From The Pastor's Desk

 Murder is a normal response for a spiritually dead, darkened human "heart"
Mark 7:21 "For from within, out of the heart of man, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery." Jesus doesn't say, "now there will occasionally be really demented, sick, fanatics who do evil things (like murder) ...but you-sane, fabulous people-could never dream of doing nasty things." Such naive thinking is the false worldview assumed by criminologists, shooting "experts" and other talking heads who are now scrambling to figure out how a smart student could succumb to that kind of savagery-the kind that intelligent, sane people never do. Who hurt him? What was his childhood like? What brain chemical belched in his brain? What did he eat that day? Jesus says, "you must think of murder as a nasty sin like adultery and theft." I hate the self-absorption of car thieves, but like us, they are the sane authors of their deeds.

Murder exists in "seed form" in the most innocent appearing grudge.
Matthew 5:21-22 "You have heard that it was said to those of old, 'You shall not murder; and whoever murders will be liable to judgment.' [22] But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother will be liable to judgment; whoever insults his brother will be liable to the council; and whoever says, 'You fool!' will be liable to the hell of fire. Notice how Jesus drills into the subterranean levels of the heart-the inner drives and internal self-talk we do every day. Jesus says-in effect-actual murder is the brutal flower sprouting from barbaric thoughts, "I hate you; or you fool; you idiot." Jesus says, when you are angry plus you tell yourself, "I can't believe what he did, I could never do that!" Take garden-variety resentments, add setbacks and self-pity setbacks, then stir into self-righteous rage. Now you have the seedbed for Batman and Virginia Tech style savagery. We may hear James Holmes echo VT killer Cho's contempt:"Your Mercedes wasn't enough, you brats," "Your golden necklaces weren't enough, you snobs. Your trust funds weren't enough. Your vodka and cognac wasn't enough. All your debaucheries weren't enough. Those weren't enough to fulfill your hedonistic needs. You had everything." Resentment and self-righteousness rage fed wounded self-pity.

We react to other's sins (victim) by sinning against others (victimizer).
Job 2:9 Then his [Job's] wife said to him, "Do you still hold fast your integrity? Curse God and die." Our natural-sinful heart's-response to suffering is to curse God and do evil. In this case, Job's wife says, "if God's going to put you thru all this misery, why bother being good? To heck with God, and kill..." When tempted or hurt, we sinners effortlessly take two deadly steps: forget about God, and hurt [or even kill].

In coming weeks, we may learn that, like Seung-Hui Cho, James Holmes was teased. We may discover that, like Cho, Holmes isolated himself from campus parties and friendships. Beneath a studious surface, it seems that Cho's hurt was planted in wounded pride; wounded pride sprouted self-pity; self-pity sprouted anger; anger budded into resentment, resentment seeded bitterness and then bitterness blossomed into rage. Are self-pity and resentment sufficient causes to assassinate someone's character behind their backs? Are they sufficient to kill one's marriage by refusing to forgive or change? Are they sufficient to wish a neighbor or coworker dead? Jesus draws a straight line from anger to murder. The Bible says that Cain killed Abel out of self-pity and resentment. Armed with a 9mm Cain he could have murdered more.

What happened at the premiere of The Dark Knight Rises, was evil. But what is most confusing for 21st c. American neighbors is this question, "how could a exceptionally smart guy with every advantage of a middle-class upbringing and a plethora of educational opportunities, commit such brutality?" All our secular wise men are searching for answers. Was he "sick" as our media (committed to the universal goodness of humanity) assume? Or was Holmes rampage a dramatic expression of the evil Jesus says lurks in every human heart-that when watered by years of hurt, self-pity and resentment can gun down 12 bystanders.

Getting the diagnosis right is a necessary stop in discovering the cure. But if we deceive ourselves about the Dark Knight rising in each of us, we'll never see Holmes staring back when we gaze into our mirrors.

Pastor Dave Anderson