Living For Life in a Culture of Death

“I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.”

John 10:10b

Senseless!  Terrible!  Evil! Terrifying!  I could think of more such words to describe what happened last week in El Paso and Dayton, and the week before that at the food festival in California… or in a far too many other places across our country.  Now I do not intend to get into the politics of all of this.  But there are a number of questions on my mind today – Why does this keep happening?  How do we stop it?  What’s the solution?  What can I do?

Other than the person actually committing these horrific acts, it doesn’t seem helpful to me to be pointing fingers and blaming this person or that person.  But is there blame?  Yes.  I believe that during my lifetime, something fundamental has changed at the very roots of our culture.  We have gone from being a culture that values life to what some might call a “culture of death.”  The signs are all around us.  The clearest to me is abortion -  the killing of the most defenseless among us – unborn babies. There is the rise of physician assisted suicide and Euthanasia.  The rise of suicide… Then add terrorism and war.  Mother Teresa’s words to the1994 national prayer breakfast ring far too true – “If we accept that the mother can kill even her own child, how can we tell other people not to kill one another?” 

Of course, the roots of this culture of death goes way back… all the way back to the garden. When in Adam and Eve, we all chose to take the forbidden fruit and eat it – we all together chose life estranged from God.  We all together chose death – for life without God is death. So really this culture of death is not new to my lifetime or yours.  “Therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned—”  

As horrible as these mass shootings are, the problem runs much deeper.  The problem has its roots in your heart and mine, in our own sinfulness.  That’s a problem government can’t solve.  Don’t get me wrong – it is the governments job to make laws, and enforce them in order to protect us. That’s not a political opinion – that’s Scripture.  This is how the Lord Himself defines the role of government in Romans 13:3–4: “For rulers are not a terror to good conduct, but to bad. Would you have no fear of the one who is in authority? Then do what is good, and you will receive his approval, for he is God’s servant for your good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for he does not bear the sword in vain. For he is the servant of God, an avenger who carries out God’s wrath on the wrongdoer.” Government’s God-given role is to hold man’s evil in check… to help protect us from ourselves.  That’s its power.  What government can’t do, is change our hearts.  It can’t solve the problem of sin.

For that, God gave us Jesus!  Jesus said it in the words from John 10 that I chose for this blog.  “I came that they may have life and have it abundantly”  Think about that – the author and creator of life, came to live in the midst of this world that keeps choosing death.   He came to live for life – healing the sick, casting out demons, feeding the hungry, befriending the friendless, embracing little children, forgiving sinners.  Jesus came and allowed this world of death to kill Him… to kill Him on behalf of everyone… to kill Him in our place.  Why?  “By His death He destroyed Him who holds the power of death, that is the devil and set free all who were held in slavery by their fear of death.”  He came to rise again so that all who believe in Him might have life.  By His death and resurrection Jesus conquered the culture of death that life might reign again.  Then He came to you in Baptism… raised you up to live a new life… to be apart of this new culture – or as St. Paul calls it – this “new creation.”

So what can you or I do?  How can we make a difference in the midst of all this senseless killing?  By following Jesus… living as He did – living for life in a culture of death.  What does that mean?  It means so many things – valuing human life in every form.  Speaking out to protect the unborn… loving and speaking forgiveness and grace to those burdened by guilt… befriending and caring for the ones the rest of the world rejects… praying so many different prayers… sharing the good news of Jesus with any and all – that others may know the joy of really living.  The list goes on and on.  But what I am really saying is this – don’t waste time pointing at others… waiting for others to solve this.  Let the change begin with me… and with you – with repentance for our own embrace of death… then loving others the way Jesus loves you.  This is how God changes things – one person at a time starting with you and me.