Dust and Ashes

After Pentecost (Proper 25) | Year A | Christopher Miner

I'm deviating from the Lectionary texts because I live in Maine. If you haven't heard what happened in Maine this week, this can get you up to speed.

Mass shootings are, unfortunately, not unusual in the US, but I still can't believe one happened here. I'm sure everyone who has lived through something like this thinks the same thing. But Maine is generally safe and rural, disconnected from this kind of madness and violence.

At least, that's what we who lived here thought until Wednesday.

Whether our gut reaction to this is to scream, swear, sob, be silent, or something else entirely, we as followers of Jesus have a role to play in the midst of this, and it's captured in Romans 12. Paul is getting near the end of his letter and is giving examples of how Jesus people live in love, and then writes this in verse 15:

Rejoice with those who rejoice; mourn with those who mourn.

The people of Maine are largely in mourning - we grieve the loss of life more than anything, but also the loss of our collective sense of security and well-being. We are hurt and fearful, wondering if this will happen again or if we are truly safe. We grieve much smaller things - my parents booked a hotel to watch my son play his football season finale, only to have the game postponed until next week. If you live in Maine you no doubt have lost something in the last few days, large or small, tangible or abstract. And our call as people of Jesus and his Kingdom is to enter into those loses with the people around us, to walk with them through it, to share their fear and sadness while also letting them share ours.

Jesus and his Kingdom are places of great hope, to be sure, and there comes a time to proclaim that as well. But in the midst of this kind of communal tragedy, the response of the Kingdom and it's citizens needs to be one of shared suffering. Jesus himself was no stranger to this, crying at the grave of his friend Lazarus even though he knew a miracle was coming. At that moment he simply joined in the sorrow of those around him, adding his voice to those of the mourners. Only after entering their pain did he bring Lazarus back. (See John 11 for the full story.)

The Psalms are full of poems and songs that cry out in anguish, anger and pain, and can help give a voice to our individual and communal sorrow - they are the Psalms of lament. (Psalm 90, which is part of this week's Lectionary readings, is one of them.) Some of the laments simply name the agonies experienced, some angrily scream for justice, some plead with God to act, some beg for God's mercy, and some end in faith that God will someday make things right. Their varied tones capture the shades of grief and loss we can feel when tragedy strikes, even if they were written in a very different day and age. Tragedy, pain, sorrow, and loss are unfortunately as old as history, but so is the presence of God and his people in their center. And now Kingdom citizens in Maine get to carry on this sad but holy duty with our neighbors.

In the book Common Prayer there is a prayer for "The Death of Someone Killed in the Neighborhood". Unless you knew some of the victims this probably doesn't apply perfectly, but feel free to adjust the words to fit your circumstances if you wish. And if you need someone to talk at or listen to you, leave a comment below.

___________________________________

Lamb of God

You take away the sins of the world

Have mercy on us.

Grant us peace.

For the unbearable toil of our sinful world,

We plead for remission.

For the terror of the absence of our beloved,

We plead for your comfort.

For the scandalous presence of death in your Creation,

We plead for resurrection.

Lamb of God

You take away the sins of the world

Have mercy on us.

Grant us peace.