Nashville Christian school shooting
Another shooting happened this week in Nashville Tennessee at a Christian School. Once again, a place we thought was safe has been violated by gun violence and lives were lost. We grieve with the families who lost loved ones as well as with all the others in the community who are traumatized. Events like these leave a deep scar, many of us to this day still feel strong emotions when we remember the violence that occurred here in Orlando at Pulse.
Chaplain Barry C. Black, the Chaplain of the US Senate offered this prayer earlier this week in response to the shooting in Nashville. “Eternal God, we stand in awe of you. Lord, when babies die at a church school it is time for us to move beyond thoughts and prayers. Remind our lawmakers of the words of the British statesmen Edmund Burke “All that is necessary for evil triumph is for good people to do nothing.” Lord deliver our senators from the paralysis of analysis that waits for the miraculous. Use them to battle the demonic forces that seek to engulf us. We pray in your powerful name. Amen.” - Senate Chaplain Barry C. Black
I find the words of the chaplain to be unsettling, maybe you do too. If good people like you and I do nothing, what will happen? It has been 10 months since the last emotionally scarring elementary school shooting in Uvalde Texas. How long oh Lord? The words of the psalmist echo in our minds and call us to participate in doing something to prevent or at least make these instances of violence less frequent.
There is a chasm between the prophet Micah’s vision of turning swords into plowshares and the reality of our nation. It almost feels hopeless some days. What is our role as the church? Here are a few things that come to mind.
First, we have to fight the desire to become desensitized. I remember how I felt when I heard the news about the Sandy Hook Elementary school shooting and I thought to myself, “this will bring change.” Yet, here we are over 10 years later and many more families are living the same nightmare. It is the role of the people of God to grieve and say boldly, “this is wrong and it should never happen.”
Second, we need to work to support efforts to make our communities safer and prevent gun violence. Some Christians believe that we should be apolitical. This is a misunderstanding of the gospel. I strongly believe that we are not called to be partisan. We are called to engage politically inspired by our faith rather than our own self interest. We are called by God to be political in ways that make earth look more like heaven. Our challenge now is to work for change through our democracy to create an environment where all people made in the image of God can thrive.
Third, we are called to look forward to and live into the prophet Micah’s vision. I dream of being a part of a community of love and forgiveness that is safe and welcoming to all. We may not be able to prevent gun violence across our nation but we can work to make our local community a safer place. Click here for United Methodist resources on gun violence prevention. Please send me an email at PastorMike@SpringChurch.org if you’d like to talk further.
