Reflections on Ecclesiastes 11 and the Virginia Tech Massacre

On April 16th we were all shocked and appalled to hear the news about the massacre on the campus of Virginia Tech University. A 23 year old man, filled with anger and hatred walked into a dormitory with two semi-automatic handguns, killing two students. Two hours later, he walked into another building, chained several of the doors and went on a rampage. Bullets were flying everywhere and the scene was described as that of complete and utter terror and pandemonium. All in all, 33 people were killed including the shooter. Lives filled with promise and opportunity were snuffed out mercilessly.

In one way or another, each of us experienced outrage and sorrow and anger as we heard this horrible news. Underneath the emotional reaction is a pit in our stomachs that grows and claws and fills us with a nagging feeling of despair and loneliness, a feeling that comes when we see places of hurt and devastation and violence – when we see pictures of young men and women crying on each other's shoulders, when we hear the names of the innocent dead – and we think of the police officer and chaplain who knocked on the door of anxious parents late that Monday night, and as soon as mom or dad opened the door they knew what this visit was about. They knew that their lives would never be the same.

This massacre, the deadliest in American history, came on me like a punch in the gut. It took my breath away and left my doubled over, helpless on my knees.

Maybe you also experienced something like this. I believe that when there is suffering, wherever it is around the world, those with spirits sensitive to the heart of God will feel something of that suffering. Perhaps it will come in the form of a catalyst to prayer, to compassion, to change or something else. Every human being springs from the creative heart of the same Creator and whenever the creation is hurt, God's heart hurts and if our hearts are open to God, then we will feel it too.

I don't know what it was about this evil act that hit me the hardest. There is so much here that breaks God's heart. In fact, many of my prayers were in the form of questions:

“God, why is our society so enthralled with violence? Why is it so easy for a deranged man to buy semi-automatic weapons?”

“God, how did this young man become so wounded that he felt killing as many people as he could was the only way out? How could that happen? That's not the way you want it!”

“God, how can those students and parents and faculty members ever find healing?”

“God, what is it in us that is capable of great compassion in the face of brutal murder in our own country, but then can so quickly look the other way when the murder is happening in Iraq or Darfur? Why can't we ever grasp the truth that we are all the same in your eyes?”

“God, what's wrong with us?”

I don't think I really expected God to give me answers to these questions as much as I wanted to give to God the angst that was on my heart. Giving our concerns and worries to God is one of the purposes of prayer. When we give to God what is on our hearts that's when we submit ourselves to God's transforming life, and that's an appropriate response when tragedy strikes.

But there are responses to tragedy that are inappropriate, that are sinful. Perhaps the root of all of these inappropriate responses is fear. Fear has many guises. In one person fear might mean withdrawing. In another person, fear might mean building up calluses so that the pain of others does not affect one's self. In a third person, fear might mean acting with hostility and anger, labeling, and judging people. These are all characteristics of fear.

Did you know that the most mentioned command in the Bible is the command: “Do not be afraid”? Did you know that?

Sometimes fear is healthy. It is fear that keeps us from wandering close to the ledge of a cliff. It is fear that keeps a young child from touching that burner or walking into the street. It is fear that keeps us safe many times – but many times fear is a barrier between God and us. Fear is like cataracts. It dims and blurs our vision of what God is doing in and around us. We all believe that God is alive and active and loving, but we can believe that all day long and still be blinded by fear.

When an event as bloody and disturbing as this massacre occurs one of the first thing that happens is we begin to fear. We fear that the world is out of control, that there is no end to the evil that people can do and there is no way to make a difference. We see all the evil in the world, and perhaps those of us in the church look around and also see a growing secularism. And this can lead the church into fear. Sometimes it seems as if when evil rears its ugly head the church cowers in a corner, impotent and useless.

In our passage in Ecclesiastes the Teacher gives some words of advice to his students that are helpful for us as well. If you have been following our series you know that the Teacher has spent a lot of time tearing down false hopes. He says, “You think you will find meaning in achievement? Nope, there's no meaning there, but you can enjoy your work.”

“You think you will find meaning in wealth? Nah, no matter how rich you are you will be buried in a grave just like the beggar on the corner, but you can be thankful what you have, thankful in a way that leads to generosity.”

Like many of us, the Teacher's students wonder what hope there is for life and joy. In a world of violence, and chaos, and murder, where evil seems to be so powerful and our actions for the good seem so frail, what is there to do?

So in Ecclesiastes chapter 11 the Teacher wants to be sure that none of his students, and none of us, are paralyzed in fear and inaction. In a passage that is difficult to understand because of its use of metaphor, the Teacher says, in short, “Take risks, take chances, do something bold, but for God's sake don't just sit on your hands moaning – you're better than that, because God is better than that!”

I mentioned that sometimes the church goes off to a corner, impotent and useless. And I want to mention that again, because the church as an institution is useless in the face of the tragedy that we saw on the campus of Virginia Tech. The church as a business, as an organization, as a club is useless in the face of tragedy. It is just as well that when the church thinks of itself as any of these things it is filled with fear, it's just as well. But that's not the church. That's not us. The church is not one activity among a myriad of activities to choose from, activities ranging from the Lions Club to a book club. The church is that community of people all over the world who claim Jesus Christ as their head, their Lord, their Savior, and who claim the gospel he embodied as their hope.

If the church claims anything less than Christ and Christ’s mission, then it is impotent. But with Christ as our head, the message God puts in our hearts is a message of life. When we begin to live into the Teacher's message, when things are dark and times are hard, when a young man walks onto a campus of 26,000 students with a Glock 19mm in one hand, and a Walther P22 in the other, that's when we begin to see just what the Teacher was telling his students to do.

Across the ages, and continents and right here into our midst the Teacher says: “I know things are tough and scary and you don't know what to do. So I'm gonna tell you what to do: Cast your bread onto the water, do something risky like love your enemies. Forgive someone, forgive someone who doesn't want to be forgiven. Take a chance in the name of Christ. Be more generous then you've been before, be more loving then you've been before. Get prayed up, studied up, and worked up for Jesus. Don't stand their waiting for God to write his orders on the wall, you'll never see that happen and you'll spend your days living in la-la land. Now is the time for action. You know the Gospel of Christ because it is in your heart and it is in your mouth. You know that inkling in your heart that you've been wondering about – just do it. Sew your seeds, if you keep watching for the perfect time, the perfect situation, and an engraved invitation you won't get it – but if Christ is your head, and your desire is to love God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength and to love your neighbor as yourself then your actions will be the very actions of God. You will be led by God and you will be guided by God. So don't stand there anymore, there's a world in pain out there. There are people who need to feel that someone will accept them no matter how awkward they are. There are people who need to know that someone loves them no matter how many times they have failed. There are people who need to know that there is nothing so powerful that it can separate them from the love of God. People need to know that and if you don't tell them no one will.”

Then the Teacher makes a good point, he says, “None of you know the ins and outs of what it takes to form a baby in the womb, even though all of you were formed in that way. But the fact that you don't know everything there is to know about the miracle of birth doesn't stop you from giving birth. Neither should the vastness and mystery of God keep you from being obedient to the Truth that you do know.”

And we do know a lot about God. We know that all of God's actions, both God's judgment and grace are extensions of God's love. So we can speak the truth in any situation, we can say together that our society is infatuated with violence and because of this God is grieved. And we can be pictures of God's peace ourselves. We can talk peacefully, by refusing to demonize anyone with our words. We can walk peacefully, by looking at the world in which we live as God's creation and we are but humble stewards. We can smile at someone, we can reduce our gasoline consumption, we can become schooled in the ways of conflict management, we can learn the gospel by heart so that when we see a hurt we will know how the gospel speaks to it and know what we need to do.

We can do all of this because of the One who makes his home with us, who loves us, who calls us by name and says “child you are mine, do not be afraid.”

It's all because of God. Anything that we have to offer is not because of any cleverness on our part, but because of the Gospel that has changed our lives and can change the world, is changing the world, and in the end the world will be full of God's glory. In the end evil can't even hold a finger up to God, and that's where we come in. We are the people who know that when all is said and done, it is the love of God that has the last word on the matter. As the church we have one foot in our present world of brokenness and despair and one foot in the Kingdom of God. Our witness is that no matter how chaotic, angry, and violent things are God's life in us keeps us always pointing to a different Kingdom. And so, no matter how bad things get, we will not be afraid. We will not close ourselves off to others, even at the threat of persecution and we will not walk away from the Gospel because it is the power of God for salvation.

Cast your bread upon the waters. Take a risk, do something that seems foolish. Do you know what the biggest risk of all is? It's to love, to really love, even to the point of death. Paul said that Christ showed his love for us in that while we were still sinners Christ died for us. While we were still sinners. And yet, how often do we wait for someone to apologize to us before we will really love them? Before we will forgive them? Before we will take them into our hearts as God took us into His? That's the biggest risk we can take – show someone else the love that God has shown to us. But that is the only kind of love that can speak peace into a world of violence. Friends, the Teacher is challenging us to act.

One of the barriers that gets in the way of us going to action is we want to have everything figured out before we start, we want to turn it into a big thing with a committee and a budget, but maybe the first thing you should do is follow that little tug on your heart one step at a time. Just follow it. You know the Gospel and in little and big ways, in simple and complex ways but in profound ways none the less, with one foot in the world and one foot in the Kingdom of God we proclaim God's love to the sinner and the outcast, the sick and the hurting.

Cast your bread upon the waters, trusting that God's grace covers you and God's love empowers you.