Bin Laden – Dead

In the fourth chapter of Paul’s second letter to Timothy, the Great Apostle makes a series of statements and requests as he wraps up his letter.  Tucked in among asking for a cloak and parchments, is this statement:

Alexander the coppersmith did me much evil: the Lord reward him according to his works…

I have no idea what Alexander did, other than resisting the Gospel, but while Paul asks for mercy on those who abandoned him, he asks that Alexander be held to account according to his works.  At first innocuous, this statement by Paul is a mighty and sobering curse.

I remember a friend of mine from my college days who was in the World Trade Center on 9/11.  He was above the floors where the airplane struck.  John was a high energy man, a great deal of fun.  He was always up for a game of hoops.  John died, and the theft of this good man from his friends and family is the embodiment of the damage done by Osama’s evil.

Osama Bin Laden has been brought to a gruesome end at the hands of Seal Team Six.  I congratulate all, from our Commander in Chief to the sturdy men who unleashed the fatal bullets.  Well done to all the support personnel in between.

The horrible violence that has flowed from Osama’s twisted mind to the hands and feet of his followers has been a seminal source of misery not just for the West as we struggle to balance security with liberty but in its own way perpetuates the misery of the Middle East as these roiled nations look without for scapegoats rather than within for reform.  It is a shame he can only be killed once.

Faith is a private matter, as is how we each work out our relationship with God. To comment on matters of faith is a thing to be done gently and with your indulgence. 

I believe in a God who is merciful to those who would receive mercy and is wrathful to the unrepentant.  Hell may be what it is as much for who is there as for the fire and brimstone.  Alongside the worm that does not die and the fire that is not quenched, Bin Laden will be forever in a place absent the influence of the Father’s grace, surrounded by those who are equally and utterly bereft of mercy or kindness.

I remember my friend John whenever I think of 9/11. Now I can remember Osama paying the price for his acts. I remember. We Americans remember.  I think I might be a better Christian if I could find some sadness in my heart for any man who is so eternally condemned, but today I am comforted in my sad memories of John and all those like him by the knowledge that Bin Laden’s crimes will be paid for by Bin Laden personally and in full measure for all of eternity without escape or reprieve.

Bin Laden’s reward will be according to his works.

Ed Martin

Read more at Ed Martin for Congress