“Light Walkers”
1 John 1:1-2:2
3rd Sunday of Easter
What an awful week last week was. Another mass shooting, the fifth in the past 30 days, this time in Indianapolis--as yet another American citizen exercised his constitutional right to bear arms. And here in our state, as the painful images of George Floyd’s death replay during the ongoing Derek Chauvin murder trial, Daunte Wright is shot and killed during a police traffic stop. In Chicago, body-cam video surfaced of the police shooting death of 13-year-old Adam Toledo on March 29. And ...
... 2,429 new covid cases in Minnesota, and 10 more deaths.
… and if you had anything difficult happen in your own life last week, there’s that.
… and the sun refused to shine.
As I’ve pondered the events of this week, the verses from 1st John offered me some theological grounding to offset the hideous patterns of preventable death wreaking havoc in our nation. Perhaps these verses may also provide some theological motivation to engage our elected leaders and other authorities in order to bring about the long-overdue end to the ease of access to firearms and to the use of lethal force by police officers upon persons of color.
The Jesus I know from the Gospels and the New Testament compels me to speak out today. For it appears that our nation, our society, our politics and perhaps even our churches are willing to tolerate easy access to firearms and the police use of lethal force against Black and minority people. What other conclusion is there to draw? Both patterns of death have continued unabated for far too long.
Let’s consider again to the first few verses from 1st John . It describes the wonders of the Kingdom of God Jesus lived, died and was resurrected to reveal. Then, if you can, think also about the recurring pattern of mass shootings--five more in the past 30 days. And think about all the people who have been shot or injured or killed by officers sworn to protect and serve:
We declare to you what was from the beginning, what we have heard, what we have seen with our eyes, what we have looked at and touched with our hands, concerning the word of life— this life was revealed, and we have seen it and testify to it, and declare to you the eternal life that was with [God] and was revealed to us— we declare to you what we have seen and heard so that you also may have fellowship with us; and truly our fellowship is with [God] and with ... Jesus Christ. We are writing these things so that your joy and our joy may be complete. This is the message we have heard from [Jesus] and proclaim to you, that God is light and in (God) there is no darkness at all. If we say that we have fellowship with (God) while we are walking in darkness, we lie and do not do what is true;
Biblical scholar Paul W. Hoon provides fascinating insight as he unpacks the meaning of two particular words, eternal and fellowship, which are commonly spoken and heard in church:
… in Christ, the eternal has invaded history. Jesus is ... the deliberate self-revelation of the divine in the context of human life. … God was as fully present in Jesus as it is possible for God to be present in human life. (p218)
Jesus reveals to us that “Eternal” means not what is future in terms of time but what is unending and what is of the character of the life Christ lived.
‘eternal life’ ... defines the true measure of life as qualitative rather than quantitative. … (which) confronts (us) with judgment upon the kind of life we are now living. Christian faith declares not merely a resurrection after death, it insists above all on a resurrection with Christ now. … When the Christian lives in this eternal life through faith (5:13) and love (3:14), s/he becomes a source of life to others. (p.219)
Eternal life means divine and human fellowship, Hoon explains, fellowship is both the goal and the source of the proclaiming of the Christian message. Human nature is made for fellowship. … Individual religion is a contradiction in terms. Our spiritual life is inevitably mutual. … Divine-human fellowship … constitutes the true fellowship of the church and exposes by contrast cheap forms of so-called fellowship in which churches “specialize”. (p220)
[Paul W. Hoon, First, Second and Third Epistles of John, Interpreter’s Bible, Exposition section. 1957. emphases mine]
I’ve seen studies and surveys indicating that church membership is declining not because of some decline of faith in God or in Jesus Christ. On the contrary, the newer generations are just as faithful and passionate as any generation. The issue is that they see the church as either silent or permissive or in some cases openly encouraging of so many of society’s long-standing ills which cause so much preventable suffering, such as racism, homophobia, immigration, LGBTQ rights, gun control, reproductive choice, and lethal police tactics.
You don’t have to be a biblical scholar to see how Jesus in the Gospels welcomes and loves into the Kingdom of God people who are the most oppressed, the most distressed, the most abused and killed: the slave, the widow, the orphan, the stranger, the alien, the poor. In doing so, Jesus was upholding the covenant issued by God all throughout the Hebrew Bible from Genesis on.
Sin is too soft of a word to describe the continuing easy access to firearms and the use of lethal force by police against minorities. To be blunt, gun violence and lethal police force is OUR failure as citizens, as human beings, but above all as followers of Jesus Christ. When I say “we” and “our” I include myself.
Where is our OUTRAGE?
Please understand that I am not anti-police. Police reforms are necessary not only because Black Lives Matter but because Blue Lives Matter too. The epidemic of gun violence and lethal police force is just as destructive and ruinous to the lives of police officers. Our “blue” brothers and sisters are so vulnerable. And they are also suffering. A line was crossed many years ago and now the de-facto status quo is that police are authorized to oppress and murder our Black, Brown and Rainbow-colored brothers and sisters. This must end. I believe that as people of faith we can and we must come together to create pressure and agitate for change. Change which benefits all communities: black, brown, and blue.
These conditions and patterns are untenable and unsustainable.
How long do we expect people of color to tolerate this carnage of unnecessary lethal force by police officers whose duty is to protect and serve all citizens? What will it take for us as a community of faith to stand up for all involved--for black, for brown, and blue too?!
Our nation cannot survive the unlimited access to military-grade firearms. How in God's name did we ever come to tolerate this slaughter of innocents? Owning firearms is NOT a right, it’s a privilege--one which can and should have limits. But hear me out:
I’m not talking about gun owners who are responsible and law abiding.
I’m not talking about people who love to hunt.
I’m not talking about people who want to own or carry a handgun for their own security.
I’m talking about assault weapons. No human being let alone US citizen has a right to own assault weapons. But in our nation seemingly ANYONE can own numerous assault weapons--firepower invented and intended for combat, war, the battlefield. Not for domestic life.
Until we are willing to do whatever it takes to pressure our elected representatives and other civil authorities, until they FEEL our absolute RESOLVE to reform gun laws and police conduct, until we find ways to register our DISGUST and OUTRAGE over this continuing abdication of justice and sensible legislation, nothing will change and people will continue to die preventable deaths.
If we say that we have fellowship with God while we are walking in darkness, we lie and do not do what is true …
We are walking in darkness.
But we are called by God through the Resurrection of Jesus Christ to walk in the light. The Resurrection of Jesus Christ is not only about what happens after we die. It’s also passionately about Life. Right. Now.
but if we walk in the light as God is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin. If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.
The Biblical prophets dared to speak truth to power because they answered to a higher authority than earthly powers. Like the prophets before us, we must do whatever we can to represent the fierce love and the compassion of the Lord our God—each in our own way, and trust that no effort is insignificant; any energy we devote and every prayer we offer will help carry us all to a new day!
I wondered if I should even speak as my conscience was calling me to do today. I know I’m “preaching to the choir,” as the saying goes; we are a compassionate and caring congregation. We are engaged and involved in social justice. I’m not criticizing anyone. It’s just that as a minister of the Gospel of Jesus Christ my silence from the preaching pulpit felt dishonest and disingenuous. I don’t have the influence of a Political Action Committee or the connections of a lobbyist, nor the skill-set of a community organizer. But I do have a platform, a responsibility and a conscience—as well as ordination vows—all of which compel me to at least speak up and speak out today. And I hope this, along with TJ’s invitation in his weekly e-mail newsletter this past week, asking for your thoughts and ideas is a hopeful way to build momentum.
It’s not so much about figuring out what do we do now? The point is that anything we do will empower us to be more than observers on the sideline while this carnage continues to devour more vulnerable people.
Anything to prevent any more weeks like last week.
I honestly don’t know what we can do as a community of faith. There’s so many viewpoints and many moving parts. But I truly believe we can start talking and listening, create some momentum, spiritual energy the Lord can and will use. I don’t have a master plan or prescription. All I know is that what’s been happening is an open assault upon the kingdom of God that Jesus lived and died and was resurrected to reveal to us.
Let’s pray and talk and think about how we as a congregation can make a difference.
Let us walk in darkness no more.
Let us resolve to be Light Walkers.
