Why Boston?

Running the Boston Marathon has been a long time dream of mine and high on my bucket list.  Since I’ve completed a marathon, I’ve dreamed of the day when I could qualify for the Boston.  But yesterday as I sat in the comfort of my office and heard the horror that was the end of the Boston Marathon, I must admit there was this jump in my heart.  And it was fear.  I’m sure many people experienced fear as the news traveled that two bombs exploded near the finish line of the Boston Marathon on Monday.  For some of us it was the fear of national security, for others it was fear concerning loved ones and friends, still for others it was that plaguing fear that asks the question, “Are we ever safe?”  With three persons killed by the blast and over 130 injured it may seem that the answer to that question is “No.”  “No, we are never safe from these kinds of evils in the world.”  Evil is perhaps the only word that I can faithfully use to describe what happened.  Hundreds of family and friends encouraging, cheering, and believing in the runners they long to see cross that finish line, and in the matter of seconds shocked into a world of chaos, destruction, and horror.  That’s evil.  And it’s easy to want to quickly point a finger and say, “that’s where the evil is coming from.”  But evil is not so easily named or even contained.  We want someone or something to blame to ease the fear, to dismiss the danger, and to ignoring the probing question, “Why?”  Why Boston, why the marathon, why now?
The truth is, we don’t know why.  And we may never know why.  Some people of faith will be quick to blame, quick to blame sin, quick to blame individuals, even quick to blame God.  But frankly blame it’s not helpful.  In fact as people of faith in the face of evil and fear we need to be quick to proclaim hope, light, and life.  Why?  Because we have the audacity to believe that God has overcome even this present evil.  We are an Easter people, a people claimed by the Resurrection of Jesus Christ.  We are in the season of Easter, and this season is a daily reminder that God has the power to overcome:  God overcomes the evil, overcomes the darkness, overcomes even death with Jesus Christ’s glorious life and light.  God’s overcoming is continual, it’s moving, it’s flooding in, and it’s bringing a healing to the whole world--that even includes Boston.   
This week I want to challenge you to pray that Boston be covered in God’s glorious life and light.  Pray for the families and friends directed affected by those bomb blasts, pray for those responsible for this evil, and pray for one another that we wouldn’t allow the fear of evil to cloud our vision of God’s power and love.  

In Prayer, 

Pastor Rachel