Light in Darkness

Heartbreaking news. We hoped for the best, but feared for the worse, from the time the Amber Alert started our phones to buzzing several days earlier.

Then we heard that they had found the remains of little Kamille "Cupcake" McKinney at the landfill, from the contents of a dumpster, her 3-year old body used and then discarded like a piece of trash.

The news brought a collective grief and sorrow to all of us who had come to know little Cupcake from media reports and had prayed that she would be found okay. Across the city, people poured out their outrage on social media. 

How could something like this happen? What is wrong with the world we live in?

Those questions are hard to answer. We live in a broken world, that has lost its moral compass, and continues to spiral downward. Sadly, these kind of stories are not unusual. They are the order of the day, both in our city and around our nation. And the constant diet of such bad news is enough to depress anybody. 

So, what is our role? Can we as a local church make a difference in such a messed up world? What do we have to offer, to counter the constant barrage of bad news? Not pat answers, not trite religious cliches, not packaged Christian phrases. The reality is there's not much we can say that can explain such a heinous and abusive and violent act against such an innocent child. 

But we do have a hope beyond all of this. And truth. And love. And, in the end, good news.

If nothing else, we as Christians are bearers of the Gospel, which by its very definition means "good news."  We can offer hope for those who are overwhelmed by despair, truth for those trapped in a world of dishonesty and distrust, love for even those caught up in despicable sin. And that hope is in the person of Jesus Christ.

It's no secret our world is getting darker by the day. That's the bad news. But Jesus Himself said it didn't have to be that way. "You are the light of the world," He said.  That's the good news.

May your light shine brightly for Him this week, even in the darkness of our world. I'm praying for you, and I look forward to seeing you Sunday.

--Pastor Ken