Casualties and Restoration

Yesterday was a wonderful day; a reflective as well as an introspective day. As the day came to its conclusion, my wife and I were lying in bed and I was praying, my mind wandering off to a beautiful post she blogged just a few days ago. If you haven't read it, I encourage you to do so. You can find it here. In unparalleled prose (I know, I am partial), she metaphorically personifies the Ground Zero of September 11, 2001 with her own life, her relationship with God, and regrettably, our own marriage.

If you get the chance to read it, you'll notice towards the end where she sees herself with her Savior standing at ground zero. The harrowing task of moving debris has been taken care of and she is left surveying what I can only imagine to be an empty slate; a whitened canvas if you will. A second chance...

As we were praying together, my mind could not help but survey the destruction and enormous casualties of that fateful day. Wives being left without husbands; children, fatherless. For every miracle of divine providence that happened that day, there are equally harrowing tales of casualties whose very existence was pulverized into oblivion. I know, its really not a pretty picture... destruction is just that, regardless of its source.

My mind then took me to a place in the gospels where Jesus said a startling thing: "[a]nd whosoever shall fall on this stone shall be broken: but on whomsoever it shall fall, it will grind him to powder." Matt 21:44 (KJV) Then, the very first thing that came to mind was that brokenness is not pretty! Oh, its a million times better than powder, but it's ugly and it hurts to look at and its embarrassing and all the emotions that floods your heart when you finally realize that your lying helpless on the rocks with no faculty to help yourself, and time stands still as you watch the world and dreams you've built fall down around you in reckless disregard to how you feel about it. There is simply nothing you can do.... Or, is there?

Jesus, standing on the Mt. of Olives one day towards the end of his earthly ministry, surveyed the city of Jerusalem, weeping for her:

O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the prophets, and stonest them which are sent unto thee, how often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye would not! 38 Behold, your house is left unto you desolate.

Matt 23:37-38 (KJV)

In another place, He speaks to the destruction of the Temple complex:

"Do you see these great buildings? Not one stone will be left upon another which will not be torn down."

Mark 13:2 (NASB)

Portraits of destruction; not pleasant nor easily understood. But, what do all these portraits have in common? My wife's prose and her metaphoric use of Ground Zero? Jesus, using Himself as a stumbling block and saying if you stumble over me your okay (i.e., if you don't understand me right now, kewl! Just don't fall on the wrong side when the time comes, so to speak), but I give life and I can take it away. Judgment is a horrifying thing! Jesus, weeping over the city of Jerusalem, knowing that in just a few short years, the Romans under Titus in AD 70 would lay siege to the city during Passover, of all times. Over one million Jews were slaughtered, 95,000 taken captive. Every stone of the temple was overturned and the city was left in utter ruins.

So, what is the common thread? Hopelessness; casualty, devastation. When we do it our way, there's really is no other option, is there? In our own strength, given our own propensity for self-destruction, pride, and arrogance, its a wonder we ever made it out of the garden. Thankfully, however, there is so much more here than just what meets the eye...

Ground Zero, today, is a memorial to human resiliency. In our greatest national tragedy, human kindness and love bridged the devastation and the narratives are beautiful, to say the least. Jerusalem, the city of God, having seen more judgment and destruction than any city on earth. Yet, she stands today as a mere deposit of God's eternal promises. Here is what D. A. Carson says of her:

The eschatological glory to be experienced by Zion is accompanied by a transformation of nature and by long and abundant life, heroic strength, economic prosperity, joy, and thankful praise (Isa. 11; 12:4-6; 61:3; 62:8-9; 65:20; Jer. 33:11; Zech. 2:4, 5). Although there is repeated assurance that the nations that have savaged Jerusalem will themselves be ravaged, in another emphasis the nations of the earth, after an unsuccessful campaign against Jerusalem (Isa. 29: 7-8; Mic. 4:11), join in a great pilgrimage to Zion, where they are taught by Yahweh to live according to his will (Isa. 2:2-4; Jer. 33:9; Mic. 4:1-3; Zech. 2:11). In all this Jerusalem retains a central place.

Another interesting and restorative note is that heaven on earth in the Revelations is called none other than the New Jerusalem!

12 I will make those who win the victory pillars in the temple of my God, and they will never have to leave it. I will write on them the name of my God and the name of the city of my God, the new Jerusalem, that comes down out of heaven from my God. I will also write on them my new name.

Rev 3:12 (NCV)

The temple: a second one, destroyed yet again. But, in the New Testament, even here, there is hope:

4 Come to Christ, who is the living cornerstone of God's temple. He was rejected by the people, but he is precious to God who chose him.

5 And now God is building you, as living stones, into his spiritual temple. What's more, you are God's holy priests, who offer the spiritual sacrifices that please him because of Jesus Christ.

1 Peter 2:4-5 (NLT)

And, while I will only mention this briefly, but there is some speculation as to the construction of a third temple. The Muslims might have trouble with it, but there is a little phrase in prophecy called the abomination of desolation related to the anti-christ. Just let that sit there... please, don't write me about it cause I really don't know and don't care, to be honest. What I do care about is that when one surveys the expanse of human destruction, devastation, and casualty, one must also see hope, human resiliency, and restoration.

Coming back for a moment to my prayer time with my wife, I realized that she was not standing there alone. Sure, she knew that; Jesus was with her. Mystical helpers were cleaning the debris away... but, in a moment, I realized that I was standing there with her. The destruction is daunting, almost horrifying. But, in the end, we are standing together, anticipating what that familiar someone will do next.

Memorials are wonderful things. They give you a fixed point to look back to some event; some good, others bad. God is busy building a memorial of restoration in our lives, and for that, I am most grateful. I easily, we certainly, could have remained casualties that day, but for the grace of God....