the riots

It difficult not to have some kind of response to what has been going on in London and elsewhere in the past couple of days. It brings out so many emotions - anger, annoyance, regret, shame, despair, that it took a good sleep or ten to figure out just what I think about the whole situation, and what I feel, eventually.

So in the news, I've seen the family members of Mark Duggan calling for calm, and indeed stressed in their night vigil with regards to their dead family member, that things should not go to violence. It was never their intent.

However, I know from myself, and from the bible, that sin doesnt need an excuse to manifest itself.

"There is not a righteous man on earth who does what is right and never sins." Ecclesiastes - 7:20

Sin starts at home, because its the starting nature of mankind. I can see the riots as hideous, an abomination, and abject lawlessness, but that doesn't stop the idea that, it could have been me.

"For one look at yourself, take ten looks at Christ" - Robert Murray M'Cheyne

I could've had their background, their social pressures, the isolation and alienation from the rest of society, that would trigger this expression of human depravity. Surely as much as these rioters are morally deprived, so am I. Blessed and cursed am I that this human nature is more subtle in me, and doesn't resort to smashing windows for my next purchase. But I cannot deny the sinful nature's power, on the whole of mankind, and when I yield, in me too, though Christ works with blood sweat and tears to reverse the process in me. The only one who, hand on heart, could truly say they wouldn't have rioted in their situation, is Jesus Christ.

Also, such an explicit demonstration of violence and wrongdoing is a stark reminder of that there must be something wrong. A symptom never appears from being well. Our society is not at its best. We could have pride in our hearts for seeing the recent events of the violence in the arab spring and say "that would never happen in my country" and let it serve whatever racist aims there is in such thinking, but here it is, looting and violence on our doorstep. Its not a revolution, as much as the free love movement of the 60's wasn't a revolution, it was just sin with a new name, just as this "free stuff movement" is. People don't like diagnoses when they describe something bad, but what will it take for people to see that theres something not right with humanity in the way it seeks things for their own ends and not others, seeks not God, but seeks to be Gods themselves?

My response however, cannot be despair. Never despair. God grants second chances to all who would take them. Yes rioters. Rioters and me in equal measure. In the bible, Simon Peter had a bit of the rioter spirit in him, and look what God did in him.

Jesus said of Peter, "on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it."

Jesus' mission was for the destitute and those who were deprived.

“The Spirit of the Lord is on me,
because he has anointed me
to proclaim good news to the poor.
He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners
and recovery of sight for the blind,
to set the oppressed free,
to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.” Luke 4:17-19

"He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds." Psalm 147:3

God has the potential in him to swing this around, turn chaos into calm, turn a heart bent on destruction to one that looks on the Lord. It is still his world, and he is still on his throne. He never relinquished control. He allows through the free will built into humanity the ability for people to carry out their choices, for good or ill, but he does not stand by uncaring. He weeps when a country reels.

My response has to be prayer. To seek what God already seeks, restoration, and a chance to show his mercy. He suffers just as much as we do. A god on the cross knows suffering on behalf of all the sins of the world. He personally knows the weight of the lawlessness of his creation, and willingly took it. So he can willingly intervene and play a part in this situation London and elsewhere finds itself in.