Week
of Prayer for Christian Unity
Martin
Luther King Jr. Sunday
© Thomas B. Cundiff
Micah 6: 6-8
What God Requires
6“With
what shall I come before the LORD,
and
bow myself before God on high?
Shall
I come before him with burnt offerings,
with
calves a year old?
7Will
the LORD be pleased with thousands of rams,
with
ten thousands of rivers of oil?
Shall
I give my firstborn for my transgression,
the
fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?”
8He
has told you, O mortal, what is good;
and
what does the LORD require of you
but
to do justice, and to love kindness,
and
to walk humbly with your God?
Matthew
22: 36-39
‘Teacher, which
commandment in the law is the greatest?’ He said to him, ‘ “You shall love the Lord your
God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.” This is the greatest and first
commandment. And a
second is like it: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”
I. Framing the Issue
This
is one of the most complex topics I’ve ever tried to preach. “Gun–violence”! Still fresh in our minds are the 20 innocent
first graders shot and killed at the Sandy
Hook Elementary School
I
join with the parents from Newtown , Connecticut
One
thing I will not do in this conversation is challenge the Second Amendment
right in our Constitution to “keep and
bear arms”. What I am hoping to do is frame this issue of
gun violence around the people and violence in our society with guns being the
tool many ue to commit horrendous crimes!
This being said…..some facts to consider:
First,
these facts as reported and checked and double checked from several publications
including Presbyterians Today[1]:
Did you know that over eighty (80) people die each day from gunshot
wounds? That adds up to roughly 30,000 women
and men and children who die each year from guns.
Did you know there are over 300
million guns in the United States
Did you know that gun murder
rates in the United States per 100,000 people are more than 17 times higher
than those in Australia, 35 times higher than in Germany, 37 times higher than
in Spain and 355 times higher than in Japan.”[2]
Second,
it’s a known fact that guns do not shoot themselves. People kill people. Gun violence is more
about those who use the guns than the weapons themselves.
Third,
there are millions of law-abiding citizens who legally own and trained to use different
types of guns for sport or collections or security.
Fourth, a question:
Why don’t we hear on the news more stories about the lives that are
saved each and every day because armed police and security personnel and
responsible citizens are committed to keeping their families and others safe
and secure?
Fifth,
we need to also recognize the reality that there are many types of weapons: guns, sticks, rocks, knives, baseball bats or
fists – even bombs that kill!
These
points being made, my focus today:
As Children of God created in the image of God, how are we to approach this
question of gun violence as a church? To
answer this question we seek guidance from scripture and the Mosaic Commandment, “Thou Shalt Not Kill”! Guidance is also found in answering the New Commandment and Jesus’ call to “love our neighbors as ourselves”. And this being the beginning of
the Global Week of Prayer for Christian
Unity, Micah’s question asked by Christians around the globe: “What
does the Lord require of us?”
II. Wilmette , Illinois
“It was viewed
as an anomaly,” says Sarah Butter, the pastor. “It was not the kind of thing
people expected to happen in that kind of neighborhood.” She is
uncomfortably aware, however, that on the south side of Chicago
Rick Wiley,
who committed the Wilmette murders, was a repeat offender. He had served 15 years in prison for killing his
first wife in 1985—he used a knife. A
member of the Wilmette church, he
also struggled with a mental disease called “intermittent explosive disorder”.
He was released after only 15 years after killing his first wife.[4] He would have served a life sentence had the
judge in his case not ruled him as being insane.
After Rick
Wiley’s release from prison he returned home and the church welcomed the
prodigal son back—I would add, cautiously and with forgiving hearts. He was a member of the church and was received
as such! The church helped him rebuild
his life. He got a job as a
carpenter. He married the church
secretary, Kathy Motes, who had a young son named Chris. The congregation let
them live in a house on the church grounds.
Things were
going pretty well until….March of 2009, the worst thing happened. After an
argument one weekend, Wiley shot and killed his wife, his stepson and himself
using a ‘black powder, muzzle loading Civil War replica rifle’ that was
part of a collection owned by his step-son who was murdered. .
As reflected in this story, Mental Illness tied to those who
commit gun violence is a critical issue.
How do we deal with the Rick Wiley’s who are found insane for a murder
and then released back to society? Did
the judge mess up by ruling him “insane” allowing for his early release after
just 15 years for a murder? What kind of
treatment did he receive upon his release?
Did the church members or anyone around this man and family know he had
a mental health history that pointed specifically toward violent behavior? Lots of questions.
This past week the President put forward some proposals that
at first seemed weak in the area of Mental Health—until I read the full
report. Specifically, the President is
looking for more diagnosis and treatment of young people with mental health
issues between the ages of 16 and 25.—“high risk mental health individuals”.[5] This plan calls for helping schools train
mental health professionals in diagnosing mental health issues that may put
others at risk. I also like the proposal
that teachers and students get “Mental
Health First Aid Training” in helping to identify problems like
bullying.
For the sake of the wellbeing of others, authorities must
find ways to identify threats before someone goes off the deep end in locating
an easy-to find ‘Bushmaster
semiautomatic rifle’ with lots of ammunition in acting out some kind of horrendous crime.
Which leads to another
concern I have outside the arena of mental health. Violent Behavior in American Culture,
especially in urban environments, has become prevalent. You don’t have to be mentally ill to be in a
gang. You don’t have to be unstable to
throw a punch at a brother or sister or neighbor or parent who is upsetting
you. Anger management is an issue many
young people need to address.
It’s not hard to
imagine being angry when living in poverty!
Domestic violence is on the rise.
More and more parents are fighting…..shoving and punching and shouting in
many ways is the NORM in solving even simple problems. And the sad fact, easy access to guns makes
for lots shootings for a wide variety of reasons…..drugs, gangs, simple
disagreements…..and shooting somebody when you are angry is so much easier than
talking! Insane! Back to this becoming a Mental Health Issue!
On this eve of the
national holiday in honoring
the life of the late Rev. Dr. Martin
Luther King Jr. this is what he preached:
“At the center of
non-violence is the principle of love.”[6]
To see all the high
crime rates, one has to wonder what has happened to this biblical foundation of
love in human relations?
What do we need to do
in our communities and schools and churches in teaching and preaching non-violence?
I think back to when
the East Side Soup Kitchen was in our
church building—often 300+ people from every walk of life coming into our
building every day for a hot meal. The
roughest and toughest people in our town would come through the doors of our gym. Security was tight. Everyone was “wanded” to make sure they weren’t carrying weapons. To her credit, Pam Cole and her staff are
gifted in immediately created a
culture of non-violence and respect and peace in serving hot meals. I am so proud of you for letting the patrons
of the Soup Kitchen – some with violent backgrounds, into our building. In reality, what happened at the Wilmette church could have happened here! Sick behavior that causes tragic things to
happen to innocent people that has sadly, become part of our culture.
In this church, for as long as I can remember, we have had
tough standards when it comes to teaching participants in the Youth center and
summer Magic how to solve problems without the use of violence.
The director
of the youth center shared with me a while back the story of a youngster she
had to send home from the after school program because of his violent, pushing
and shoving and abusive language. When
this child returned with his mother she quickly discovered the source of this
child’s violent behavior. This mother
was angry to the point of wanting to hit a door because she felt her young and
immature son had been disrespected by the youth leaders? This parent obviously had a lot of issues---and
her behavior was reflected in the behavior of her son. It’s no wonder so many teachers, particularly
in low income urban districts, report having so many issues with behavior in
their classrooms.[7]
“To Respect
Self and Others; To Forgive; To Play Creatively; To be Courageous in challenging unfairness
and violence in all its forms…..and to stand with others who are treated
unfairly”……wonderful standards!
Related
to what we teach our children, many who have access to violent video games and
movies are children who have seen the violence first hand on the
streets….children who think its normal to see their parents fight….and kids who
also know how easy it is to get a gun.
It’s
no wonder so many of our children grow up desensitized into thinking fists and
foul language – even guns are the only way to solve problems.
It
is from our pulpits we must share within our communities: Get rid of the illegal guns. If you have a gun keep it secure and away
from all children.
We
need to preach: “Enough is Enough!” If we can’t get rid of the guns we must at
least become advocates for safe gun ownership.
We
also need to preach and teach adopting an attitude of ZERO TOLERANCE when it
comes to violent behavior.
In
our homes, schools and churches we need to pick up the ball and proactively
teach non-violence. We need to be
intentional in modeling non-violence in our programming. I have been thinking: Perhaps this “Pledge for Non-Violence” needs
to be posted on every entrance to this building and buildings and schools and agencies throughout our community?
To
again invoke a quite from Dr. Martin Luther King jr, “Non-violence means avoiding not only external physical violence but
also internal violence of spirit. You
not only refuse to shoot a man, but you refuse to hate him.” It needs
to be part of our mission as a church to get this message out into the larger
community.
V. A Gun Issue
Mental and behavioral health and violence in our culture
aside, a few thoughts about guns. For
years the Presbyterian Church has been engaged in resisting gun violence. The most recent document coming
out of the General Assembly in 2010 is titled:
“Gun Violence, Gospel Values:
Mobilizing in Response to God’s Call “[8] While there has and always will always be
healthy debate on this issue, these are a few of the recommendations – not
unlike the recommendations brought forward by the White House this past week…..
1. Limit legal personal gun acquisition to one handgun
per month. (not on the President’s
list)
2. Require licensing, registration, and waiting periods
to allow comprehensive background checks, and cooling-off periods for all guns
sold. {The President is recommending a
national, universal registry of weapons}
3. Close the “gun show” loophole by requiring
background checks for all gun buyers.
4. Ban semiautomatic assault weapons, armor piercing
handgun ammunition, and .50 caliber sniper rifles.
5. Advocate for new technologies to aid law-enforcement
agencies to trace crime guns and promote public safety.
6. And a complex recommendation instructing all
agencies of the government to DESTROY the records of all persons whose weapons
were purchased legally. {sensitive to
privacy concerns}
On these six points you may or may not agree. I would add to this list finding ways to
identify and treat persons with mental health issues and violent
tendencies. I would also add to this
list the President’s call for more study and research from the ATF and ways to
share information about people applying for guns who have criminal backgrounds
or mental health issues.
I think something that is going to be a GIVEN throughout the
nation, the training of school professionals at all levels in providing better
security in schools…..and on my list, the need for us to be proactive advocates
in our churches and schools and businesses for non-violence.
I
truly believe God has created us to live and enact good, healthy and productive
lives. It’s time to become advocates for
peace in turning the tide of violence in our communities into something
positive, something that embraces our image of God that helps us build positive
and productive lives. We must become, as
Isaiah calls, “the repairs of the breach
in restoring peace in our cities….”[9]
We
must help by enacting policies that make a positive difference. This can be done without hurting Second
Amendment rights. This must be done in
adhering to the same theme I have been preaching all month – putting on Christ,
clothing ourselves in Christ’s values in living our lives as role models in promoting
non-violence and peace. We must become
advocates in arming ourselves with skills in helping to defuse violent behavior
and treating those with violent tendencies who are mentally ill. We must become role models in how to solve
problems in our homes in peaceful ways.
We must demonstrate in and through out lives all the things listed in
this “Pledge of Non-Violence”.
The
discussion on “gun violence” must continue.
We must never forget the little children who have been needlessly
killed. Our discussions must lead to action. We must continue to search for ways to use
our faith in God to be “keepers of peace” in our lives and world.
So what does the Lord
require but to but
to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly (and peaceably) with God?
[1]
Presbyterians Today, September 2012, Jim Atwood, pg. 26.
[2] Ibid.
[3] I wrote this sermon based on this Presbyterians Today article along with articles
n the Chicago Tribune (3/3/099 , Michael Tarm) and other
internet searches.
[7] Story is a couple of years old. I embellished it a bit to make my point.
[9] Isaiah 58
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