Love Driving Out Hate

After being away for the past two weeks it is good to be back home to see all that is happening with the work of restoring our church to its former glory following last winter’s storm damage.  The work will continue for several more weeks and therefore our Sunday services will be here in the parish hall.

We were in Canterbury, England for the 50^th anniversary to commemorate the martyrdom of Jonathan Daniels, a seminary classmate in the early 1960s. When Jonathan was in seminary he had a fieldwork assignment based at our Cathedral of St. John.  He worked on voter registration and other civil rights concerns with people in South Providence.  Then, in 1965, he took a leave of absence from seminary studies to do similar work in Hayneville, Alabama.  While there he was arrested and jailed for a week, then released on Sunday morning, August 20^th.  Along with others who were also released he walked across the town square to a cash store.  As they approached the store, a deputy sheriff emerged with a shotgun.  A few words were exchanged and the sheriff opened fire killing Jon as he stepped in front of a young women, Ruby Sayles, and saved her life while sacrificing his own.

Several classmates gathered in Canterbury Cathedral for a service of Evensong with many tourists and the men and boys choir.  At the conclusion of the service we processed up the side aisle to the Chapel of the Saints and Martyrs of Our Own Time.  During a moving contemporary musical setting of “Deep River” sung by the choir, the Dean censed the altar and then offered a prayer and blessing.  We lingered, posed for a group photo, and then adjourned for dinner hosted by the Cathedral.

Two days after this memorable event the massacre at Emanuel AME Church happened in Charleston, South Carolina.  Since then the media has been flooded with statements and articles about race and hate crimes.  The Rev. Madison Shockley a United Church of Christ pastor in California pointed out, “There is a great irony in the suspect’s choice of this church as the target of his hateful attack. The African Methodist Episcopal Church was founded in 1787 in Philadelphia by Richard Allen to create a church where whites and blacks could worship in equality.…  In 1816, Morris Brown and thousands of other blacks decided to found “Mother” Emanuel AME after leaving the Methodist Episcopal churches in Charleston and surrounding areas” because of discrimination.

From its beginning the AME Church was committed to justice for many of the freed slaves who attended their services.  It was the first independent black denomination in the United States.

The pastor of Charleston’s modern-day Emanuel AME, the Rev. Clementa Pinckney,… not only served the church but also served in the South Carolina Legislature for nearly two decades. He was known locally for his leadership of the community’s response to the April police killing of Walter Scott, an unarmed black man in North Charleston.  Both the Emanuel church and the Rev. Pinckney were important symbols to the black community and to South Carolina as a whole.

Racism in America did not end with the Emancipation Proclamation in 1863 or with the Civil Rights Act of 1964.  Racism continues as a serious problem throughout our history down to the present day.  In an unprecedented act at the bail hearing for Dylann Roof, family members of the deceased offered forgiveness and prayers for him. This is in keeping with the theology of the black church best expressed by Martin Luther King: “Hate cannot drive out hate: only love can do that.”

It is the love and healing work of reconciliation that is so needed today.  This is why the Center for Reconciliation we are developing is so important.  Reconciliation is about building equitable and respectful relationships to restore unity with God and one another.  It involves enabling people to tell their stories, stories of anger and stories of hope that will lead to healing our divisions through truth and love.

In our Gospel this morning Jairus, the leader of the synagogue, came to Jesus pleading for help.  He said, "My little daughter is at the point of death.  Come and lay your hands on her, so that she may be made well, and live."  In this scenario a relationship was established, communication was realized, and the powerful current of love was established.  Jairus’ plea was a prayer for help; he trusted that Jesus was the one who could respond to his daughter’s sickness.

In spite of the objections of others who thought Jesus should not be troubled because Jairus’ daughter was already dead, Jesus went with Jairus to his house.  When they came to the house… he saw a commotion, people weeping and wailing loudly. He said to them, ‘Why do you make a commotion and weep?  The child is not dead but sleeping.’" After sending the others outside, Jesus “went in where the child was. He took her by the hand and said to her, ‘Little girl, get up!’ And immediately the girl got up and began to walk about (she was twelve years of age).”

This story of Jairus’ daughter is a magnificent story about faith, love, and the power of prayer.  It is Mark’s way of talking about death and resurrection.  Jesus is a healer; he can even bring new life to the dead.  The girl was presumed dead; Jesus took her hand and said that she should get up.  She arose and began to walk.  She was restored to life and made free by the grace of God.

As Marcus Borg writes in his book, The Meaning of Jesus, “Jesus discovered he had this [healing] ability and used it because he was compassionate and wanted to help people.”  Healing was central to his mission.  Healing and God’s love for all people are central to our commemoration of Jonathan Daniels’ murder, the massacre of nine worshipers in Charleston, South Carolina, the victims of violence every day in our country, and the reconciling work we must do.   Amen.