Karl Barth a theologian
in the early 20th century used to say a good preacher will have the
bible in one hand and the newspaper in the other.
As you know this week, the
newspaper, television, social media has been inundated with the news out of Las
Vegas and the terrible, tragic shooting—59 innocent people dead and more than 500
people injured as one man unleashed a rain of bullets and terror from his room
32 floors above a country music concert.
In the bible I’ve been
holding this week—I’ve been reading re-reading the 10 Commandments from our
Exodus reading. Thou shalt not this and
thou shalt not that.
And as I’ve read and re-read—I
found myself focused on the first commandment.
I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out
of the house of slavery; you shall have no other gods before me. You
shall have no other Gods before me.
The commandment you shall
have no other God was given into a world of polytheism—where people and culture
believed in many different Gods.
On the banks of the Nile
during their enslavement The ancient Israelites would have heard the stories of
the gods of Egypt— God’s like ISIS the Goddess of healing, protection and motherhood
or Osiris the God of death and the underworld.
The Israelite God would in His commandments demand
fidelity of his people and demand to be the
top of the pyramid above all other gods and above all other things—You shall
have no other gods before me.
This week as I’ve
balanced the newspaper in one hand and the bible and this particular
commandment in the other, I have
wondered have we Americans put our guns and rifles our 2nd Amendment right to bear
arms above God and Jesus’ great commandment to love God and love neighbor. Have we placed this amendment on pedestal,
and made it and object of our allegiance---untouchable and unchangeable?
Now let me be clear-I am
not opposed to guns or people owning guns, and I don’t we think we should
abolish the second amendment- but I do think that there needs to be a whole lot
more regulation on guns and ammunition.
Just this week scheduled to come before congress
were laws that would lessen restrictions on silencers and armor piercing
bullets. I am not sure whether that came
to a vote but I do think we really need those sorts of thing . How
much worse would this tragedy have been if the shooter had access to silencers
and armor piercing bullets.
Now let me also be clear
that I also realize that it isn’t just guns,
behind every mass shooting there is a person pulling the trigger and we need to
do more in the areas of mental health, we need more and better mental health
resources. Living in the same house as
a School psychologist, I have for years listened to stories about school
districts short staffing guidance counselors, adjustment counselors, school
social workers and psychologists because they don’t have enough money.
We need to demand that
our schools adequately staff these folks so that when that kid being bullied
needs a professional or when kid with home problems needs a professional
they will have someone to go to. And we need to accept that having these sorts
of things may raise our taxes and so when the school budget comes up for a vote—
we really consider how we vote in the situation and what the ramifications are
for lowering our school budgets.
In baptism three times we
renounce evil and then promise to fight it.
This week we will fight evil from our knees—we will lift to the gates of
heaven all those who have had their hearts torn out—we will pick up our
neighbors and carry them here in our thoughts and prayers-- we will do the work
of God by helping to wipe away the tears. We will pray for a just and better
America.
But prayer cannot be our only
action—when we get up from our knees we must be people of action—no longer
sitting on our hands when it comes to these issues.
James in his epistle says, “faith without works is dead”—so accompanying our prayers and well wishes we must
put our faith to work-- striving for justice and peace—- let us get up from our
knees and flood the halls of our state house and congress with our voices
demanding common sense gun laws, let cry
out for more mental health resources.
I don’t see this as politics— but fidelity to the lord our god and fidelity to
the great commandment to love God and love neighbor— I see this work as fidelity to the promises we
make in baptism— to renounce evil and to strive for justice and peace.
One of the amazing things that always comes out of situations like these
are the incredible be acts of bravery heroism, of people running back into the
line of fire to rescue injured people or people using their own bodies to shield
others from bullets —we saw it with the marathon bombing we saw it and sandy
hook as a teacher shielded her children. People putting their lives on the
line.
Now is our time to be brave—to get up off our knees and do something—to say
no more.
I would like to leave you with these words from Theresa of Avila, a
mystic saint from the 1500’s.
Christ has no body but yours,
No hands, no feet on earth but yours,
Yours are the eyes with which he looks
Compassion on this world,
Yours are the feet with which he walks to do good,
Yours are the hands, with which he blesses all the world.
Yours are the hands, yours are the feet,
Yours are the eyes, you are his body.
Christ has no body now but yours,
No hands, no feet on earth but yours,
Yours are the eyes with which he looks
compassion on this world.
Christ has no body now on earth but yours.
I truly believe that the dream God has for this world includes a lot
less Gun violence and a lot more access to mental health and the only way we
get there is if we get up off our knees and do something.
AMEN
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