Jonesboro - When Good People Die Badly

Because we, we always make special provisions for children, don't we? I mean, when a ship sinks, it's women and it's children to the lifeboats first. And when there's a scarcity of food, the children get their portion before the adults do. And all over the world, parents deny themselves and sacrifice so their children can have a better life. How many times have I heard it?

All I want is my children have a better life. Better than I had it, easier than I had it. Not as much suffering as I suffered. We want our children. We make special provisions, special sacrifices for our children.

I suppose this is why we looked on in such horror a few weeks ago, as innocent children were shot dead on a bright and sunny day, right in their own schoolyard in a small Arkansas town of Jonesboro. Now what made this scene so unreal, so difficult to grasp was that these little kids were killed in cold blood by other little kids that they, the day before, had gone to school with. And we look at this and we say, What a waste. What a terrible terrible waste. Young children and a brave school teacher cut down in a moment without warning.

And we say, Young boys who for whatever insane reasons have ruined themselves and their families for life. It doesn't matter if they go to jail 5 years, 8 years, whatever. They've ruined themselves and they've ruined their families. They'll never get over this thing. You know, it's difficult enough to accept that sometimes the good die young, right?

The good die young. It's tough to accept, even in our own community. We had a young boy here who had cancer and slowly lost his life, tremendous struggle with cancer. And yet with his struggle, and with his faith, and with his great courage, he managed to touch the entire community and somehow we all felt the better for it. But when innocent children and a good Christian woman die needlessly, die suddenly, die violently, when good people die badly, that's when we search for meaning.

That's when we cry out to God for answers that will make some sense out of the heart and the confusion that we experience. You know what? As always, God does answer from his word. Even in the terrible time, even in the time of confusion, even in those moments when we just don't quite understand why, God's word gives us understanding when we see good people die badly. When we look at the word of God because of this situation, we see several things that it tells us to help us understand.

The first thing it tells us is this, sin is what causes death. Sin is what causes death. This is a basic reality of life explained from the early pages of God's word all the way to the New Testament. I mean, you get this idea from the very beginning in Genesis, for example, chapter 2, beginning in verse 15 and 16. It says, Then the Lord God took the man, and put him into the garden of Eden, to cultivate it, and to keep it.

And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, From any tree of the garden you may eat freely: but from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat: for in the day that you eat from it you will surely die. Sin, disobedience, that causes death. And then in the New Testament, Romans chapter 6 verse 23, Paul summarizes the same idea when he says, The wages of sin is death. All sin, whether it be your sin or somebody else's sin, is not only the reason for physical death, violent death, good people dying badly. It's the reason for all death, including spiritual death.

Brothers and sisters, when the good die badly, it is especially painful and the temptation to be angry at God or lose faith is great. I can see people shaking their fists to heaven and saying, Why? Why did you let this happen? It's the attitude that Mary and Martha had with Jesus when their brother Lazarus died, and Jesus was not there to stop it. They said, You know, had you been here, you could have stopped this.

Why? Why didn't you stop it? They charged him with that. When tragedies like Jonesboro happened, people wonder why God let something like this happen to good, innocent people. People who are Christians.

And when they ask that question, what they forget is that everyone dies, sooner or later. And except for a few instances in the Bible, God has allowed this to happen every time. You ever think about that? Yeah, God allowed the people in Jonesboro to die, but He also allowed your grandfather to die, and your grandmother to die, and your husband to die, and your child to die, and my father to die. In every instance when someone's gonna die, God has allowed it.

You see death, regardless if it comes while one is old in years and passes peacefully in their sleep, or whether it comes quickly and violently from a bullet. It always comes. And the Bible says, it is always, always, always the result of sin. Either the direct result of our own sins, you know people who live hard and act foolishly and die sooner than most because of it. Or the indirect result of other people's sins, the weakened nature of our universe and our human nature, or the environment, or the aggression of other people.

One way or another, sin eventually causes our death. And God permits us to die for two very good reasons. Did you know that? First of all, he allows us to die because death is a continual reminder of sin in the world and in our lives. Every time I see somebody die, I'm reminded of the fact that there is sin in this world.

And secondly, God allows death because death sends us searching for God. We look for God when we see death. Do you ever think of this idea? If there was sin in the world but no death, nobody would be looking for God. People would simply continue to enjoy sin and be destroyed forever without God.

When the good die badly, like in Jonesboro, one lesson can be drawn that is unmistakable and it is this, sin is very very very very very real and sin is very very very very bad. That is the unmistakable lesson that we can draw. Now, this may not be comforting to the survivors. To tell the survivors, Well, sin caused this and sin is bad. That may not be very comforting, but it is enlightening.

It is enlightening as to the real cause of their suffering and their pain. A second lesson that God's word, a second thing if you wish, that God's word shows us concerning this tragic situation is this, these people are not the first to die badly and they won't be the last. Not very comforting, is it? They're not the first to die badly and they won't be the last. As terrible as this situation was, it was not unique.

A passing glance through history will reveal chapter after chapter describing innocent people being enslaved and butchered for no greater offense than their skin color, or their language, or what they believed, or in our day and age for no reason at all, just because they were in the wrong place at the wrong time. Little babies just being strolled down the street, gunned down by someone in a car. And the bible shows that being a faithful servant of the Lord does not necessarily exempt you from dying badly. Did you ever think about that? I mean think of righteous Abel who was murdered by his brother in a jealous rage, or think of the innocent babies that were slaughtered in cold blood by Herod.

Better yet, on this day of all days Think of Jesus Christ, the innocent one, the sinless one, who nearly 2000 years ago this week was tortured and humiliated and executed while his own people cursed him and his disciples abandoned him. And this done to him after he had healed them, and loved them, and revealed the truth to them. You know the people in Jonesboro were innocent, yes, but they weren't sinless. The people in Jonesborough were good people, but they weren't divine people. If evil men, egged on by a crowd of men and women, could happily crucify the Son of God and rejoice over their deeds.

Why are we so shocked by the actions of these 2 adolescents in Arkansas? Worse things have happened. Every Sunday, we remember a much worse thing that happened long ago. No, we shouldn't be shocked. We should rather be reminded that this is the world that we live in.

All of our technical advances, all of our education and knowledge has not changed the basic nature of man who is capable of the same kind of deed today as was visited upon our Lord when he was on the earth. These are not the first, and unfortunately so long as we live in this sinful and disbelieving world, these will not be the last to die badly. Another reminder from God's word concerning this, and perhaps this a more hopeful idea, and it's this: It's not how you die that matters. It's how you resurrect that's important. No matter how you die, it's how you resurrect that's important.

In John chapter 5, verses 24 to 29, John or Jesus is talking about the great promises of the, of the resurrection. And he says, Truly, truly, I say to you, he who hears my word, and believes him who sent me, has eternal life, and does not come into judgment, but has passed out of death into life. Truly, truly, I say to you, an hour is coming, and now is, when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God and those who hear will live. For just as the Father has life in himself, even so he gave to the Son also to have life in himself. And he gave him authority to execute judgment, because he is the Son of man.

Do not marvel at this: for an hour is coming, in which all who are in tombs will hear his voice, and come forth, those who did the good deeds to a resurrection of life, and those who committed the evil deeds to a resurrection of judgment. You see, regardless of how it happens, everybody dies. Some die good at a ripe old age and some die badly. But regardless of how it happens, everyone will resurrect from the dead. Isn't that what we celebrate here on Sunday, in this special Sunday, many many centuries ago, we remember the resurrection of Jesus?

Don't we remember that? How you die is not as important as how you resurrect according to the Lord. He says that some will resurrect but because of their disbelief and unforgiven sins, they'll face judgment and condemnation and eternal suffering. And others will resurrect and because of their faith and obedience to the gospel, they'll enter into the reward of a sinless, joyful, eternal life. You know, there's absolutely no comfort in the death of a loved one without the hope that they will have eternal life.

I know. I have done enough funerals. I have presided over enough deathbed situations to tell you that the question uppermost in the mind of the family is always, where are they now? They know where they've been. They wanna know, where are they now.

You know, much of the time we worry about giving people a proper burial. And I tell you, we should be more concerned about them having a proper resurrection. Much more important. For the surviving families in Jonesboro, this Easter season will be very significant indeed, because it will not only remind them of Jesus' glorious resurrection from the dead, It will also reassure them that the same experience also awaits those who died so badly just a few weeks ago. Paul explains this idea in 1st Corinthians chapter 15 verses 20 to 28.

He says, But now Christ has been raised from the dead, the first fruits of those who are asleep. For since by a man came death, by a man also came the resurrection from the dead. For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ all will be made alive: but each in his own order, Christ the firstfruits after that those who are Christ's at his coming. 1st, Jesus dies and Jesus resurrects simply to show that it is possible that God has this power and will exercise this power in everyone's life who believes. 1st Christ, and then those who believe in Him each in their own terms.

Yes, sometimes we die badly. But the promise of God is regardless of how you die. If you die in faith, you will resurrect to eternal life. You know, I am convinced that one reason Christ died so badly was so that his resurrection would give hope to those who feared or who experienced the same kind of ugly death in their own lives. Aren't you afraid of dying badly?

You know, I talk to people and say, Oh boy, I would never want to have, you know, terrible bone cancer and suffer for months years. Or I wouldn't want to be caught in a building like the bombing and be crushed and languish for days before I died under a ton of concrete. You know, you think of the bad ways that you could die and that's all you think about. Paul says, Don't think about that. Think rather about the way that you will resurrect.

That will be eternal. Death is but a moment. Heaven is forever. You see, sometimes we're afraid that if we die badly, it's because God doesn't love us anymore. I've seen people suffer a long time and begin to think that maybe God just doesn't love them anymore because they're suffering so badly.

If you're tempted to think in those terms, just remember the cross of Christ. The one upon whom his love sat so perfectly died so badly. And that should give us hope for the future. Now please don't misunderstand what I'm saying this morning. I'm not making light or I'm not dismissing the pain that the people are suffering, you know, in Jonesboro.

I I mean, just because evil is the cause of it and similar things have happened in the past, the good people. I mean, their pain is real and crushing and life changing and their loss cannot be replaced, no matter what any preacher says. No, the point of my lesson this morning for you is that they are not alone and this is not the end. They are not alone in that even the heavenly Father experienced this kind of pain when his Son cried out, Father, Father, why have you forsaken me? The Father in heaven knows about the pain of losing someone who is dying badly.

And also, a word of encouragement to remind them that this is not the end because Jesus Christ promises all those who believe in him that they will experience a happy reunion with all those they love who are faithful believers. Do you ever think Jesus rose from the dead? He could have gone straight to heaven. He could have said, Well, you know, left some proof or written document. No.

He ate with his disciples. He met with them. He held them. He touched them. He spoke to them, he taught them.

He was with them. I want to think that that resurrection and that demonstration of his presence among his apostles after the resurrection from the dead teaches us that we will be conscious, not only of God and ourselves in our resurrection, but we will be conscious of each other. Isn't that the joy of the resurrection? Otherwise, what's the point? If I had to resurrect from the dead, and my memory was obliterated from everything and everyone that I knew, where would the joy be?

There's no joy if I can't be with Brother Dave. There's no joy if I can't be with sister Pam. There's no joy if I can't be with my children, my life. Where is the joy of resurrection if we do not have the joy of fellowship that comes with it? That's the promise that Christ makes with his bodily resurrection.

So when you hear of these things and you shudder, hoping that they never happened to you, that they never happened to your loved ones, remember the cross of Christ, remember the empty tomb. If God could see Jesus through a terrible death, he can and he will see us through our death as well, no matter what form it takes. And if God raised Jesus from the dead, he can and he will raise us from the dead with him as well. It's a promise. The question for us today is not, how will I die?

The question for us today is, how am I living? How am I living? Are you living in such a way that how you die or when you die isn't important anymore? You can live in this way, if first of all you've obeyed Jesus Christ and confessing his name and repented of your sins, you've been immersed in the water of baptism to wash away your guilt and your shame. And you're living this way if you're living each day faithfully, ready to meet your Lord, no matter which way you die.

If you need to come to Christ, if you need to prepare for the day that all of us must face, I encourage you not to waste any more time. Come this morning, renew your commitment to Christ or make a commitment to Christ by obeying the gospel, either one, or receive the prayers of the church as we stand and as we sing our song of invitation.