Why does bad stuff happen...period?

This past Sunday I tackled the question "Why does bad stuff happen to good people?" in our "Preacher, I've got a question series.  Little did I know that just a day later we'd be smacked in the face of another piercing example of bad things happening.  Two bombs went off at the Boston Marathon, killing 3 and injuring dozens more.  Many who have survived this tragedy will live without limbs and constant reminders of the ugliness of that day.  It's tragic and breaks my heart.  Having an eight year old myself, I've almost tried not to think about the heartache the family of the little boy that was killed is going through.  The whole thing.  It's just...unthinkable.

I want to say, "I've had enough."  I want to say, "Let's us join together, for we won't stand for this any longer."  I want to say something inspirational like that, but it rings hollow.  We need to stop sinning.  That's really the only answer.  Bad things happen because of sin.  As long as there's sin, there will be bad things.  Sometimes that sin gives birth to intentional 'badness' in the form of a bomb at a race.  Sometimes in a comment that wasn't intentional, but the hurt and pain caused by it are just a painful.  Sometimes our own sin causes us to suffer bad consequences.  Often, we experience bad in the world because we live in a world broken by sin.  This isn't how things were supposed to be.  God didn't create things to be this way.  Read Genesis 1 and 2.  God had better plans.  Sin changed everything.  God created a world where bad things didn't happen.  Sin created a reality where bad things have become the norm.

But there is hope.  Policies and procedures are band-aids to the world's problems, not that they're not needed sometimes.  I believe that the hope of the world is Jesus Christ.  Jesus brought the Kingdom BACK to earth.  Jesus came to restore that which sin had destroyed.  Jesus defeated sin and death.  Jesus resurrected good from the death found in bad.  Jesus is one day going to restore good back to the way it was meant to be.  That's what Christians believe when they say that the Kingdom is coming.  We believe that Jesus is going to fix all this mess.

But, do you remember how Jesus taught us to pray?  "Thy Kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth, as it is in heaven."  We don't have to just sit around and wait for the sweet by an by.  We can deliver the Kingdom in the here and now.  I believe that the Body of Christ (the Church) is the hope for a broken world that slants toward bad.  When we love like God loves, when we see others the way God sees them, when we sacrifice like Jesus, when we comfort like God's Spirit, when we exhibit compassion, generosity, selflessness, and kindness we start to bring the Kingdom to earth NOW.  That's the answer to this mess, and it's the only hope in the face of tragedy.  The world desperately needs the Church to BE the Church.  So, what can you do in response to tragedy in Boston?  Love your neighbor as yourself, forgive others, encourage people, and practice hospitality.  We won't change this with one action.  We'll change this with one action at a time.  One action in which we deny sin and selfishness and choose obedience and selflessness.  When the world sees the love of Christ personified the way it is supposed to be, it's hard not to embrace it.  And when that happens...thy Kingdom come.