+I had an idea for a sermon this week. I was going to talk about marriage, about companionship, about how we, as human beings, are designed to live in community; that it’s, as God says in Genesis, not good for the human to be alone.
I had an idea that I would connect our need for being in community with another to St Francis Day and how our need for connection extends to other species, that our animal companions bring us such joy in their unconditional love of us that a day to celebrate them is a right and good thing to do.
I was going to preach on this truth: God’s creation was, at the outset, perfect and our job, as God’s foot soldiers in this world, is to do everything in our power to return this world to the perfection that was the Garden of Eden.
But then there was another mass shooting. There was another incident where innocent people, gathered in community—this time it was another school---were struck down by a maniac wielding, in this instance, six guns.
We received alerts on our phones, we heard special reports on TV and radio and once again our hearts were broken.
We saw our President reach the end of his rope.
We heard the gun lobby respond.
We heard other politicians say how saddened they were and how their prayers were with the victims and their families.
We prayed.
We cried.
And then we went on with our lives.
We went to work, to school, shopping, out to dinner, we did the laundry, cleaned the house, ran errands.
Our lives were briefly interrupted by the 24- hour news cycle trying to connect the dots of how this could happen again.
And then life went on.
For us.
For Roseburg, Oregon life is also going on, but it will never be the same.
And for the families of the 9 dead, for the families of the injured, for the family of the perpetrator, life is also going on, but will never be the same.
Neither should ours.
For the 40th time this year, and the 141st time since the Sandy Hook massacre, on December 14, 2012, a gunman has opened fire in a school….Heidi Stevens, in a column published in the Chicago Tribune describes how routine “active shooter drills” have become in the lives of her children:
At 6 and 9, my kids haven't known a school year without lockdowns, and they likely never will.
They know gunmen routinely open fire on classrooms, and they know students routinely die.
And they know all we're doing about it is teaching them where to hide.
That fills me with more shame and sorrow than I know what to do with.
The world has gone mad and yet,
Life Goes On
But today, I, like Heidi Stevens, like the President, like so many of you here today, cannot go on, life as usual.
I can’t preach the sermon I’d written. We’re killing each other. And we all have blood on our hands. It must stop.
Two of our readings today speak to this issue pretty clearly. In Genesis, God saw that God’s newly created human was lonely and that it was not right that the Human One should be alone. And so, God created a companion, a partner, a helper, a friend. God made a community for the Human One. And God saw the community God had created and God exclaimed that it was Very Good.
We were created to be in community. We are to love one another, cherish one another and protect one another. God made us to be together.
In today’s Gospel, Jesus proclaims that those whom God has put together? We—humans-- must not pull apart.
My friends, God has put us together-- to love, to learn, to worship, to work, to relax. God has not put us together for us to take apart.
The children at Sandy Hook elementary school were together to learn and to grow with their classmates, their teachers and the school staff.
Until someone decided to pull them apart.
The people going to the movies in Aurora Colorado were together to be entertained, to relax and to enjoy.
Until someone decided to pull them apart.
The members of Mother Emmanuel AME church were together to study and pray on God’s Word.
Until someone decided to pull them apart.
The students, the faculty and the staff of Umpqua Community College were together to learn and to teach and to be a community.
Until someone decided to pull them apart.
God wants us together.
This latest maniac who decided he would judge the worth of someone’s life based on the religion they professed, dared to pull us apart.
We are outraged.
We are heartbroken and we are fed up.
Where has the perfection of God’s creation gone?
My friends, we can’t just learn where to hide, we must remember how to live—in love, in peace and in community.
The perfection of this world, as God created it, isn’t lost forever.
We can return to the perfection of this, God’s world, if we have the courage of Chris Mintz who ran toward this latest murderer, risking his own life, to save others.
We can return to the perfection of this, God’s world, if we have the faith of the Sandy Hook parents who won’t let the evil they endured as they tirelessly battle the gun lobby in this country.
We can return to the perfection of this, God’s world,if we have the forgiveness in our hearts that the families of the Mother Emmanuel AME church murder victims exhibited for all the world to see.
Do not rest. Do not waver. Do not forget: it is not good for the human ones to be alone. We need each other. When one decides to tear us apart, many will stand up and say NO.
For the perfection of God’s creation is not lost, it’s simply misplaced and it’s our job, our sacred duty, to not stop until the light, life and love of that perfection is, once again, found.
Let us pray:
Gracious God, pour out your blessing upon all people devastated by the shootings in Roseburg, Oregon. We commend to your loving care the souls of those who lost their lives, and those wounded and traumatized. We hold in our hearts the families and friends now forever changed by grief and loss: bring them, we pray, the strength, consolation, courage and comfort to face the days ahead.
Finally, O God, help us respond with generosity in prayer, assistance, and comfort for all who suffer. And may all people of good will strive to find wise and effective ways to grapple with the increasing number and frequency of mass shootings in our country. For this the world that you brought together, let no one break apart.
We ask this in Jesus’ name. Amen.
(Adapted from a prayer written by The Rev. Charlie Brumbaugh, Christ Church, Cincinnati)
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