What sense can we make of this evil act? (October 2001)

Archbishop Writes

by Peter Jensen

We have witnessed once again an act of malice, wickedness and gross evil perpetrated against the innocent. Our first response was stunned disbelief, as though we were watching a disaster movie from which we would soon emerge smiling. But this is the real world, not a make-believe one.

In the face of this reality, we are going beyond our first, numb reaction. We were horrified; and now angry at those who are so callous and hate-filled.

There is fear as well, for if the economic, political and military centre of the world’s greatest power can be struck with such force, who can stand? What limits are there to human depravity? Who is safe?

There is an even deeper fear – fear of the neighbour. Both the US and Australia are great migrant countries. We welcome the peoples of the world. We rejoice in the differences while we recognise the unique dignity of every human being, their preciousness in the sight of God and their equality before the law.

But it is possible to hate the neighbour when we imagine a conspiracy, when their language is not the same, when we suspect them of evil designs. Fear has hit our nation, and we must handle it properly, committed as ever to justice, fairness and compassion.

What sense can we make of this awful carnage? Where can we turn for help at such a time? We need wisdom to explain the situation and strength to cope. Human helpers and counsellors offer genuine help. But there is a limit to human resources. In the end we do not know; in the end human aid fails us. We come to an end of ourselves and must look beyond.

Our culture has made a habit of setting aside the wisdom of the past, especially the Bible. Words from of old cannot help us – or so we think. But in the midst of catastrophe, when we reach the most extreme point, suddenly the Bible’s words come through with immense power and wisdom. There is nowhere else to turn to bind up the broken-hearted, salve the sick, comfort the bereaved. Appropriately, President Bush quoted the Bible, and it is to God’s word that we should turn.

The book of Psalms reminds us that in the midst of such extreme events, our only hope is to turn to the Lord God for his help and to his word for his wisdom. If human resources cannot cope, we are left with the resources of the living God himself.

The Scriptures also teach us to condemn all wicked violence, all taking of innocent life, all attempts to work God’s righteousness by ungodly means. We condemn such activities, whether in ourselves or in others, and we condemn the perpetrators of these deeds. With the Bible’s help we know evil when we see it.

The Bible makes us confident of God’s righteous and sovereign power. God is the judge of the whole earth, and he is the one true and righteous judge. If we do not experience his judgement now, it is because he withholds his hand, waiting for sinful men and women to turn to him in repentance.

But of this we may be absolutely sure: evil men will not triumph; God will vindicate the innocent and glorify his own name. His judgement may be slow as we count time, but it is very sure.

God often judges through human agents. The Bible tells us lawful authorities are God’s servants, ‘to bring punishment on the wrongdoer’ (Romans 13:4). For its part the justice of human agents must be entirely fair. They must not lapse into the methods of the villainous; they must not punish the innocent or act from ill-considered rage. They, too, must answer to God.

We need to remember this as we long for vindication; that we, too, are guilty before God; that the roots of evil are intertwined; that we benefit from sins committed in our name; that God’s judgement is righteous and without discrimination. He may act through human agents; he may act himself at the end of time. But that his judgement day lies before all people we may be very sure, and we need not despair that sin will go unpunished.

In other words, the Bible knows all about suffering and evil, especially human evil and its devastating effects on this world. It does not make God’s presence independent of such evils, or abstracted from them. It sets God in the midst of them.

The Bible expects wickedness, and we should never be surprised at how far into evil men and women will go. We live in a world in rebellion against God, and we must expect the consequences. But God has not abandoned his world. He is present in it, and we may turn to him with perfect confidence that he will hear us and uphold us, despite the awfulness of our experience.

It is natural to ask why such events may occur. At one level we can explain them in human malice and sin. But why does God permit them? Christians no more have the answer to this than anyone else does. We have no direct access to the purposes of God in specific events.

When Bishop Frank Retief’s church in Cape Town was bombed, the Christians were continually asked why and they were not able to answer. But the believers found they were not troubled by this question. Their experience of God was such that they did not need to know why – they were prepared to trust God and to believe that he had his purposes which would in the end be for good.

What gave them this assurance? It could only be the sheer reality of the Bible which leads to Jesus Christ. God is in charge, but his Son was crucified. If those two things are true, then somehow we can still believe that goodness will triumph, that God will be exalted, that righteousness will be vindicated. A world in which the Son of God was both crucified and resurrected is a world in which it is possible to have hope even in the midst of the thickest gloom and sorrow.

Even if you have a broken heart and are in deep pain, you can turn to God. He, too, knows suffering from within, and he will not fail you or forsake you.

Our hold on life is tenuous. The Bible knows this. No matter how strong we are, how clever, how wealthy, the sleep of death may come upon us in an instant. And so for us, as for all, there remains one hope alone- the Lord ‘our dwelling place throughout all generations’ (Psalm 90:1). Trust in him, even now, and his promise is sure: ‘the Lord Almighty is with us; the God of Jacob is our fortress,’ (Psalm 46:11).

How can we respond to the terrorist atrocity in the US?

The Scriptures teach us to take practical steps of love, to find and do the good works that a crisis like this lays upon us.

1. Refuse to engage in racist attacks on others. There are people in our community who are being harassed and vilified on religious or racial grounds. They do not deserve this and it will only breed further injustice. The Christian way is that of love.

2. Express sympathy and concern. There are a number in our midst, especially American citizens or Australians with friends and relatives in the US who are fearful, bereaved, suffering.

3. Pray – especially for our leaders. We can do little from this distance to offer support. But we can pray, and that is the most practical gift of all.

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