March 24, 2021

A gunman in Atlanta kills 8 people at spas last week, followed by another gunman killing 10 people in a supermarket in Boulder, Colorado this week. Are they related? No, and Yes. These were not coordinated together. These men did not know each other. However, they are related by that which relates and connects all of us. What is that? It is the fact that we all know instinctively that when something is wrong in our world, that someone has to pay for it. So often we see these examples of how the wrong people end up paying for the wrongs.

It was initially assumed that the gunman in Atlanta was targeting Asians. Honestly, that is a story line that the media finds a little easier to deal with. The real motive however is something else. The gunman was distraught over the fact that he could not control his appetite for sex. His life was dominated by pornography, and that led him to massage parlors that let him give into his desires, but then (as sin does) left him hopeless. He saw no way out. His life was owned. Someone had to pay.

There is some initial speculation regarding the motives of the gunman in Colorado. Was he an angry Muslim who wanted to get revenge, or was that an excuse? Was he an angry young man who couldn’t handle his own failures? But again, someone had to pay.

I’ve seen too many examples of people in similar situations who end up starving themselves, cutting, doing other acts of self-harm, or taking their own lives. As devastating as that is, it is not as bad as taking the lives of others. For everyone who lives, driven by the fact that someone has to pay, I want them to know that someone has. Someone really has. And that Someone has paid for your sins and has paid for your inadequacies. It really is true.

I understand the knee-jerk response to pass more laws about gun-control, but no human government can create legislation that deals with the law of sin and death. How do we stop these kinds of things? It is hard to face, but it is like asking how do we stop all wars? This is the sad reality of life in a sin-cursed world. We can’t. We hate it, and we should, but we are not hopeless. Obviously, some people are so hopeless and eaten up by their sin or the perceived sins of others that they take matters into their own hands, which only adds to the carnage. But, our hope comes from the fact that our Savior died in our place. Someone had to pay for our sins – and He did. He really did. You and I need to remember this every day. These tragedies remind us that we need to tell others as much as we can as well.

Grace and peace,

Bob

Sunday’s Text: 2 Peter 1:1-2