I have been overwhelmed this week with  amazement over the amount of violence, hurt, hate and tragedy that exists in our world.  It started on Monday with the bombing at the finish line of the Boston Marathon, then the report of an earthquake in Iran, series of bombings in Iraq and then last night with the massive explosion in Texas. 

Life is full of tragedy, and while some would use this information to say there is no God, I would state that it is a sign of the world choosing to live as if there were no God.  Choice of self over God has led to a world that consistently reflects life outside of God’s will. 

I have done a number of funerals over the last few months and many of them have been due to tragic situations.  At each of these funerals I needed to address those in the room who would question as to where God was in all of this tragedy.  The answer is that these things were not God’s will and that his heart breaks as ours do at times like this.  I have stated that “due to sin in the world there are many terrible things in this world that are not God’s will.”

We, those of us who but our full trust and hope in Jesus, know that we belong to a different kingdom that will only be fully realized when Christ returns.  Until then we wait and try to make the world reflect this coming, perfect Kingdom in any way we can in the here and now. 

I have a coffee mug that has on it the word Maranatha.  It is from a youth conference that I attended many years ago in Portland.  I looked at it this week and was struck by the word.  I then read a blog post by Ed Stetzer that stated:

There is just one use in the New Testament of the Aramaic word phrase, “Marana tha. Paul writes, “Marana tha
that is, Lord, come!” (1 Corinthians 16:22). Most translate it as a cry
for King Jesus to come soon. Yet, that one word has become a cry for
Christians in pain, persecution, and much more.

This marathon tragedy drives us again to our Maranatha cry– “come quickly, Lord” and set things right.

Let us continue to pray for those caught up in these tragedies, but let us also pray for those in our neighbourhoods and workplaces, on our streets and on our sports teams,  that walk in the darkness of this world with no real hope.