May 29, 2022: May God’s words be spoken, may God’s be heard. Amen.
I just cannot comprehend…
Like all of you – it is so hard to imagine what has happened in just a few short weeks. Last week I was preaching about our calling in the wake of the horrific racist violence in Buffalo that killed 10 and injured others. And now….
Now, we mourn 21 more victims – 19 of them elementary school children – children – dear God! Their names, their little faces – they are inscribed on our hearts forever, as those other children before them:
Eliana “Ellie” Garcia, was only 9 years old.
These children were 10:
Uziyah Garcia
Jose Flores
Amerie Jo Garza
Xavier Javier Lopez
Nevaeh Bravo
Alithia Ramirez
Tess Marie Mata
Alexandria Aniya Rubio
Layla Salazar
Makenna Lee Elrod
Jayce Luevanos
Eliahana Cruz Torres
Annabell Guadalupe Rodriguez
Jacklyn “Jackie” Cazares
Maite Yuleana Rodriguez
Rogelio Torres
And then there were two children aged 11:
Jailah Nicole Silguero and Miranda Matthis.
And two courageous teachers:
Eva Mireles & Irma Garcia
19 young children…19, and two teachers who dedicated their lives to serving them.
In just the last 11 days there have been 39 people shot dead by two young men with hate in their hearts wielding readily available weapons of war.
I want to say before I continue that over these past several tumultuous days a heaviness of heart has overwhelmed so many of us, as though a rip tide was drawing us under. The incessant media coverage – non-stop 24 hr. a day – in your face reporting, along with social media posts, and all the rest…it can envelop a person to where it seems there is no light, only darkness – no love, only hate. If this is happening to you, I want to say first – you are not alone. It is part of the collateral damage we all are hit with in the aftermath of these events. So, if this is happening to you – turn it off. Change the channel, or turn off the TV. Take a break from social media too. Step away – not as a sign of indifference – but as a method of self-care needed to meet the challenges ahead.
That said, let us today, as we gather together, consider all that has happened, because here we are again.
Remember that just last Sunday, I read the poem “Autobiography In Five Short Chapters” written by Portia Nelson, and when I began to try to craft something to say today, prayed to God to help me know what to preach, I kept thinking – well, here we are on Chapter 2 – AGAIN! If you don’t know what I am talking about, I will post a link to the entire poem with this sermon later, but essentially
it is about a person who keeps walking down the same street over and over again, falling into the same hole in the sidewalk, until in Chapter 4 she avoids the hole, and in Chapter 5 she walks down a different street.
But we today, we seem to be once again – like some sort of strange repeating nightmare, still on Chapter 2 when it comes to mass shootings in this country.
Chapter Two
I walk down the street.
There is a deep hole in the sidewalk.
I pretend that I don’t see it.
I fall in again.
I can’t believe I am in this same place.
But, it isn’t my fault.
It still takes a long time to get out.
That’s the truth of it – we are in the same deep, dark, place we seem to get into over and over and over again. And in this dark hole in which we repeatedly find ourselves we fumble around for explanations. We cry out for understanding, we ache in our hearts, we are weary with grief. So many questions, and the easy answers elude us – they seem cheap, hollow. Because – the truth is, there is no answer that makes it all better, that makes it all comprehendible.
And we can wonder – where is God in the midst of this dark world? Where is God in this tragedy, in this senseless loss?
And that is when I think of one of my favorite pastors the children’s TV show creator and star – the Rev. Fred Rodgers of Mr. Roger’s neighborhood. He was beloved by children for decades, and perhaps we all need a bit of Mr. Rogers and his neighborhood at times like this – a place where being a neighbor, being kind and good and generous, was the theme. Anyway, Fred Rogers once said, “When I was a boy and I would see scary things in the news, my mother would say to me, “Look for the helpers. You will always find people who are helping.” To this day, especially in times of “disaster,” I remember my mother’s words and I am always comforted by realizing that there are still so many helpers – so many caring people in this world.”
You see, God isn’t absent when these things happen – but more present than can be imagined. God grieves alongside us, and is the love and light that sustains us amid the hate and darkness in which we so often of late find ourselves. And God is found in the love that we offer to one another, and to those most affected. So yes, look for the helpers – look for the light – for it is always there – God is always present.
This is also our faith – a faith I draw strength from in these most challenging times. It is then that it is important to remember who we are – followers of the Incarnate God – the one who was born to a people in darkness, and met darkness on the cross. It is times like this that, no matter what time of year it is, I hear the words of Isaiah ringing out: “A people walking in darkness have seen a great light.”
Now, I know we are not in Advent liturgically – the time of year when we hear this passage from Isaiah – we are in Easter. Yet nonetheless we are a people walking in darkness – crying out amidst the pain of grief, of incomprehensible violence, of anger for those who love their guns more than the lives of children, of bitterness for those in positions of leadership who do nothing as the holes on the streets of our towns and cities grow wider, deeper, more numerous, and more dangerous day after day after day till they are on every single street and we cannot escape them anymore.
And in the face of the callousness of the NRA, and those in our government beholden to them, it is sometimes difficult to perceive how we will ever stop walking down Crazy Street into deep and dark holes, to imagine that any light can penetrate this darkness. They offer their “thoughts and prayers,” and then push the rest of the world down the same street figuring that whenever we fall into another deep abyss of grief, we will forget how we got there – we will never get to Chapter 5 of Ms. Nelson’s poem – never have a chance to walk down a street without a dark pit of hate and violence that swallows us up.
Now, to be sure, I have no issue with “thoughts & prayers.” In fact, I think they are essential, especially to any person of faith. But when you have the ability to do something more – when you are in positions of leadership – and you fail to lead, you fail to act – then these become empty signs of a corrupt heart.
The people of this country – children, worshippers, shoppers, commuters, concert attendees, and on and on – are being slaughtered. Inaction is silent complicity in the acts of those who commit these crimes. So yes, pray and hold those affected in your heart and mind as you change what is to what should be!
So let us all stop the insanity of this carousel of death we are spinning on, and instead, do the right thing by our children…and of course, pray…and ask God to forgive us our sins that have allowed such horror to take place.
Because we must stop walkin’ down Crazy Street in this country! I mean – come on…
ENOUGH IS ENOUGH!
Enough of turning a blind eye to gun violence in our communities.
Enough of advertising assault weapons and selling them to anyone who wants them – particularly to young people who are in a particularly emotional and difficult place in their life journey.
Enough of fostering hate, of closing doors, of building walls, of pushing people to the margins, and of turning our backs on violent domestic terrorist groups because they happen to be made up of mostly white men.
Enough of offering thoughts and prayers and then turning our back not only on those who grieve, but on God.
ENOUGH IS ENOUGH IS ENOUGH!
Folks, this is Memorial Day weekend, a time we set aside not for BBQs, but for remembrance. Remembrance of those who gave their life for the cause of freedom – freedom from tyranny and the right to live without fear and oppression. They stepped up to stand for something knowing the risk, to protect us, to protect others.
We, the followers of Jesus, the one who loved us enough to die for us – we must ask ourselves – what are we willing to do?
What are we willing to do in this darkness of terror?
What are we willing to do as children are slaughtered?
What are we willing to do when people offer thoughts and prayers as they openly advocate for weapons of war to be available to anyone at any time?
What are we willing to do when day after day after day we continue to repeat Chapter 2 – falling into the dark holes of despair?
Into the darkness of this world, God entered and is entering. Christ was not born into a world of light, but one filled with darkness.
That, my friends, that is our hope and our promise – not only in Advent, but all the year through.
And in Easter most of all we remember that the light of Christ was not extinguished on the cross, nor was the hope of God was not extinguished on Tuesday in an elementary school in Texas, but exists within each of us who reach out to those in need, who hold the grieving in our arms, who love fiercely in the face of tragedy, who speak boldly in the face of injustice, and who fight courageously to change our violent world into one of peace.
So let us truly be the people we are – children of the light- the Body of Christ alive in the world today – called to shine forth his light in the darkness of the world. Let us not only stop walking down Crazy Street, let us not just get to Chapter 5 where we find a new place to walk – let us fill all the holes on every street so no one falls into the darkness.
Only then can we truly claim to be followers of Jesus, the One who was born to us who walked in darkness, who died for us on the cross, and by his resurrection and ascension, gave us all hope in the knowledge that light will always overcome darkness, love is stronger than hate, and death will never have the last word.
Amen.
For the audio, click below, or subscribe to our iTunes Sermon Podcast by clicking here (also available on Audible):
The Rev. Diana L. Wilcox
Christ Church in Bloomfield & Glen Ridge
May 29, 2022
Seventh Sunday of Easter – Year C
1st Reading – Acts 16:16-34
Psalm 97
2nd Reading – Revelation 22:12-14,16-17,20-21
Gospel – John 17:20-26
