All
of us have been deeply affected by the horrible killing of the people
worshipping at the Tree of Life Synagogue in Squirrel Hill this past week by a
man who told the world how much he hated the Jewish people and that he was
“going in” to do something about it. The
something was to take four guns with him into the sanctuary of the synagogue
and to kill eleven people and to wound four others. He was wounded himself and taken to the
hospital under guard. Many charges were
filed against him and he faces severe punishment.
This event happened in the wake of
the mailing of pipe bombs to a large number of critics of President Donald
Trump by a man who is connected to radical right-wing organizations who value
white supremacy above everything. This
incredible eruption of hatred is coming as we near the midterm elections with
all of the name calling and destructive speech that seems to be connected to it. The very idea of one of the candidates
promising to dig golf spikes into the face of his opponent reminds us of how divisive
the politics in this country is becoming.
It’s almost as if we want to continue the Civil War with its hatred of
African Americans or World War II with the massacre of six million Jews at the
hands of the Nazis. In each of these
historical events there was tremendous loss of life as we set out to rectify
the damage that hatred was doing to this world.
It’s not like hatred is a new thing;
it’s been with us as long as we have had creation in this world. Hatred has fueled most of the struggles in
history and has caused enormous grief.
This latest eruption is another reminder of the work that we need to do
as human beings and as Christians to make the world that our God created to be
a reflection of God’s kingdom and not a place where we work our flawed will for
our own benefit.
In Mark’s gospel is a wonderful
dialogue between Jesus and one of the scribes who had been listening to the
Sadducees disputing with one another and who has asked Jesus “which is the
greatest commandment?” Jesus gave him
the answer that we have all heard from our Lord’s teaching; Love the Lord your God with all of your
heart, soul, mind and strength. This is
the first and greatest commandment and the second is like unto it: love your neighbor as a person like yourself. On these two commandments hang all of the law
and the prophets.
These are beautiful words and are
the answer to the hatred that exists in this world. I don’t know how many times that Jesus told
us to love one another. It is the
essence of the New Testament and the reason that Jesus came among us. He gave his life for all of humanity by dying
on the cross condemned by the hatred of the authorities whom he confronted, and
subsequently rose from the dead on Easter morning as a revelation to us of what
God has in mind for us when we finish this life on earth. Jesus’ life and ministry was a wonderful
expression of love for all of God’s creation.
His example hopefully will remind us of how to conduct ourselves when
hatred abounds.
