Sometimes, we just have to marvel at the
timing. The readings were assigned by a
lectionary committee many years ago, Nicole chose the music on Monday, a 517
day ordeal in a town in Florida has come to an end, and we just got lucky that
today was a Healing Sunday. I speak, of
course, as one who tries to be faithful and preach with the Bible in one hand
and the newspaper (maybe nowadays that should be internet) in the other. I recognize that the verdict last night has
stirred lots of passions. The usual
suspects are grandstanding. The winning
lawyers are crying that justice was done, the losing lawyers are crying that
the justice was denied because of race or other factors, those who make their
money off such tragedies are out, or promising to be out, in force, and others
are tweeting or facebooking their responses to the world. A young boy is dead. A man is now public enemy number one in many
quarters. I would expect that the workplace
on Monday will be full of a number of conversations. I expect, if you are known as a Christian in your
circle of friends or coworkers, you will be asked what you think, about where
God is in this midst, or any other number of such questions. For those of us in the QCA, it may seem distant. On the one hand, we do not seem to have much
racial tension around here. And when
people try and stir up those tensions, I have firsthand experiences of how our
judges work to diffuse those. But in
other parts of the country, those tensions may just lie a bit below the
surface.
Make no
mistake, I do think things are changing with respect to race in this country. Our current President is proof that race is
not the cavernous divide it once was, though we would be naïve to think that no
one hates him because he is black. Part of
the reason the cavern has narrowed, I think, it is driven by the fact that our
melting pot is getting bigger and bigger.
But, given each ethnic group’s efforts to define themselves as something
other than American, or maybe to try to retain a bit of heritage, we always run
the risk of racial explosions because, in a real sense, we are no longer just
Americans in some parts of the country.
In some places, we would call ourselves “Mexican-Americans”, “African-Americans”,
“Asian-Americans”, and so on. In some
sense, I think parts of the country have forgotten what we stood for. All of us, whether we are members of the DAR
or even the Mayflower families, are Eurotrash or some other such undesirables. We laugh, but it is true. Except for the native Americans (there we go
again) among us, all our ancestors immigrated to this country from another
place seeking economic opportunity or religious freedom or the chance to start
over. I wonder if our politicians in DC
ever give any thought to that ancestor in their family tree who took that first
leap. I doubt most do because I believe
our fights about immigration would have more empathy and less name calling, but
that is another subject. But in other
parts of the country, there is very little effort to melt people in the pot
together. Think back to the beginning of
this case. Zimmerman was called a white Hispanic,
whatever that means, and Martin was a black youth. Then came all the character assassinations,
depending on who had the bully pulpit when.
Neither the families nor the community had any chance to mourn the
tragedy. Neither the families nor the
communities had the opportunity to reflect on the tragedy and to see if
systemic issues played a part. The
battle lines were drawn early by people from outside the community, and the
leaders wanted us to choose sides. Is
this the best we can do? Have we truly
come to this?
The
questions began hitting me during trivia last night. The verdict was announced, and social media
began to light up about it. Predictably,
I had friends on both sides of those battle lines. Some were glad that Zimmerman had been found
not guilty because they shared his concerns about their own neighborhoods and their
own communities. For them, this trial
had become less about the tragedy of a boy being killed and a man losing his
freedom in another way, and more about a trail of the so called “stand your ground”
laws, never mind that Mr. Zimmerman’s attorneys never used that Florida law to
justify his actions. On the other side,
my black friends wondered aloud whether their son or daughter would be
next. Some of these men and women I have
known for more than three decades. They
would fit in well among us. They work
hard. They cherish their families. If you pay attention to my facebook feed, a couple
of them make me look light in the sarcasm department. They saw in the jury’s acquittal the re-valuation
of their children. By that, I mean, they
genuinely worry that if their kids, on the way to the local 7-11 to get a Big
Gulp, passes through the wrong neighborhood, they might be killed and the
perpetrator go unpunished just because the kids “looked suspicious” in the eyes
of someone else. It used to be they had
to worry about other neighborhoods or specific people. Before
tonight I worried about my kid/s running afoul of gangs and drug dealers. Now? . . . Are they ever safe? Is their world going to be any different than
my parents’? You can imagine the
questions. What if it was your son or
daughter whom we had buried under these circumstances some months ago? What would be your thoughts? What would be your cry to God?
Thankfully, all of today’s liturgy reminds us of our hope and of our
calling. It also reminds us how the
world needs to hear the Gospel. Where cross the crowded ways of life, where
sound the cries of race and clan, above the noise of selfish strife, we hear
thy voice, O Son of Man. In haunts of wretchedness and need, on
shadowed thresholds dark with fears, from paths where hide the lures of greed,
we catch the vision of thy tears.
Did I mention Nicole chose these words before this morning? Better still, Luke’s words today are of the
Good Samaritan. It is a parable which we
all know, as does much of the world.
Like the Prodigal Son, it is a parable which is known by those outside
the Christian community. But also like
the Prodigal Son, it is a parable with different perspectives. Finding yourself at the water cooler this
week and being asked about the verdict and its aftermath and what you think,
you can point to the Good Samaritan, and everyone will know what they think you
mean. We should always be showing
mercy. Certainly, that is true and one
of those perspectives. It is the
perspective of one who sits outside the story and judges the behavior of the
priest, the Levite, and the Samaritan.
But, have you ever considered the story from the victim’s perspective or
from the perspective of the disciples?
Think back
over the last few weeks. Jesus has set
His face toward Jerusalem. He knows how
this journey will end; yet He has determined to see it through to the end. He has sent His disciples ahead of Him into
Samaria to announce that the Kingdom of God has come near through healings and
other works of power. You remember Samaria. Samaria was scorned by Israel because the
Samaritans did not keep the torah. Though God forbade that they marry other
peoples, those in Samaria married outside the Jewish faith. Put in modern language, they were mutts and
half-breeds. They were scorned by “true”
Jews. And yet Jesus sends His disciples
into their villages to proclaim the Gospel by word and deed. And how do the Samaritans respond? They are mad because they can see that Jesus
is headed toward Jerusalem. Many refuse
to welcome Him. Salvation has come this close, and they have rejected
Him. It is tragic. It is also infuriating to some of the
disciples. They ask Jesus if they should
call down fire. These men, who have just
been ministering to the sick and the possessed among the lost now want to call
down fire and destroy them! It would be
like us calling down fire on places where slaves are kept, destroying them for
not seeking the freedom offered. Jesus
rightly rebukes His disciples and reminds them that judgment is His and that there
will be an eventual consequence to their rejection of God’s messiah.
And
now. A lawyer seeks to demonstrate that
he is deserving of God’s mercy. He asks
Jesus about eternal life and wants the rabbi to tell him that he is a good man,
deserving of God’s grace. And Jesus
tells the parable. The presumably
faithful priest and Levite pass by the man; it is the Samaritan who nurses his
wounds and carries him to the inn. Can
you imagine the shock to the disciples? Wait, many of them rejected You, Lord? They can’t be the good guys in the story! How will we know those who belong to the
Kingdom of God? By their willingness to
show mercy. The Samaritan goes to great
lengths to show mercy. He spends a couple
days’ wages, he gives up his oil and wine, and he sacrifices time as well a
potentially safety (what if the robbers are still in the neighborhood). He also reminds us that the Kingdom is often
spread one person at a time. Have
villages in Samaria rejected Jesus.
Absolutely! Has everybody in
Samaria rejected Him and His message?
Clearly not! Whether it was the
man’s study of the torah or the
testimony of the disciples or something else we are not told, the Samaritan man
has a true grasp of the Gospel. How do
we know? Because he lives it!
What of
the perspective of the victim in our story?
Have you ever considered the absolute reality that he represents each
one of us? How many of us here are completely
comfortable with the idea that our salvation is utterly dependent upon grace? How many of us are completely unlike the
lawyer in the story and perfectly fine with not trying to justify ourselves to
one another or to God? Remember, He
knows our hearts! How many of us
rejected the Gospel the first time we heard it?
The second? The twentieth? The hundredth? Even when we did not recognize that we were
dead and wounded, lying helpless along the side of the road as we tried to make
our own journeys, the Lord continued to care for us. He provided food, He provided rest, He
provided those in our life who testified to us of His love and grace, and He
bore the cost of us being nursed back to health on that Cross He has set His
face toward in our story today. In
short, He brought us true healing! And
like us before we found that He was seeking to restore us, He is seeking
everyone we meet. Whether they know it
or not, whether they accept the ultimate consequences of their rejection today
or not, everyone we meet is just like we were, in need of healing, in need of
being raised up.
It is
from that perspective, brothers and sisters, that you and I are privileged to
speak into messes like that town in Florida finds itself. You and I, by privilege and by responsibility
of that loving Hand that reached down to pluck us from certain eternal death
and punishment, are called to be heralds that His kingdom has come and is
coming near. Can we understand Mr.
Zimmerman’s frustration if robberies were really that prevalent? Sure.
But does that mean we need to be arming ourselves to protect stuff? Some may choose to arm themselves, but in the
grand scheme is that a disciple’s required response? Or should we not remind ourselves and others
that we are to rejoice that our name is written in the book of heaven and not
in the collection of toys that will pass away were He to return right now? Can we even understand the desire to be a
hero, if that was the motivation behind Mr. Zimmerman getting out of the car
after the dispatcher said “don’t”?
Assuredly. But we are also a
people called to remember that the real job of Savior has been filled! We don’t really need another hero because He
has come near, lifted us up, and redeemed us.
And can we understand the instinct, if one is being attacked, to fight
back with deadly force? Absolutely. But we are also a people who follows a Lord
who told us that the greater love is to lay down one’s life for a friend and
then modeled that behavior on our behalf, thereby demonstrating His power and
authority even over death itself. You and
I can face situations which could lead ultimately to our deaths with a hope and
confidence at which the world can only shake its head. I do not believe our Lord calls people to
risk death unnecessarily or without being aware of the cost. Even our Lord asked in the garden that the
cup be passed. But I do believe that
when the lives of His people are taken from them, He will raise them up. He has promised and He has demonstrated the
power to accomplish even that!
And what
message do we have for those who find themselves under suspicion, like the
young Mr. Martin that fateful evening?
Well, if each of us is trying to live a godly life, we have probably
found ourselves under suspicion more than once.
Those who face life’s problems or death with a hope and a confidence are
sometimes thought to be crazy; at other times, they are thought to be religious
nuts. In any event, all of us have found
ourselves on the outside of “normal” and of “acceptance.” How do we respond? Do we call upon God to rain down fire on
those who reject us? Or do we remember
the One we serve and the fact that it is Him being rejected, not us? Do we turn the other cheek, trusting
vengeance is His, or do we take matters into our own hands?
And hear
me well, brothers and sisters, these are difficult situations and difficult
questions. It is precisely for
situations like this that our Lord came down from heaven and walked among
us. I cannot condemn young Mr. Martin
because I do not know what was in his heart.
I cannot condemn Mr. Zimmerman because I do not know his heart or what
was in it. Only our Lord does. And in the end, He will see that justice is
done. If either loved or loves Him, He
will vindicate them. In fact, it is
entirely conceivable to envision a possibility in which our Lord raises both to
the same eternal feast, showing them the wounds that He bore for their hurt, their
anger, their fear, their pride, their sin, their loneliness or whatever else
that may have precipitated these events, are marked as clearly on His body as
those marks of the nails and spear. Such
is His love, such is His grace, and such is His power. I will leave the judgment and condemnation to
Him because He makes no mistakes, and He saved me when I deserved such
condemnation.
Of
course, our task is not yet done. In the
midst of this, two families are afflicted by tragedy. In the case of the Martin family, the tragedy
is that of a lost potentially innocent life.
In the case of the Zimmerman family, the tragedy is the likelihood that
he will be hounded all of his remaining years for what may have been a
perceived life-threatening situation. We
can certainly pray for them, but can we do more? Can we identify and learn from any systemic
mistakes? Society must begin to examine
the events of that night and address those issues which contributed to these
events, and you and I can speak into those discussions. Some of these will be hard questions. Some of the questions will seem to have no
good answers, just less evil ones. Are “stand
your ground laws” appropriate? Should
there be a requirement that we listen to dispatchers? Do neighborhood watch people need different
training or require more supervision?
Does their volunteerism require greater responsibility? Did our legal system work? Were there efforts, successful or not, to
pervert what we think of as justice in the American system? How do we ensure the integrity of our system
of justice? Do we need outsiders
supervising certain cases? Were some outsiders
just self-aggrandizing? And, though it
remains unsaid in many places, why is one death more acceptable than
others? Worse, why do we not get worked
up, wring our hands, and watch closely every death and subsequent trial in our beloved
country? I was asked if it was true that
11,106 African American men had been killed by other African Americans since
young Mr. Martin tragically died--he as referring to a website posting. I had
no idea and was dreading the response, knowing, absolutely knowing it was race-baiting. Where
were your pastors for those men?
Needless to say, that was not the response I expected, nor was it not a
powerless criticism. A self-professed
unchurched wondering where our leaders were in the face of other deaths . .
. black church leaders as white ones who were no wringing their hands about injustice on facebook had said nothing, absolutelynothing about the deaths 11,000 black men, plus how many white, Asian, hispanic, or women in the last 18months. Why? If we truly believe in the pursuit of
life, liberty, and happiness, should not the taking of every life be a national
tragedy? We know, we who claim Him as Lord know that our Lord
values every single human life; should not we as His appointed leaders? And, even though we live at some distance
from these tragic events, part of our responsibility is to speak into those
laws or attitudes which could lead to a similar tragedy in our area. Whether our neighbors know it or not, we need
to be speaking into those systems and those attitudes which make this
replicable in our own neighborhoods, even if such speaking and proposing and voting
causes us to because outcasts yet again.
Neither the discernment nor the fight will be easy, but you and I have
been prepared for difficult tasks! You
are the little church that called the community to feed the hungry a sit down
meal 47 years ago! You are the community
that began fighting a $32 Billion industry when you did not truly believe it
existed. You are the community that has intentionally
called the wider world to God’s healing grace each and every month for nearly
52 years! You can certainly speak, with
God’s love, God’s mercy, and God’s wisdom, into this mess when asked!
Brothers
and sisters, every week you are a sent people.
Each and every week I remind you that you are sent as heralds of His
grace and love and mercy. This week, you
are given the advantage of knowing the likely area of service you will be
offering. Like the Samaritan travelling
the road between Jerusalem and Jericho, you know the likely route and some of
the potholes. Pray that the Lord creates
in you the heart, not of the priest or the Levite in our parable this morning,
but of the Samaritan, the outcast who modeled Christ before He knew the full
extent and power of Christ, and gives you the love of mercy in your heart that
you will see and hear the wounded and dying along your paths and speak His
life-giving power into their lives! You may not have the answer to all their questions, but you certainly know the way to the One who does!
Peace,
Brian†
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