February 19, 2006 – November 11, 2024
Sometimes life presents us with tragedies that are beyond comprehension. These tragedies challenge our assumptions about faith. Our hearts are broken and the pain is deep. It feels as if our very soul is crushed. To lose a child is the deepest of sorrows. This sorrow is expressed in the words of Jeremiah and quoted by Matthew: “A voice is heard in Ramah, lamentation and bitter weeping. Rachel is weeping for her children; she refuses to be comforted for her children, because they are no more” (31:15). Years ago, Tom and Amy lost their infant son, Jonathan. Last week they lost Bethany.
On the day that Job tragically lost all ten of his children in a violent storm, he cried out, “The LORD gave, and the LORD has taken away; blessed be the name of the LORD.” These are not the words of a person with shallow, sentimental faith. These are the words of a person who has placed total confidence in the sovereignty of God. This does not suggest that God is responsible for all tragedies, but that God is present and working in our behalf, that no tragedy can thwart God’s plan. Over the past few days I have heard Tom and Amy express their confidence in God many times. In the moment of our deepest pain, we are compelled to confess our faith and worship God. So we have gathered today in our sorrow to worship God.
In his tragic moment, Job was surrounded by his friends. They had nothing to say. The tragedy was beyond explanation. So often, we are tempted to try to make sense of a tragedy. But the truth is that some tragedies are beyond explanation. Job’s three friends failed in their effort to speak comforting words of wisdom and it is likely that we can do no better. So the best thing we can do is be present, weep together, and worship together. We have gathered together to surround our friends, the Doolittle family, to offer them our love and consolation.
The opening words of Psalm 22 express our darkest despair: “My God, my God why have you forsaken me?” Despair does not turn us away from God, but towards God. When we are tempted to believe that God has abandoned us, our faith compels us to cry out in search of God. Cries of lament are not cries of faithlessness, but cries of faithfulness. The cry of abandonment in Psalm 22 is answered in the confession of Psalm 23: “The Lord is my shepherd… even though I walked through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for God is with me.” In faith, we cry out to God and God responds in faithfulness. Psalm 118:4-5 declares, “Let those who fear the LORD say, His steadfast love endures forever. Out of my distress I called on the LORD; the LORD answered me…”
Over the last few days, I have reflected on the story of Bethany Doolittle. I am reminded of a slave girl named Hagar, who with her son, was lost in the wilderness. In her great despair, God sent an angelic messenger, to speak words of life and promise (Genesis 21:17ff). As a small girl, Bethany, was lost in a wilderness, victimized and abused. God took notice and sent two angels, to rescue her. Tom and Amy Doolittle opened their hearts and their home to a lost little girl. Not only did Bethany gain two godly parents, she also inherited two godly sisters – Heather and Hillary. It’s not an exaggeration to say that the Doolittle family saved Bethany‘s life, they provided an opportunity for Bethany to flourish.
Bethany composed a piece of artwork which expressed her pain and hope. She declared, “Broken from the pain, but me, I’m chosen.” Yes indeed, she was chosen. Tom and Amy chose her, they adopted her and made her their own daughter. Tom and Amy were ministers of God’s grace. Yes indeed, Bethany was broken from the pain. She was a challenge. But Tom and Amy never gave up. They loved Bethany with a fierce love. They refused to allow brokenness to define her life. They prayed over Bethany. They provided a safe place for a scared little girl, a place of belonging for an abandoned little girl. Again and again, Tom and Amy reminded Bethany that she was chosen by the Lord. The words of Jeremiah 29:11 were confessed over Bethany: “For I know the plans I have for you, declares the LORD, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope.” These are the words of God to the people of Judah, as they faced decades of exile in Babylon. These words reminded the people of Judah that the exile was not their destiny. When confessed over Bethany, these words reminded her that brokenness and pain did not signify her destiny. Tom and Amy gave Bethany a most precious gift – faith, hope, and love.
We are gathered here today because of a tragic accident that took Bethany‘s young life. But this tragic accident does not rob us of faith, hope, and love. We grieve deeply today because we love so deeply. Death cannot rob us of love. We will carry this pain for the rest of our lives because we will love Bethany for the rest of our lives. Nor can death rob us of hope. The sovereign promise of God is a future and a hope. That is made possible because of the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. It is the hope of the resurrection that is the comfort for our pain and the remedy for our despair. It is hope in the resurrection that has delivered Bethany from her brokenness and her pain. This is a faith and hope that Bethany had deeply embedded in her heart because of the love, faith, and hope of Tom, Amy, Heather, and Hillary Doolittle. So today, it is in faith, hope, and love, that we join the Doolittle family, along with “every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and in the sea, and all that is in them, saying, ‘To him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb be blessing and honor and glory and might forever and ever!’” (Revelation 5:13).
