Hope in the Midst of Darkness: A Response to the Latest Mass Shooting

Reading the news early this morning, I was shocked to learn in the Morning Brew that yesterday's school shooting in Nashville, Tennessee, marked the 129th mass shooting this year. According to the Gun Violence Archive, a mass shooting is any incident in which four or more people are shot and either killed or injured. Did you get that? In just 86 days of the new year, we have witnessed and suffered 129 mass shootings in the United States! That is 1.5 mass shootings per day!

Sadly, this shooting hit even closer to home as all three adults killed by the 28-year-old shooter were beloved friends and acquaintances of my wife’s family. No longer were these just names in the news of another travesty but loved people with whom there were shared experiences and memories. And to think of the three 9-year-old children whose lives were snuffed out by this rampage. Driving my children to school (ages 13, 12, and 11), I was overcome with deep sadness and grief as I contemplated the despair their parents and loved ones must be experiencing.

I will be honest. Yesterday was challenging, not only because of the sad news of the shooting, but also because of the brokenness and despair I see and experience in my community daily. 14-year-olds fighting and stabbing one another, homicide upon homicide, increased homelessness and mental illness, the disappearance of many Native American women, and the rampant use of drugs and alcohol. Some days I find “hope” and “joy” a difficult reality to see when I feel consumed by so much darkness.

The Lord is a God of irony. Each week I work with the kids on memorizing a Bible verse in exchange for a gas station treat. Last week I decided that we would keep it simple and go with a passage that has been rattling around in my mind and heart – Revelation 22:3, which says, “No longer will there be any curse.” On the heels of some challenging realities of brokenness, today I find great hope in this passage – one day, with the dawning of the Light, God will bring the fullness of His Kingdom and no longer will there be any curse. In the Old Testament book of Isaiah, the prophet of God is given a picture of this Kingdom to one day come. He writes,

1A shoot?will come up from the stump?of Jesse;

????from his roots a Branch?will bear fruit.

2?The Spirit?of the?Lord?will rest on him—

????the Spirit of wisdom?and of understanding,

????the Spirit of counsel and of might,

????the Spirit of the knowledge and fear of the?Lord—

3?and he will delight in the fear?of the?Lord.

He will not judge by what he sees with his eyes,

????or decide by what he hears with his ears;

4?but with righteousness?he will judge the needy,

????with justice?he will give decisions for the poor?of the earth…

6?The wolf will live with the lamb,

????the leopard will lie down with the goat,

the calf and the lion and the yearling together;

????and a little child will lead them.

7?The cow will feed with the bear,

????their young will lie down together,

????and the lion will eat straw like the ox.

8?The infant?will play near the cobra’s den,

????and the young child will put its hand into the viper’s?nest.

9?They will neither harm nor destroy

????on all my holy mountain,

for the earth?will be filled with the knowledge?of the?Lord

????as the waters cover the sea.

10?In that day?the Root of Jesse?will stand as a banner?for the peoples; the nations?will rally to him,?and his resting place?will be glorious.

Last night I had the pleasure of meeting with a group of guys I have shared life with for many years. The evening was heavy as we were all walking through various trials. Still, as we prayed for one another and our world, I was greatly comforted as I imagined the Lord, our good and loving Father, getting down on one knee before me as His gentle hands lifted my chin to draw my gaze upon Him. While all else seems dreary and hopeless, it is in these moments that we find hope, life, yes, and even joy in the Lord.

A while back, my 12-year-old son (who has had his own struggles with despair) shared this passage with me and asked that we memorize it during our morning drives. It says,

I saw the Lord always before me.

????Because he is at my right hand, I will not be shaken.

Therefore my heart is glad and my tongue rejoices;

????my body also will rest in hope,

?because you will not abandon me to the realm of the dead,

????you will not let your holy one see decay.

You have made known to me the paths of life;

????you will fill me with joy in your presence. (Acts 2:25-28, NIV)

You make known the paths of life… and You fill me with the joy of Your presence. Brothers and sisters, we have strong confidence that the fullness of His promise of the Kingdom will come. The Lord has not abandoned nor neglected us. Just as He came to us 2,000 years ago to offer His life on the cross and conquer sin and death on our behalf, so will He come again. “Blessed are those who mourn.” Why? Because we are confident that He will overcome, thus, we will overcome. Go, live as Light in the darkness as His hands and feet, for the glory of the King and the hope of the world. Amen.