Praying, We’ve been offering prayers of remorse and prayers of petition for hope and calm seas for quite some time now. As a people of faith, faith born of unconditional, extravagant and enduring love, we have been crying out in alarm, as the waves of hatred and the violent seas of evil seem destined to swallow us whole! Much like the disciples in the boat with Jesus when the raging sea threatened to consume them, we cry out “Aren’t You going to do something?”
My spirit has struggled to comprehend the scope of evil that can justify taking an innocent person’s life, in the name of justice, or some convoluted perception of the same. Whether it is the officer of the law who pumps 15 rounds into a young man, or a 21 year old, shooting the defenseless, there is not a reason or excuse that can shoulder the blame, with one glaring exception.
That exception is the modern church.
In far too many of our congregations, we justify our actions against others through the arterial flow emanating from hardened hearts and spirits of exclusion cloaked in fear. We have reduced the “life giving flow” of the love of Christ, to something akin to an IV drip, that is meted out to the deserving and to those who share our same ideals. We readily embrace the notion that somehow the tragedies around us, are neither our fault nor our concern, and we merrily focus on our own comfort whilst the world around us is craving and yearning for the wondrous love that we keep safely behind closed doors and stained glass windows.
We allow voices other than that of God to guide us, and to shape our response to the world around us! Whether they be the ever present obnoxious and vitriolic voices of the media, that swirl around us taunting us to provoke one another in anger, rather than provoking each other in love, or the long held traditions of mistrust and fear that justify our inactions and hardened hearts, we allow those voices to sooth us into responding in a deep sleep of ignorance and inaction, broken only by the snoring sounds of our excuses.
The people of Mother Emmanuel AME church are leading us onward, in prayer, even though as they grieve, they are providing an example to us, for trusting Jesus to calm the storm. For they realize, that rather than needing to cry out “Aren’t You going to do something?”, they need to be the open arms of love! For they realize, that He already has taken care of the storm and has given each of us the ability to calm the storm ravaged seas. We each have the Spirit within us that makes each of us fully capable of calming the seas, not for our own comfort, but for the building up of the Kingdom of God.
How have you responded to the shootings and other atrocities that are plaguing our land these days, like hailstones in a peach orchard? Are you joining the mighty chorus of head shakers who are thankful that the tragedies have not occurred in your own community? Or are you among the voices that are diverting the conversation to a place of discard through finger-pointing to any number of society’s ills, and inadequacies, thereby justifying maintaining the status quo? Or are you numbered among those who think something should be done, by someone, as long as it isn’t you?
As those who believe, by faith, in an Amazing and Wonderful Grace that is beyond even our wildest understanding, we must respond in a far different way. We must respond with the very love and tenderness shown to us by our master. We must arise from our slumber and calm the seas!
We the church, need to lead the overthrow of evil from our midst. We need to love our communities into the place of safe harbor. We must be on the forefront as soldiers of compassion, grace and mercy, realizing the value of every person, and trusting in God for the energy and inspiration to carry us through. We must start by being involved in the healing that follows the tragedies that are so abundant – first by praying, then by responding in love. We must submit to God and allow him to calm the storms and the voices in our own lives, so that we can feel so secure in our love of God, that we can calm the storms and settle the whirlwinds that are threatening to capsize so many lives.
All things are possible through God, as long as we change our perspective and our stance from waiting for someone else to be the conduit of God’s love, and we ourselves realize that our very purpose here is to be the source of love for a sin-sick world. The responsibility does not lie with the government, the liberals, the conservatives, the older generation, the new generation, nor does it fall to any race, creed or gender. The responsibility for changing, and loving this world to peace in the name of God, falls squarely onto each of us.
May God be merciful, amen.
Vintage Bobscreek 