A Real Tragedy

It's been over a month, and I am still processing the tragic suicide of a Catholic priest from Nigeria. Apparently, he was in the states on a visa which in due time expired. Because the federal government has suspended the processing of immigration cases for Nigeria and some other countries, his diocese was left with little choice but to bring him home and reassign him. The atrocities being committed against Christians in Nigeria are unspeakable, leaving him to believe no good could come of his return to his homeland. He took his own life on July 2, 2026. My sympathy goes out to his family and all who knew him.

This is a tragedy on so many levels, and I'm certainly not looking to weigh in on the immigration issue or the Catholic church, but I would hope he had a strong network of people around him, interceding for him and supporting him in many ways. If that is not the case, I pray this is a lesson on how to better minister to our ministers. It's not optional. In Galatians 6:2, God through Paul commands us to bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ. The law of Christ! It is a requirement we support our brothers and sisters in Christ and, I'm going to add, particularly our ministers; those folks who are always teaching Sunday school, planning music, cleaning our churches, taking care of loose ends, praying for us, and pastoring. Those people who are always looking out for the welfare of others, who looks out for their welfare? Imagine serving as a hospital chaplain and parish priest while you yourself are far from home, missing loved ones, fearing for their safety, hearing reports of yet another village burned or friend abducted. How well do we bear the burdens of those who bear our burdens? 

As this man navigated the emotions and legal roadblocks, he prepared a statement which, according to MSN, was posted on his church's website:

Sincerely, it is not my wish to return home right now, but circumstances beyond my control have warranted that my time in the United States come to an end. My heart is broken, yet my joy remains.

He was fixed on encouraging others even in the midst of his trial. Though we may be broken and ignorant of that which lies ahead, the joy of the Lord is our strength (Nehemiah 8:10). Whatever transpired between his writing that statement and ending his own life, I am not to judge, but I do know his actions do not negate the truth of Scripture. The joy of the Lord is stronger than any version of despair, any kind of fear, and any sense of darkness that threatens to consume us. The joy of the Lord will never be crushed under the weight of grief or snuffed out by the presence of shadows. Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil for Thou art with me (Psalm 23:4). Those are not just words with which we assure ourselves our loved one has passed through the veil of death and on to eternal life. Those are words for the comfort of the widow, the hope for the critically ill, and the strengthening of the minister ordained to return to a place where he faces, at best, an uncertain fate.

None of this should have happened. Not the vile, merciless slaughter occurring in Nigeria and other parts of the world. Not the suicide of a priest who lived to walk others through the darkness. Not the empty place that exists now at the bedside of the sick and dying or the tears that fall in memory of this beloved servant. Such is the fallen world in which we live. But as members of the body of Christ, we are not alone; His joy sustains us and directs us no matter how hopeless our circumstances may appear. This is a tragedy. Greater tragedy is to abandon hope in the changes we can make, the prayers we can pray, and the assurance we have in our Redeemer. 

Midweek: You Haven't Got a Pray-er

I cried to Him with my mouth,

And He was extolled with my tongue.

If I regard iniquity in my heart,

The Lord will not hear.

But certainly God has heard me;

He has attended to the voice of my prayer.

Blessed be God,

Who has not turned away my prayer,

Nor His mercy from me!

~ Psalm 66:17-20

The first time I was assigned the task of praying before a congregation, I was probably in my early teens. I wrote my prayer out and discreetly slipped it into the pulpit so I wouldn't have to "wing it." Now, I know a lot of people who read prayers, and I'm not passing judgment on the practice; but the reason I was so terrified of "winging it" was because I was not a pray-er. It may have been assumed I was. Or, more than likely, I wasn't fooling anyone; but I was willing to fill the spot no one else wanted. Nevertheless, the consequences of not being a pray-er was revealed to me many years later when I was asked to lead prayer before a congregation once again. I was in my fifties, had turned my life over to Jesus. I prayed each morning in my quiet time. Check! Check! But none of that made me a pray-er. That morning I stood up and could literally feel the sweat running down my legs. I was certain everyone could hear what a fake I was. More importantly, I was sure I had no right to be there. Not before a congregation. Not even before the Lord. You don't talk to Me but for a few moments each morning and you think you have a right to petition Me on behalf of My people, people who have entrusted you with their concerns and cancers, their joys and joblessness? You offend Me! 

Let me be clear, I did have a right, I do have a right; His name is Jesus. But was I "faking it"? Absolutely. Trying to sound super spiritual, like I do this all the time, like God and I are engaged in conversation constantly. That was an offense. Instead of coming to God as the broken, sometimes jaded, often fearful, too often angry, secretly addicted person that I was, I performed and missed the opportunity to be an honest, surrendered, humble person, upheld by His grace. Consequences.

That day and many since, I have prayed for God to give me the desire, the time, the opportunity, and the insight to intercede for others. I even attempted a prayer closet --once, just once (IYKYK). God has honored my pray-er request again and again. Even on those days or weeks when my prayers just can't catch up to my plotting, He doesn't forsake me; He keeps calling me back to where I need to be --on my face before His throne. But I don't pray because I am super-spiritual; nor do I think pray-ers are. We pray because we are broken and fearful and sometimes doubtful, and there is nothing better that we can do. We pray because we are aware of the pain and the healing, the darkness and the hope, the trials and the victories, the taking and the giving; and because we trust not in the things we see, but in the God who is always listening for the voices of His pray-ers.

Ignorance of the Law...Is Forgiven!

As a child, I recall using the word "ignorant" to describe someone. It was meant to describe them as disgusting. In my ignorance, I didn't even know the meaning of the word. Obviously, that's not what it means. Webster's 1936 defines the word as meaning "destitute of knowledge; uninstructed; uninformed". The ignorant person has either chosen to be uninformed or has not had the benefit of a proper education in the matter. Here's hoping the latter is more the case, as it was with my ignorance.

Hebrews 9:7 refers to sins "committed in ignorance":

Now when these things had been thus prepared, the priests always went into the first part of the tabernacle, performing the services. But into the second part the high priest went alone once a year, not without blood, which he offered for himself and for the people’s sins committed in ignorance; the Holy Spirit indicating this, that the way into the Holiest of All was not yet made manifest while the first tabernacle was still standing.

God, through the author of Hebrews is here referring to the Day of Atonement. The priest would enter the Holy of Holies and sprinkle a sacrifice of blood on the mercy seat on behalf of himself and God's people, Israel. Those sins were not for God's people (there is never an option to sin for the people of God) and carried with them consequences suitable to meet the trespass. The Day of Atonement was not intended to absolve the people of sins committed with intent, in defiance of the law of God; this was atonement for sins committed in ignorance, because one was unaware. Of something.

How was I supposed to know? Watch any sort of video where law enforcement is attempting to do their job, and sooner or later, someone will ask that very question. (The response used to be, "Ignorance of the law is no excuse." In this day, where litigation is simply next level, I'm not sure that holds water.) But a breach of the law, is still a breach of the law. And God's law is no exception. If it's wrong, it's wrong. Just because you've never read the entirety of Arizona's driving laws doesn't make an infraction right. Just because you weren't instructed in said laws doesn't make the trespass disappear. They must be atoned for. Likewise, maybe you're driving with a screaming toddler in the back seat, the guy behind you has been on your bumper for the past three miles, and you're pretty sure that noise from under the hood is getting louder. Distractions, right? Seconds later, lights in the rearview, your heart races, and you find you were completely ignorant to the drop in speed limit through that tiny little town. One, a law you didn't know; the other, an infraction you unknowingly committed. Sins committed in ignorance. 

That is incredibly good news! --at least, the atonement of those sins. And the atonement spoken of in Hebrews 9, even more so! The ignorance of the Israelites was atoned for on the day the priest entered the room behind the veil. My ignorance today is atoned for by the High priest who tore the veil and gained access to the presence of God for those who would join with Him! To know my stupidity, my mortality and its shortcomings will not be held against me is the good news of the Good News! 

That's not just a free piece of literature. The forgiveness purchased at the cross --for our sins, intentional and ignorant --required death, the blood of a perfect Sacrifice. The God of the universe made a way, is the way of atonement. As such, He does not slip into the background waiting to be acknowledged as the escape from perdition for the next broken individual: He is an infinite God, worthy of our utmost reverence and our whole-hearted worship; a personal God who adopts us into His family; a hands-on God, working to make us more like Jesus; and an organized God who establishes rules for our behavior to both protect us and to honor Him. He atones and disciplines. So, those intentional sins, those sins not committed in ignorance? Well, it's expected --Yes, there are expectations; it's not a handout --it's expected we would not commit sin intentionally. We are not bystanders and neither is God. We are present, we and He. We are part of His body. As such we uphold His image. And when we fail (because we all have those moments) we confess those intentional sins immediately (1 John 1:9) and trust the ones committed in ignorance to the blood of our most gracious Lord and Savior Jesus Christ!