Two Deaths--God's Will? A Christian Reflection

Two stories in today's news:

Boxer Leavander Johnson died today of complications resulting from a brain hemorrage. The boxer was injured during a featured fight at the MGM-Grand Hotel in Las Vegas last Saturday night. His promoter, Lou Dibella, was quoted as saying, "...this was not a situation where anyone failed Leavander Johnson. It was just God's will. It's a sport that's inherently dangerous."

Don Maurice Airline, 24, of Metairie, Louisiana, who evacuated to Texas and then to Tennessee to escape hurricane Katrina, was found dead in Chattanooga, less than a mile from the Red Cross shelter he had been staying at. He had been shot in the head five times. The motive may have been to rob him of his relief money. At the time of his death he was preparing to move to a motel. He was also scheduled to begin work at a new job tomorrow. His mother, Sheila Airline said, "This is how God had it planned. He was evacuated out of the storm and out of the storm he gets killed."

Tragedy brings emotional trauma and confusion to those effected by it. Always. Every time. It is our natural inclination to seek meaning in such events, to find a purpose that can give some measure of value to the loss.

It is sad, indeed, to be in a position to say, as anti-Iraq war mother Cindy Shehan asserts, that her son "died for nothing."

When the tragedy involves death, something deep within us desparately cries out, "No! He must have died for something!" But what is that "something?"

One of the two people quoted at the beginning of this post lost a client/friend/business partner. The other lost a son. Both, almost instinctively, turned to God for the anwer to the question, "Why?"

"It happened," they seem to say. "Therefore it must have been God's will."

This sentiment seems to bring a sort of comfort to many people during such an ordeal. But the idea is not a very deep one and begins to unravel rather quickly if it is looked at very closely.

Could it be that the death of Leavander Johnson or that of Don Maurice Airline was the unalterable result of God's eternal edict? Was it etched in stone that each of these men should die in this manner from the day that they were conceived?

If this is what Leavander's promoter means; or if this is what Don Maurice's mother means; then what does this mean?

A quick glance at he Bible will show us that this cannot be the case. This form of "predestination" or "fatalism" is not supported by the words, the teachings, the history that forms the foundation of the Christian faith.

The very nature of (agape) love, central to our faith, requires that human beings be free to act independently of God. Love cannot be "predestined." Love must always be freely chosen and freely given or else it is not love at all. Genuine love of the kind revealed to us in the Bible cannot be artificially induced. Nor can a God of love be the prime mover in an act of evil (such as the murder of Maurice Airline...more on this later).

From a Reformed Protestant perspective we assert that God (Father, Son & Holy Spirit) is Sovereign. This means that God possesses full and complete authority over all things.

This does not mean, however, that everything that happens is a reflection of "God's will" or has been predetermined by God and is unalterable by our freedom (which is only illusory, at best).

On the other hand, the Bible does record many events that took place in response to God's direct intervention...things that happened because God explicitly desired that they occur...things that happened because God personally caused them them occur.

Examples might include the "hardening of Pharaoh's heart," the creation of the universe and "all that dwells therein," the birth of Jesus and the death of King Herod Agrippa.

Could it be that the death of Leavander Johnson or that of Don Maurice Airline was the result of God's direct intervention? Did God not only will but personally plan out and personally cause the death of each of these men?

If this is what Leavander's promoter means; or if this is what Maurice's mother means; then what does this mean?

Does it mean that what the Bible calls evil (and the murder of a man is certainly evil according to the Bible) is, at least in some instances, brought about by the will of God?

This cannot be! If this is even a remote possibility then the Bible is a crock and a lie. For the Bible assures us that "God is love." The Bible assures us that God is the creator only of "good things" and "very good things."

Evil, the Bible tells us, is the result of sin...rebellion against God. Is God in rebellion against himself? Jesus mocked this idea, saying, "A house divided against itself cannot stand." Words that Abraham Lincoln later used to describe the division of our nation during the Civil War.

But direct intervention is not the only way that God can assert his sovereignty. God is also free to stand back and let the natural "cause and effect" course of events unfold on their own.

In this sense, God either wills or permits things to happen. There are times where God permits things to happen because they are according to his will. The death of Jesus on the cross is perhaps the greatest example of this that we have. God did not cause Jesus' death. But it was of eternal importance that Jesus die at that particular time and in that particular way.

God was not responsible for Jesus' death (although God could have prevented it from happening if that had been God's will). Jesus' death was the result of the sinful, rebellious and misplaced zeal and passion of a majority of the Jewish ("Sanhedrin") Council in Jerusalem reluctantly, but unjustly, empowered by the order of the Roman Governor of Judea, Pontius Pilate. The responsibility for Jesus' death is shared as well with all who stood by, either consenting or remaining silent....including Jesus' own followers.

Could it be that the death of Leavander Johnson or that of Don Maurice Airline was permitted by God because it was an important or necessary part of God's eternal plan? Although not directly caused by God was the death of each of these men a reflection of God's will?

If this is what Leavander's promoter means; or if this is what Don Maurice's mother means; then what does this mean?

Well, first of all, it would mean that there is Divine meaning and purpose in their deaths. It means that, somehow, known only to God, some greater good will come as a direct result of their deaths. It means that the fulfillment of God's eternal plan for his creation required that these men die at the time and in the manner that they died.

This, I believe, is most likely what Lou Dibella and Sheila Airline were thinking when they made their comments to the press.

It is possible to see a connection of this sort, perhaps, in the death of so many firefighters and police officers at the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001. "They did so that others might live," we say.

But the connection is not as clear in the case of Leavander and Don Maurice. It is hard to see a direct relation between being murdered or being legally beaten to death and any kind of moral or spiritual benefit to the world.

It is, I suppose, possible that their deaths were willfully permitted by God in order to prevent some greater harm happening at some future time. But it is difficult to see how the progress of God's Kingdom was somehow furthered by these tragedies.

It is true, however, that good can come in response to these deaths. After all, the Bible affirms that, "we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose."

In response to this, Christians will always be seeking ways to bring good out of everything that happens in life....especially when bad things happen, or even tragic things like an hurricane or a murder or war or famine or a death caused by repeated poundings to the head in a boxing ring.

For Christians, such events offer an opportunity to put their faith to the test. To trust in God. To persevere in good works. To stand for justice and to offer comfort and relief. Perhaps some new and beneficial safety rule will be adopted by professional boxing organizations as a result of Leavander's death. Perhaps some new method of providing financial assistance to evacuees will be created to reduce the likelihood of someone being suspected of having cash/valuables in there possession such as may have been the case with Maurice Airline.

But this is still a far cry from asserting that God permitted these deaths so that some greater good would result. Some greater good may, of course, result. but that would be determined by how we choose to respond to these tragedies. Not as a direct consequence of there.

There is, of course, yet another way of understanding these tragic deaths. It is relatively simple concept but, perhaps, even more profoud than the others we have considered.

Could it be that the death of Leavander Johnson or Don Maurice Airline was no more than a result of mere circumstance? That Leavander might still be alive and well today if he had only ducked, bobbed or weaved more successfully during his fight? Or if his opponent had chosen to throw a right jab instead of a left hook? Or if Maurice might still be alive if he had chosen to stay in Texas or had decided to turn left instead of keeping straight ahead down another when he went walking on that fatal night?

If this is what Leavander's promoter means; or if this is what Don Maurice's mother means; then what does this mean?

Well, to be honest, I do not believe that either of these people had this in mind when they said words to the effect that the deaths of these men was "God's will."

Sometimes, I'm afraid, things just happen by random accident. Things happen as a result of a culmination of a multitude of individual choices and decisions over many years that converge at a particular moment of time, resulting in what we can only describe as a tragedy.

Those tragedies caused by human choices always carry some measure of moral responsibility by those who were affected by those choices.

Someone chooses to have one too many drinks before driving home in the evening.

Someone doesn't notice the small kink in the parachute line that will become a tangled knot then the chute tries to open.

Someone doesn't make sure that their handgun is securely locked in their home with the chamber empty and the ammunition locked safely away in a separate place.

Someone for some reason lacking a normal human conscience or moral compass believes that his need for $25 is more important that another person's life.

Those tragedies caused by natural forces such as hurricanes, tornados, earthquakes, tsunamis, volcanic eruptions, flooding, famine, disease and plague may well be either ameliorated or magnified as a result of human choices. In the end, however, they transcend the realm of human morality and reflect the risks and dangers inherent in living in a world where such events are necessary in order to provide an environment where human life can exist at all.

Tragedies sometimes simply happen in complete defiance of God's own will or desire. There are times when we must conclude, as the late Bible scholar William Barklay said when his only child and her finace drowned in a boating accident, that "God wept."

While God may extend supernatural protection to us for a particular reason at particular times in our lives (as God clearly did with the young and future king David) there will come a time when God will leave us to fend for our own and bear the sinful consequences of our own actions, the actions of others or a combination of both.

Yet, for a Christian, there is consolation in even this. The Bible makes it clear that the fullfullment of God's plans, purposes and promises will not and cannot be denied. They will come to pass in the time of God's own choosing. We can find comfort in knowing that the coming Kingdom of God has in no way been beaten back or cast in doubt by the deaths of Leavander and Maurice.

In the end, our lives only have meaning and purpose within the larger picture of God's plan for human history. For a believer, there is the comfort in knowing that, in death by whatever means and at whatever age, our purpose in life has been fulfilled and our needed contributions to God's Kingdom and the Good News of the Gospel of Jesus Christ has completed its course.

As the Apostle Paul said,

If we live, we live to the Lord; and if we die, we die to the Lord. So, whether we live or die, we belong to the Lord.

For those who die without the assurance of God's saving love in their lives a Christian can only say, "We commit their soul to the care and mercy of Almighty God."

We can be confident that a perfectly loving and merciful and just God will always, in the end, bring about that which is loving, merciful and just. "In God we Trust" is not only a generic motto printed on a nation's currency, it is, for a Christian, the central confession of our faith.

With John Donne I must declare that, "every man's death diminishes me" and "do not ask for whom the bell tolls, it tolls for thee." The deaths of Don Maurice Airline and Leavander Johnson, men of whom I know nothing except that they have died, are no exception to this rule. Along with their families and friends I must grieve their loss.

As I share these thoughts I can hear God whispering in my ear:

"I take no pleasure in the death of anyone," declares the Sovereign LORD. "Repent and live!"

Consider these words the next time you hear someone say, "It was God's will."