Grace and Terrorism

A sentence in the Bible is among the most powerful in the whole world, "The grace of our Lord was poured out on me abundantly, along with the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus." The mortal penman writes of himself, "I was once a blasphemer and a persecutor and a violent man" (1 Timothy 1:12,13). The bright light of Saint Paul’s self-disclosure pierces the darkness of the news stories of the last 10 days.

The darkness didn’t settle in like the quiet nightfalls with which we are accustomed. The media broke into our lives like a heavy woolen black blanket, suddenly extinguishing light with bewildering suddenness. For hours we watched and listened as the heinous crimes of two brothers destroyed Patriot’s Day and a world-class marathon in Boston. As shrapnel cut flesh and amputated limbs with bloody, brute force, American peace and sense of well-being was severed from our realities as it was 11 years ago on what we now call "Nine-11."

We wonder, "How can anyone do a thing like this? What is wrong with people anyway?" Until Friday evening, the Boston Metropolitan area was on high alert. Schools and businesses were closed until one corpse was in the morgue and another violent man was found cowering under a canvas boat cover. People expressed their relief by cheering police personnel and EMS workers leaving the scene of the 19 year-old’s arrest. Saber rattlers shouted vengeance epithets. Conservatives, often confused with true Christianity, could be heard calling for evening the score, inflicting justice, defending our culture.

Now, go back two millennia. Christians hid in fear, uncertain when the Jewish hit man would show up and murder members of their congregation. His prejudice and violent vehemence were as unpredictable as a suicide bomber. The one called "Saul of Tarsus" was passionate and determined to eradicate what he perceived as wrong. En route to another random act of murder and mayhem the grace of God appeared with blinding brilliance. The story is recorded in Acts 9 and 22. Christians who hid in fear were reluctant and slow to trust Paul, but they did! The hit man became the eloquent spokesman of the Spirit. We are still listening to him when the Epistles the Spirit entrusted him to pen are read. I have been moved, even transformed by each of them! I will use Paul’s letter to the Philippians as a text when I preach this coming Sunday.

The events of the past ten days have created a forum for several difficult-to-answer questions. Among the ponderous and snarly questions I ask myself . . .
Do I believe the grace of God is great enough to reach a 19 year-old terrorist who, like Saul of Tarsus "acted in ignorance and unbelief?" (1 Timothy 1:13)
Am I, after an appropriate season of trust-building, willing to accept last week’s hit man into the fellowship of the church? Will I introduce him to brothers and sisters as a "brother?"
If I cannot believe that God desires to include one person because he or she is "too evil" or "too violent," what hope do we have when Saint Paul says, "As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins, in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air . . ." (Ephesians 2:1-2) Am I saying, "‘Being dead in transgressions and sins’ in my case was more like having a chronic case of religious hangnails, a condition well short of "dead?"
How much grace does it take to save a person? Does God’s supply of unmerited favor kind of run out when it comes to hard cases? Is some grace deserved but some grace undeserved?
The circumstances are challenging. I did not bury a daughter or son, a victim of terrorism. I still have both legs. I only watched pictures of the horror while in the safety of my living room. But, the Spirit makes me restless. I must consider how the bright light of God’s Revelation pierces and destroys darkness. Saint Paul’s testimony is a dramatic definition of grace, and our world needs a full measure of undeserved favor from Him who died so all would be saved.

I am learning to pray for terrorists as I seek honest answers to my personal inventory of attitudes and convictions concerning the truth as revealed in Scripture.