I’m angry. Charlie Kirk was assassinated yesterday on a university campus in Orem, Utah for his beliefs. On the same day there was also a school shooting in Evergreen, Colorado in which 4 young people were sent to the hospital, the shooter included.  In recent weeks we have seen children shot and killed through the windows of a church.  An elderly couple was killed in their New York home and then their home was set on fire.  A young Ukrainian woman coming home from work was stabbed on a train in Charlotte, North Carolina where the murderer walked off and not one person on the train did anything to help her for one minute and thirty-five seconds, enough time for her to bleed out and die.  Of course, today we remember 9/11 and many who were murdered by terrorists and their evil ideology.  As I said, I’m angry. Maybe even righteously so as Paul writes in Ephesians 4:26 “Be angry, and yet do not sin.”  Where I have to be careful is where my anger goes from here.  Does it sinfully manifest in words and deeds or can it lead me to turn to Christ and His Word in an even deeper way?  I pray for the latter.

Friends, I know we feel as if our country is evilly spiraling out of control, but is our day and age really that different from any other time in history?  I think not, for since the day Adam and Eve ate the forbidden fruit, sin and evil have been in the world, from Cain brutally killing his brother Abel, to the assassin brutally killing Charlie Kirk and every sinful act of violence in between. What should we expect from a fallen world?  Kirk himself has acknowledged the need for spiritual revival and moral change to precede political transformation. In other words, what our nation needs more than anything is for the gospel of Jesus Christ to be preached, taught, shared and believed!

"...what our nation needs more than anything is for the gospel of Jesus Christ to be preached, taught, shared and believed!"

Thankfully, Kirk was a devout Christian who is enjoying the pleasures of heaven with his Savior, Jesus (Lk. 23:43)!  He is standing “in the presence of His glory blameless and with great joy. (Jude 24).”  Daniel 12:2-3 says “Many of those who sleep in the dust of the ground will awake, these to everlasting life, but the others to disgrace and everlasting contempt. Those who have insight will shine brightly like the brightness of the expanse of heaven, and those who lead the many to righteousness, like the stars forever and ever.”  Charlie Kirk has been awakened unto everlasting life but even before that, his life as a Christian shined brightly and no doubt led many to Christ.

Charlie Kirk is more alive than he’s ever been and that life now extends into eternity (Jn. 3:16).  Jesus said to Martha, who was grieving her dead brother Lazarus, “I am the resurrection and the life; he who believes in Me will live even if he dies, and everyone who lives and believes in Me will never die. Do you believe this (Jn. 11:25-26)?”  Friends, do YOU believe this?  Will “you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead” so “you will be saved (Rom. 10:9)”?

Of course, here on earth there are only two paths to follow, one that leads to eternal life in heaven and one that leads to everlasting destruction in hell and the lake of fire.  In Mt. 7:13-14 Jesus spoke of these two paths as entering through a narrow or wide gate, “Enter through the narrow gate; for the gate is wide and the way is broad that leads to destruction, and there are many who enter through it. For the gate is small and the way is narrow that leads to life, and there are few who find it.”  In John 5:28-29, Jesus speaks of the two outcomes based on the path chosen, “for an hour is coming, in which all who are in the tombs will hear His voice, and will come forth; those who did the good deeds to a resurrection of life, those who committed the evil deeds to a resurrection of judgment.” 

Friends, if Charlie Kirk could speak to us from heaven, he’d want everyone to know about the glorious riches awaiting all who put their faith in Jesus.  Jesus is the one who lived the perfect life for you, going to the cross in your place, taking all of God’s wrath against your sin, so you could be forgiven (Heb. 4:15; Rom. 6:23).  In fact, His perfect righteousness is given to you so you can have that perfect standing with God (Rom. 5:9), blameless and with great joy!  Furthermore, God accepted Jesus’ sacrifice by resurrecting Him from the dead (1 Cor. 15:3-4).  In Acts 17:30-31, the apostle Paul writes, “Therefore having overlooked the times of ignorance, God is now declaring to men that all people everywhere should repent, because He has fixed a day in which He will judge the world in righteousness through a Man whom He has appointed, having furnished proof to all men by raising Him from the dead.”  This all means you too can be resurrected from the dead and enjoy eternal life with Him.  You are simply called to repent of your sin (turn away) and believe in what Jesus has accomplished on your behalf.

"What we need to do is let our righteous anger be directed by the Holy Spirit to understand that EVERYONE in our country (and world) needs the gospel."

Let me return to the question of anger in our hearts. Maybe the answer is to remember that history has demonstrated that the atrocities of our time are really no different than any other. We should be outraged that Jesus Himself was brutally tortured and murdered for what He preached and taught.  No freedom of speech there. What we need to do is let our righteous anger be directed by the Holy Spirit to understand that EVERYONE in our country (and world) needs the gospel. We sometimes secretly think in our hearts that we are fine to share the gospel with people we love, like or enjoy, but the assassins, murderers and rapists should get their just desserts, not “pass go” and be sent straight to hell. No doubt many will end up there. We may even refrain from sharing the gospel with people who think differently than us, politically or socially.

But if Jesus could pray for His enemies while dying by their hands on the cross (Lk. 23:34), can’t you and I pray for gospel opportunities, even for those who are evil, wicked or whom we despise?  Remember too that, “our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places. Therefore, take up the full armor of God, so that you will be able to resist in the evil day, and having done everything, to stand firm (Eph. 6:12-13).”

And while we’re praying, let us pray for Charlie Kirk’s wife and children, family, friends and all those who are mourning his death.  Let us also pray for the families and friends of all those who have lost loved ones to senseless violence.  Let us pray for the gospel to go forth and for God’s kingdom to come knowing that Christ won’t return until every person He has ordained to be saved has been brought into His kingdom. “For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes (Rom. 1:16).”

Grace, peace and love to you in Christ,

Pastor Jay