1 Samuel 17:57-18:5, 10-16;
Psalm 133 |
|
|
| 2 Corinthians 6:1-13 |
|
|
| Mark 4:35-41 |
Emanuel: God is with us.
On Wednesday evening, Dylann
Roof entered the Emanual African Methodist Episcopal church in Charleston,
S.C., joined a prayer service, telling those gathered that Black people were
taking over his country, they had to go, and then began shooting, killing nine
people, killing the Rev. Clementa
Pinckney, Tywanza Sanders, Cynthia Hurd, Sharonda Coleman-Singleton, The Rev.
Depayne Middleton Doctor, Susie Jackson, Ethel Lance, The Rev. Daniel Simmons,
Sr., Myra Thompson.
At times like these, it is
hard to believe that God is with us.
This newest in a line of tragedies that seem to dominate our newsfeeds
and our Facebook posts shakes our belief in the promise of Emanuel—God with
us—making it seem more of an improbability than a reality.
As a white woman
witnessing this horror from afar, like Rabbi Rachael Barenblat, I am asking
myself: “What can I do to change the
reality in which this kind of hate crime is possible? I want my nation to
be better than this. I want humanity to be better than this.”
I feel like those
disciples in the boat during the storm in today’s Gospel. Oh Lord, the seas are rocking. The seas are rocking with waves of racism and
hatred. Oh Lord, the seas are turbulent
with the roar of gun violence and inhumanity.
Dear God, the oceans are white with our indifference and our acceptance
of senseless violence in this nation.
Save us, Lord, save us from ourselves.
The Good news in
Today’s Gospel is that Jesus is with us during the storm. Jesus has not abandoned us in this tempest of
racism, gun violence, and our refusal to change the systems in order to end
these tragedies. Jesus is in our
boat. As we cry out, “Lord, why?” As we cry out, “Lord, save us!” Jesus responds: Love one another. Act in
love. Create systems and regulations,
laws and societies that are founded on loving one another---acting for the
benefit of one another---turn from self-preservation, self-centered love, and
work toward the good of the whole, the love of God’s creation and God’s created.
Jesus has not abandoned us, nor the
good people of Charleston, but Jesus may be getting weary of our asking him to
do what it is that we must do for ourselves.
Yes, beloved, God
is in charge of the oceans, the Creation, this fragile earth, our island home,
but God has placed the stewardship and care of Creation and of one another in
our hands. How much longer will we deny
our brothers and sisters and allow racism and gun violence to be our way of
life?
Like me, you might
find yourself asking: What can I do? I
live in Wisconsin; this is not my story, not my city, not my fight.
But as disciples of
Jesus, it is our story. These acts of
violence and hatred, these are the things that break the heart of God. These
dead and dying, these killing and hating, these hurting and mourning, they are
our brothers and sisters. In Christ
there is no us and them; there is only us.
So, let us begin
with prayer. On Friday, Intercession
hosted a prayer service for the people and city of Charleston---lifting up our
hearts for those who grieve and those who are most profoundly affected by this
senseless tragedy. We are called to love
others as God loves. It is easy for us
to love those who are hurting and suffering in this tragedy. And we express our love in prayer, in lifting
them up, in saying their names, and honoring their lives.
But we are called
to love those responsible for this act as well.
To love Dylann Roof who has confessed to these killings. To love those who taught Dylann it is
honorable to hate people because of their race.
To love those who said nothing when Dylann told racist jokes, wore
badges proclaiming racist regimes. To love those who tell us this is not
terrorism or a hate crime and we don’t have a problem with guns in our country.
We are called to
love all---those who are easy to love and those whom we find it very difficult
to love. And in times like these, when
we are in the middle of a storm, we need to remember that Jesus is with us and
God is in control, and we must decide to move and respond, to react and to
speak, from love.
So, let us begin
with prayer. For the love we are called
to is impossible without our hearts being changed. We are called to have the hearts we see in
David and Jonathan’s story. David and
Jonathan who shared a covenantal love---a love where one loves another as his
own soul. Jonathan and David’s love is a
sacrificial love---acting for the benefit of the other, laying down one’s life
in the midst of danger and threat. Later
in their story, Jonathan takes action to secure David’s life—even when it put
his own life in danger. This is the covenantal, sacrificial love of God that we
are called to embrace, to honor in the blessing of marriage between two persons,
and to live out in community and in our lives with one another.
In a blog post for the Diocese of Virginia, the
Reverend Dr. Dorothy White, an ordained Episcopal priest and formerly a Baptist
minister, writes:
As our bishops and deputies gather to share in the
78th General Convention, I would urge that you take time and focus on “those
things that break the heart of God.” Loving as God loves is not without
challenge. Loving as God loves will stretch our lives to such a degree that
only a Holy God can make possible.
As a nation, a
nation of Christians, atheists, Buddhists, Hindus, Muslims, Jews, Sikhs,
Natives, pagans, wiccans, and the unaffiliated, a nation of believers and
non-believers, we are called to demand an end to racism, systemic and
particular. We are called to elect
officials who will not allow laws and systems that value one section of
humanity over another. We are called to
be citizens who speak up when hatred is spoken in comments and jokes, when
flags that symbolize prejudice are flown at state or federal buildings, when
our systems are broken and violence is out of hand. This is not somebody else’s problem. It is our problem. The answer is to love as God loves. The challenge is to love as God loves. The risk is to act and speak in love as God
loves. But, if we who pray “God’s Kingdom come, God’s will be done,”
if we who have founded our way of being on the great love commands to love God
and love one another as God loves, if we remain silent or removed or
inactive----then who will speak, who will act, who will move? So, let us begin with prayer.
Heavenly
Father: We lift up our voices, our pleas, our hearts for our brothers and
sisters in Charleston, S.C., and all those affected by this violence. Come,
Holy Spirit, and transform our hearts toward love, change our vision that we
may see you in the face of the other, strengthen our arms that we may hold
those who have been hurt, and give us the courage to take the necessary actions
to spread your Kingdom. Guide us in our responses and our words that we might
become a nation that shines with Your love, dispelling hatred, violence, and
division. God, please save us from our inhumanity; God, please open wide our
hearts. Amen.
