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June 21, 2015

The Episcopal Church on Edisto
and
The New First Missionary Baptist Church

Mother Emmanuel AME Shooting

What can I say, what can anyone say, that can even begin to do justice to the terrorism
that took place at a prayer meeting - a prayer meeting! - at Emmanuel AME Church in
Charleston this past Wednesday? Of course I cant; no one can - do justice, that is.
Justice and Truth stand before us as goals to aspire to, but we who are made humble in
our faith in a God who lovingly gives himself for us, again and again, that we might live
abundantly . . . we recognize that justice and truth dwell in Gods realm. We have little
justice of our own to offer . . . little sense to make of whats so very senseless. What we
have is our hearts and all the cares written on them - our sorrow, our grief, our shame,
our hopes and fears and compassion and sympathy and, yes, our anger. And we have
God, steadfast as ever, standing ready to receive whatever heartfelt cares we dare to
surrender to him.
Among the many things Ive heard and read since that lost and deranged young terrorist
whose name I refuse to dignify by mentioning did his evil deed is this statement made
by another young white man I know - a playwright and actor who lives in Chicago
named Andrew Swanson:
I am ashamed of this kid. I am ashamed of his parents. I'm ashamed of his
predecessors, their beliefs and their conviction. I am ashamed of this country for being
so unwilling to face it's own despicable and centuries-old blindness. I am ashamed of
the leaders we've elected who will not change their views after this attack (because they
might lose some votes). I'm ashamed of their opponents, who won't fight harder for true
justice (because they might lose some votes). I am ashamed of white liberal America for
subconsciously thinking we already made it to the mountaintop in the 90s. I am
ashamed of our fear and our stupidity and our flagrant ignorance toward black American
lives -- We have a nightmarish history, a darkening sky above our future and a
complicated melting pot to call home - and we are just standing there in the kitchen
watching it boil over like a bunch of terrified, guilty children... Grow up white America...
We're making goddamn fools of ourselves.

I hope youll forgive the expletive. Along with my friend, I believe the situation warrants it.
Recognizing that he and you and I all have to start somewhere if we ever want to make
a difference in healing the gaping wound that divides us, I might only add to his rant that
Im ashamed of myself . . . ashamed of how quickly I almost always find myself pointing
my finger elsewhere . . . ashamed at how far what I believe falls short of what I do.
Still, this too is a day that the Lord has made, so lets vent our outrage and guilt, not so
we can wallow in it but so that we can work it through, put in behind us, and find our way
to rejoice in the day that God has given us.
You might well ask, in the face of so much loss, in the face of so much madness, in the
certainty that it isnt over yet, that there will be more - if not on Calhoun Street or North
Charleston then somewhere else . . . perhaps even here . . . you might well ask, what is
there to rejoice in? Its not an idle question. In fact, its one that people have been asking
for a long time - longer even than since the time when the disciples, lost and dejected
and missing their crucified Lord, gathered in a room, questioning . . . waiting . . . .
In the 3rd chapter of his Letter to the Philippians, St. Paul writes Watch out for the
dogs . . . the evil workers, beware of those who mutilate the flesh. He too raises the
specter of a fallen world in which rejoicing doesnt always come so readily. Where do we
turn in order to rejoice? He points the way: I regard everything as loss because of the
surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. Paul calls us to rejoice in the Lord,
always, not because weve arrived, not because the dogs arent still out there - they so
obviously are, after all - but because our God-given citizenship is elsewhere . . . our
sights are set on the realm of Love that Christs journey through the cross to heaven
affords us.
What is there to rejoice in? What else but Gods call for justice in response to the racism
that still boils around us - as visible as a provocative flag flying at the Capitol? What else
but the standard of nonviolence and compassion our faith proclaims - a respect for the
dignity of every human being? What else but worshipping the one true God rather than
the false idol of gun rights?
I want you to know I prepared another sermon for this morning. Ill ask John to post it on
our website so you can read it there if you want to. In it I attempted to connect the
Gospel story of Jesus commanding even the wind and sea to be still with the fact of

man-made global warming and our vocation as stewards of the earth to do something
about it . . . even at the cost of whatever sacrifice on our parts that might take.
Hence the choice of the hymn O hear us when we cry to thee for those in peril on the
sea.
Even with a different sermon subject, the hymn still resonates. Were all in peril, and
friends, if this week in this place has shown us nothing else, just as with our natural
environment, the peril we face and its connection to our failed stewardship extends to
our social environment. The two are inseparable.
In our outrage lets not miss what my young friend Andrew is quick to note. As
Shakespeare tells us, The fault, dear Brutus, is not in our stars but in ourselves. It isnt
just those others whove polarized our society any more than its just other people who
are poisoning this fragile earth, our island home. I never thought Id be citing Michael
Jackson, but fact is hes right when he sings: Im starting with the man in the mirror.
The great paradox of the Christian faith is that we who worship in front of a cross can
rejoice in the very peril we face. Those arent just words. Look at what the response has
been here in the Charleston area. For all the horror of an unspeakable tragedy that
killed 9 good people, scarring their families and their community forever, for the most
part the reaction has been for people of goodwill to reach deeply within themselves to
live out the spirit of St. Francis when he taught us to pray,
Lord, make us instruments of your peace.
Where there is hatred, let us sow love;
Where there is injury, pardon;
Where there is doubt, faith;
Where there is despair, hope;
Where there is darkness, light;
Where there is sadness, joy.
Grant that we may not so much seek
To be consoled as to console,
To be understood as to understand,
To be loved as to love;
For it is in giving that we receive;
It is in pardoning that we are pardoned;
It is in dying to self that we are born to eternal life.

Its been heartening to see how quickly and passionately so much of our community has
come together following the killing . . . to see good souls, ravaged by loss, offering
forgiveness instead of vengeance.
Theres been an awakening to the truth not just that something we thought we had - an
innocence, Pat Neumann has called it - has been lost but that something even more
vital, more sacred, is there for us to find and develop. Its time for dialogue. Its time for
races that live in parallel next to each other to start talking about all the things we dont
really know about each other - about the hidden truths of our lives, about our
perceptions and misperceptions, our assumptions and fears and hopes.
And while iIt may be presumptuous of me to try to assign my own meaning to what
being an instrument of Gods peace entails, I think its ever so important to ask
ourselves some hard questions about our vocation to peacemaking following the reality
of the assault on Mother Emmanuel.
Concerning certain symbols like Confederate flags, not just on the state Capitol Building
but on license plates and bumper stickers and decals, can we acknowledge that while
for some people they might be meant only to honor forebears who gave and lost so
much for what they genuinely believed was a noble cause, for others those same
symbols have become rallying instruments promoting bigotry, hatred, ignorance and
destruction? For the sake of unity and understanding, cant we agree that the sin those
flags help engender far outweighs the virtue some still see in them? Can we not insist
they come down?
Concerning guns, how much longer will we tolerate politicians who ignore the vast
majority of people who endorse sensible restrictions on the epidemic of firearm
madness in America because gun manufacturers and marketers line their pockets and
control their narratives?
Can anyone who votes for an elected official who insists on flying the Confederate flag
or who blindly dances to the NRAs tune be considered an instrument of Gods peace? I
dont see how. For that matter, can anyone who opposes them be a true peacemaker if
he or she doesnt do more . . . doesnt prophesy about how handguns in the hands of
children and madmen and criminals and flags that are seen by even a few as clarion
calls to hatred are a toxic mix thats a stain on us all - sins - assaults on the peaceful
kingdom God calls us to. What do our beliefs matter if we dont do what we can to

realize them, to stand up for what we believe in . . . if we dont go to the mat? We cant
just leave it to the crazy and evil people to be the instruments of belief.
A few minutes ago, I referred to the disciples - the 11 gathered together, looking to each
other, I imagine, for answers that none of them could find within themselves. They were
lost . . . disoriented . . . afraid . . . confused . . . shaken. Perhaps that paints a familiar
picture. Perhaps its not unlike what the past few days have been for many of us.
Well, thanks be to God, we know the story didnt end there for the disciples, and it
doesnt have to end that way for us. Whether it does or not is to a certain extent up to
us. We can if we choose shed a tear to show we care before moving on to our lives
exactly as theyve been before, or we can live out the truth of our faith. We can welcome
the real presence of the risen Christ in our lives and allow the Holy Spirit to guide us in
the ways of Justice and Peace and Love.
How blessed we are that God - the God who lost his Son just as 9 families have lost
their loved ones - didnt return hatred for hatred; God returned Love, unconditional Love,
so that if we choose to receive that Love, we can pay it forward it to a world desperately
in need of it, knowing that were never alone, never abandoned . . . never unloved.
Amen.