Murder turns our minds to God
Our nation has been struck by the tragic murder of MP Sir David Amess a week ago. Our hearts go out to his family. Perhaps we share a sense of bewilderment about the state of the world. We worry for our local MPs or even ourselves and our families since this might have been a work of terror.
I can’t help noticing how the Christian faith and church has featured strongly in our nation’s response. The TV has carried shots of a local Methodist church where he was killed at his monthly surgery, as the local minister facilitated a vigil of remembrance and comfort for his friends and family. A formal service was held at St Margaret's in Westminster Abbey, where prayers for the nation and our leaders have been said for hundreds of years. Streamed live by ITV News, the Archbishop of Canterbury spoke, and the Prime Minister attended.
You might say that Britain is not a Christian nation, yet when the hardest times occur we turn readily towards God, in the help and hope of Jesus Christ.
This month, a Savanta ComRes survey found that 51% of 18 to 34-year-olds polled said they pray at least once a month, and that young people in the UK are twice as likely as older people to pray regularly.
What is your response to tragedy or crisis? Who do you turn to for hope and help?
A “demonic horror” the Archbishop called this murder, yet "even in the darkest moments…light continues." The House of Commons Speaker read a passage from the Bible, 1 Thessalonians 4:13.
“We want you to know what will happen to the believers who have died so you will not grieve like people who have no hope.” David Amiss was himself a Christian believer.
This kind of hope is concrete. It’s not the same as ‘staying positive’ in the midst of challenges. Real hope becomes a bedrock, something we can build our lives upon even when circumstances around us are unstable.
What do you hope in? At this time of reflection and instability “I pray that God, the source of hope, will fill you completely with joy and peace because you trust in him” (Romans 15:13).