Doing Nothing!
"THE SPIRIT OF THE LORD IS UPON ME, BECAUSE HE HAS ANOINTED ME TO PREACH THE GOSPEL TO THE POOR; HE HAS SENT ME TO HEAL THE BROKENHEARTED, TO PROCLAIM LIBERTY TO THE CAPTIVES AND RECOVERY OF SIGHT TO THE BLIND, TO SET AT LIBERTY THOSE WHO ARE OPPRESSED; TO PROCLAIM THE ACCEPTABLE YEAR OF THE LORD."
(Luke 4:18-19 NKJV)
Parkland, FL
There are broken hearts in Parkland, FL this week. Time will sooth some of the hurt but the broken hearts will never be truly mended. Losing loved ones to accidents, disease, old age, and natural disasters is a part of life. My family lost two infants. One was lost in an accident and one was lost to whooping cough. I don’t think my family ever really recovered from the effects of those losses. But those broken hearts can hardly be compared to those suffering because of a young man who took a semiautomatic assault rifle to school and who methodically killed 17 people, most of whom were children. The impact on the families involved is just hard to imagine. Anyone who doesn’t cry with those who are crying because of this senseless act of evil simply doesn’t have a heart. The argument that nothing can be done means that the US, the most powerful and innovative country in the world, has finally met a problem it cannot solve. We are sending men to outer space (and a car apparently). We have put men on the moon. We are making strides against all kinds of diseases. The one thing that might help heal the broken hearts of the families that have lost loved ones is if FINALLY, people in the US and congress admit that we have a problem and then come together to do something about it.
The Lord’s Broken Heart
I am reminded of the Psalmist saying in Psalms 69:20, “Reproach has broken my heart, And I am full of heaviness; I looked for someone to take pity, but there was none; And for comforters, but I found none.” This was the experience of David but it was also the experience of the Lord. Those who were affected by the Parkland massacre were affected by one man. They have had the community and the country come together to mourn and sympathize and in some cases empathize. The country has tried to unite behind the brokenhearted. But it was not so with the Lord. He was completely forsaken by his countrymen and his family and his friends. Bullets are devastating but I believe that being charged with doing wrong when you have done your best to do right and then finding out that your friends are afraid to support you is perhaps just as devastating as bullets. Even the Lord’s disciples forsook him and fled when that unruly rebellious mob came to deliver the Lord to Pilate after He had been betrayed by Judas’ hypocritical kiss. Then if that weren’t enough the LORD was forsaken by the Father for those three dark hours.
The Cure
I am personally glad for the people who have a conscience and who try to alleviate the pain that so many experience in this world. When I see obituaries for those who have died young, when I see amber alerts, when I see news on natural disasters, I am always reminded that there are people even today who are hurting because this world is just built that way. Ever since Satan decided to go on a rampage against the Lord in heaven, there has been war between good and evil. Often it seems that evil wins. And while, right now, people are ready for something to be done; likely nothing will be done because we are constantly reminded that guns don’t kill people, people kill people. Of course cars don’t kill people either, but we do try to make them safer so that people are not killed by those driving them. We make the young take driver’s education courses and we license all drivers so that the people driving cars will not kill themselves or others. Cell phones don’t kill people either, but we do try to limit their use in cars so that idiots (like me) will not use them when they should be paying attention to the road. But most likely we will stay with the platitudes that mean nothing and we will do nothing and hearts will continue to be broken.
The Lord came to “heal the brokenhearted.” While I believe this world will continue to break hearts, not only with guns but in a multitude of other ways as well, the Lord really does have the answer. The one whose heart was broken, did not take up arms, He did not call the angels that were at His disposal, He didn’t call for revenge, instead He died the just for the unjust. He forgave those who crucified Him.
I personally believe that the only real solution for a broken heart is offered by the Lord. Unless the heart of man is changed by trusting in the worth and work of the Lord Jesus, there will be no cure for this brokenhearted business. This world does not need more guns, we have enough of those. This world needs the healing power that has been offered by the Lord. We need to believe that our creator knows best how to heal a broken heart. We need to believe that our problem is bigger than guns, it is a problem called sin. When we face our sin, we will be able to look to the Lord for the solution. Sin has broken all of our hearts in some way and at some time. We need to trust the Lord who says that He came to “heal the brokenhearted.”
While the Lord has the spiritual answer that does not mean that we as a society should sit back and assume that “nothing can be done”. It may be our child, our friends, our neighbors or even us who will be affected by the next massacre if we continue to “do nothing.” Then will we be satisfied with “doing nothing?”
Bruce Collins
Meditation for the week of February 17, 2018