The events of this past week were scary, heart-breaking, appalling, confusing

in one word they were …

evil.

And so here we are left with questions like …

what do we do next?

how can we keep this from happening again?

but mostly

why?

But the real answer to the why isn’t about racism or political views.

And its also not really about the concert security or gun control laws or the fact that this man snuck 10+ rifles into a hotel room (although perhaps all of these things need to be looked in to).

These things are all just part of the bigger problem.

The real answer to the why is …

because sin was in his heart.

S

I

N.

… an all consuming evil that drove him to take the lives of so many others.

In the 10 commandments God says … “you shall not murder”

But God doesn’t just say this because taking the life of another is obviously wrong or because it’s a “sin.” God says this because He doesn’t want our hearts to be so consumed with anger and hatred and evil for others that we would actually do such a thing.

Its our hearts God really cares about.

The Bible warns us about guarding our hearts …

“Above all else guard your heart, because everything you do flows from it.” Proverbs 3:23

Because its our hearts, more than anything else, that can be so ugly and evil …

“The heart is hopelessly dark and deceitful…” Jeremiah 17:9 

What is it that makes an innocent child lie?

or teens bully each other?

or you and I celebrate a little bit when someone we dislike fails?

It’s because that is what’s in our hearts.

And its the same thing that drives men to fly airplanes into buildings, set bombs off in a crowded theatre, and fire hundreds of rounds of gun shots amidst a country music concert.

These things are all thought to be on different spectrums of the scale, of course, but essentially they are rooted in the same thing.

Its that little bit of darkness that is in all of our hearts.

… the secret things we struggle with

… the evil nature all of humanity wrestles to release

its called sin.

If light is the absence of darkness, then arguably, good is the absence of evil.

And Jesus is truly our only hope for good.

Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.” Romans 12:21 NIV

So where is God in all of this?

He’s broken just like we are.

For the victims and for their families.

But also for the shooter.

But perhaps God is also hoping things like this will scare us enough to realize how desperately we as humanity need a Savior.

We need to be scared of sin, not in the sense that we fear God but that we fear ourselves and what we’re capable of. 

We can’t control the darkness in our hearts alone …We need the love and grace and redemption His Son Jesus Christ offers.

We need you Jesus.

to save our hearts and lives

to be our light in this dark place

and to redeem such a tragedy as sin city.

You are our only hope in this hopelessly broken world.

“And his name will be the hope of all the world.” Matthew 12:21 NLT