Tim Russert was known as the King of Washington DC. The reason was his affable personality which wrapped around his keen love of politics, his brilliance, and his love for country and family. He loved his son Luke and wife Maureen deeply and of course his Dad, "Big Russ," whom he wrote best selling book about in 2004. Luke said that "Meet The Press" was his Dad's second son, a program that Russert took to such heights that it was the High Church of Sunday Morning Political Talk. An appearance on Meet The Press was both a rite of passage and a test of one's nerves, mind, and ambition. Perhaps John McCain's comments after one of Russert's grillings said it all, " I haven't enjoy anything as much since my last interrogation." Referring to the torture he endured in the Hanoi Hilton. Tim was a greatly loved man because he loved greatly. The outpouring of emotion and praise has matched any figure who has left us in recent years. Russert loved politics, he was just getting warmed up for the upcoming election, it was his Super Bowl and he was ready. He also was a devout Catholic, a product of a Jesuit education, he prayed for people, he loved them and particularly their children. It can be said, this was a good man, the finest. My question and many people's question is, "Why would God take Tim in his prime, when he was such an important cog in the system that determines who would lead the free world? Why not so many others who are not really needed right now like Tim is needed. He served such an important function in the political process. Every day people who are important to other people leave us, they are struck down in seemingly random ways. A mother is killed in an auto accident, a son falls to his death off a staircase, a much needed pastor or leader loses a battle with cancer. And it just doesn't seem right and makes no sense. The words of Isaiah come mind when he was speaking of the hereafter, " Then the glory of the Lord will be revealed, and all people will see it together. The Lord has spoken! A voice said "Shout!" I asked, "What should I shout?" " Shout that people are like the grass. Their beauty fades as quickly as the flowers in a field. The grass withers and the flowers fade beneath the breath of the Lord. And so it is with people. The grass withers and flowers fade, but the word of our God stands forever." Isa. 40:5-8 NLT God's living word is Jesus, and the bible's teaching and its promises will abide forever. " I am the resurrection and the life, he who believes in me will never die." Tim Russert is not dead, his body has been left behind, but he has gone on. May he live and reign in peace. Tim knew this, he believed it, now he is experiencing it. God is utterly committed to setting the world right in the end. I am sure Tim will be reporting that with great glee.
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About Bill Hull
Bill Hull’s passion has been to help the church return to its disciple making roots and he considers himself a discipleship evangelist. This God-given desire has manifested itself in twenty years of pastoral service and the authorship of ten books. His first book, Jesus Christ Disciplemaker, is celebrating 20 years with a new edition. The Disciple Making Pastor and the Disciple Making Church are two successive books which make up his popular disciple making trilogy. These books have provided the church with a new paradigm for disciple making.
Syndicate
I too was saddend by Tim Russerts passing. I am also troubled by the premise that everyone that dies is at the hand of God. I have had this discussion with my wife on several occassions, but I have no real answers.
If I chose to take my life right now, would people say that it was God that took my life or would it be the free will I have been given? If God will decide when he wants me, then should I no longer use caution in my daily life when driving, crossing the street, or any activity that could put my life in peril? After all nothing bad is going to happen to me if God doesn't want me right now.
I feel that when a life is lost and I hear people say "God must have needed them for something bigger," or any other response similiar to that, it's just a way for people to cope with that loss. It's their way of attaching some meaning to why that person died.
Saying it was at the hand of God is too simplistic for me, but I am open to different opinions on this topic.
I also have a distaste for the trivial statement, "God took her or him because He needed them in Heaven." God doesn't need us, He chose us to live for Him and when our days our up, then we go to be with Him. [Psa. 139 is a good read on this] I don't believe however, that a person not walking with God can depend on living out their days as God has planned. Obviously, if we are not in God's will, we can't expect such certainty. Tim Russert was a man of faith, I don't know where He stood with God. I can only hope that what people said about him is true. I believe that God is all powerful, all knowing, and his attributes include love and justice. Therefore, I trust in His character and also believe that there is so much I don't know and understand, that the mystery of tragedy is above my understanding. Christians have the blessed hope, we trust in that.