Transcript

My Response To The Responses Regarding Orlando

Luke 13:1-5
Sunday, June 19, 2016
Pastor Randy Smith

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Around 2:00 in the morning last Sunday, 29 year-old, Omar Mateen entered "The Pulse" nightclub in Orlando, Florida. Armed with a pistol and a rifle, he managed to gun down enough people to make his actions the deadliest mass shooting in American history. As of my writing this sermon, 49 people are dead and at least 53 people are injured.

As Americans we heartbroken and are beginning to get lost in our search for answers. Is it the fault of mental illness? Maybe gun control is the answer? Maybe we need to promote more concealed carry? What about those who knew his motives and failed to report him? Did political correctness play a part? How about the FBI's double release of him? Was it anti-gay rhetoric? What about radical Islam? Is it America's weak stance on terror?

It seems as if all of these options and more have been suggested, almost finding greater fault in them than the actual actions of the killer himself. How should we process this? In particular, how should the Christian respond to this and the plethora of responses already suggested?

I know I promised last week that we would begin Revelation 22 this Sunday, but I think it necessary to address this pressing issue based on the responses I have heard from both non-Christians and Christians. This morning I'd like to share some thoughts I have drawn based on all the misinformation I have received. I'd like to bring some biblical clarity to this issue. The title of this sermon is, "My Response to the Responses Regarding Orlando."

First of all, there is evil in this world. The Bible says all people are born in sin. The Bible says apart from Christ, they are slaves to sin and they prefer sin over righteousness, darkness over light. Unbelievers are motivated by self-interest and are fully under the sway of Satan who is called the "god of this world" (2 Cor. 4:4). The Bible says they live in the flesh which produces all kinds of evil fruits (Gal. 5:19-21) - and among many others is hate, anger and murder.

I am not suggesting that civil authorities should sit back and do nothing. Actually, Romans 13:4 says they bear the sword for this very reason to bring wrath on the one who practices evil.

What I am saying is that we should not be surprised that horrible acts like these happen. Personally, I'm surprised there isn't more. Since there is so much evil out there and so many soft targets to hit in our country, I'm surprised that we're not hearing about more of these senseless and barbaric acts of terror. And when you add the sinful heart to an ideology that promises celebrity status and a so-called elevated paradise to murderous jihadists, you have the perfect recipe. That is the answer, folks! We've learned in Revelation 21:4 that only in heaven "death… mourning, or crying, or pain" is done away with. I am convinced it is only God's grace upon our nation that prevents us from experiencing more of the effects of evil than we presently do.

We must also remember that God uses evil to accomplish His purposes. I am not saying that God sins or causes people to sin (Jas. 1:13). But I am saying that God is sovereign over evil and all that comes to pass must first pass through His hands and be aligned with His will. That statement might surprise some of you, but if you choose not to go that route, you have to consider the other options.

If God could have stopped the shooter and didn't out of carelessness, you have to wonder if He is a God of love. And if God wanted the shooting not to happen, but couldn't stop it, then you have to question His omnipotence. So when we paint a God as many did on 911 sitting in the rubble and just mourning along with all us, we make the will of man and the will of Satan more powerful than the will of God and are left with a wimpy God far from the One portrayed in Scripture.

Take for example the death of Christ. Without a doubt, the death of Jesus was the worst act of injustice ever committed on the face of the earth. The sinless Son of God was painfully tortured and killed in a horrible death. Yet was that God's will? Revelation teaches us that the death of Christ for our sins was in God's mind before the foundation of the world (Rev. 13:8). It was the worst event that ever occurred, right? Then why do we call it "Good Friday?" Because it was also the best event that ever occurred as well. God using evil to bring about good.

Therefore if God has no control over evil, we have to discard one of our favorite verses, Romans 8:28. "And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose." Because if God is not sovereign over all things, we can find absolutely no hope for any good purpose to ever come forth from our suffering. And if God is not sovereign over evil, how can we obey 1 Thessalonians 5:18 which tells us to "in everything give thanks; for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus."

God has set up this world to run perfectly according to His sovereign will. People are not robots, but even in their so-called free-will they are accomplishing the plan of God whereby all things are perfecting fulfilling His sovereign will (that which He has ordained), even when they are not fulfilling His revealed will (that which He has called us to do in Scripture).

Take the great line from Joseph after his brothers sold him into slavery. "As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good in order to bring about this present result, to preserve many people alive" (Gen 50:20). For the lack of fulfilling God's revealed will, his brothers were held accountable. Yet in the process, God's sovereign will was fulfilled to preserve His nation in a time of famine.

Take for example, Judas. In his own freewill he chose to betray Jesus. Yet that enabled Christ to fulfill prophecy, be arrested, go to the cross and die for our sins. In a sense, Judas unwittingly did the will of God (sovereign will). Yet in another sense, he grossly violated the will of God (revealed will) and for that will be held accountable. Mark 14:21, "For the Son of Man is to go just as it is written of Him; but woe to that man by whom the Son of Man is betrayed! It would have been good for that man if he had not been born."

So let's make this clear. God is never in the heavens wringing His hands and frustrated by the plans of man. His will is always being accomplished while at the same time He uses evil at times to accomplish it. Theologians call it the doctrine of concurrence. Man's free will and God's sovereignty running side-by-side converging in the future perfectly fulfilling the ordained will of God for ultimate good.

And as it pertains to sin, God has revealed His expectations for us clearly in the Bible. When we sin we violate His word, but also choose to rebel against the very nature of God since all His commandments are a reflection of His nature.

And as it pertains to sin, let's not buy this evangelical talking point that all sin is sin in the eyes of God. Yes, if we violate one part God's law, it's the same as violating all of it (Jas. 2:10). Yes, one sin is enough for God to send anyone to an eternal hell. But let's knock off this business that believes that God has the same anger toward one who tells a white lie in an effort to avoid offending someone as one who walks into a nightclub and mows down nearly 50 people!

Remember Jesus' comment to Pilate? "Jesus answered, 'You would have no authority over Me, unless it had been given you from above; for this reason he who delivered Me to you has the greater sin.'"

And when it comes to identifying sin, can we please be clear about what the Bible has to say about homosexuality? Unless you discard your Bible or read it in a different language, God could not have made His thoughts on this action any clearer.

Romans 1:25-27, "For they exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen. For this reason God gave them over to degrading passions; for their women exchanged the natural function for that which is unnatural, and in the same way also the men abandoned the natural function of the woman and burned in their desire toward one another, men with men committing indecent acts and receiving in their own persons the due penalty of their error." 1 Corinthians 6:9-10, "Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived; neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor homosexuals, nor thieves, nor the covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers, will inherit the kingdom of God."

And that's also why we still believe the Old Testament prohibitions against homosexuality in Leviticus (without being guilty of "cherry-picking" the law) because these prohibitions (unlike eating pork and shellfish) are a reflection of God's moral nature and were clearly carried into the New Covenant as seen in their New Testament occurrences.

All sexual activity outside of the marriage between one man and one woman is sin. God created marriage and thus it is His prerogative as to how the rules will be established. And are these rules arbitrary? Of course not. As we have learned, human marriage is a reflection between Christ and His church. Everything God commands within marriage is to image forth the beautiful relationship that Jesus has with His bride.

Are all of these sexual sins equal? In a sense, yes. But in a sense, no. Adultery is a sin against law. Yet homosexuality is a sin against law and nature (according to Romans 1). Homosexuality is a clear perversion and rebellious affront against God's design for marriage.

Yet just because God's wrath is upon sin it does not mean, as some Christians have asserted (although I believe it is far less than actually reported), that the Orlando tragedy was God presently judging homosexuality. First of all, I do not believe that is the case and second of all, even if it were, we'd have no way of knowing. This is the point Jesus made in Like 13. "Or do you suppose that those eighteen on whom the tower in Siloam fell and killed them were worse culprits than all the men who live in Jerusalem? I tell you, no, but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish" (Lk. 13:4-5).

Yet if we probe this thought a little deeper we can draw two biblical conclusions that are almost absent in the current discussion.

One is that all acts of tragedy on any unrepentant sinner are not so much God's wrath, but rather His mercy. You see, all unrepentant sin that remains unforgiven because a person refuses to turn to Christ to receive His forgiveness will be punished forever in hell. That's God's wrath! I believe all these events are a so-called "shot over the bow" warning people to turn to Christ now before it's too late. "Unless you repent, you will all likewise perish" (Lk. 13:3, 5).

And second, Orlando might not have been a display of what we call God cataclysmic wrath, but I'd argue it was a display of what we call God's wrath of abandonment. You see, Romans 1 teaches that when people reject God and choose to follow their heart's idols that God "gives them over" (Rom. 1:24, 26, 28). The increased perversion, the increased shootings, the increased anti-God sentiments seen in our nation is simply God pulling back, limiting His common grace and allowing the evil hearts of man to be less restrained and thus given over to their natural lawlessness.

So how do we as Christians respond? We speak the truth of God's Word. We pray. We leave judgment in the hands of God and we respond in turn with love. And I was so glad to see many Christians doing exactly that, even though the press will not give it much air-time because the press primarily concerns itself to make us all out to be cruel haters of the gay community.

A good example was Chick-fil-A. Christian CEO Dan Cathy has been outspoken and severely criticized for His views supporting traditional marriage. Yet what did the franchise do? Normally closed on Sunday, employees showed up in order to prepare food for first responders and people donating blood to victims of the shooting.

1 Corinthians 13:6 says, "[Love] does not rejoice in unrighteousness, but rejoices with the truth." Maybe we can speak the truth because we love people enough to tell them the truth and then show that love in selfless acts of service that models the compassion of Christ. The world has it all wrong. It's shallow thinking to always equate disagreement with hate. Much disagreement we have with others is because we care. Just ask any parent!

So Christians love God first and then all people, including our enemies just as Jesus taught (Mt. 5:44). We are not people of the flesh. We are to be people filled with the Spirit, showing the world "love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, [and] self-control" (Gal. 5:22-23). And we don't define those in that nightclub primarily as gays as it's being done in the media. What an incredible insult! We define them as fellow human beings that are unworthy created in the image of God (Gen. 1:27).

And the light that God has given us in Christ we share with those who survived Orlando and all people enslaved in their sin that they too might come to Christ to receive redemption, forgiveness and healing.