On the killings at Tree of Life Synagogue

I'm not preaching this week, but I wanted to get this out in the newsletter and since it ended up sounding sermonish, I thought I'd add it here. 

As we try to take in yet one more senseless act of anger, hate and fear, I find myself wondering about the place of the Church and if maybe we are not as clear about the gospel message as we might be.  Because I have always been interested in people who don’t participate in a faith community, I wonder often what those who are not part of a church think this Christianity we represent is about.  I imagine them thinking we are gathered around unbelievable stories and the hope of getting into heaven after we die.  I imagine them learning about Christianity from the culture battles waged and reported in the news and worry that they think Christianity has to do with setting ourselves up as judges of those around us.  I wonder sometimes if many of those who only see Christianity from the outside end up saying, as Gandhi was reported to have said, that they might want to be a Christian if they didn’t know so many of them. I worry that others imagine that we are all focused on our own salvation, our own righteousness, our own misguided agendas.  

I am pretty sure I could get a clipboard, go into the city and ask people what they think Christianity is about and not many would say, “Oh, Christians, they are those people who gather in communities so they can learn to better love everyone who crosses their path. They are the people who are trying to change the world by changing themselves.”  I’m pretty sure that is what we are really doing in our little congregations, at least I hope so. I’m just not sure that message is getting out.  In a world where people point at others saying they are not as good as we are, Jesus says that might be true, they may be better at loving than you are.  Let me tell you a story about a Samaritan who found this guy in a ditch. In a world where we so easily point out others’ failings, Jesus talks about taking the plank out of our own eye so we can see to take the splinter out of someone else’s eye.  In a world where we cling to old anger, Jesus says, let go.  Forgive.  Just quit holding onto that stuff that makes life so hard for everyone. Bringing in the kingdom, says Jesus, is not about telling others what they have to do to get there, but about becoming honest about our own lives and participating in our own transformation. Of course there are times for righteous anger.  Jesus went there too.  Of course there are times to call others on their bad behavior.  Jesus never shied away from that either.  But we cannot separate our criticism of the world around us from our examination of our own lives.  If we want to change the world, we have to be about changing ourselves.  Jesus was very clear on that. And maybe that message can be some comfort as we read the headlines this week.  

Part of the shock and sadness we feel in the wake of the Tree of Life Synagogue shootings has to do with the feeling of helplessness.  In the face of destructive forces we can’t understand or even imagine how to contain, we are left asking what we, or anyone, can possibly do to change what is happening around us.  The answer is breaking through loud and clear, if we are attuned to hear and see it.  The news images and sounds of Jews, Muslims, Christians, and those who practice no religion gathered in prayer and song and mutual support send the true message about all of our religions.  The real power of our faith isn’t in a pointing finger or a book of laws.  It is in humility, love, forgiveness, community, and hope.  And we could all get better at all of those things.  And that is where we are not helpless, because we can all get better at all of those things. Even in these troubled times, we can make a difference.  We change the world by changing ourselves.  JB