I wonder what your memories are of that day ten years ago.
Let me share one person's memories.
! I was unable to take my usual route because of the signal failure on the Northern Line.
!
I've always hated circle line trains, but I remember rushing down the escalator at Moorgate just as one pulled in and thinking, what a result!
I jumped on the first carriage I got to.
I opened my newspaper and was just reading about the Olympics thinking, I've got to get tickets for this.
Just as the bomb went off.
Those are the memories of Martine Wright, published last week in The Observer.
Later in hospital, she had both her legs amputated as a result of that explosion.
I'm sure we've all read or heard stories like that in the last few days.
Maybe we know friends who were personally affected by the events of that day.
A friend of mine was one of the first ambulance drivers on the scene at King's Cross.
We still weren't entirely sure what had happened.
It was a day of suffering that changed the lives of many people, wasn't it?
And in such a sharp contrast, the previous day.
The previous day was such a day of joy for the city.
It was the day, the 6th of July, when London was awarded the 2012 Olympics.
Yet so quickly joy turned to grief as those bombs hit.
And when people suffer pain such as that, it raises so many questions, doesn't it?
Martine Wright said that when she was in hospital, she thought,
Why me?
Why am I one of the worst injured?
Why have I lost both my legs above the knee?
The why question was a big thing for me in the first year, she said.
And as well as the why question, there's also the where question that people ask, isn't there?
Why did this happen and where is God in the midst of it?
If God is supposed to be all-powerful and good, then where is he when tragedy strikes?
It's not just the July 7th bombings that raise that for us, is it?
Just a couple of weeks ago, we had that massacre on the beach in Tunisia.
Just in the last two weeks, we had a tragedy of the double suicide at Ealing Broadway.
And no doubt in our own lives, we all have personal experiences of hurt, suffering, injustice.
So the question comes, doesn't it, if God is so good,
if God is all-powerful as Christianity teaches,
then where is God when it hurts?
Why is there so much evil in the world?
Of course, that is a deeply personal question, can be a deeply personal question.
In a forum like this, it's hard to address it personally.
So we have to look a little bit at the philosophical side of that question, if you like.
But it's in no means to denigrate the importance of that personal question.
As I said earlier, I'd love to talk to you further, if you're willing,
if you'd like to see that more.
But I want us to notice that this is only a question for Christianity.
It's only a question for Christianity.
No other religion will tell you that God is good and all-powerful.
It's not a question for atheism.
For atheism, everything is just chance.
So when cancer strikes or the bomb goes off,
everything is just dancing to the tune of its DNA,
to borrow a phrase from Richard Dawkins.
Neither is it a question for Hinduism,
where everything that happens is just a result of karma.
What goes around comes around.
We get what we deserve.
Nor is it a question for Buddhism,
which essentially doesn't have a God.
It believes that suffering is a kind of illusion generated by our desires.
It's not really a problem for Islam in the same way either,
where Allah's will is just by definition good and to be submitted to.
So it's only Christianity,
with its insistence on a personal, powerful, loving God,
that really has to face up to this question.
And for some people, events like 7-7 show that
if there is a God, he doesn't care.
If he did, surely he'd put an end to the pain.
For others, events like 7-7 are proof that God is not powerful.
Or the idea of God, or God that he exists,
may provide some comfort,
but clearly has no power to stop evil things happening.
And for others, pain and suffering just destroy any sort of belief in God.
On Sunday night, the BBC had a drama called A Song for Jenny,
which is adapted from a book by Julie Nicholson.
Julie was a Church of England vicar in Bristol
when her 24-year-old daughter Jenny
was killed on the bomb on the Edgware Road train.
In the TV programme, she says at one point,
I can't believe in anything anymore.
And certainly in real life,
Julie Nicholson resigned her place as an Anglican clergyman.
She left her parish.
She felt unable to forgive.
And I'm sure we can all understand that.
It must be hard to forgive someone
who'd blown your daughter apart.
Now this is a big question.
Big questions can't be answered simply in 15 minutes.
But what I want to do is focus on one little event
in the life of Jesus of Nazareth,
which I hope will give us a way of thinking
about this question.
Where is God when it hurts?
There's this event which I just read,
which is on the paper in front of you.
This record is written for us by a guy called Luke.
Luke, at the start of his account of Jesus' life,
tells us he went back to eyewitnesses to write it,
so that the reader could be sure of the certainty
concerning the things he'd been taught.
And in the first 22 chapters of this book,
Luke has produced plenty of evidence
to back up Christianity's claim
that Jesus is God on earth.
that Jesus was God in human form.
And three times at least by this stage,
Jesus had told his disciples
that he had come to go to Jerusalem
to suffer, to die, and to rise again.
Now we reach the climax of that story.
Jesus has been betrayed as predicted,
been tried in a sham trial.
The official verdict of the Romans
was that he's done nothing to deserve death,
but he's given to be killed anyway.
You see, the crowd, whipped up by the religious leaders,
demand Jesus should be crucified.
Modern commentators would say
that these are religious fundamentalists
who whip up crowds to join their extremism.
Well, let's look at what happens to Jesus
as we work through this story.
Let me tell you three things about Jesus, first of all.
The first one's obvious, isn't it?
He suffers injustice himself.
Look at verse 32.
Two others who were criminals
were led away to be put to death with him.
He suffered injustice.
Ten years ago today,
many people suffered a grave injustice, didn't they?
In trying to get to work,
their lives were destroyed,
either completely in death
or changed forever
by the injuries and psychological scars.
But this Jesus,
who'd been declared innocent,
suffered injustice,
killed with criminals.
The second thing you've noticed,
although the Bible doesn't make much of it,
is that he suffered terrible pain.
Look at the next verse,
verse 33.
Second line down.
When they came to the place called the skull,
there they crucified him
and the criminals.
Crucifixion was one of the worst forms of execution ever invented.
Under Roman law,
Roman citizens couldn't be crucified.
It was kept for the lowest of the low.
Escaped slaves and such like.
Ultimately,
what killed the victims in crucifixion
was actually asphyxiation.
They would suffocate
because every time they tried to breathe,
they'd have to pull themselves up
with the nails through their wrists,
push down with the nails through their feet,
and dislocate their shoulders
to be able to breathe.
Jesus suffered injustice.
Jesus suffered terrible physical pain.
Never mind the emotional and spiritual pain
which he also suffered.
The third thing to notice is
look how Jesus responds.
Look at verse 34.
Jesus said,
Father, forgive them,
that is the Roman soldiers,
for they know not what they do.
See, Jesus forgives those
who nail him to the cross.
Forgiveness is absolutely central
to what Jesus came to do.
It's absolutely central
to Christian teaching.
It's one reason
that Julie Nicholson felt
she had to leave her place
as an Anglican vicar.
She didn't feel she could forgive.
And yet,
history is littered with examples
of Christians
who,
having experienced
God's forgiveness themselves,
with Christ's help,
are able to follow Jesus' footsteps
and forgive those
who've hurt them.
We saw that just a few weeks ago,
didn't we,
with the shooting in Charleston.
Many of the families
forgave Dylan Roof,
the alleged killer.
For example,
Martine Collier,
whose 70-year-old mother,
Ethel Lance,
was shot dead
by the killer,
said to him in court
over a satellite link,
I forgive you.
You took something
very precious for me.
I will never talk to her again.
I will never hold her again.
But I forgive you.
An extraordinary act
that is not humanly possible,
is it?
And yet,
this woman
who experienced
God's forgiveness
offers that forgiveness
to others,
just as Jesus did
on the cross.
So,
looking at what Jesus
experienced,
what can we say?
Can we say
God doesn't care
about human suffering?
Surely,
we can't say that.
Jesus repeatedly said
he'd come to suffer.
He'd come to die.
Jesus suffered
with us,
suffered for us,
as we'll see later.
Can we say
God doesn't understand
our suffering?
I don't think
we can say that,
can we?
If Jesus Christ
really is
God on earth,
and he experienced
suffering
firsthand,
firsthand.
Not just as something
he knew about
because he knows everything,
but something he experienced
in his own flesh.
Well,
having looked at what
happened to Jesus,
let's look at how people
react to Jesus.
We see three different
responses here.
First,
we get the religious leaders
in verse 35.
In their pride,
they scoff.
People stood by,
watching,
but the rulers
scoffed at him,
saying,
he saved others,
let him save himself
if he is the Christ of God,
his chosen one.
See,
they thought they knew
everything.
They thought they were
in the right.
They thought it was up
to Jesus to demonstrate
that he was God
by doing something
miraculous,
getting himself
off the cross.
Little did they
understand that Jesus
stayed on the cross
to save others,
not himself.
Well,
as the proud
scoffers
but secondly,
we see the cynical
criminal.
Look at verse 39.
One of the criminals
who were hanged
railed at him,
saying,
are you not the Christ?
Save yourself
and us.
It's deeply cynical,
isn't it?
Here's a man who
presumably has ignored
God all his life,
brought up in Israel,
probably taught
the Jewish faith
from birth,
yet rejects God,
gets into a life
of crime,
gets the punishment
he deserves.
And it's only at that
point he says,
well, come on,
Jesus,
if you're God,
save me.
It's deeply cynical.
He wants Jesus
to be good to him,
but he doesn't want
to take responsibility
for his own actions.
It's like the cynic
today who asks
mockingly,
where is God
when it hurts?
Where is God
when I need him?
Having ignored God
studiously all his life.
But there's a third
response.
as well as the
proud scoffers,
as well as the
cynical criminal.
They've got the
humble criminal.
Look at verse 40.
The other criminal
rebukes him,
saying,
Do you not fear God,
since you're under
the same sentence
of condemnation?
And we indeed
justly,
for we are receiving
the due reward
of our deeds.
But this man
has done nothing wrong.
It's an incredible
thing,
but in his pain,
hanging on the cross,
this criminal
sees three things
very clearly.
First of all,
he sees his own guilt.
We are receiving
the reward of our
deeds,
he says.
But secondly,
he sees Jesus'
innocence.
Verse 41,
This man has done
nothing.
But most amazingly,
he sees through
the circumstances
and sees something
of Jesus'
true identity.
Look at verse
32.
He sees Jesus
is God's king.
He said,
Jesus,
remember me
when you come
into your kingdom.
Now it's here
in that brief
interaction between
Jesus and the
humble criminal
that we get a
glimpse into the
heart of the
Christian message
and a glimpse
into why Christians
can keep believing
in a good,
powerful,
personal God
in a world
where there is
so much pain
and so much evil.
Now why is that?
Well,
first of all,
what is Jesus'
kingdom?
Jesus'
kingdom
is the world
we all want
to live in.
Let me unpack
that a bit.
The Bible begins
by telling us
that God
created the world
and that we
human beings
are made
in God's image.
That's why
we can love
others.
That's why
we have an
inbuilt sense
of justice
and right and wrong.
It's why we
can work
and make
great creative
things.
But instead
of the perfect
world God
made,
we now live
in a world
that is
scarred
and confused
and marked
by death,
disease,
terrorist
attacks,
injustice,
illness.
And we feel
things are not
right,
don't we?
We feel
things are not
the way
they should be.
That's why
we cry out
why
when bombs
go off
and loved
ones are
torn apart.
So we cry
out why
when the
diagnosis
comes through.
We know
something is
wrong.
We know
deep down
the world
is not the
way it is
supposed to
be.
So what
went wrong?
Why do we
not have the
perfect world
God made?
Well the
Bible's answer
is that what
went wrong
is us.
We went
wrong.
As a race
we turned
against this
good God
who had
given us
all we
needed.
He's the
rightful
ruler.
He's the
giver of
life.
And yet
we rejected
his rule
and went
our own
way.
We do
that in
all sorts
of ways.
We do
it by
ignoring
God.
We do
it by
using
God.
We do
it by
following
our own
idea about
what God
is like.
Now how
do you feel
when people
use you
or ignore
you or
just make
up their
own idea
about who
the real
you is?
We don't
like it
do we?
And yet
that's how
we treat
God.
And in
the process
we diminish
ourselves,
we damage
other people
and we
damage God's
world.
The just
punishment for
this, the
just punishment
from turning
from the
God who is
the giver of
life is
death.
So what's the
solution?
Well God
could destroy
any one of us,
all of us,
whenever he
wants.
He loves the
world he
made, he
loves the
people he
made.
And so
when we
hurt other
people, he
wants justice
for those
people.
And that
means we
are in the
firing line
deserving punishment
as well.
See, God
couldn't just
ignore the
damage we've
done because
he loves,
because he's
committed to
what he made,
to the world
he made.
God has to
punish, and
yet God
wants to show
love.
God
is to
send his
own son,
Jesus
Christ, to
live the
perfect life
we should
have lived.
Jesus then
died the
death we
should have
died, as
our substitute
in our
place, taking
our punishment.
And God
raised him to
life again.
If you read
all in the
story, you'll
see that's
what happens
next.
On the
third day,
as he
promised,
Jesus rose
from the
dead.
And that
resurrection
demonstrates
that Jesus
is God's
king,
and it
guarantees
that that
kingdom is
coming one
day when
Jesus comes
back.
That kingdom
will be
physically
established.
And in
Jesus'
kingdom, there
will be no
more hurt,
no more
evil, no
more fear,
no more
death, no
more illness.
Isn't that
the world we
all want?
A world
where we're
reconnected to
the God who
made us?
Now how
do I get
there from
what we've
read here?
Well look
at verse
43.
Look what
Jesus says.
Jesus said
to him,
this humble
criminal,
truly I
say to
you,
today you
will be
with me
in paradise.
The first
installment,
if you like,
of that
kingdom.
So this
criminal knew
he deserved
death.
He knew
Jesus deserved
to be king.
He knew
he had
nothing to
offer Jesus.
But Jesus
had everything
to offer
him.
And so
Jesus promised
him paradise.
paradise.
Paradise does
not come
by strapping
explosives to
yourself and
blowing yourself
up.
It comes
through trusting
in Jesus
forgiveness,
seeking Jesus
forgiveness.
So can you
see how this
little exchange
hints at how
Christians can
believe in a
good God
in a messed
up world?
God?
Let me sum
it up in
three little
statements.
We cannot
say God
doesn't
understand our
suffering.
In Jesus,
God the
Son, God
in human
flesh, God
has first-hand
experience of
pain and
injustice.
Furthermore,
God the
Father gave
up his own
beloved Son,
Jesus, to
win people for
himself.
That must be
some comfort for
those who've
lost children.
We cannot
say God
doesn't
understand.
We cannot
say God
doesn't care
about our
hurt and
our injustice.
The fact
that Jesus
came to
suffer so
that his
kingdom, his
perfect kingdom
could come,
shows us God
does care.
God has
gone to
great lengths.
Let me put
it like this.
Jesus died so
that God could
put an end to
hurt and
suffering and
evil without
putting an
end to me or
you.
God will
put an
end to
hurt and
suffering without
putting an
end to us
because Jesus
died.
We cannot
say God
doesn't
understand,
we cannot
say he
doesn't care,
and we
cannot say
God is not
powerful enough
to deal with
the hurt and
the evil and
suffering.
Jesus'
resurrection shows
us that he
is.
That promise
today you will
be with me in
paradise is a
little hint that
God is
powerful enough.
And if you
read on to
the end of
the Bible
story, you'll
see the very
good ending
that waits for
everyone who
trusts in
Jesus as
God's king and
seeks Jesus'
forgiveness.
Here's how the
story ends,
Revelation 21
verse 4.
It's in a
renewed physical
world that is
better than we
could ever dream
of.
God himself
will wipe away
every tear from
their eyes and
death shall be
no more.
Neither shall
there be mourning
nor crying
nor pain
anymore.
For the
former things
have passed
away.
Where is
God when it
hurts?
In Christ God
has demonstrated
his love for
a hurting,
broken world.
In Christ God
invites us to
a pain-free,
fear-free,
physical paradise.
In Christ we
can be forgiven
and come home to
the God who
made us and
find the comfort
that is only
available in
him.
The question
is,
do we
believe it?
Let me pray
for us.
Let me pray for
us.