Why we really don't listen...

"Happy are those who find wisdom, and those who get understanding...
She is more precious than jewels, and nothing you desire can compare with her." Prov. 3:13,15

"Put your sword back in its place,” Jesus said to him, “for all who draw the sword will die by the sword." Matthew 26:52

Why we really don't listen...
By Rev. William Dohle
The world is united it seems. At least on Facebook.

This past week, my timeline has been covered by South Carolina. Everywhere I look there are prayers and petitions, cries for help and calls for action. Articles on gun control or on the value of such guns. Ignorant statements made by one politician or another. And even some heartwarming stories too.

More than anything else is the call for justice in our country and the call for awareness. If rascism hadn't a face before, it certainly has one now.

And as an ELCA Lutheran, I ponder this deeply. I wonder how the perpetrator could have been one of our own. What happened in this young man between Confirmation and that moment he started shooting? What was said to him as he went through Confirmation and at church? Did he go to services? What did he hear there? And what now should we say to our kids today? What should we tell them about all of this?

A piece of me places the blame on us. We Lutherans have been lax at raising up the goodness and the image of God in everyone, no matter what. Falling back into the "we're all sinners" creed, we forget that we are created by God in God's image. We are beloved by God. We are God's children, adopted into his family through Christ Jesus. We have a right and a duty to look for the good in other people. Even the hungry, the thirsty, the naked, and the imprisoned are reflections of Christ. What we do to them, we do to Christ. We have a duty to see each other, not as poor, miserable sinners, but as beloved children of a God willing to sacrifice everything to save us!

Part of me blames us.

And part of me blames our human nature. Let's face it, we are creatures that ignore warnings and consequences.

Take for instance, a little story from the book of Numbers. Numbers 15:32-36. Most of us probably ignore this passage since it's not a popular story and it doesn't fit in with what we know of the Bible, but this little tale speaks a warning. It speaks a warning to those who would break the Sabbath.

When the Israelites were in the wilderness, they found a man gathering sticks on the sabbath day. Those who found him gathering sticks brought him to Moses, Aaron, and to the whole congregation. They put him in custody, because it was not clear what should be done to him. Then the Lord said to Moses, “The man shall be put to death; all the congregation shall stone him outside the camp.” The whole congregation brought him outside the camp and stoned him to death, just as the Lord had commanded Moses. (Num. 15:32-36)

Now what do you notice about this story? It's a warning! A warning of what could happen to you should you break the Sabbath law. It's a rather graphic tale, one without a happy ending, but it serves its purpose, to tell you: If you break the Sabbath law, you will be stoned. If you break God's law, there will be consequences.

So... why don't we know this passage? Why don't we heed it? Maybe because we really don't believe these consequences will happen. We really don't follow its logic. Despite the text saying in no undercertain terms, "This action has a consequence." We don't believe it.

We're pretty stubborn creatures. Even when Jesus himself tells us, "Put your sword back in its place,” Jesus said to him, “for all who draw the sword will die by the sword.Those who live by the sword, die by the sword..." we still choose the sword and fill our homes with weapons that kill. We fight for our right to have weapons rather than look at what having those weapons actually does to us.

Why don't we listen? Why don't we change? Why don't we look at our culture that's obsessed with violence and put a stop to it?

Because we don't want to. Because it feels so good. Because maybe those consequences are avoidable. Maybe they're exaggerated. Maybe there is no consequence for our violent ways.

Or maybe it really is sin. Sin that has infected our souls and in lives. Sin that blinds us to our own participation in this culture of violence and death. Sin that divides and subdivides us.

I don't know who's to blame, but I know who's the answer. That answer is God. The God who doesn't leave us to wallow in our consequences. The God who rescues and saves us. The God who is the only hope of transforming our culture and rescuing us from this violent world. That God didn't stand idly by, but took the consequences of a culture obsessed with violence upon himself, suffering death, in order to bring us to a new creation, a new life.

In the wake of this tragedy and in so many others, I pray. May God open our eyes that we may see our participation in this culture of violence. May we be advocates of peace and justice in the world. May we see each other as Christ sees us. And may his kingdom come, here and now. For we need it, more than ever!

Holy God, we cannot imagine the pain that you endure as we blindly participate in our culture of death. Heal us, redeem us, and bring us to the kingdom where swords and guns are ground into plowshares. Amen.