“Thus says the Lord: A voice is heard in Ramah, lamentation and bitter weeping. Rachel is weeping for her children; she refuses to be comforted for her children, because they are no more.”
– Jeremiah 31:15 (NRSV)
It puts all things into perspective when shots are fired in a Cary High School bathroom, and a 15-year-old walks into a Raleigh neighborhood and kills five innocent people. Our first response is to pray for the families of Mary Marshall, 35; Susan Karnatz, 49; Nicole Conners, 52; along with 16-year-old James Roger Thompson and Gabriel Torres, 29, an off-duty police officer on his way to work.
Sisters and brothers, all of us should pause and pray; this is how it should be. However, we must move beyond prayer toward action by asking what role the church plays in making much-needed change. What role do passionate spiritual disciples play?
What we do in the face of such senseless killing is as much a part of proclaiming the gospel as winning people to Christ. Can we call ourselves disciples of Jesus Christ and turn a deaf ear to the cries and calls for whatever is socially, religiously, and politically necessary to help prevent days like these?
Once again, we go back to struggling with the grief and pain of trying to make sense of gun violence. Sisters and brothers in Christ, this is becoming all too common in our country. We must not become immune and voiceless about this callous disregard for life. True disciples of Christ don’t stop at prayer but look for ways they can be an answer to the cries of young people and those who are hurt enough, or who are locked in darkness, that it causes them to senselessly, ruthlessly, and violently take another person’s life.
Yes, it is a good and right thing to pray for the victims and the city of Raleigh, but once we get up off our knees, what is the next faithful step in the face of sin, evil, and violence?
Lord, have mercy, Christ, have mercy. Comfort those who mourn and encourage, equip, and empower us with your Holy Spirit to faithfully do what is necessary to stop these shootings from happening over and over again.
Lord have mercy, Christ have mercy,
