’ words about the Tower of Siloam.
What? What does this
obscure conversation of Jesus have to do with the shootings in Orlando? I believe that the concept shared during that
conversation has EVERYTHING to do with it.
Consider the following account found in Luke 13:1-5;
“There
were present at that season some who told Him about the Galileans whose blood
Pilate had mingled with their sacrifices. 2 And Jesus answered and said to them,
‘Do you suppose that these Galileans were worse sinners than all other Galileans, because they
suffered such things? 3 I tell you, no; but unless you repent you will all
likewise perish. 4 Or those eighteen on whom the tower in Siloam fell
and killed them, do you think that they were worse sinners than all other men who dwelt in Jerusalem? 5 I tell you, no; but unless you repent you will all likewise perish’.”
Two recent events were referenced in this passage. Both involved the violent deaths of persons,
one group murdered and the other died as a result of a freak accident.
Though unasked, it appears that Jesus knew that a question was
on the minds of those who had raised the issue.
Perhaps it was stated more clearly in an incident recorded in John 9:2;
“Now as
Jesus passed by, He saw a man
who was blind from birth. And His disciples
asked Him, saying, ‘Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was
born blind?’” (emphasis added mine)
Along
with wanting to organize and systematize a belief system, there is the need to
determine and affix blame. Jesus sensed
this in crafting his response regarding Pilate’s slaughter of Galileans and the
deaths in Siloam. What he gave them is
classic atypical, asymmetrical response as he has so often given before. In
doing so Jesus helps us to work through tragedies like those in Orlando.
1. For those looking to vilify
perpetrators, they will have plenty of company, especially if the person is
from a group that has already been declared “okay to hate.” Yet we do not hear
Jesus lambasting Pilate, the soldiers or even Rome.
2. For those looking to vilify
the victims, as some have done in the Orlando massacre, Jesus did not comment
on the culpability of the victims either, as this was not at issue either.
3. The issue, Jesus declared, is that
we must look to ourselves to prepare for our own lives and deaths. It was from this perspective that Jesus asked
some questions that none could and/or dared answer;
“…do you think that
they (victims
of Pilate’s action) were worse sinners than all other
men who dwelt in Jerusalem?” The fact was AND is that we cannot
begin to guess the reason why these things happen. A gun in the wrong hands - most definitely; a
hate crime against gays - without doubt.
But, and THIS is the point, the victims of Pilate’s cruelty were no
worse sinners that those to whom Jesus was then speaking. The fact that they were in the right place at
the wrong time was not an indication of guilt; just that they were there. The blood of these victims was on Pilate’s
hands.
“….Or those eighteen on whom the tower in Siloam fell and killed
them, do you think that they were worse sinners than all other men who dwelt in Jerusalem?” Like Lane Graves, the 2 year old who was killed
by an alligator, these victims too were in the wrong place at the wrong time
but the result was still the same. Some
would want to blame God for the Siloam tower incident but we don’t even know
enough about the situation to even make a judgment. Was the tower under construction
or being repaired? Had the best or
inferior materials been used; was the workmanship superior or shoddy? When these cannot be determined, some then start
blaming the victims. The recent event
where a boy fell into a compound with some of the great apes quickly turned
from relief for rescue to outrage; who was to blame? Some wanted the mother prosecuted for the
death of the gorilla. This and other events
like it were what insurance companies call an “act of god” which translated
from ‘insurerspeak’ means “we don’t know”.
I tell you, no; but unless you repent you will all likewise perish’.” The answer Jesus gives to both events are that knowledge of
the other’s condition is not paramount when considering these tragedies. The action Jesus calls for is that of self-examination;
knowing that a similar catastrophe could occur and we could be caught up in
it. We need not know the why or the
when. We must consider the condition of
our own souls.
Jesus
saw the propensity in us to make senseless snap judgments to conform reality so
that is will fit within our little system of checks and balances. Jesus saw our propensity to adopt an “older
revelation” in order that we might excoriate our enemies while at the same time being able to claim we follow Him. The pastor, whose remarks were so offensive
to so many is only the latest example of this kind of thinking. It was out in the open, it was honest but it
was totally non-Christian. We must not delude ourselves into adopting a thoughtless
theology that those we disagree with are inhuman fodder to be jeered and
disposed of happily. To do so is to
disregard God’s message of grace and reconciliation. To do so is to disregard
Jesus.
NEXT POST – Oaths; “If you have to Swear on a Stack of Bibles….Don’t Bother; Odds are you are Untrustworthy!”
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