Lesson From Littleton
Tom Shrader responds to the 1999 Columbine High School shooting by examining the grief, faith, and witness displayed by survivors and victims' families in the aftermath. He centers the teaching on Romans 8:28, clarifying that God does not merely permit all things but actively causes them to work together for good for those who love Him. The lesson calls believers to live confidently and boldly in obedience, trusting God's sovereign control even in tragedy, and challenges the congregation to share their faith with those asking hard questions in the wake of such events.
“We know God causes all things to work together for good — He's sovereign, He's in control, there's nothing outside the realm of His authority, there's no maverick molecule, He is sovereign in absolute control of the universe.”
— Tom Shrader
Series: Acts
Recorded: 1999 at East Valley Bible Church
Duration: 47 min
Themes: tragedy, grief, suffering, faith under fire, witnessing, boldness, trust, hope, grieving parent, parent, struggling with doubt, questioning God, teenager, feeling hopeless, processing tragedy, searching for answers
Scripture: Romans 8:28, Daniel 3
Theological Themes: sovereignty of God, Romans 8:28, theodicy, providence, all things work together for good, obedience, witness, lament
Full Transcript
Looking Back at a Devastating Week
This morning we are going to pause and, in a sense, look back at a week. I am not sure there have been many events, in recent memory anyway, that have captured and held our attention like the incident in Littleton, Colorado, this week. It seems that everywhere I go, it has dominated not just my thoughts, but the thoughts of those around me. It has dominated our conversations, probably for a variety of reasons.
One reason is simply the horrific nature of what happened — all of the questions and consequences that come with it. The other reason, I think, for a group like this, is the idea that it hits so close to home. It looks very much like that high school could have been Mesquite High, or Dobson, or Gilbert, or Valley. It breaks through a lot of stereotypes. The students who did the shooting — one had a 4.0 GPA, one had a 3.8. They were not from underprivileged families. They were middle class, upper middle class, even wealthy families.
A Rallying Point for Many Voices
I have a sense that this is not going to go away quickly. The reason is that everybody now has an interest. This event becomes a battle cry, a rallying point for so many different entities — the media, the politicians, the pundits. The liberals will be quick to say, "See, it's the guns. If there weren't any guns, we wouldn't have this. The guns are the problem." The conservatives will point to the culture and say, "It's the music. It's the movies. It's the video games." Everyone has an interest in this.
It will not be long — in fact, it has already begun — before fingers are pointed at who is to blame and what is the cause. That impulse gives us a sense that somehow, if we can identify cause and blame, we are still in control of an event like this. The parents will come under heavy fire. I cannot imagine what the parents of those two boys who did the shooting are going through. I can somewhat get my hands around the grief of the parents who lost children, but I cannot even fathom what these other parents are experiencing.
The police are already being criticized as well — people asking how a SWAT team could take that long to get in. I watched that question posed to one of the men leading one of the SWAT teams, and he said, "Let me tell you something I haven't said before. One of my kids was in that building. I knew the coach, and I knew the students. Put yourself in my place as a father. You think I'm going to be slow getting in there? But I also have a responsibility to my men."
A Week of Images and Fears
It was a fascinating and devastating week. There were so many different images that came out of it — images that just pop into our minds, and in some cases will be ingrained there for the rest of our lives. It was a week filled with pictures. It was a week where we watched played out, especially for those of us who are parents, some of our worst fears and worst nightmares.
We want so much to find someone we can point a finger at. We want to fix this — to say we are going to do something, and that because of our action, it will never happen again. But beyond the images, there are also lessons from this week.
The Interview That Stood Above the Rest
When I think about the images from the week, there is none more powerful for me than the interview Friday morning that Katie Couric had with Michael Scholls, the father of the young black student who was killed, and his friend who was present and witnessed Isaiah and another friend be killed. Some of you have seen the interview in its entirety. Some of you have seen portions of it. We watched the whole thing together — approximately fourteen minutes, with three participants: Katie Couric of the Today Show on NBC, Michael Scholls, whose son Isaiah was killed, and a young man who was there in the midst of it all.
In the interview, Mr. Scholls described how eyewitnesses said Isaiah was singled out because he was African-American. He explained that Isaiah had originally planned to go to lunch but went to the library instead because he had a paper to do. According to those who were there, the shooters were actively hunting him — looking for him specifically. Mr. Scholls said his son had two strikes against him: he was black, and he was an athlete. Isaiah played football and was a weightlifter. He was outgoing, well-liked, and described by his father as a very special kid.
Mr. Scholls shared that Isaiah had been born with a heart problem but had lived eighteen years and beaten it — only to be taken out this way. He also revealed that Isaiah had warned him about this group, telling him they had been targeting him and his sisters. Mr. Scholls said he had dismissed it, assuming it was just a neighborhood rivalry and feelings of inferiority. But it was real. And he said the reason he was speaking out was because he should have listened to his son and his children, and should have gone to the authorities when these things were being reported to him.
Lessons From Littleton
The father spoke of how he had trained his children to live alongside anyone and everyone. He believed they were strong enough to overcome the cruelty they encountered. There was no reason, in his mind, why anyone should be targeted because of their achievements or the color of their skin.
He described how his son had told him about being singled out — students would target him, kick at him. His counsel to his son was simple: you have to overcome that, and if it ever gets too bad to handle on your own, come to me. His son never got the chance to come to him.
In the Library
Craig Scott was one of the last people to see Isaiah Scholls alive. He had gone into the library that morning to do some homework. He sat down with a friend named Matt Kechter, a young man he knew from class and had spoken with on the phone the night before.
They heard what sounded like fireworks. Craig thought at first it was a senior prank and treated it as such — until a faculty member ran in screaming that someone had a gun and was shooting students outside.
Craig saw Isaiah and called him over. He said of Isaiah that the first time he met him, Isaiah always made him laugh. Everyone who knew him said the same — he was always telling stories, and he was just a fun kid to be around.
Isaiah came under the table and sat down between Craig and his friend Matt. That was when two tall students in trench coats entered the library and began shooting.
Hatred on Display
Before they shot anyone, the killers moved through the library harassing students. They called out for anyone wearing a white hat, targeting students they considered jocks. Craig was wearing a white hat and slipped it under his shirt. Isaiah, who was athletic in build, drew their attention.
One of the killers looked at Isaiah and said to the other, "There's an N-word over here." The other came over. Isaiah said nothing. He tried to back away. They shot him. Then they shot Matt Kechter as well.
Craig fell to the floor and played dead. He was praying to God, and he said God told him to get out. He got up, and with everyone around him frozen in shock, he urged them to move — to run. A girl nearby had a chunk of her shoulder blown off by a shotgun. Craig helped her get out, her bone exposed and blood everywhere. The other students, overwhelmed with shock, ran into a room when the exit was right in front of them. Eventually they found the exit and ran out to the waiting officers.
Prayer in the Chaos
Once outside, Craig spoke to a police officer and described the suspects and their location inside the school. After that, he led a group of people in prayer. He asked them whether they had brothers or sisters still inside, and he prayed for each one. He helped people into police cars and ambulances. He was among the very last to leave with the officers.
Thirty minutes later, the brothers and sisters of those he had prayed for began showing up. He told them, "I told you prayer worked. I told you your sister was going to come out of this." They thanked him, and they continued praying — for his sister Rachel.
Even before any news came, Craig said something told him something was not right with Rachel. He knew before it was confirmed. The next morning it was: Rachel was dead. He said he had accepted it before he was told. He said his sister was real to people — she had no enemies at the school. She was seventeen years old, and he loved her deeply.
What Was Inside Them
Craig described the two killers as gothic in appearance, wearing black to school every day, trying in every way to set themselves apart from the other students. He said they were full of hate. There was something in them, he said, that was not right.
Isaiah's father, reflecting on the previous twenty-four hours, said the waiting had been unbearable and agonizing. He said he was really hurting inside, that he wanted to be in denial — because he knew his son would not have wanted this.
A Father's Grief
He wanted me to tell what happened. He wanted me to speak out because he knows his son's heart. His son was a very outgoing person who had no enemies. If you hated his son, you had a problem, because he could get along with anyone.
He said, "I train all of my children that way." They are a very tight-knit family. He said he loves his children more than life itself, and he hoped that parents out there could feel where he was coming from. Our kids are our future, and we need to watch and take care of them.
For those parents who are not watching their children, not spending time with the family — that is our demise. As human beings, we need to stop it. His two other children, a son and a daughter, both students at Columbine, both got away. They were hunted, but they couldn't be found.
When asked whether he would get counseling, he said, "I'm a Christian man, so I'm going to get through this. Everything happens for a reason."
What These Words Deserve
His name was Michael Schultz. He said there are lessons here — lessons about life and death, and how life can be taken at any time. But there are words he spoke that, to me, need comment and deserve it.
When the father says, "I hurt so much inside," you can almost wince with him. Every parent here knows exactly what he is saying. It is not a white or a black or a Hispanic or Asian issue — it is a human issue. There are few things that seem more natural than the love of a father and a mother for their children.
Those of you who are students, kids, I want you to know that is how your parents feel about you. A couple of times you can see him strain, and when he says, "I train my kids," that is his way of saying, "I love them. I want to do what is right for them." Kids, I want you to know how hard that job is, how hard it is to try to do what is best for you and have to say no so often. That is so hard.
Something Missing Inside
You have to have something seriously missing in your life to not well up with admiration for the young Craig Scott. He watches two friends killed, helps a girl with part of her shoulder missing out of the building, rallies them to pray for their siblings, and then discovers his sister is dead.
I think that in the midst of all of this, he has the answer — although we may not like it — for what happened. He said there is something missing inside of those kids. There was so much hate.
As he also said, I understand there are going to be guns in movies. There are millions of kids who watch these movies, listen to this music, and never do anything like this. There are millions of kids who have access to guns who do not take them to school to shoot other kids. He was dead right. There is something missing inside. It is sin. It is evil.
There But for the Grace of God
There is a statement we use frequently. We look at someone in a position of hardship and say, "There but for the grace of God go I." I want you to think about the two kids in the trench coats who were laughing and shooting and killing, and understand that there but for the grace of God go you and me.
We talk about how depraved we are — that is how depraved you are and I am. Every once in a while, God, as though He removes His hand of grace a little bit — sometimes in a gigantic way, as with an Adolf Hitler, sometimes in proportionately smaller ways, and sometimes like we saw this week — shows us how lost we truly are. That should bring us to our knees with an attitude of thanksgiving.
That is what conversion is. Conversion is the moment where I understand how sinful and how lost I am. And I honestly believe that as you grow closer to Him, you become more aware of how sinful you are. If you cannot say it, I will say it for you: there but for the grace of God go you, young person with a trench coat ready to kill.
Prayer Always Works
There is another moment where Craig has these kids together, and you can almost see it as he prays: "Father, spare their brothers and spare their sisters." Then the word comes that his sister is gone. And right before that, here was the phrase he used: "See, I told you prayer works. Prayer always works."
We pray not to inform God or to manipulate God, but to show our dependence upon Him regardless of the outcome.
But Even If He Doesn't
In Daniel chapter three, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego are about to be thrown into the fire, and here is what these young boys — about fifteen or sixteen years old — say to the most powerful man in the world: "Our God whom we serve is able to deliver us." Go ahead and throw us in the fire. Bring it on, whatever you have. Our God is able to deliver us.
But here is where you see the maturity. Here is where you understand people who really have a mature relationship and growth with the Lord — this phrase: "But even if He doesn't." We understand that God is in absolute control even when it does not turn out the way we would like it to.
I cannot begin to understand what these parents feel. The closest that Susan and I ever came was several years ago when our daughter Sarah was in a car accident. Some of you were with us for that, and it was a difficult time. After a few days it became clear that —
God Is Good
God is good even if she dies. God is not good because Sarah lives. God is good, and God is holy, and He is sovereign. That is why He is God.
Witnessing Is Inevitable
Last week we were talking about witnessing. We said it is not optional, it is not mandatory, it is inevitable. We said to break down the stereotypes. It is not just knocking on a door and cold-calling for Christ. There may be something you want to do along those lines, and that is valid, but witnessing is simply daily living. It is in word and it is in deed, and crisis is a magnificent platform for us.
Once you are strengthened in your faith, once you are encouraged as you listen to those two men, we begin to learn more and more about this event. We start to get a profile of the students, and we begin to see that quite a few of them have a very clear connection to the Lord Jesus Christ. That makes sense. When evil attacks, that is who it is going to attack.
There is somebody in this story you have to admire: Carrie Burnell. She was 17 years old. We now have from two or three different sources that the shooters came into her room and said, "Is there anyone in here who believes and is committed to Jesus?" She said, "I am," stood up, and they shot her. Can you imagine the honor it would be to have that young woman in your high school department? Mixed emotions, to be sure, but how proud her pastor and her parents must be of a girl who, two years earlier, was involved in witchcraft and suicide, came to Christ at age 15 in repentance and faith, and was notorious around campus for carrying a Bible and talking about Christ. That is witnessing — just living it, just being a testimony for the gospel.
There is also a great moment at the very end of an interview when Katie Couric asks, "Are you going to be going to counseling?" Michael Scholl was uncertain how to answer, and then he said, "I am a Christian man. I am going to get through this." If you watch the video closely, a smile comes across his face and he says, "This all happens for a reason." These are not just the ramblings of a hurting father engaged in wishful thinking or empty hope. That is exactly what the Scripture says.
Romans 8:28 — What the Verse Actually Says
Romans chapter eight, verse 28. We have asked you a hundred times to quote it, and here is about how most people quote it: "All things work together for good to those who love God and are called according to His purpose." The only problem with that is that is not what the verse says. Here is what it says: "And we know God causes all things to work together for good."
There are important things to learn from this verse. The first is that we know it as a fact. This is not wishful speculation. We are not guessing. We know, because the infallible Word of God says that He causes everything to work together for good. From this verse alone, we learn at least two things about God: He is all-knowing, and He is all-powerful. If He is going to cause everything to work together for good, then He has to know what is going to happen, and He has to be able to do something about it. Those two things cannot be separated.
In fact, consider how tragic it would be if they were separated. How awful would it be if He were all-knowing and knew what was going to happen, but was impotent to stop it? Or, on the other hand, if He were all-powerful but not all-knowing, and said, "I wish I had known that was going to happen — I could have intervened." But this verse says He causes everything to work together. He is sovereign. He is in absolute control of the universe. There is nothing outside the realm of His authority. There is no maverick molecule.
He causes not just good things but all things — every event that takes place works together for good, becomes part of His plan, and is used for His honor and His glory. Even something as horrific as what we witnessed this week, even something as bad as sin, can be used by God for His honor and glory. He is in control, and He causes all things to work together for good. In the most real sense possible, there is nothing that can come into our lives that is ultimately bad for us. He is in control, and He uses everything for our good.
It is important to note, however, that this is not a universal promise. It is to those who love God and those who are called according to His purpose. It is to Christians. We could state it this way: we know God causes all things to work together for good — to Christians.
So What? Living Boldly and Finding Comfort
Whenever we look at a lesson, we ask three questions: What do you say? Is it true? So what? What I am saying to you, as we stop and look at what happened in Littleton and at the unwelcome intruders in your own life, is this: we know God causes all things to work together for good. Is it true? It is the holy, infallible Word of God. It is absolutely true. So what does that mean for us?
Two things come out of this. Number one, because all things work together for good, we can live life confidently. We can live life boldly. We can do what is right simply because it is right, because God is in control. When the deal is on the table and our ethics are being challenged and we need that deal desperately, we can still do what is right, because God is in control. He loves us even more than we love ourselves. All He is asking us to do is obey Him and trust Him, and He will take care of the results. We can live life boldly because of who He is, not because of who we are.
Secondly, we can find comfort in the midst of a moment like this, where we do not have all the answers, where we cannot give a response that will satisfy every inquiring mind. As I look at what happened in Colorado this week, there is a tragedy that I have not heard one commentator speak to —
The Reality of Eternity
There are kids today who are in hell. If this theology is true — and it is — then when I die, I either go to heaven or hell based on what I have done with the person of Christ. You can almost pick up the paper and read it and understand it. You can watch the memorial services and almost sense the emptiness in the ones where we just talk about the kid, what he liked, and sports.
Then there was another service — John Tomlin, one of the boys who was killed. At his memorial service, there were three of his friends standing around a microphone, and what they were talking about is that John is in heaven today because he has eternal life through Jesus Christ. He believed in Christ, and Christ alone.
The Weight of Hope
Can you imagine how terrible it would be to be Cassie Burnell's mother or father, standing over that grave? That would be a very difficult thing. But imagine standing over the grave of a child with no hope at all.
Maybe this is a great opportunity for us to stop — not to look at the culture, not at guns — and simply ask: do you know Christ? Do you know who He is? If you died today, if you were in an accident, if you got a call from the doctor saying there is a spot on this X-ray, where would you spend eternity?
The Only Way to Heaven
What is at stake is heaven. How does one go to heaven? It is very simple: to acknowledge that I am a sinner, that in and of myself dwells no good, that I am separated from God because of that sin. The wage of my sin is death, but those who believe in Jesus Christ have eternal life.
Do you believe? Not just with your head — are you trusting Him and Him alone? If God were to say to you, "Why should I let you into heaven?" what would your answer be? That you are a good person? There is only one answer, because there is only one way.
The honest answer is this: based on my own merit, You should not let me into heaven, God. I deserve death. I deserve hell. But the promise of Jesus Christ is that whoever believes on Him has eternal life — so Father, that is what I claim as I stand before You.
Two Overriding Questions
There is a lot of emotion here. That is probably the twelfth time I have watched that video, and every time I see it I see something different, and every time it hits me even stronger. There are a lot of things playing out, but for us there are two overriding issues.
Number one: do I know Christ as Lord and Savior? Number two: the comfort of knowing that in my life and your life as believers, God causes all things to work together for good, for those who love Him and are called according to His purpose.
A Call to Speak
These are magnificent opportunities for you to talk to the people at work, the people in your sphere of influence, to be able to deal with these hard questions. They came into that girl's room with guns and said, "Is there anybody in here committed to Jesus?" And she said, "Yes, I am."
You have people at your office who are asking, "Can you tell me what it means to know Christ?" And you do not do it because you are afraid they will not like you. Father, we ask You to take these words, to apply them to our hearts, and to change our lives. We pray to You in Jesus' name, amen.