A 50-year-old pastor from a church here in San Antonio was killed Tuesday afternoon after he was hit by a bolt of lightning while hiking with his two teenage sons, authorities told News 4 WOAI. To read the rest of this article, click here.
(Good thing there are no pictures to post re: this guys death...)
Yikes! This Pastor was only 4 years older than me. Certainly makes me evaluate what I'm doing and wonder if God is planning on taking me home sooner than I had planned.
Some of you may remember a few years back, another Pastor in Texas died. His name was Kyle Lake and he died in a really bizarre way. He was electrocuted while baptizing someone in his church. To read about that story, click here.
So here is my theological propsition to you all. Do we chalk this up to God's providence or just freak accidents? It sounds almost barbaric to say God intended for these Pastors to die this way. Was this, as the insurance forms claim, an "act of God" that somehow needs to be factored in to how these families will now be taken care of? If God knows everything, did he just sit back and watch as one Pastor dies while baptizing someone and the other one gets struck by lightning? Or can we blame these events on the fact the we live in a fallen world, electricity will fail us and we may end up standing in the wrong place at the wrong time during a thunder and lightning storm?
This Sunday I'm preaching on predestination vs. freewill. How do we square Romans 8:28, "And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him,who have been called according to his purpose" with the sudden and tragic death of two Pastors in their prime? For that matter how do we factor in God's providence with the fact that many will chose not to come to the banquet? (Luke 14:15-24, our text for Sunday).
As we all know predestination vs. freewill is a tough topic to discuss. I believe there is a balance and that it really is more of a "both-and" instead of a "either-or" issue. I'd love to hear your thoughts as I continue to prepare for Sunday's sermon.
Not long after I wrote this I got an email from Jennifer who use to go to our church. She knew Kyle Lake. She sent me this great photo of Jen Lake, (Kyle's wife) Jennifer's sister (on the left) and another friend. This was taken a few weeks ago, so all praise to God that Jen has been able to heal and move forward with her kids and friends.
7 comments:
Hi Evan,
Kyle Lake and I went to college together. We were friends. He left behind a beautiful family. It was a tragedy. My thoughts are that God is short on pastors in heaven and needs help. :) And, we all know that everything is better in Texas. j/k. In all seriousness, I believe it all happens for a greater purpose that we can't possibly understand. It's these times of pain, God speaks the loudest and can grow a person beyond their wildest dreams.
Jennifer,
Good to hear from you. I seem to remember now that you came from UBC. I'll never forget when I heard the news. I couldn't believe it. It broke my heart to think of his wife and kids. You are right, it all happens for a greater purpose that we most could very likely not get to see in this lifetime. God does want to speak to us in our time of pain. That may be when it is the hardest to listen, but o-so worth it!
I've wrestled with this question a lot when it comes to Kyle Lake's death in particular---And i've come down to saying I don't know why it happened and can't even begin to understand God's reasoning for letting it happen. But we do live in a fallen world and bad things happen to good people (and Kyle was a great guy and great pastor) for sometimes no apparent reason at all or one that as humans we can grasp. Good things can come out of it and we still can grieve over the loss of a person. It was amazing to watch the outpouring of love to Kyle's family and the church community in Waco. I hope the same is true for those around the San Antonio pastor. I still have part of Kyle's last sermon taped to my sun visor to remind me of his example of living a full life here on earth.
As for the free will vs. predesination question---I feel it does have to be more of a both/and response. We cannnot presume to know fully God's mind. Sure we have ideas and examples of how God has worked through the Bible, history and our own experiences. But if we make rules of how God can and should work, we limit him. And God does not fit in to our logic or he would not be God. It's facinating to talk about free will and predestination (in fact it was through a discussion group kyle led in college that I first startled wrestling with these concepts) but in the end we can't let systematic theology get in the way of knowing the person of God. I've been reading "This Beautiful Mess" by Rick McKinnely and he brings up the analogy that theology (like presdestination and free will) is like the grammer of God but alone cannot define the character of who he is. I've found the more i study the theology stuff (as long as I don't get carried away with the details) the more I am in awe of God's holiness, love, compassion, justice and each part I come to know. Some days I have to throw my hands up, say i don't understand but that I'm thankful that I can still trust God knows what he's doing in our broken world.
Thanks Shannon, well said. I've got to admit that when I first heard many of the emergent theologians say that "systematic theology" was an oxymornon, I had to laugh. To some degree that's true. Just when we think we've got God figured out and "systemitized", something crazy happens like the death of these two pastors.
It's a life of faith that we live, asking God for his perspective with the bad and the good.
Wow. My heart goes out to both pastors in Texas. The thing that gets me are the families...But like everyone here has basically said, God knows exactly what He's doing and our agenda is different from His.
As for the predestination vs. freewill question...perhaps God was sparing these particular pastors from a greater trial in the futre (I'm not implying that these 2 pastors would have fallen into any great sin or anything like that). Sometimes death can be an act of grace from God to spare us from a greater trial that we are unable to handle.
In the Bible, there are also references where the prayers of men have apparently moved God's heart...
One example is King Hezekiah, King of Judah who is highly regarded as God fearing. Hezekiah was told to put his house in order because God was going to allow him to die. Hezekiah pleaded with God for his life. God was moved by Hezekiah's prayer and extended his life...
However, in this case, God's plan probably would have been a better choice: Hezekiah later shows off his treasures to the Babylonians who basically infiltrate and later on conquer Judah.
Hezekiah also ended up having a son (Manasseh) in his life extension who eventually became one of the most wicked Kings of Judah, causing many people to sin and led to the downfall of the kingdom.
I believe this case shows that God's predestined plan is the best way. Had Hezekiah accepted God's plan, the lives of thousands could have been spared...yet, God allowed Hezekiah to make a choice.
Hey Evan, I'm leaving a comment like you asked... my first blog ever. Wow, first off I will say that my comments bear NO reflection on the fact that I'm a pastor transplanted from Texas! I did not know Kyle but from your blog, I do know a lot about him (a wonderful christian, pastor, husband, and dad.) It is very difficult to understand the "whys" or "hows" especially when it comes to tragedies like Kyles. I believe many struggle with those questions simply because we want to have the answers. It is in our "make-up" to want to understand "everything". I totally agree w/Jennifer...it all happens for a greater purpose...HIS purpose. HE is the potter and we are the clay. I have tried to understand various tragedies: the young girl at Columbine holding fast to her faith just before being murdered, our precious soldiers who were set afire and hung from a bridge in Fallujah, the murders of the Mennonite children, the tragedy of 9/11 and many more. Then I am called to remember heroes of the faith in the bible who experienced mockings,scourings,stonings,being sawn in two,death by the sword etc... "All these died in FAITH, without receiving the promises, but having seen them and having welcomed them from a distance, and having confessed that they were strangers and exiles on the earth... Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God; for he has prepared a city for them."
We can rejoice knowing that Kyle confessed Christ as his savior - making him a "stranger" so to speak on the earth - that his real home is in heaven. As the bumper sticker says: Not of this World! Rick Warren said it best: "In a nutshell, life is preparation for eternity. We were MADE to last forever, and God wants us to be with him in Heaven (forever). We were made by God and for God, and until you figure that out, life isn't going to make sense. Life is a series of problems: Either you are in one now, you're just coming out of one, or you're getting ready to go into another one. The reason for this is that God is more interested in your character than your comfort. God is more interested in making your life holy than He is in making your life happy. We can be reasonably happy here on earth, but that's not the goal of life. The goal is to grow in character, in Christ likeness. No matter how good things are in your life, there is always something bad that needs to be worked on. And no matter how bad things are in your life, there is always something good you can thank God for. You can focus on your purposes or you can focus on your problems. IF you focus on your problems, you're going into self-centeredness, which is "MY problem, MY issues, MY pain." But one of the easiest ways to get rid of pain is to get your focus off yourself and onto God and others."
Happy Moments - PRAISE GOD
Difficult Moments - SEEK GOD
Quiet Moments - WORSHIP GOD
Painful Moments - TRUST GOD
Every Moment - THANK GOD
End Quote.
In this difficult and painful moment may we truly seek and trust God. Thank you God for Kyle's life of faith, love, and trust in You.
Wow Phil,
I couldn't have said it better myself. What a great explanation.
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