To confess Christ crucified and risen as the only hope in a world that has lost its mind to wickedness and rage.
Today, we remember 9/11. Twenty-four years have passed since that terrible morning when planes struck towers and the world seemed to fall apart in ash and fear. For many of us, the images remain seared into memory: smoke billowing into the sky, heroes rushing into danger, and the heavy silence that followed. On that day, evil roared loudly. Yet even then, the cross of Christ stood taller than the rubble, declaring that death does not get the last word.
The blood of the saints cries out again from the ground. Two weeks ago at Annunciation Catholic School in Minneapolis, children were slaughtered. Yesterday, conservative activist, Charlie Kirk, was assassinated. Two different scenes, but the same darkness. These were not random tragedies. They were acts of violence aimed at Christians.
We need to call this what it is: evil. Wickedness. Sin dressed up in gunpowder and hatred. The devil prowls like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. And sometimes his roar echoes through the crack of a rifle.
But hear this: Satan’s roar does not have the last word. The Lamb who was slain has already crushed the serpent’s skull. No bullet, no rifle, no blasphemy can silence the Word made flesh. Christ is still Lord. Christ is still risen. Christ still reigns.
So how do we respond, not with the poison of vengeance, but with the medicine of the gospel?
Three ways:
1. We pray.
Not the plastic kind of prayer that fills space on social media, but the kind that is launched through heaven’s gates and lands in the hands of a crucified Savior. We pray for the grieving, for the wounded, for justice, and even for the repentance of those who do evil.
2. We show up.
Evil isolates. It scatters. It drives people into caves of fear. The church is called to do the opposite. Show up at the dinner table. Teach the faith to your children and grandchildren. Show up as a light bearer in darkness who points to Christ. Show up with shoulders strong enough to carry your neighbor’s sorrow and hurt. A Christian presence is the Spirit’s protest against despair.
3. We witness.
The early church grew, not because they had power, but because they bore witness in the storm of persecution. They said, “Kill us if you must, but you cannot kill the Christ who lives in us.” We are called to that same boldness. To confess Christ crucified and risen as the only hope in a world that has lost its mind to wickedness and rage.
Evil has spoken. But the God’s gospel promise will have the final word: Christ is risen, death is defeated, and the gates of hell will not prevail against his church.
May God bless the grieving families with the comfort of the risen Christ. Be at peace. There is a day coming when all this evil will be no more. Until then, we live in the shadow of the cross.
This article was written by Landon Ledlow. Landon serves as a pastor in Tampa Florida. He graduated from Concordia Seminary in St. Louis in 2008. He is a student of matrixing scripture and preaching. With his wife and two daughters he enjoys the beach, building things, and board games.
