Folks I had a sermon written for today. It was pretty good, actually. In it I spoke about scrappy young David and how he used the skills God had given him---an amazing ability with a sling shot-- and his faith in God to –against all odds and sensibility--defeat the monster Goliath and to bring a peace and tranquility to the Israelites that old King Saul was unable to do.
I then talked about how frustrated Jesus was with the disciples about how Jesus berated them for not having faith---how Jesus expected them to be able to weather that nasty storm with trust in what they knew---handling a boat on the unpredictable waters of Galilee and trust in the God who gave them the ability to develop these skills in the first place.
I wrapped up the sermon by asking you what the storms were in your lives, where were your monsters?
It was a good sermon.
And then Wednesday happened.
And then the storm of racism, the monster of hate reared its fire breathing, disgusting head .
Dylan Roof, a young man proudly referring to himself as a “white supremacist” entered Mother Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Charleston SC and unleashed a storm of hate in such a monstrous way that none of us, none of us will ever be the same. Not you, not me, not God.
You see as those bullets entered Cynthia Hurd, Susie Jackson, Ethel Lance, The Rev. DePayne Middleton-Doctor, The Honorable Rev. Clementa Pinckney, Tywanza Sanders, the Rev. Daniel Simmons, Sr. , the Rev. Sharonda Singleton and Myra Thompson, as those bullets pierced their skin and stole their earthly life, something changed in me. And I hope in you and I’m sure in God.
When those bullets killed those innocent, God-loving faithful people gathered in a church I have NO DOUBT ,NO DOUBT at all that God cried out with every shot: Stop. Stop. Stop this madness right now and right here. I have no doubt that our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ as one by one, these faithful, innocent people fell, cried out, No, no no. And I have no doubt, none at all, that both God and God’s blessed Son are looking to us. To you and to me, to put an end to this madness right here and right now.
And you know what, they’re right. We can stop this madness and we must stop this madness. It is time. It is time to face the monster of racism head on. It is time to stand up and say that the dignity of every human being isn’t just something we say, it is something we believe, it is something we hold dear and it is something we demand. To me respecting the dignity of every human being includes:
making gun control something real.
making equal opportunity for all real.
making our schools havens for education instead of fear and political wrangling.
It includes challenging our own racist thoughts and actions and those in others.
It’s time to respect, really and truly respect the dignity of every single person on this earth and most especially in this nation.
It’s time to redouble our efforts at loving our neighbor as we have been loved.
It’s time to remember that our neighbor is everyone. Everywhere.
Even those people who don’t look like us, sound like us, worship like us, love like us, live like us.
It’s time to stop the madness.
We owe it to our brothers and sisters in Charleston, in Baltimore, in Cleveland, in Ferguson, in Buffalo.
We owe it to our children
We owe it to our God to use the tools we’ve been given: our voices, our vote, our wallets, our conscience to stop, once and for all, the madness of intolerance, the storm of hate, the monster of racism.
My sisters and brothers in Christ, storms and monsters will rail about all our lives, but this week, in this nation and at this time, something has shifted and I am afraid. Afraid that if we don’t use the tools we’ve been given by God to stand up for what’s right, and to shut down what’s wrong, then it might, actually be too late.
The time to use all that we are and all that we have is now because, as our Bishop preached on Friday, enough is enough .
Amen.
Now, before we continue with the service I invite you to turn to page 499 of the Book of Common Prayer and join me in commending the martyrs of Charleston:
Celebrant: Give rest, O Christ, to your servants with your saints,
People: where sorrow and pain are no more,
neither sighing, but life everlasting.
Celebrant: You only are immortal, the creator and maker of humankind; and we are mortal, formed of the earth, and to earth shall we return. For so did you ordain when you created me, saying, “You are dust, and to dust you shall return.” All of us go down to the dust; yet even at the grave we make our song: Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia.
People: Give rest, O Christ, to your servants with your saints, where sorrow and pain are no more,
neither sighing, but life everlasting.
The Celebrant continues
Into your hands, O merciful Savior, we commend your servants Cynthia, Susie, Ethel, DePayne, Clementa, Tywanza, Daniel, Sharonda and Myra . Acknowledge, we humbly beseech you, sheep of your own fold, lambs of your own flock, sinners of your own redeeming. Receive them into the arms of your mercy, into the blessed rest of everlasting peace, and into the glorious company of the saints in light. Amen.
This had me in tears. Thank you, Cathy.
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