Assassination Attempt Reflection

For those who are interested, these are the comments I made from the pulpit on Sunday, July 14 regarding the events of the previous day.

Before we turn our attention to our Scripture reading for the day, need to take a moment to reflect on yesterday’s events. It doesn’t matter what our political views are, because this is not a political statement. For those of us who follow the Prince of Peace, the attempt on former president Trump’s life should be a call for sorrow, for humility, and even for repentance. Humanly speaking, there is no place for violence in the political process, and so we should unequivocally condemn what took place yesterday. Spiritually speaking, there should be no place in us for hatred or contempt, and this is a moment for us to express our deep sorrow that we have allowed such darknesss to find its way into our speaking and even into our thinking. As Baptist Christians, we stand for the right of everyone to act from a place of individual conscience. We do not fear disagreement, because we trust in the power of the Holy Spirit to unify us across human distinctions. If God can make one people out of Jews and Gentiles, then our political labels are no barrier to him. But hardened hearts are. So, we can stand by our convictions while at the same time repenting of our anger towards and our fear of one another. If Jesus could forgive us as we nailed him to a cross, surely it is not too much to ask for us to love our neighbor, even if he votes differently than we do.

 Heavenly Father, all power and authority comes from you, and you have therefore called us to pray for those in places of authority. We pray for Mr. Trump, that you will heal him of his injuries. We pray for the families of those who lost their lives in yesterday’s events, that you would comfort them. We pray for President Biden and his administration as they respond to this moment. And we pray for us, that you would soften us toward one another. Break us of our pride, so that in a world of anger and vitriol, we can be witnesses of your love and mercy.  Through Christ our Lord we pray, Amen.