“Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to it! How often have I desired to gather your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you were not willing.”
On a Wednesday night, a lone gunman entered an historic African Methodist Episcopal church (Emanuel A.M.E.) and killed nine people, including the pastor Rev. Clementa Pinckney. The gunman was welcomed into that congregation to join in a time of Bible study and prayer. A wolf came amongst the sheep.
I have been weeping. So many in this country have been weeping and in shock over this horrible tragedy. I hope that we would continue to weep and to pray and, hopefully, to act.
As a child, I attended an African-American Baptist church, but as a young adult joined the A.M.E. Church. It was at Bethel A.M.E. in Boston that I found wholeness and healing and was launched into a life of lay ministry that would eventually evolve into ordained ministry. From that church, I returned home, in a sense, to The United Methodist Church. My husband and I had moved from Boston to Daytona Beach, Florida where we joined Stewart Memorial United Methodist Church.
I say that I returned home, because the A.M.E. church is a part of the Methodist family. As many of you know, it came about out of a history of racism within our precursor denomination—racism that forced Blacks who wanted to pray and worship freely to form another denomination.
Our United Methodist Church has done much over the decades to repent of that sin and to seek to form bridges with our A.M.E., C.M.E. and A.M.E. Zion brothers and sisters. Even now, United Methodists all over the world are mourning and weeping with the people of Emanuel A.M.E. That, in and of itself, is evidence of ongoing repentance and work for reconciliation.
But my hope is that we will not stop at weeping. This was the act of one obviously disturbed man. But, this also was an act of racial hatred and terrorism. And, it was an act within a particular context.
Over the last year, we have had conversations about methods of policing, and we have grappled with the deaths of black men at the hands of vigilantes and police. We have talked about a post-racial America after the election and re-election of our first African-American president. At the same time, we have heard insinuations that he is not American, and we have seen frequent chatter (on the internet and in social media) related to him or his family that is degrading and/or threatening.
We cannot ignore the context in which this lone gunman carried out this act. We cannot ignore the systemic brokenness of our society when it comes to race. Jesus wept over Jerusalem, because it was a city (a system) that killed the prophets that God had sent. The people of Emanuel A.M.E. are our prophets. They call out for honesty, justice and for healing. I hope that we hear them and hear God through them. God desires to gather us all as children—Black, White, Native American, Asian, Hispanic, Bi-Racial—as a hen gathers her brood under her wings. I pray that we are willing to be part of God’s one family—reconciled to all of our sisters and brothers.
A Prayer for Peace
God we pray for racial reconciliation, for forgiveness, and for healing around the world. We pray for an end to violence in families, in communities and between nations. We pray that we would realize that we are part of one human family no matter our race, ethnicity, nationality or religion. God help us to see each other as sisters and brothers. God bring us peace. In Christ’s name. Amen.
banner image courtesy Malcolm Brown / CC