Here's what we know

On Monday, two terrorist bombs killed three people and injured 170 others, bringing a cruel and abrupt end to the Boston marathon.  Since then, news reporters have followed the story with painstaking attention to every minute detail.  Every so often, they will say, “Here’s what we know at this point.”  Often, “what we know” is no different than what we knew ten minutes ago or an hour ago, unless the dribble of detail becomes a cascade of information, as it did early Friday morning.  Then, “what we know” is easily confused with “what we think we know” or “what appears likely but cannot yet be confirmed.”

As this troubling story continues to unfold, let’s take a few moments to review “what we know” as Christians.

1. We live in a dangerous world.  The Boston bombing didn’t reveal anything new.  Like the Newtown massacre, it was another awful illustration of what a dangerous world we live in.  In many ways, what is obvious to the rest of the world is still rather new to us.  Even twelve years after 9/11, terrorist events on our soil are still shocking to us.  Residents of Jerusalem, Damascus, and Kabul and, to a lesser extent, European cities like London and Paris, are far more acquainted with the tragic element of life than we are.  Yet of all people, Christians – who always remember the cross of Christ – should understand that we are always vulnerable to danger.  No system of government, no economic philosophy, no level of education or religiosity can erase all threats to our security.

2. Regardless of how dangerous the world is, God never gives us up on it.  However much tragedy mars life on this planet, it is still God’s good creation, and God is determined to redeem it.  That’s why we can always find the evidence of God at work in the midst of tragedy.  Today, God shares the grief of family members

whose loved ones were lost or maimed by the bombings. God was present in those marathon runners who, already exhausted by 26 miles of physical endurance, found the strength to run toward the blast and help the injured; in the heroism of untrained bystanders and trained rescue personnel; in the hospitality of Boston residents who opened their homes to stranded runners and other visitors who couldn’t get into their hotel rooms; and in that amazing interfaith prayer service at Holy Cross Cathedral, where 2,000 people gathered to affirm the power of faith, hope, and love.

3. The evil that inspires heinous acts of terrorism cannot prevail.  Our own law enforcement system will bring the perpetrators of this crime to justice, but God has already defeated the power of evil.  God came to us in Jesus Christ, who suffered a violent and tragic death at the hands of his enemies.  But then, he was raised to new life, thus defeating the power of the evil that killed him.  Forty days after his resurrection, Christ  “ascended” into heaven. The way to understand Christ’s ascension is not spatially but cosmically.  While still present on earth, he reigns in heaven, and will one day unite heaven and earth, thus fulfilling the reign of God over all creation.  That means that we who follow him have no reason to fear.  We live boldly, working for peace and justice however we can, undaunted by any threats against us.  Death has no power over us.

Because of what we know in faith, we grieve with the victims of tragedy, we bear witness to the redeeming presence of God in all circumstances, and we go on living and proclaiming the message of Christ “whether the time is favorable or unfavorable” (2 Timothy 4:2).

Copyright 2013 by J. Mark Lawson