I asked the question in youth: “Two news stories have captivated my attention this year, do you know what they are?” Almost all of them said together, “the Penn State Tragedy and Steve Jobs death” and they are right. They know this because we communicate a lot, not only in youth but on facebook and twitter. These two news stories have stopped me in my tracks several times but for totally different reasons and for multiple reasons. I will share one of them here.
Here is a comment from a news story just a few weeks ago about Steve Jobs faith, in USA Today.
“For most of my life, I’ve felt there must be more to our existence than meets the eye,” Jobs told Isaacson. The adopted son of blue-collar Californians spent much of his early adulthood searching for that unseen something.
At age 13, Jobs asked the Lutheran pastor of his parents’ church if God knew about starving children. “Yes, God knows everything,” the pastor replied. Jobs never returned to church, refusing to worship a God who allowed such suffering.
Here is a Biblical response to this comment and it is the comment of so many people in the world who do not understand God or the Word He has left us to guide us.
Matthew 25: 31-46
31 “But when the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit upon his glorious throne. 32 All the nations will be gathered in his presence, and he will separate the people as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. 33 He will place the sheep at his right hand and the goats at his left.
34 “Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the Kingdom prepared for you from the creation of the world. 35 For I was hungry, and you fed me. I was thirsty, and you gave me a drink. I was a stranger, and you invited me into your home. 36 I was naked, and you gave me clothing. I was sick, and you cared for me. I was in prison, and you visited me.’
37 “Then these righteous ones will reply, ‘Lord, when did we ever see you hungry and feed you? Or thirsty and give you something to drink? 38 Or a stranger and show you hospitality? Or naked and give you clothing? 39 When did we ever see you sick or in prison and visit you?’
40 “And the King will say, ‘I tell you the truth, when you did it to one of the least of these my brothers and sisters, you were doing it to me!’
41 “Then the King will turn to those on the left and say, ‘Away with you, you cursed ones, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his demons. 42 For I was hungry, and you didn’t feed me. I was thirsty, and you didn’t give me a drink. 43 I was a stranger, and you didn’t invite me into your home. I was naked, and you didn’t give me clothing. I was sick and in prison, and you didn’t visit me.’
44 “Then they will reply, ‘Lord, when did we ever see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and not help you?’
45 “And he will answer, ‘I tell you the truth, when you refused to help the least of these my brothers and sisters, you were refusing to help me.’
46 “And they will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous will go into eternal life.”
This passage is not teaching as so many think that if we don’t do good things we will spend eternity in Hell. No, this passage is simply stating the way Christians will behave. We will love our fellow-man and we will take action to change bad situations of others.
I John 3: 14-17
14 If we love our Christian brothers and sisters, it proves that we have passed from death to life. But a person who has no love is still dead. 15 Anyone who hates another brother or sister is really a murderer at heart. And you know that murderers don’t have eternal life within them.
16 We know what real love is because Jesus gave up his life for us. So we also ought to give up our lives for our brothers and sisters. 17 If someone has enough money to live well and sees a brother or sister in need but shows no compassion—how can God’s love be in that person?
I am just simply saying, We are the hands and feet of Jesus to the world. God has chosen to use His people to show Christ to the world. When will we ever get it?
The better question is, How do we as redeemed people allow such suffering in the world that we have been given to steward?
Ronnie
