Dear Brothers and Sisters,
Last week was a difficult week in many ways. And we talked about it in last Sunday’s service. A number of us were away and then we had challenges with uploading the service. But since there are things that need to be said and NOT said, as well as considered in this current environment, I’ve decided to send you a copy of my sermon. Prayers as we navigate this challenging time.
Also, attached is the list of October requests for the Food Bank. They are also asking for donations of adult toothpaste, which is much needed and cannot easily be accessed on a very limited budget.
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In the name of God, Father, Son ( ) and Holy Spirit. Amen.
This week, the tragic assassination of Charlie Kirk in Utah has shaken us. Some people hailed him as a passionate political voice; others of us strongly disagreed with his message. There is no question that he advocated attitudes and actions that were profoundly in contradiction to the beliefs of the Episcopal Church. But regardless of where you stand politically, a human life was lost, and that must lead the Church, not into arguments, but into grief.
At the very same hour, in the neighboring state of Colorado, two students were shot in their high school and critically wounded, while the student who shot them committed suicide. The 47th school shooting since the beginning of the year. The young man appears to have been involved with nihilist groups who advocate destroying society through violence.
Surely this moment is a wake-up call!
It’s not just about politics. It’s about how our culture has grown comfortable with hatred. How we devalue people we disagree with. And how quickly dehumanizing words can turn into violent action.
I am grateful for today’s readings. They are exactly what we need to hear now. They remind us about the heart of God. And they challenge every person of faith to ask:
“Do I reflect God’s compassion… or the world’s contempt?”
Psalm 14 says, “The fool says in his heart, ‘There is no God.’” And what is the result of having this attitude? Corruption. Violence. Brokenness.
Jeremiah 4 paints the same picture. God grieves over the people. “They are skilled in doing evil,” God says, “but they don’t know how to do good.” And so the land becomes desolate, not because of God’s absence, but because humanity refuses to listen. Despite all the noise from people, the media and online, the chaos swirling and bubbling in our world isn’t just political—it’s spiritual.
When people cheer for someone’s death; when we define winning as destroying our “enemy”: when our posts, comments, or silence create and feed division: we are ignoring God. And that, according to Scripture, is foolishness. It’s sin. “Thou shall not kill,” is certainly about physical murder, but it’s also about social ways to kill. And to encourage and incite other people to murder.
Here are Paul’s words in 1 Timothy. He says: “I was once a blasphemer, a persecutor, a violent man… but I was shown mercy.”
Paul had a gruesome past. He hated Christians. He spied on them, so that he could turn them over to prosecution. He stood by as people were murdered, and even held the coats of the men who were stoning Deacon Stephen to death. He did everything he could think of to destroy the Gospel and those following Jesus. In Romans 5 he even included himself among the enemies of God. But what did Jesus do? He didn’t destroy Paul. Instead, he opened a way of transformation and salvation for him.
Why? Paul says: “So that others would see the unlimited patience of Christ.”
That includes me and you. That includes even those we may fundamentally oppose. There is no one outside the reach of God’s grace. So how dare we laugh and celebrate anyone’s destruction? Grace reminds us: I’m not better than “they”—those others– are. I am not part of the 99 righteous ones. I and so many others, are the lost sheep Jesus came to find.
In Luke 15, Jesus tells two stories about his attitude toward someone who is lost in sin. He talks about a shepherd who leaves his ninety-nine sheep, and a woman searching tirelessly for a lost coin.
Why? Because every soul matters deeply to God.
Jesus doesn’t say, “That sheep strayed, it deserves what it gets, even if that means it’s lost.” Instead, he chases after it.
The woman doesn’t say, “It’s just one coin.” She searches until it’s found, because every coin is precious.
This loving concern for each soul is at the heart of the promise we make at baptism:
“Will you seek and serve Christ in all persons, loving your neighbor as yourself?” And we answer: I will, with God’s help.
That’s not easy. Especially when the person whom we label “lost” is someone we don’t like, someone who angers us, someone who seems so far gone they can never find their way back to God and to our shared humanity.
But God doesn’t give up on people—and neither should we.
Our Baptismal Covenant also asks us:
“Will you strive for justice and peace among all people, and respect the dignity of every human being?”
The assassination of Charlie Kirk, indeed the celebration of it in some places, shows us how far we’ve drifted from the holy calling of loving as God loves and respecting the dignity of all people. The carelessness and selfishness that believe only people like us deserve respect even infects some of our young people and leads them to turn against other young people and adults.
We must not mirror the world. We must mirror Christ!
So here are questions for us to consider:
Will we grieve when any life is taken—regardless of politics?
Will we work to become aware of and repent for using language that wounds rather than heals?
Will we seek the one who’s lost, not with vengeance, but with love?
We need to be a people who reflect the Shepherd’s heart. Because if one person, one sheep, matters to God, then every person must matter to us, even the difficult ones, even the different ones, even the dangerous ones.
That’s the heart of our covenant. That’s the way of Jesus. And that’s what our world desperately needs. Our Boss says in Luke 6: “Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who abuse you,” even if they are political opponents.
As retired Presiding Bishop Michael Curry said, “If it’s not about love, it’s not about God.”
In the midst of the calamities in the world around us, this is the good news. Certainly, that God actively searches us out to welcome us home. And also, that we, as people of faith are given the great honor to be a central part of God’s search team. We are given the gift and the authority to assure people of God’s welcome. And to accompany them into God’s ever expanding community. Although we humans may be the source of plenty of troubles, we are also agents for reconciling people to the Creator.
Amen.
Praying daily with you, for our nation, our diocese, our parishes, and the world,
Mo. Laura
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COMING UP!
- Now-October 22 Boscov’s Friends Helping Friends Fundraiser: signup sheetattached
- October 3 5:30-8:00 Pasta Potluck
- November 14 7:00 Poor Man’s Gambit Concert
- November 16 9:00 ST. MARGARET’S DAY SERVICE and Reception
- Wednesday evenings, yoga class at 6:00 (discount for St. M members)
- Wednesdays, noonday prayer via zoom at 12:00
- Saturdays, Seventh Day Adventist congregation, 9:00-3:00