The Death of bin Laden

Posted by Randy | Labels: , , , , , , , , , | Posted On Saturday, May 7, 2011 at 7:26 PM

Sunday evening I sat in front of the television and listened as President Obama announced the death of al-Qaeda terrorist leader Osama bin Laden. I felt some joy about that, and relief that he was no longer a threat. We have individuals in our church who lost friends, co-workers and loved ones because of the 9/11 tragedy. I personally visited last year the "Ground Zero" site in New York City, and I visited in 2004 the site in Pennsylvania where the fourth airliner crashed. I have great admiration for the men and women who serve in our armed forces and the job they have done protecting our nation, and I am grateful for our special operations teams and the secret work they do. I certainly believe in the active presence of evil in our world today, and the actions of 9/11 can only be described in those terms, as far as I am concerned. And I believe bin Laden was clearly an instrument of evil.


I'm not sad that bid Laden is dead, but at the same time I can't say I feel "happy" either. I know this sounds weird, and I don't have it fully worked out, but stay with me. I feel relief, and I'm breathing a little easier because of his death. I've certainly watched television shows and movies where the "bad" guy is killed, and I walked away feeling he (or she) got what they deserved. In fact, the movie would have been a disappointment if that had not happened. But this isn't a movie - this is real life! This isn't about entertainment but about flesh and blood human beings.


From the Bible it is clear to me that God created governments and they serve several purposes. Among those, governments are given the responsibility by God to bring about justice. "...The authorities are established by God ... to punish those who do wrong." (Romans 13:4 NLT) The government's responsibility to maintain order and provide for the common good enables you and me to freely live out our faith. This isn't a naive belief that governments can do whatever they want. No government rules perfectly, and there are times when some governments fail and need to be replaced. But, the Bible shows us that governments do have a God-given responsibility to bring about justice and punish those who do wrong.


I certainly believe that's what has happened here. Our government has used its God-given responsibility to bring about justice and punish one who has clearly done much that was wrong. And in acting, it is likely that our government has also prevented future loss of innocent life. 


What has disturbed me over the years is when foreign nationals celebrate the death of Americans by terrorists. But, just because they act this way doesn't mean I have to. I don't think I can do that, at least not right now. As I said above, I can be relieved, and I can be grateful to our special forces team, but I cannot, in good conscience, celebrate the death of any human life - even if it is justified. 


I have this image of a baby being born into this world, and a mother and father who are so excited. Yet somewhere along the way, young Osama took some wrong turns. Instead of being a productive citizen and faithful son, somewhere along the way he became an instrument of sin and evil. So, I do not celebrate but instead feel sadness. Sadness that a life born full of promise ended so tragically. Sadness that sin and evil had gotten such a grip on an individual or organization to lead them to commit acts of evil. Sadness that hate could be so strong in our world today. Sadness that innocent lives have been damaged and destroyed by these acts of violence. Sadness that, somewhere along the way, they did not hear - at least not enough to act upon - the Good News of redemption in and through Jesus Christ. 


I am grateful that our government has chosen not to release photos of bin Laden. I don't want my ten-year-old son to accidentally see that picture and have it scorched into his memory. I don't want to take away his innocence just yet. I don't want him to live in fear or see terrorists around every corner. If I could make a wish for him, it would be that there would be no more wars and terrorism by the time he is a young adult. I realize that the only way that will happen is if Jesus returns, for he warned that prior to his coming there would be wars and threats of war. We really are living in the end times, though Jesus may not return in my lifetime or yours (and I'm not here to try to predict that time, either). 


So, we are stuck in the "in-between" times - after Jesus has defeated sin and death and allowed me to join his side, but before the victory is complete here on earth. We live in a world racked with sin, and ultimately no government or philosophy can fix that. We will not "progress" enough or "evolve" enough to get past these things. We are battling sin and evil - our battle is not against flesh and blood (Ephesians 6:12). But we are not alone - we can choose to be on the side of Jesus, who has already sealed the victory for us.


Because of Jesus' victory, I have hope ... but it's not so much in military victories or even peace treaties (as much as I am grateful for those). My hope is in Jesus Christ, who will one day return and bring his own safely home; who will judge the sheep and the goats, and cast some into outer darkness not only for their evil deeds, but even for their ambivalence to evil and to Jesus himself. Who will judge the Osama bin Ladens and Hitlers. I have hope because there will be justice, even when I do not see it in this life. And quite honestly, this past weekend, I sure would not have wanted to be bin Laden when he met his Maker. But because of my faith in Jesus Christ, I do look forward to meeting my Maker - and no event in this life can take that hope and that joy and that peace away from me!

When is Easter?

Posted by Randy | Labels: , , , , , , , , , | Posted On Saturday, April 23, 2011 at 10:28 PM

Easter is so late this year - April 24. In fact, we're only two weeks away from Mother's Day. Why did it happen this way, and why is it sometimes as early as March.

To answer this, I read some material by History professor Steve Ware from an article in The Christian Century, as well as information in the Wikipedia website. The short answer is that Easter falls on the first Sunday after the first full moon after the vernal equinox. Huh? 

The equinox is when the equator is perpendicular to the sun. The center of the sun is in the same plane as the Earth's equator. At this point in time, if you were standing on the equator, the sun would appear directly overhead. It typically occurs around March 20/21 in the spring, called the "vernal equinox," and around September 22/23 in the fall, called the "autumnal equinox." The word "equinox" is derived from the Latin words aequus, meaning equal, and nox, meaning night. Although it's not exactly the case, we can think of the equinox as being the time when the length of the day and the night are approximately the same. The equinox marks the official change of seasons, from winter to spring or summer to fall.

The short version is that in 325 A.D., Constantine, emperor of the Holy Roman Empire, convened the Council of Nicea. Among the business before the council was a desire to establish a uniform date for Easter. Out of the discussion and debate came the "Easter Rule," setting Easter on the first Sunday after the first full moon after the vernal equinox. However this decision was not unanimous. 

There was not yet what we now consider a Pope. Instead, there were bishops from across the church, though over time the Bishop of Rome in the western portion of the Church began to take on greater and greater preeminence, and eventually became what we today know as the Pope. The eastern bishops of the Church (more closely associated with Constantinople) at that time wanted to schedule Easter in conjunction with the Jewish Festival of Passover since, after all, Jesus went to Jerusalem, in the first place, to celebrate Passover. The Western bishops (more closely associated with Rome) preferred a date corresponding with the beginning of spring, because that was the time already established for a lot of pagan celebrations, and they wanted to offer an alternative. 

In fact, on this and other issues, the first split of the Church eventually occurred, around 1054/1055 AD, when the Church split into the Eastern Church, which today is made of multiple branches called the Orthodox Church, and the Western Church, which became known as the Roman Catholic Church of today. (Some five hundred years later the Protestant movement, under the leadership of Martin Luther and others, split from the Western or Roman Catholic Church). 

Most churches in America today are descendants of the Western line of the Church and use a different calendar than the Eastern Orthodox churches. Sometimes our celebrations of Easter fall on the same day, and sometimes they vary by as much as five weeks! Based on these calculations, Easter can fall between March 22 and April 25, so this year is the second latest day on which Easter can fall. Easter last fell on April 25 in 1943 and will not do so again until 2038.

So, for the record, this year (2011) the first full moon following the vernal equinox occurred on April 18. Easter falls on the first Sunday following April 18, which is April 24. This year both the Western and Eastern churches are celebrating Easter on the same day. The beginning of Passover this year falls on April 19.

Believe me when I say the actual computations for Easter are actual quite involved. If you want to dig deeper, google Easter for more information. However, for most of us it's enough to take the word of "the powers that be" and celebrate Easter this year on April 24. Happy Easter!
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