To Celebrate Or Not To Celebrate... That Seems To Be The Question!

Photo From: www.september11news.com/OsamaBinLaden.htm

Today the news channels are buzzing with last night's news.  Facebook profiles pictures are changing to the red, white and blue.  There is also a debate going on as people are wrestling with the proper response to the events of Bin Laden's death.  Take a moment and check out the buzz below:

• "Please remember that the special forces had their God-given vocation to do last night, bearing that sword not held in vain. One may not like the use of lethal force on principle, but there are honorable men who exercise that force and bear the price, with that just sword, of taking human lives. While especially-squeamish people wring their hands back here, please also remember all that runs through the special forces' minds even after a 'righteous kill.' It's just hard for me to be an earnest, handwringing parson right now. Justice frequently needs frail human souls to carry it out."  - From A Lutheran Pastor 
• "Those who live by the sword die by the sword." -Matthew 26:52
• "We sleep soundly in our beds because rough men stand ready in the night to visit violence on those who would do us harm." - Winston Churchill
• "Feels a little sense of closure and justice for those who were killed on 9/11. Thank you to all who have served our country! You have done us very proud!"  -Anonymous Facebook Posting
• "From the wicked their light is withheld and their uplifted hand is broken." -Job 38:15
• "You'd think with a guy like Osama we wouldn't give a crap about any burial traditions"  -Anonymous Facebook Posting
• "Is Osama in Hell, Rob Bell?" -Anonymous Facebook Posting
• "Let me make it very clear. If you can't celebrate the distribution of divine justice...and how should I put this carefully? You stink. Really"  -Anonymous Blog Comment
• "My problem lies with our reaction to these events. If we are out on the streets celebrating the death of a terrorist, then we are no better. I doubt there is any rejoicing in heaven over the death of Osama Bin Laden.  Am I grateful that he is no longer a threat? Yes. Do I think the world is safer without him? I think so, yes. Am I going to celebrate his death? Absolutely not. As a sinner, I am as deserving of death, hell, and eternal separation from God as is Osama Bin Laden. I reflect upon the grace of God that He has delivered me from that which Bin Laden is now condemned to eternally. There is certainly no cause in rejoicing. I'm thankful that our God is a God of justice, and that justice was done, but I'm not celebrating." -Anonymous Facebook Posting
• "Say to them, As I live, declares the Lord GOD, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but that the wicked turn from his way and live..." -Ezekiel 33:11
• "England, we will see your wedding and raise you a funeral." -Anonymous Facebook Posting
• "GOD BLESS THE USA!!!! OSAMA BIN LADEN IS DEAD" -Anonymous Facebook Posting
• "Osama is dead. Rejoice not in the destruction of the wicked, but in the delivery of justice. Praise the Lord, justice is served." -Anonymous Facebook Posting
• "One of the primary roles of the Kingdom of the Left is to defend and protect the people of the nation. In a fallen sinful world, there are times where force and violence are the necessary tools of such. This is one of those times, and neither the leaders who ordered the use of force, nor the soldiers who carried it out were acting improperly." -Anonymous Facebook Posting

I believe that Paul McCain at Cyberbrethren.com captures a balanced view on this whole matter.  He says, 

"Do we rejoice in the death of the wicked? No, because the Lord does not. Can we however be grateful and rejoice that justice has been done? That the Lord has, through the instrumentality of the kingdom of the left, exercised this justice? Yes."

My conclusion:  We celebrate the exercise of justice and we do not celebrate the death of a wicked man...  here we stand in paradox, embracing both the left hand kingdom (i.e. secular government working through law, justice, etc...) and the right hand kingdom (i.e. spiritual kingdom working through grace and the gospel).  To dismiss the workings of the left hand kingdom would be to ascribe to injustice, while dismissing the right hand kingdom is to dismiss that each person, no matter how depraved, was and is created in the image of God.  Here we stand in paradox.


Note: 
To Learn More About the Doctrine of the 2 Kingdoms Click Here.