Hope despite a heavy heart

My heart is heavy as I struggle to understand the gravity of what’s happened in Ferguson. The loss of one young man’s life is tragic, whatever the circumstances might be, and whether the use of force was justified or not. None of us will ever know all the facts and we may never be at peace with what has happened. What I do know is that this issue is so much deeper than police using excessive force. If a black officer killed a black teen, it wouldn’t even be in the news. At the heart of this is a question of justice. MLK Jr said an “injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.”

However, this case isn’t simply about weighing facts and evidence and determining a verdict. It cuts to the core of who we are as people and as a nation--what defines us. The past should not control us, but we must come to grips with it in order to move forward. That our nation not only accepted, but embraced slavery as a means of economic gain at the expense of the rights and freedoms of other human beings, is undeniable. That racism has existed for much of our nation’s history and STILL exists today, is a sad reality.

For a white kid who grew up in a small town in Wyoming, it is tremendously difficult for me to comprehend this seemingly broad racial divide. Yet as someone who longs for community and enjoys rich and meaningful relationships, my heart aches. What hope do we have for reconciliation, for peace, for restoration, for justice? I believe that apart from knowing a God who embodied human form and experienced sorrow, anger, and the entire spectrum of human emotion, there is no hope.

Throughout the history of man, we’ve looked to ourselves, to science, and elsewhere for answers, but to no avail. The results of Communism and Nazism were millions and millions killed. What has science offered us? (Don’t get me wrong, I’m not anti-science. I’m just saying that it doesn’t completely explain human existence, no matter how hard it may try.) Evolution and the idea of the survival of the fittest… Does that run contrary to racism and man’s inhumanity to man? I dare say that it does not, but my point is that only a God who created us in His image and entered into our story in human form can understand our groanings, our grumblings, our sadness, and can listen and respond to our cries for justice. We are not left to fend for ourselves in some chance, cosmic game. Neither are we robots unable to think for ourselves as if we were part of the movie “The Truman Game.” God created us with minds, hearts, and souls so that we might think, feel, and experience life to the fullest.

This same God, in the form of Jesus Christ, wrote a story for us that includes a joyous ending for all who trust and believe in Him. He is the one true God and a God of justice (Deuteronomy 10:18) who promises to fight for His people (Deut. 1:30) and to wipe away every tear (Rev. 21:4) from their eyes. Wrongs in this life will not go unpunished “for his judgments are true and just” (Rev. 19:4). That’s incredibly encouraging to me, but how then shall I live?

The search for answers continues and God promises wisdom to those who ask if faith (James 1:5-6). That doesn’t mean that we’ll ever fully understand everything, but because of Christ’s death on the cross, we can go directly to God with our fears, anxieties, frustrations, sadness, anger, and anything else we might be feeling. He listens. He acts. He does so because He is good, He is powerful, and because He loves us despite our sins and unfaithfulness. Therefore, we must be willing to talk and listen for God commands us to be quick to hear, slow to speak, and slow to anger (James 1:19).

Christians are called to be good listeners and to empathize with those who are in need and those who are hurting. God can and will bring about good through all of these tragic events/circumstances. He most certainly will use people to be part of the healing process and that can start by simply caring enough to reach out to those who may feel marginalized or victimized by (perceived and/or real) systematic injustices. We speak the truth in love and the truth shall set us free.