Isaiah 50:4
The Lord God has given me
the tongue of a teacher,
that I may know how to sustain
the weary with a word.
Morning by morning he wakens--
wakens my ear
to listen as those who are taught.
Another week. Another school shooting. Six more victims are in the legacy of inaction in this country when it comes to gun violence. We worship a God who takes on, among other names, that of teacher, and Isaiah reminds us that we are God's students, every day is woken by the words of our heavenly teacher.
Yet six of God's students, God's children, did not wake up today. And despite the painfully obvious fact that the one constant in nearly every school shooting - the use of a gun, not just any gun but a semiautomatic AR-15 style assault rifle - as a culture we go everywhere else looking for blame.
This time, because the shooter attended the school as a young girl and now identifies as a man, it is the trans community. For such a small part of our population they already bear a tremendous burden - to have the blame for mental illness and school shootings put on them is just more hurt on top of, more hurt on top of more hurt.
So let me offer a word to the weary here:
Sin is indeed the cause of the continued, and increasing, trauma of school shootings in this country. But it is not a sin connected to sexual identity or mental illness or who someone is or who they love. Living into the person God called you to be is not SIN, it is HOLINESS. And a community that allows and encourages that transformation is one of GRACE, not shame. Memorial, I pray, will always be such a holy and grace-filled community.
It is the sin spelled out for us in the ten commandments, that we read every Sunday during lent. 'Thou shalt not make for thyself any idol.' And this country has made an idol of guns. In particular, cool-looking guns that make us feel powerful, independent, protected, and superior to everyone else.
Whether it is a golden calf, a warm gun, or an Old Flag -- any totem that we put our trust in over and above God, in place of God, or as a symbol of God, is an idol. Jesus Christ is the only thing that saves us, yesterday, today, and forever. No number of guns in your safe, ammo in your stockpile, or food in your basement will be your salvation. As a culture, and as a country, we have to stop worshipping the false promise that we as individuals can save ourselves or anyone else. I also loved 'Red Dawn' - but it was a movie, and it turns out, Nicaraguan revolutionaries weren't the ones bringing guns to our street, it was Wall Street Corporations. Because the God they really value is not red or blue, but green.
The Good News is, the truly Good News, is that we at Memorial and in the Episcopal Church represent a group of people committed to being a community of love. Where we find safety in the community, not carbon steel plating; where we find hope in the resurrection, not a light trigger pull; and where we share God's love with everyone - no matter who they are, who they love, or how they live.
My only prayer is that more people give up the idols of guns and money and power for the God of peace, justice, and resurrection.