Scripture text: Matthew 14:22-33
I had my sermon all planned out. Written. Ready to go for
this Sunday. I put the written copies, 3 of them, where they’re to go: one in
my laptop for Grace, one in the pulpit at Canadochly, and one in the pew for
Lois to be able to read along. But this isn’t that sermon anymore. (Sorry,
Lois.)
I couldn’t ignore what I was seeing in Charlottesville this weekend. The unbelievable outpouring of hate and malice that was unfolding
before my eyes. I felt sorry for the people of the town, for the students on campus
at UVA (There’s a first.) I was afraid for them. And with good reason.
The Nazis (and make no mistake, that’s what they are) who’d
come to town to protest murdered one person. Drove over a crowd of people with
a car and sent nearly 20 of them to a hospital and one to a morgue.
Terrorism
has returned to our country yet again, only this time it’s not some radical
from the Middle East with ties to Al Qaida or ISIS. No, this time it’s people
that look just like us.
White folk. Waving Confederate flags and making Nazi
salutes. Telling folks around them they’re looking forward to roasting people
in the ovens again. Looking forward to violence and death. Looking forward to
murder on a grand scale for anyone who isn’t like them.
And then there’s the Internet. Lauds of support for the
protesters from people who should know better. Right-leaning friends who see
nothing wrong anymore with Nazi symbolism and naked hate. The wife of one of my
one-time closest friends vomiting hatred on anyone who disagreed with her or
those marching on the streets in Charlottesville.
This is humanity at its ugliest.
And we here gathered and in every church across this country
are confronted with this reality and it begs a question of us. What are we
going to do about it?
This isn’t about right or left anymore. It’s about right or
wrong. There should be no place in the Christian heart for these attitudes,
opinions, and hatred. No place for it in us. What are we going to do about it?
I know a lot of our neighbors here and perhaps many of you
voted for the Republican candidates in the last election. Many of you voted for Trump. You did so for a variety of reasons: strongly held convictions, long held traditions, and a genuine belief that they would make our country better. But those
people waving the Stars and Bars and throwing bottles filled with cement at
people in Charlottesville yesterday also voted for the GOP and they did so because they saw
it as the white man’s party. If that doesn’t make you uncomfortable, maybe it
should.
But I don’t believe for a second that’s what the Republican
party in this country wants to stand for. Abraham Lincoln would be appalled at
what has happened. As would Dwight Eisenhower and any other conservative, past
or present, of good character and judgment. (Orrin Hatch certainly was.) I hope many of you are as well. What are you going to do about it?
We liberals aren’t innocent either. We share the blame for
much of what has inflamed this hate. By ignoring the plight of working folk. By
not standing up more vigorously for education. By being spineless in our own
beliefs about the value of human life and diversity. After all, what’s the old
saying, “The only thing required for evil to thrive is for good men to do
nothing.” What are we going to do about it?
The first step is repentance. When we all (ALL OF US) turn
to God and admit that we’ve sinned. When we admit to our sin and we pledge to
do better. To stand up for what is right and good in the world. To stand up for
love of neighbor as the best and only way to peace in our world. To stop being
afraid.
Admitting that we, by action or inaction, by belief or
apathy, had a part in making that nightmare in Charlottesville real. That’s a
big step and not a comfortable one. As I said on the first Justice Sunday, we
don’t like to think of ourselves as the villain. Well, then let’s stop being
that and start being the hero.
And there’s the second step. Admitting we’re wrong is not
enough. We’ve got to do more. We got to follow through on our repentant pledge.
That we will stand up this time. That we will not be silent in the face of
evil. That we will love our neighbors as Jesus commanded. That we will fight
for them against the forces of hate and fear, with the pen, the spoken word,
with the ballot box, with the courage and care of our hearts. Not returning
violence for violence, but defeating hate with love.
But, Pastor, we saw what happened to those who tried that.
Beaten, pepper sprayed, run over by a car. The Christian path was never meant
to be an easy one. I said to a colleague this week that I think I now know what
the next phase of Church history will be, given we’re hitting that 500 year
mark this very year. It’s going to be a time when the Word of Christ and his
teaching becomes radical again. And if radical then threatening to the powers
of the world. And if threatening, then they will retaliate against us.
I’ll be honest. That scares the hell out of me. I had
friends, colleagues at the counter-protest. People among those who were hurt
and were killed. I could have been one of them, and might have been if I lived
closer. But we cannot be afraid.
The miracle story in our Gospel lesson, which was the
original topic of my sermon, gives us an important lesson in the midst of these
terrifying and confusing times. The real miracle isn’t that Jesus walked on
water. We already know he can do tricks like that. The real miracle is when
Peter does it. When he, an ordinary human being, does the impossible. And if he
can, so can we. Changing the world will not be easy, but it can be done if we
hold fast to what we believe.
And even if we falter, as Peter did, what happens then but
Jesus reaches out and plucks us from the water. Two Sundays ago, we heard that
unforgettable text from Romans of how nothing than separate us from the love of
Christ Jesus. Not failure, not sin, and not the violence of those in the world
who oppose Christ and his message of love.
Our purpose as Christians has never been clearer, my
friends. We must stand against this evil. We must stand against it within us,
in the fear and the hate we may hold within ourselves. We must stand against it
within our political affiliation, getting back to working towards the common
good instead of embracing hate or cowardice in an effort to win votes. We must stand
against it in our whole society, saying this is not America. We must stand
against it within our families and circles of friends, saying these thoughts
and beliefs are unacceptable to civilized peoples. And we must stand against it
even within the church, as hate can flourish even here. It’s an ugly world and it’s getting uglier.
What are we going to do about it? Amen.
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