A terrible grief, an amazing grace

Yesterday the small city of Humboldt, Saskatchewan held a vigil service to honor their dead and comfort the living. They prayed and sang. Fifteen of their Broncos hockey team and team supporters were dead. As many were wounded. A main message from the team chaplain powerfully expressed the emotions of them all, the questions, and the deepest grief. He sobbed. He wrestled with his own sorrow. He also told them they need Jesus.

I watched their faces. Some seemed to hang on to every word with the conviction that all he said was true. Some shook their heads. A few looked bewildered. Many were so overcome with emotion that they could scarcely listen. At least one seemed to view the entire event as opportunity to be in front of a camera. Others were angry, not caring about God’s offer of solace.

My own pulse raced. Tears flowed. This was a difficult hour. We had a morning of rich worship, a challenge from the pulpit to take care of the clutter in our physical and spiritual lives, a rest in our weariness, then this deeply sorrowful, deeply passionate appeal to trust the God who is both on the throne and with us in our brokenness.

Today’s devotional is about worship. Tozer writes, “We can only worship in the Spirit, we can only pray in the Spirit, and we can only preach effectively in the Spirit, and what we do must be done by the power of the Spirit.” I wonder what people expect when they understand that statement. If the Spirit is involved, do we expect confident prayers, spectacular answers, powerful sermons leading to wholehearted response to God, and effective ministry that reaches thousands?

Yesterday’s message from that chaplain was done in the power of the Holy Spirit. The man was totally undone, transparent to share his rawest emotions, his greatest sorrow. He said he had no answers to the why question. He only knew that because Jesus came and walked among us and died for us, that He is here with us and He knows. Call on Him. He alone can give solace in the darkness.

“God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.” (John 4:24)

This is truth; we cannot see God. Tozer says we cannot worship and serve Him either, except by the power of the Holy Spirit. I saw that reality in the faces of those gathered in that arena. The message to unbelieving ears made no sense. The message to overwhelmed hearts was blah-blah-blah. The message to those who had already rejected the gospel brought tightened lips and fiery anger. The message to those full of themselves was just a lot of talk that was not about ‘me’ so they didn’t listen. Only the Spirit of God can bring a hunger for God, a comprehension of truth, a desire to find wholeness in the One who created us. Only the Holy Spirit can open hard hearts to hear that God loves them, to know that He is with them. Only the Holy Spirit can produce faith.

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Jesus, I know that faith comes by hearing the Word of God. I also know that deaf ears need a power beyond human power to hear that Word. These faces still swim before my mind’s eye, especially the faces of those who could not hear the same incredible message of Your love and hope that I did. Touch them. They need the Holy Spirit and the consoling power of mercy and Your amazing grace to give them comfort in this horrible grief.

Weep with those who weep

Concentration is difficult this day. Last night, a Canadian Junior A hockey team on their way to a playoff game in a bus were broadsided by a semi-trailer. Of twenty-eight in the bus, half of them died on the scene. The other half are injured, at least three seriously. These young men and their coaches were from various places in western Canada, including our city.

Like most Canadians who grew up in rural areas, I spent many hours at the local rink, skating or watching hockey. While I don’t personally know any of this team in the bus, I feel as if I do and share the pain and grief.

How do I segue into today’s devotional? I am so sad. Tozer speaks of dying to self. The Scripture gives a list of the outward evidence of those who do it, and those who don’t.

“Now the works of the flesh are evident: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. If we live by the Spirit, let us also keep in step with the Spirit. Let us not become conceited, provoking one another, envying one another.” (Galatians 5:19–26)

What catches me is the line that says to “keep in step with the Spirit” and raises the question: At a time like this, how does God feel? Does He cry? Is He grieving?

“Jesus wept.” (John 11:35) His friend Lazarus had died and with the grieving family, He shed tears. Those around Him remarked that this was the grief of loss. No doubt it involved that, but at the same time, I believe His tears included sorrow for all humanity, the reality that sin brought death into this world. A few verses later say that Jesus was deeply moved, a word conveying intense emotion, even indignation. Could Jesus have wept because those around Him had been blinded to the reality of eternal life and God’s promises? Was He sad that they did not know that death was not the end of life, just like the horizon is not the end of the ocean?

The Galatians passage gives a list of spiritual fruit that obviously comes from the Holy Spirit. This describes action, but it also includes attitudes and emotions. This fruit is given to those who belong to Jesus Christ and who live in the power of God rather than in sin and selfishness. I cannot know or judge those who grieve, yet experience tells me that some will be angry, withdraw, even get drunk. However, the Holy Spirit does not offer those as solutions. Instead, in the power of the Spirit there will be deep emotion, tears, concern for others facing the same loss, goodness, gentleness, even peace. 1 Thessalonians 4:13 says that Christians do not grieve the same way as others who have no hope.

Tozer focuses on the crucifixion part, that we need to go to the cross and die there. However, if anyone is in Christ, this has already happened:

“I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.” (Galatians 2:20)

The challenge is not what I must do, but to always remember what God has already done — and then live accordingly, keeping in step with the Spirit, letting Him take charge of my attitudes, actions, and emotions.

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Jesus, You are the measure of all things. From the way You lived and behaved, and from the precious gift of Your Word, I know what comprises a godly response to a tragedy like this. Your compassion puts me on my knees and weeping for the sorrow of others.