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“This is not the country I grew up in.” Australians, shocked at the deadliest massacre since Port Arthur in 1996, could barely find the words to describe the devastation at Bondi Beach on Sunday evening.

15 innocent people, attending a Hanukkah celebration on one of Australia’s most iconic beaches, were mercilessly gunned down for the pure fact that they were Jews. It was anti-semitism at its ugliest.

“This doesn’t feel like Australia”, responded another tearful person standing next to an increasing mass of bouquets laid at a memorial to honour the murdered.

And, they’re right — this isn’t Australia. At least, not the nation we once knew. Australia was founded upon Christian values including faith, family, freedom and life.

The two gunman held none of these values, instead believing and acting upon very different ones. Watch this CBN news story below.

Cost of Rejecting Our Christian Heritage

As Australia has continually turned its back on its Christian heritage, other ideologies have arisen and taken hold in the vacuum created by Christianity’s marginalisation.

As a result, and in the most tragic of circumstances, 15 people, including an 87-year-old Holocaust survivor and a ten-year-old girl named Matilda, are dead.

Matilda’s parents, who immigrated from Ukraine, gave her the most Australian name they could think of, as she was their first child born within our shores. Matilda was a continual reminder of the country they had embraced to raise their family in security and freedom.

Whether people hold to Christian beliefs and values can be and are matters of life and death – in this life and the next.

Bondi Response: What Australia Needs Now

While it remains to be seen how Australians and our leaders will respond the the Bondi massacre in the weeks ahead, we know the answer to the problem of evil: the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Jesus himself was brutally murdered as he died for the sins of the world – mine and yours. Only the gospel can transform hearts and renew minds, filling them with Jesus’ grace, peace and truth.

There can be no revitalisation of Christian values in Australia without a gospel revival. As we draw ever closer to Christmas, let us pray that God will open doors for us all to connect with others and share the greatest news ever told.

At a time when Aussies are hurting from the violent bloodshed, we are Jesus’ light (Matthew 5:14), people who have wonderful and unshakable hope that Jesus, the prince of peace, will one-day return to establish his kingdom of peace, forever.

As the prophet Isaiah famously recorded,

“Of the greatness of his government and peace there will be no end.
He will reign on David’s throne and over his kingdom,
establishing and upholding it with justice and righteousness from that time on and forever.”
(Isaiah 9:7)

And why do we have this unshakable hope?

“For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders
And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.”
(Isaiah 9:6)

We will leave you with these words from Anglican minister Robin Kinstead, whose grandfather fled Nazi Germany after the events of Kristallnacht in 1938:

“In John’s Gospel, Jesus is described as the light shining in the darkness (John 1:5), and we are promised that the darkness has not overcome the light.”

“So, my fellow Australians, Jew and Gentile, as those accountable to Adonai, as followers of Jesus Messiah, as citizens of this nation and of our world, by the grace of God may we play our part, individually and together, to keep our lights shining: for the glory of God and for the good of all people, at Hanukkah, at Christmas, and into eternity.”

We encourage you to read Rev Kinstead’s entire reflection on The Daily Declaration here, as well as many articles responding to the Bondi shootings here.

Yours for eternal hope in the midst of tragedy,

Samuel Hartwich & Warwick Marsh