Christian Living

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In Sydney this past week we have all been affected by a boating tragedy on the harbour that resulted in the death of four people and the serious injury of eight more. The papers have now confirmed that the sad search for a missing person has come to an end, with the body of Morgan Innes finally being retrieved from the water several days after the incident. We are relieved that at the very least a family now knows what has happened to their 14 year old daughter. Most will read the report this week and be saddened by this terrible tragedy. Any who are parents will not fail to appreciate the pain that a family must be experiencing. But strangely a sentence in the newspaper this week seemed to jump off the page at me. It was a minor detail that most might miss or gloss over and yet maybe this statement says more than we imagine. In the Sydney Morning Herald article the third last sentence read: "A police chaplain has been sent to Morgan's family."

To many that statement just seems so obvious - a tragic death has occurred so you send in the chaplain. But step back for a while and ask yourself why there is a chaplain to send. The answer is that the police don't have all the answers and they need help, especially in times of tragedy. Further back there is a denomination that has trained and appointed one of its ministers to an important community role. Step back and there is a guy (or maybe a woman) who could be earning more money in the 'real world' (don't get me started ...), but senses a calling to reach out to a suffering world. Behind the person is a tradition of service that is probably the real 'oldest profession'. And does anything lie behind that?

Could there actually be a God who has intervened in human history? Could what Richard Dawkins calls the "illusion of design" in the evolved world actually be design? Could the problems of the world be mostly human caused, both deliberate and accidental? Could it be that the chaplain goes because his Lord Jesus also came into a lost world looking for answers to impossible questions? Could it be that most chaplains (and indeed many Christians) are maligned, misunderstood and marginalised because their gentle Lord too was criticized, condemned and crucified? Could it be that God was not afraid to enter this world of suffering and to experience suffering first hand? Could it be that His team is still ready and willing to be sent as an expression of a God who has not left us alone?

We will never understand or plumb the depths of human pain and suffering. Our prayers and thoughts are always with those who suffer. But this Easter we are reminded that our God knows our pain and wants to send hope in the person of Jesus. God also sends through human agents, words, comfort, listening ears and even sometimes a hug.

"A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another." John 13: 34 (NIV)

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