What's Your Word?

How did you respond to the news? Were you angry? Despairing? Worried? Scared? Overwhelmed? Exhausted? The terrible events of Bondi have no doubt found us all by now. I was confronted with these sickeningly familiar scenes at the end of our service on Sunday night - horrified by what unfolded. It felt like we'd seen sickening scenes like this before but this was at home and in one of our most iconic and carefree places...

Where does it leave us? There are questions flying around our community of religion, law, immigration, leadership, and so much more. It’s easy to fall into comfortable patterns, comfortable hate, or comfortable broadsides and comfortable tirades.. The trouble of course is that they lack any true comfort. We don’t need another confirmation of our own views - the echo chamber of the algorithms. No, we need to ask ourselves how should we respond as Christians? 

I’m comfortable saying that there’s no definitive answer to that. Should we pray? Certainly. Asking Jesus to comfort, heal, and restore is surely right. So too is begging that Jesus might return soon and bring with him the power to reconcile all things and to execute His magnificent and terrifying justice. We can also be those who are asking our Heavenly Father that the Jewish community of Australia feel safe, embraced, and come to know again its welcomed and rightful place in the mix of cultures that is our modern nation of immigrants. 

We can and should pray like this. And we should assure one another that Jesus remains on His throne. At times like this we should not be strangers to God's Word. There we will come to read again and remind ourselves ourselves of His offer of peace:

“Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 4:7 NIV11)

The last line has been precious to me. What Paul points us to here is a peace that will guard our hearts and our minds. Both are needed - neither is easy - or simple.

“Dear Lord, please guard our hearts from fear. Guard us against those things that come to us easily but are rash and regrettable. Guard us against those that are recklessly hateful. Guard us from believing that You don’t see and don’t care. Set deep in our hearts the knowledge and assurance of Your unchallenged sovereignty and unimpeachable justice.

Please Lord, guard our minds too. Guard them from being trapped in cycles of worry and anxiousness. Guard us from dark imagined futures. Put in their place a clear vision of Your love, mercy, and grace. Help us to bring our burdens to You our Great Shepherd and cause us not to carry them alone. In this time of divisions give us a renewed sense of community locally, spiritually, and within our church. Help us to cling to Your Son - the light of the world - and be reminded of John's great words;

“In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.” (John 1:4-5)

We thank you for this deeply assuring and unshakeable victory. Dear Lord Jesus reign in Your brilliant light we pray.

Amen."