“And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes and be careful to obey my rules. You shall dwell in the land that I gave to your fathers, and you shall be my people, and I will be your God.” (Ezekiel 36:26–28, ESV)
When news
broke about the gunman entering the Seattle Pacific University (SPU) campus in
Seattle, WA and indiscriminately firing a shotgun at students, it touched home
for me. My nephew is a recent graduate
of SPU. A young woman from our church
who just graduated from High School will be attending there this Fall. One of the former pastors at Cold Springs
Church has a daughter who has taught there for years. I anxiously scanned articles, looking for
names I might recognize.
The result
of this attack was one young man dead, another student seriously wounded and a
myriad of memories of horror that will last a lifetime. Unfortunately, the story is not uncommon
these days, of someone mentally ill and also, I firmly believe, spiritually
oppressed taking out their rage in acts of mass violence against
innocents. The stories are always
heart-wrenching if we allow our hearts to be touched by them.
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Students and faculty pray together following a shooting on
the campus of Seattle Pacific University Thursday.
(Photo: Elaine Thompson, AP)
|
But as I
followed this story, a difference emerged.
The difference was so pronounced the Seattle Times wrote an article
entitled “At faith-based Seattle Pacific
University, grief without despair.”
You see, SPU is a Christ-centered university that takes following Jesus
seriously and sees itself as not just a place of higher education but one who
also has the responsibility of deepening their students spiritual education. And
when tragedy randomly came knocking on their door, they were ready. In the article, Bob Zurinsky, SPU’s assistant
director of university ministries said this:
“What we’ve witnessed at SPU,” he
said, “has been not so much a reactive burst of energy, but rather a deep response
that reflects many years of immersion in the practice of grace, worship and
life together.” What he was
referring to was the almost peaceful reactions from students and staff –
starting with the 911 calls and following through to the prayer vigils where
prayers were lifted up for the shooter as well as the victims.
What would
make someone react that way? What would cause
someone to have grace and peace in the face of crisis, pain and evil? Again, the reaction of the people at SPU was
so different it captured the attention of the major newspaper in a decidedly
secular and often-times antagonistic culture toward the Christian faith.
Fifteen
times the Apostle Paul greets and encourages the people he wrote to with a form
of the phrase “Grace to you and peace
from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.” The difference the Seattle Times observed was
the overflow of lives immersed in the grace and peace from God the Father
and the Lord Jesus Christ. It was the
result of people who practiced walking with Jesus. The people who walked with Jesus experienced
transformed hearts that empowered them to see life through a different lens and
live life through a divine power.
Spiritual
leadership is influencing people toward Jesus so they can be transformed by his
love. Spiritual leadership is continuing
to influence people toward Jesus so they walk with Jesus daily. In this daily journey with Jesus there
becomes a growing awareness of God’s grace and the peace that passes all
understanding.
So, how is
your heart? What do the grace and peace gauges on the dashboard of your soul read? Walk close to Jesus and they will read full. People will notice.
Peace and grace,
David
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