Appalled
Appalled
June 20, 2016
I was preaching in a Tennessee congregation while traveling from Raliegh to Nashville on Sunday, June 12, 2016. One of the congregants shared about the Orlando shooting that morning. Having eschewed television news last year, and long had the practice of avoiding anything beyond the study of Scripture on Sunday mornings, the announcement was a surprise to me. Perhaps the greatest surprise was that I was not shocked by the news. I guess it is possible that the acts of terrorism, even on domestic soil, have become too common.
It did not take long for practically everyone to opine, for the attention hounds to stand in front of a camera, seek having a microphone thrust in their face, or for those embracing the electronic age - to resort to social media. Ironically, just as I am doing now. However, I did want to be different. I wanted to wait until the dust had cleared somewhat. Too often what is reported by the news outlets is little different from the gossip shared in the downtown bookstore or coffee shop - a basis in fact, but the final product is mor lie than truth. As usual,this time was no different than the countless times before, practically everyone did not fail to disappoint in being a disappointment. The tragedy became the opportunity for soapboxes to be mounted, for pet causes to be trumpeted, for pet peeves to be attacked, for arms to be raised and the fist shaker to announce that if they were in control - things would be different. We should ban peoples, ban guns, ban manufacturers, control, control, control.... I am a student of history, and as a pastor/counselor, a student of the human psyche. i find naught evidence that we can prevent such things. For millennia, mankind has been very creative in the destruction of others. I doubt any number of restrictions will prevent the root cause of such events - hatred. For that is the predilection of the human heart, to hate those different from us.
In our society hatred has been raised to an art form. Omar Mateen, but then he is pretty much hated as well. Christians are hated, but then, so are Muslims. Guns and gun owners are hated, but then so are those who try to limit, or prevent that right in others. Watch the new show BrainDead and they do a very good job of making fun of the fact that the Democratic Party hates the Republican Party, but then the Republican Party hates the Democratic Party. ISIS (ISIL/IS) manages to hate everyone, but then Westboro Baptist Church manages to do the same. I have been careful to construct the last several lines because they who know better than everyone else, are careful to measure words, because they hate those who are not politically correct. I could go on and on with examples. why? Because mankind is pretty well practiced in hatred. The real issue at hand is what happened in Orlando that horrible Sunday.
Though I was not shocked about the nature of the tragedy, I was appalled. The violence was appalling. The loss of life was appalling. The hatred was appalling. The response by nearly everyone else was appalling. That includes you, Mr. President. For those reading, if this offends you, then I should add that the Presidential candidates - all - were appalling as well. I wonder at how my Savior would have responded. The man who did not stop the violence around Him - though He has the power to cease all violence, and who surrendered to violence upon His own body would have handled things much differently I suppose. Someone recently pointed out that He told His disciples to sell their cloak and buy a sword at the Last Supper. Yes, but a few minutes later, when asked if the two swords they had were enough, He responded yes. yet later, when Peter cut off the ear of Malchus in the Garden, Jesus admonished that those who live by the sword would die by the sword. He then healed Malchus' ear. I imagine Jesus' behavior would be the same in Orlando. Swords and guns are not the issue, hatred is the problem. Has been...will be, that is, until He returns. Jesus responded to hatred with love. One of the many, many ways He demonstrated love was to apprehend their stories and to touch them where they were in life. The woman at the well is one example, Zaccheus another, and the woman caught in adultery yet another. so, my supposition is that Jesus would have healed, maybe raised someone back to life, but definitely He would have intersected with some life stories among those in Orlando. If He responded to Zaccheus in the way He did, I wonder what He would say to the family member of one who died in the nightclub Pulse on a violent Sunday? Perhaps the family member's last words to their deceased son or daughter had been said in anger and had cast them from the family. I wonder how the parent, sibling or friend would feel? I wonder how Jesus would respond? Might He tell a parable? Why does the Prodigal Son come to mind? What about those who survived? What about those who condemn? Why does the scene of the woman caught in adultery come to mind? I wonder who would be asked what Jesus asked of her accusers? What about His admonition to the woman dragged naked before Him? Who of us needs the same admonition? How many tears have been shed over Orlando? How many tears are still to be shed...not just for Orlando, but until the End of Days?
There is a solution for Orlando. There has been one for 2,000 years. The solution is a man, but not just any man. He did not come to change behavior, but to transform the heart. Change the heart and behavior changes.
It did not take long for practically everyone to opine, for the attention hounds to stand in front of a camera, seek having a microphone thrust in their face, or for those embracing the electronic age - to resort to social media. Ironically, just as I am doing now. However, I did want to be different. I wanted to wait until the dust had cleared somewhat. Too often what is reported by the news outlets is little different from the gossip shared in the downtown bookstore or coffee shop - a basis in fact, but the final product is mor lie than truth. As usual,this time was no different than the countless times before, practically everyone did not fail to disappoint in being a disappointment. The tragedy became the opportunity for soapboxes to be mounted, for pet causes to be trumpeted, for pet peeves to be attacked, for arms to be raised and the fist shaker to announce that if they were in control - things would be different. We should ban peoples, ban guns, ban manufacturers, control, control, control.... I am a student of history, and as a pastor/counselor, a student of the human psyche. i find naught evidence that we can prevent such things. For millennia, mankind has been very creative in the destruction of others. I doubt any number of restrictions will prevent the root cause of such events - hatred. For that is the predilection of the human heart, to hate those different from us.
In our society hatred has been raised to an art form. Omar Mateen, but then he is pretty much hated as well. Christians are hated, but then, so are Muslims. Guns and gun owners are hated, but then so are those who try to limit, or prevent that right in others. Watch the new show BrainDead and they do a very good job of making fun of the fact that the Democratic Party hates the Republican Party, but then the Republican Party hates the Democratic Party. ISIS (ISIL/IS) manages to hate everyone, but then Westboro Baptist Church manages to do the same. I have been careful to construct the last several lines because they who know better than everyone else, are careful to measure words, because they hate those who are not politically correct. I could go on and on with examples. why? Because mankind is pretty well practiced in hatred. The real issue at hand is what happened in Orlando that horrible Sunday.
Though I was not shocked about the nature of the tragedy, I was appalled. The violence was appalling. The loss of life was appalling. The hatred was appalling. The response by nearly everyone else was appalling. That includes you, Mr. President. For those reading, if this offends you, then I should add that the Presidential candidates - all - were appalling as well. I wonder at how my Savior would have responded. The man who did not stop the violence around Him - though He has the power to cease all violence, and who surrendered to violence upon His own body would have handled things much differently I suppose. Someone recently pointed out that He told His disciples to sell their cloak and buy a sword at the Last Supper. Yes, but a few minutes later, when asked if the two swords they had were enough, He responded yes. yet later, when Peter cut off the ear of Malchus in the Garden, Jesus admonished that those who live by the sword would die by the sword. He then healed Malchus' ear. I imagine Jesus' behavior would be the same in Orlando. Swords and guns are not the issue, hatred is the problem. Has been...will be, that is, until He returns. Jesus responded to hatred with love. One of the many, many ways He demonstrated love was to apprehend their stories and to touch them where they were in life. The woman at the well is one example, Zaccheus another, and the woman caught in adultery yet another. so, my supposition is that Jesus would have healed, maybe raised someone back to life, but definitely He would have intersected with some life stories among those in Orlando. If He responded to Zaccheus in the way He did, I wonder what He would say to the family member of one who died in the nightclub Pulse on a violent Sunday? Perhaps the family member's last words to their deceased son or daughter had been said in anger and had cast them from the family. I wonder how the parent, sibling or friend would feel? I wonder how Jesus would respond? Might He tell a parable? Why does the Prodigal Son come to mind? What about those who survived? What about those who condemn? Why does the scene of the woman caught in adultery come to mind? I wonder who would be asked what Jesus asked of her accusers? What about His admonition to the woman dragged naked before Him? Who of us needs the same admonition? How many tears have been shed over Orlando? How many tears are still to be shed...not just for Orlando, but until the End of Days?
There is a solution for Orlando. There has been one for 2,000 years. The solution is a man, but not just any man. He did not come to change behavior, but to transform the heart. Change the heart and behavior changes.
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