Christchurch, New Zealand - some personal reflections.

During my time in the British Merchant Navy, I had the opportunity to visit New Zealand. Indeed, at that time in my life, my plan was to emigrate to Australia; get a job in a good hotel (I was an experienced chef); be married to a nice Australian Christian girl (there were a couple of distinct possibilities!); and eventually retire to New Zealand. None of that took place, but I have friends who live in New Zealand - including a couple in Christchurch. The news of the deaths, yesterday, caused me to reflect in a number of ways.

The random killing of any human being is to be abhorred. When nearly fifty are slaughtered, our minds reel. We pray that those who have been bereaved in the Christchurch massacre will be helped by those who are able to most effectively do so. It is never easy to bring help to the bereaved - I know that from both personal, and pastoral, experience. However, I also know that those who are able to turn to Jesus, receive help, and strength, that are not available from any other source.

Death, of course, is one of the certainties of life - at least until the Rapture of the Church! Yet it is something that we tend to assume won't happen to us - certainly not if we are under some arbitrarily-chosen age! Yet death is no respecter of persons. It touches all - infants; young children; teenagers; 20s and 30s; those heading towards, and in, "middle age"; the elderly. My point is that it is highly unlikely that any of the victims in Christchurch left their homes that day thinking that they would not return! 

That being the case, is it not wise for each of us to take time to consider our readiness to meet with physical death? Of course, there are different beliefs as to what happens when that event takes place. For some, there will just be 'nothingness'. Life is extinguished - and that is that! Others believe that we have another shot at life - in circumstances that are dictated by the life we are living this time around. 

However, for those of us who claim to be disciples of the Lord Jesus, the Christ, the outlook is much more positive. The anonymous writer of the Letter to the Hebrew disciples of Jesus makes it quite clear that there is no "second" (or subsequent) chance: "... it is appointed for men to die once, and after that comes judgment, ..." (Heb 9:27). And there is the assurance that, for those who have repented of their sins, and accepted, by faith, the gift of full salvation that Jesus gained for us at Calvary, we will live with Him eternally. Of course, for those who have rejected Him, or simply ignored Him, there is only eternity without Him. That is referred to as hell - and it is not something that any thinking person would wish to suffer!

Of course, Christians are regularly the victims of deadly attacks. In Nigeria, for example, it is the Muslim terrorists of Boko Haram, and the Muslim Fulani tribesmen who slaughter Christians - not in their tens, but in their hundreds and thousands. Indeed, some 90% of all Christians who died in 2018 as a result of terrorist activities (mostly at the hands of Muslims) were murdered in Nigeria! One single attack by Boko Haram, last year, left 106 dead; while one attack by Fulani militants resulted in the deaths of more than 200! However, such events do not receive the attention of the world's media in the same way as has the attack in Christchurch!

So what is a proper response for disciples for Jesus in this situation? May I offer three suggestions?

1. to pray for the bereaved, regardless of their religious, ethnic, national, or social background.

2. to remember that, if all of those who died in Christchurch were devout Muslims, then they died without the Christ - and so without hope - and to seek to do whatever we can to bring the Gospel message to the followers of Islam. It is reported by many that more Muslims are coming to saving faith in Jesus than ever before. We may not be able to physically go to a Muslim country - but we can support, prayerfully and financially, organisations such as SAT-7 (https://www.sat7uk.org/), FEBA (https://feba-radio.org/), and Arab World Media (http://www.awm.org/),who do work amongst these people.

3. to pray for our fellow disciples of Jesus who suffer for His Name's sake - often in ways that are beyond the understanding of most of us.

"For God so loved the world that He gave His only Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life. For God sent the Son into the world, not to condemn the world, but that the world might be saved through Him. He who believes in Him is not condemned; he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God. And this is the judgment, that the light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. For every one who does evil hates the light, and does not come to the light, lest his deeds should be exposed. But he who does what is true comes to the light, that it may be clearly seen that his deeds have been wrought in God." (John 3:16-21). 

Paris - the City of Lights.

My wife and I are both very fond of Paris, and have enjoyed a number of holidays there, in the past.  It is less than 400 miles from our home in Gardonne.  We know folk who live in what is still a beautiful city.

I suppose that having such connection has emphasised the horror of last night's massacre of so many by, apparently, terrorists from Daesh (the better name for the self-proclaimed "Islamic State").   The social media sites are filled with messages of sympathy; of outrage; of horror; and of disgust.  One newspaper reports that "World leaders including David Cameron and Barack Obama have expressed their shock and outrage at the atrocities in Paris."  The Prince of Wales is set to send a message of "profound sympathy and solidarity with the people of Paris" to French president Francois Hollande (and on his birthday anniversary, the dear boy - although why the newspapers should think that to be of great importance, is beyond me!).

As I read about the carnage, my thoughts and prayers go out, as do those of decent people everywhere, to those who have been so suddenly bereaved, and those who are suffering from life-threatening injuries.  I am also remembering those in the French emergency services who are having to deal with horrific scenes; and those who were caught up in the attacks - remaining physically unscathed, but carrying with them, probably for the remainder of their lives, the scenes of death and destruction that surrounded them.

I am also thinking back to other atrocities committed by Daesh.  I am thinking, for example, of 21 Egyptian Coptic Christians who were murdered on a Libyan beach in February.  Each one, it was reported, died with the name of Jesus on his lips.  I am thinking of so many others, given the choice of denying that same Jesus, or dying - and gladly choosing physical death.  I am wondering how many of those in Paris, last night, were as well prepared to meet their Creator!

Such events must, surely, make any of us realise the unpredictability of human life.  How many of those who left for that concert gave even the slightest thought to the possibility that they would not survive it?   Even if that awful massacre had not occurred, any one of them could have been the victim of an accident; or of the mindless violence of an individual thug.

When I was teaching, one of my S1 (11-12 year-olds) courses had to do with "Rites of Passage" - when we looked at the four major stages that appear to be, and to have been, celebrated by every culture at every time - birth; coming of age; marriage; and death.   We spent some time on the subject of "death" (probably the only Department that did deal with it as a specific topic!).  One of the things we learned is what is discovered by those caught up in a situation like last nights - and there have been many of them just in the year that is rapidly drawing to a close - that our basic mind-set seems to be that death will not touch us; at least, not until we are in our eighties, or older!

May I lovingly say that each one of us needs to be prepared for the moment of our own death?  Not one of us knows when that will be.  I might live for another twenty years; I might die before I have completed typing this post!

How may we prepare?  By repenting (turning away from our sin) and placing our trust in the Lord Jesus, for salvation; obeying and serving Him.  You see, our Creator God is holy. Although He is Love, He also has wrath and anger over sin, and shows no partiality.  Listen to the inspired words of the prophet, Isaiah: "Listen! The Lord's arm is not too weak to save you, nor is His ear too deaf to hear you call.   It's your sins that have cut you off from God.  Because of your sins, He has turned away and will not listen anymore." (Isa 59:1-2; NLT). 

It is our sin that is the problem, and it must be dealt with.  I know of only one way - to come to Father God, confessing your sins and sinfulness, and seeking the forgiveness that was won for you, at great cost, on a hill called Calvary. Whoever you are, humble yourself before God. Realise that you are in serious trouble with God because of your sins - about all of which He knows! There are no secret sins before his eyes. Sincerely and humbly ask him for mercy and forgiveness. Commit your heart to him. Turn from all known sin. Ask God to also reveal anything in your life that needs to change. Do it today. Don’t delay. Tomorrow may be too late. No one is guaranteed another day to prepare for death.

I have often said that, in Victorian days, the taboo subject was sex, but that everyone was familiar with death because it was so common, and because families prepared the bodies of their loved ones for burial.  Today, everyone seems to know everything there is to know about the physical act of sexual intercourse; but because we have made an industry out of death, and someone else "undertakes" to make all of the arrangements, we are no longer familiar with it, and it has become the taboo subject.  Perhaps that simply adds to our confusion, and revulsion, when it occurs in our midst on such a large scale.

I grieve for those, in Paris, and in the Lebanon, and in many other parts of our modern world, who are bereaved and injured.  However, I grieve even more for those who will have been totally unprepared for the death that so swiftly overtook them.  

Are you fully prepared?  Are you?