Special Edition: Tragedy At Sandy Hook Elementary.

Transcript

Event Location(s): Houston, Texas | Description: Lauer is joined in the Today New York Studio by Lakewood Church Pastor Joel Osteen, his wife Pastor Victoria Osteen and their children Jonathan and and Alexandra. MATT LAUER: All right. Savannah, thanks. What do you say to a nation searching for answers? Pastor Joel Osteen has been called the voice of hope, a senior pastor of Houston’s Lakewood Church, which is considered the largest in America. His wife, Victoria, serves as co-pastor. And they’re here along with their children, Jonathan and Alexandra, who play active roles in the church as well. Good morning, to all of you. Nice to see you. PASTOR JOEL OSTEEN (Lakewood Church Houston, Texas): Good morning. Thank you. MATT LAUER: He just said to me, he said they’re people of faith. PASTOR JOEL OSTEEN: Yeah. MATT LAUER: How important is faith at a time like this? PASTOR JOEL OSTEEN: I think it’s incredibly important because you know, you can become overwhelmed with what’s happened and you know, there are going to be these waves of grief that when you can turn to your faith, I believe God will give you waves of grace to get through it. MATT LAUER: In our business we search for answers to questions. That’s what we do. We want to know how, when, where and why. And in this case why refers to what we’re asking, how this young man could have done this. But when you’re asked why, you know what it often is? Why does a good and kind God allow something like this to happen? And how do you answer that question? PASTOR JOEL OSTEEN: Well, the way I’ll answer it Matt, is that God gives us all our own free will. He gives us a freedom of choice. He didn’t make us as robots. And unfortunately, some people choose to do evil. And, you know, we don’t always understand it, but I still believe that God is good and God is for us, but he doesn’t make us do what’s right. MATT LAUER: Victoria, this-- this occurs just a week before Christmas. PASTOR VICTORIA OSTEEN (Lakewood Church Houston, Texas): Mm-Hm. MATT LAUER: All right. And-- and there are a lot of people who say there’s no way we celebrate this holiday this year, especially the pan-- the people in Newtown. But isn’t there an opportunity to celebrate the real meaning of Christmas as opposed to the more commercial and gift giving meaning of Christmas? PASTOR VICTORIA OSTEEN: Yes. You know, it’s-- Matt, in any tragedy, you know, you’ve got to somehow try to find something in it that you can gain or that you can learn because you don’t want to waste this. You don’t want to waste this tragedy and you know, this is a time that we can reflect as a family, that we can learn to really say I love you, appreciate each other. It’s not going to bring anyone back, but it is a time that we can just be more mindful of what the season brings, and faith. And faith in what you believe. MATT LAUER: And-- and Jonathan and Alexandra, I mean, this young man who committed this crime is not that much older than either of you. How do you get your arms around this? JONATHAN: Well, I mean, I don’t know but I’ll get it my arms around it any differently than anyone else. I-- I wonder what I should do. And, really, the only thing I can do is to pray. So, I pray for those families all the time and believe for the best. MATT LAUER: Joel, the issue-- your church is down in Houston, Texas. That part of the country, as in many, many other parts of the country, guns are part of the culture. The people grow up with them. They use them responsibly and safely. But there’s going to be a lot of focus on guns in the coming days and weeks. As a pastor, with the type of parish you have, do you feel it’s your responsibility to take a stand on that? PASTOR JOEL OSTEEN: No. I really don’t, Matt because the political issues divide us. And for what I am doing, I am trying to reach as many people as possible. There are good people on both sides of the aisle. And I don’t know what the-- the best answer there is either but I just try to guide them and giving them hope in this time of need. MATT LAUER: And in terms of talking to our children about this, what’s the best thing we can say, the most important thing we can say in the wake of this? PASTOR VICTORIA OSTEEN: You know, I really feel like that one, we can pray because I think it gives our children a sense of compassion. We see this on TV but we-- they need to know these are real people just like we are. And I feel like in our own children that we need to still in sense-- to instill a sense of security. You know, because it’s a very unsecure-- insecure world. And we still need to, as parents just, you know, let our children feel like that they are secure. MATT LAUER: To the Osteen family, thanks for being here. We appreciate it. We wish you the best for the holidays and know you’ve got a lot of work to do to try and make sense out of this for a lot of people. PASTOR JOEL OSTEEN: Thank you, Matt. We’ll do our best. MATT LAUER: Thank you very much. We’re back after your local news and weather. 8:22:18 (:06) INT LAKEWOOD CHURCH HOUSTON, TEXAS MS: Osteen speaking on stage. WS: Osteen on stage in front of audience. MS: Mrs. Osteen speaking.