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Blog – Paying My Respects 3.2.2011

Yesterday afternoon as I headed down First Avenue North, I noticed that there were more people than usual out. One or two people here, a few gathered there, along the sidewalk, block after block, on a stretch of street where one seldom sees a pedestrian. I wondered what was going on. Then I saw a man, standing near a pick up truck, with a hand made cardboard sign that said, “Thank you David.” Now I knew what this was about. This had something to do with the Police Officer David Crawford who was killed recently. As it turned out, the funeral procession was to head down First Avenue, and people were coming out to pay their respects. I pulled over and parked and joined them.

The procession included a huge contingent of law enforcement officers on motorcycles; more motorcycles, it seemed, than you would ever see even in a Shriner’s Parade! The police cars came next. And they kept coming. And coming. For almost a half an hour. And while the majority were from the St. Petersburg Police Department, there were cars from other jurisdictions statewide as well. Cruiser after cruiser.

A woman across the street from me called out, “I’m sorry,” again and again as the police vehicles passed. Another woman with her son, about the age of the young man who killed officer Crawford, watched solemnly as the procession went by. She had her hand on her heart. One spectator left in the middle of the procession, apologizing to those of us nearby. He had to go because he didn’t want be late for work. There we were. Varying ages, races, and backgrounds, all paying our respects.

There were so many police. Car after car after car. I had no idea St. Petersburg had that many police officers. Some of the officers waved and said, “Thank you,” as they passed. And to think that every one of them goes to work each day not knowing whether or not they will come home after their shift. Not knowing what might happen. Putting their lives on the line. It was truly amazing and moving to see that there are so many people willing to risk their lives for the sake of others. Those of us paying our respects should have been the ones saying, “Thank you,” as they passed.

What does it mean, this paying our respects? Maybe we should be paying our respects to the police who are alive by creating a community where people are educated and have meaningful work and do not feel that they need to resort to crime to survive. Maybe we should be paying our respects to the police by helping people who have been to prison to return to society and make a legitimate contribution. Maybe we should be paying our respects to the police who “protect and serve” by working to eradicate the culture of violence that is taking over like a malignant cancer.

Maybe we can pay our respects to the police by expecting them to direct traffic when a traffic signal is not working, and help someone who is locked out of their home, and return a lost dog. Not face armed combat on the streets. Will we line up for that? That’s how I want to pay my respects.

Risky Business

Date: February 20, 2011
Scripture Lesson: Matthew 5: 38-48
Sermon: Risky Business
Pastor: Rev. Kim P. Wells

In 1978, Michael Hart, a scientist with advanced degrees in law, physics, and astronomy, published a book called the The 100: A Ranking of the Most Influential Persons in History. The book was revised in 1992 to reflect events that had transpired in the intervening 14 years, but the top three most influential persons remained the same on Hart’s list. As we review a portion of Hart’s ranking, it is important to remember that his list reflects those he considers most influential, not necessarily the greatest.

So, the moment we’ve all been waiting for: Who is number one in Hart’s ranking? Hart starts his list with Muhammad who lived from 570 – 632 CE. Why Muhammad? Hart defends his choice noting that Muhammad was not only the founder of a major world religion, but also an extremely effective political leader. In terms of Islam, he developed the religion, outlined its moral and ethical tenets, established its religious practices, proselytized to gain adherents, and is personally responsible for the Quran, the holy scripture of Islam.

As a political leader, Muhammad led the Arab conquest, extending the Arab empire from India to Spain and into northern Africa, making it the largest empire known in human history at the time. So Hart believes that Muhammad is the most influential person in human history.

Second on Hart’s list is Isaac Newton, the scientist who lived from 1642 to 1727. Newton developed a unified system of laws with an enormous range of application that still governs science and mathematics today.

By now, you may be wondering, Where is Jesus of Nazareth on Hart’s list of the 100 most influential persons in history? Well, we are coming to that. Jesus is number three. Hart explains this ranking noting that Jesus is the inspiration for the most influential religion in history, but he did not actually found Christianity. Nor is he responsible for its scriptures, or its worship practices, or for proselytizing and gaining adherents to a new religion. Hart notes that much of this can be attributed to Paul. Jesus died with a relatively small group of followers. We don’t know much about his life from a historical standpoint. And he left no writings. While he was an ethical, spiritual leader, unlike Muhammad, he was not a political leader. Hart notes that Jesus is responsible for the basic ethical ideas of Christianity, its basic spiritual outlook, and its main ideas concerning human conduct. He cites what he considers Jesus’ most unique contribution as a spiritual leader: The teaching from the Sermon on the Mount that we heard this morning.

“You have heard it said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you…” Hart points out that these ideas were not a part of the Judaism of Jesus’ day, nor of most other religions. He goes on: “They are surely among the most remarkable and original ethical ideas ever presented. If they were widely followed, I would have had no hesitation in placing Jesus first in this book.”

Hart continues, “But the truth is that they are not widely followed. In fact, they are not generally accepted. Most Christians consider the injunction to “Love your enemy” as – at most – an ideal which might be realized in some perfect world, but one which is not a reasonable guide to conduct in the actual word we live in.” [Quotes and ideas related to Muhammad, Newton, and Jesus are from The 100: A Ranking of the Most Influential Persons in History by Michael Hart, 1992]

I am interested in this phrase, “a reasonable guide to conduct.” What is a reasonable guide to conduct? Love your enemy may not seem reasonable, but is it reasonable to perpetrate two wars, with enormous destruction and loss of life, in retaliation for one terrorist attack, heinous as it was? Is it reasonable to spend $1 trillion on those wars and kill an undetermined number of people, since we don’t seem to think it is important to keep accurate track of civilians killed? Is it reasonable to deprive people of needed health care, medication, social services, and education, to fund these wars?

We can extend this line of thinking: Is it reasonable to maintain an ever increasing population of incarcerated people, instead of making a significant investment in rehabilitation? Is it reasonable to punish people who have done wrong, and then prevent them from re-assimilating into society in a legitimate way? Is it reasonable to perpetrate violence to the earth, which sustains all life, citing immediate economic considerations?

This past week, we saw the money allocated for high speed rail, which would have made a significant contribution to needed mass transit in Florida, scuttled by our governor. Was that reasonable? Is it reasonable to keep driving cars powered by dwindling reserves of fossil fuel and build ever bigger and better freeways? Is that reasonable?

In the newspaper this past Thursday, in the business section, there was an article entitled, “CEOs not on Scott track.” Robert Rohrlack, CEO of the Greater Tampa Chamber of Commerce reminds us that roads, like rail, “do not pay for themselves either.” And Chris Steinocher, newly named CEO of the St.Petersburg Chamber of Commerce, says he understands the pressure on the governor to balance the budget and protect the economy from undue risk. But, regarding the high speed rail initiative, he asks, how much risk is there in Florida doing nothing? [St. Petersburg Times, 2/17/11]

When we look at the core, unique teaching of Jesus, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, as Hart notes, we consider this impractical and unreasonable. Too risky. And yet, how much risk is there in doing nothing – in ignoring this core, ethical standard? The cost has been beyond calculation in terms of lives lost, invention and technology devoted to armed defense instead of enhancement of human life, and in terms of resources devoted to violence and its aftermath, instead of human uplift and enhancement of quality of life, especially for those on the bottom. There is a cost to ignoring this teaching. So we are left wondering just how practical we have been with the path we have chosen, the path of conquering, subduing and punishing our enemies. Has it really been that reasonable and the cost justifiable?

In concluding his remarks on the influence of Jesus in the book The 100, Hart comments on the “Love your enemy” teaching of Jesus: “We do not normally practice it, do not expect others to practice it, and do not teach our children to practice it. Jesus’ most distinctive teaching, therefore, remains an intriguing but basically untried suggestion.”

So, Jesus remains third on Hart’s list of the 100 most influential persons in history not because of what he has done, but because of what his followers have not done. I know that love of enemy does seem reasonable or practical in the world as it is. I know that our society, our government, our world, will not adopt this as a guiding ethical principle in our lifetime or maybe ever. But we, as Christians, are called to be salt and light. The core teaching of Jesus and Christianity, Love your enemy, may not become dominant but it can still have great influence. The ethical standard of Jesus can have a much greater impact on the world if it is accepted and practiced by the people claiming to be the body of Christ. Yes, there may be great risk and sacrifice involved. But there is also an enormous risk and maybe even a greater cost to ignoring the heart of the teaching of Jesus: Love your enemies. Amen.

A reasonable effort has been made to appropriately cite materials referenced in this sermon. For additional information, please contact Lakewood United Church of Christ.

Blog – Another Police Officer Killed 2.23.11

This morning I woke up to the headline “The Hunt Ends.” The pensive face of a young man, perhaps too young to shave, eyed me from the above-the-fold picture on the front page. My heart was heavy as I read that a 16 year old child, so close in age to our own 15 year old son, has shot and killed a police officer.

Several weeks ago in church, Adrien Helm offered a prayer of gratitude for an insight she received at a workshop related to helping young people who are at risk: Instead of asking, “What is wrong with you?” workshop participants were encouraged to ask, “What happened to you?”

I find myself wondering what happened to this young person, Nicholas Lemmon Lindsey, that he shot and killed a police officer, effectively ending his own life as well? What happened in such a short life to lead to such a devastating result? The actions of this one young person have traumatized not only a family, but friends, the police force, public officials, and the city as a whole. What happened to the teenaged Gibbs student?

In the aftermath of the shooting outside the grocery store in Tucson, where Representative Gabrielle Giffords was wounded and others killed, Congressman C. W. Bill Young, R-Indian Shores, FL, reflected on the tragedy concluding, “It’s not American.” (St. Petersburg Times, 1/9/11, 4A) I completely agree with Young. The Tucson shootings, the killing of three St. Petersburg Police officers in a month, and countless recent acts of fatal gun violence, are “not American.”

So, I am wondering, instead of asking, “What is wrong with us?” posing the question, “What has happened to us?” What has happened to us as a nation, a society, a culture, that we have come to this point? The headline today declares, “The Hunt Ends.” I think that we need to continue the hunt for what has happened to us that has caused our society to degenerate into such violence. We need to honestly explore our collective history without judgment or blame, seeking insight from our past experiences. This hunt needs to be pursued so that we can discover ways to heal from the devastating violence that is traumatizing our society.

While the hunt for the person who shot and killed St. Petersburg Police Officer David Crawford has ended, may our hunt continue, not for what is wrong with us, but for what has happened to us that we have become so consumed by violence.