Hope in an Age of Terror

“When these things begin to take place, stand up and lift up your heads

Because your redemption is drawing near.”

Luke 21:28

Attacks on Café’s, a theater and a stadium in Paris…  An annual Christmas party in San Bernardino turned into a terrorist nightmare… the attack on the Brussels airport and commuter rail station… the attack on the nightclub in Orlando… the Russian commercial jet and then the Egyptian commercial jet blown up… ambushes of policemen in Dallas and Baton Rouge (not terrorist related but unsettling none the less)… the attack in Nice on Bastille Day…the attack on the airport in Turkey…  a 17 year old with a knife and an ax attacking travelers on a train near Wurzburg, Germany… the Coup attempt in Turkey – there certainly has been a lot of this going on. 

Thinking about all of that, I wondered where might I go in Scripture for help, guidance or comfort.  My thoughts led me to Luke 21.  The first things I read there, didn’t provide much comfort.  Jesus said, “On the earth, nations will be in anguish and perplexity at the roaring and tossing of the sea.  Men will faint from terror, apprehensive of what is coming on the world…”  Well I haven’t seen a lot of “fainting from terror.”  But anguish?  Just look at the grief of those who have lost loved one’s in these attacks. Perplexity?  Again and again I hear people asking the question, “What is going on in the world?  Why is all this happening?  Are the governments doing anything to stop all of this?  Apprehensive?  Yes.  I have experienced concern and fear over things I would normally not even think about.  Whenever I go to the airport I find myself looking around, wondering do any of these people want to blow us up?  The other day we were taking the train out of Salzburg.  Police got on our train, walked up and down the aisle, obviously looking for something or someone.  Then two stops out of Salzburg we were delayed as the police again wanted to check something about our train. On Saturday when we put Beth, John and Jason on the plane back to the states, I couldn’t help but have a tinge of worry and concern. “Lord give Your angels guard over them.”

Then the other day I was talking with someone who had to leave the country where they lived and worked… a place where some of these terrible things have happened.  He was tired. He was stressed. Yet in the course of our conversation, he said something that really helped me to think about all of this from the perspective of faith.  He said, “I look at all this and I think that now would be a good time for Jesus to come back.”   This man was expressing a uniquely Christian reaction to all of this… a reaction that doesn’t make a lot of sense to the world and sometimes even to us Christians.  He expressed hope!

Believe it or not, from the perspective of our faith, hope is perhaps the most appropriate of all responses.  Jesus himself says so in Luke 21. Just a couple of verses after the one’s I quoted above Jesus says, “When these things begin to take place, stand up and lift up your heads

because your redemption is drawing near.” 

Yes, that’s right, in the midst of all these terrible events, our faith produces in us the most unexpected reaction.  We have hope. Don’t get Jesus wrong?  We do not rejoice over such horrible events.  These terrorist attacks are not our reason for hope.  Our hope comes from Him.  The fact that He warns that such things will happen reminds us that He is still in control.  None of this surprises Him.  He, our God and Savior, is still King.  That is good news. For we know that He who rules over all things – He loves us.  We know that we can trust Him.  We know that because in love He gave His own Son.  His Son loved us and gave His life for us.  We know that there is nothing that He can’t handle.  After all, not even death could defeat Him.  He rose again!  He did all that because He desires that all men be saved and come to the knowledge of the truth. He did all that because He wants to spend all eternity with us. Jesus told us, “I go to prepare a place for you and if I go and prepare a place for You I will come again to received you unto myself that where I am you may be also.”

These things that have happened are terrible.  We must fight terror and hate with all our might.  We understand the anguish, perplexity, and apprehension.  We even experience them but they cannot rule the day for we have something no attack… no terrorist… nothing can take from us..  Jesus gives us something better and stronger.  He gives us hope… hope born of His love, His power and His faithfulness.  With that hope, even in an age of terrorism we can look up, lift up our heads in confidence.  We know that because of Jesus our redemption IS drawing near.