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Hi everyone! I hope your week is going well. Mine is, though I confess that this morning I’m wrestling with a mixture of feelings, joyful and sad, hopeful and maybe just a little frustrated.

Most days, I spend a few minutes scanning the news while I finish my breakfast. It’s not the most fun part of my day, but I find it useful to have a general idea of what’s going on in the world. If nothing else, it helps to inform my prayer life.

The news today is predictably a little sad. It’s September 11, which means we’re all going to see plenty of articles reflecting back on the 9/11 terrorist attacks which - though now 24 years in the past - still haunt people’s memories with vivid images of falling towers in NYC, the wreckage of aircraft, and people running through the dust-filled streets, all captured in full-color and real time on global news networks. For our American neighbors, 9/11 remains the most traumatic national memory since the Vietnam War. In terms of global events, it’s certainly not the only horrific tragedy in the past quarter-century, but it does remain one of the most visually memorable ones.

I expected to see news articles on 9/11. There were other less-predictable ones this morning as well. I read about a mass shooting in Tampa, yet another (!) high school shooting in Colorado, and then there was the shooting of Charlie Kirk from Turning Point USA in Utah. Those were just the headlines. There would be lots more news of tragedy, heartache, and violence further down in the fine print as well.

The common theme that struck me this morning was violence. We are surrounded by examples of people who think that violence is the best (or only?) way to solve problems. People try to solve their individual pains and insecurities that way. They seek to promote what they think is good and to stand against what they view as evil by acting in violence. In some cases, they believe they are acting on God’s behalf. Whatever the specifics, they lash out and injure others in the hope of making our world better, or at least of undoing some of what isn’t good.

It's easy to sit in front of my screen, sipping my coffee and eating my grapes, all the while shaking my head and making “tisk tisk” sounds at all of this. Then, I think about the fallenness of my own heart, and many stories of people who really meant to do good but found themselves caught up in violence anyway. The fact is, we’re all capable of lashing out and doing harm. Maybe not to the degree of crashing airplanes into buildings, or shooting a campus speaker we don’t like. But in a hundred smaller ways that still vent our feelings of injustice, powerlessness, frustration, disappointment, and hurt. It seems to be one of the unavoidable features of our fallen condition as sinners.

That all sounds depressing. Fortunately, my morning reflections didn’t stop there. Looking at the many evils in the news, I found myself reflecting again on the extraordinary hope - the only real hope! - that we have in Jesus. In a world where people see wrongs and don’t know how to respond except with violence, small or large, Jesus shines like a bright beacon showing a different path. He tells us we don’t need to repay evil for evil. We don’t need to lash out and destroy things and people as a response to the wrongs we see. We don’t need to hate and alienate others, not even those who have harmed us and our families and friends. We don’t need to do wrong in order to right what is wrong. We can learn from our gracious God how to love enemies, to repay good for evil, to sow kindness in the midst of cruelty. To embrace and speak gently to those with whom we disagree. To be sources of God’s light in a dark world.

Turning from the news, my mind went back to the Beatitudes in Matthew 5, and the practical counsel of Jesus which follows. I found myself imagining a world where people really are poor in spirit, willing to embrace mourning, meek, showing a hunger and thirst for what is right, demonstrating mercy, keeping hearts pure, sowing peace, and being willing to do all these things even if they are misunderstood and persecuted for it. What a different world that would be! How much better if everyone would just follow Jesus’ prescription for solving our world’s problems!

Looking back across history and around the globe today, there are examples of Jesus’ love in action. There are communities where forgiveness wins over revenge, where love for enemies overpowers hate and mistrust. There are families, businesses, schools, and other local settings where it happens. There have been times when large social movements have attempted to follow Jesus’ path—maybe not perfectly, but enough to do away with slavery, to care for widows and orphans, and to establish governments that are more just than what was there before. Efforts to be Christlike seldom make the news, but they help to change the world all the same.

I’ve said that reading the news stimulates my prayer life. Today, as I put dishes away and turned to other things, I found myself praying that our little community here at West Vancouver Baptist Church will increasingly be one of those places where the light of Jesus shines out. May people see in us the ability to love, and give, and forgive, and extend our Lord’s kindness and grace in ways that are completely counter-cultural, unexplainable for neighbors who don’t know Jesus. May we respond to the problems in our world, not by striking out in violence or anger or unkindness, but with the self-giving care and service our Lord demonstrated.  It doesn’t come naturally to fallen people, but it’s something God can grow in our hearts and lives. It may not change the world in a week or a year, but it can bring light and life in small but powerful steps wherever we go.

I’m grateful for all the examples of Christ-like love I see at WVBC. This is a community where Jesus is worshipped, where His Word is taught, where people really do seek to follow His path. It’s a delight to walk that path together with you. May we all do so with growing effectiveness and joy. Judging from this morning’s news, it’s something our world needs very badly!

Well, you can tell my heart was moved today, because I’ve launched into a mini-sermon. I’ll finish quickly. If you’re looking to prepare for this Sunday’s message in advance, we’re into a new sermon series in the book of Colossians. So you might consider reading Colossians 1:1-8 as a starting point. This, too, will be a reminder of the glory of Jesus, whom we serve, whose example we follow.

Meanwhile, have a wonderful week. May you be struck afresh by how much better Jesus’ way is than the way of our world. May we all be increasingly effective examples of the goodness of Jesus’ path. May God bless us all richly. See you soon!

—Pastor Ken