More Than Wearing Orange
Sermon by Rev. Mary Alice Mulligan, Ph.D.
Scripture: Matthew 5:43-48
Chicago native, Hadiya Pendleton participated in President Obama’s second inauguration festivities. Within days after returning home, she was killed in a mistaken gang shooting. Hadiya was 15. When her birthday approached in early June, her friends decided to honor her memory by wearing her favorite color, orange. They noted it is also the color hunters wear to keep them from shooting each other. Some people call it “Don’t Shoot Me Orange.” In the ten years since Hadiya’s death, the practice has spread across the country to wear orange on the first weekend of June, to mark her birthday, to remember those killed in gun violence, and to call for sensible gun laws. So here we are, many of us decked out in “don’t shoot me orange.” But there aren’t any sensible gun law passages of scripture. So after Psalm 8 and Micah 4, what else can we listen to? I guess we listen to what Jesus has to say.
When someone saw we were going to hear one of the really tough parts of the Sermon on the Mount, she shared how at Al Anon meetings, when the leader announces the topic will be “expectations,” everyone groans, because they know the topic is not about what to expect of others, but what to expect of oneself. In like manner, when we talk about drive-by shooting deaths and sensible gun laws, we prefer to hear what the gun manufacturers and lobbyists need to do. But we know if we hear Jesus preaching from the Sermon on the Mount, he will be talking about what we are supposed to do differently. Of course, we shouldn’t think following the Crucified Savior will be easy. It’s about more than wearing orange.
Matthew 5:43-48
You have heard that it was 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, so that you may be children of your Father in heaven; for he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the righteous and on the unrighteous. For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Do not even the tax collectors do the same? And if you greet only your brothers and sisters, what more are you doing than others? Do not even the Gentiles do the same? Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.
Gun violence is endemic. Deaths from firearms in the United States are overwhelming. If one looks at graphs of gun deaths around the world, country after country has a minimal number, but then there’s the US. The line goes into the stratosphere. Last weekend, we celebrated Pentecost, welcoming the arrival of the Holy Spirit with plenty of red all over the sanctuary. But the news had a very different story; still plenty of red, except it was blood not Spirit. At least 16 people were killed by guns with dozens more injured just over last weekend. In three days, more gun deaths than many countries experience in a full year.
So far in 2023, not yet half-way through the year, there have been over 7,600 gun deaths including murder, homicide, unintentional shootings, and defensive use. (note, this does not include suicides). If the rest of the year continues this pattern, well over 15,000 deaths can be expected. One additional, appalling fact: children finding a loaded, unlocked handgun and accidentally shooting and killing themselves or a young sibling is shockingly common. In January, a 5-year-old shot a 9-year-old. In March, a 3-year-old killed a 4-year-old. In April, a 6-year-old killed himself – all accidents, with accessible, loaded handguns, in their own homes. When those who keep track of these atrocities looked into it, the statistics reveal a child unintentionally shoots another child with an unsecured gun, nearly every other day in the US. Gun violence is an agonizing plague in the US.
But God wants life. The One who created each person breathes life into them on purpose. To bring life. The First Testament indicates God loves humankind fiercely. Then in the New Testament, we are taught Jesus is the presence of God among us, so Jesus is the living manifestation of God’s love. His teachings and actions reveal divine opposition to violence and hatred. Jesus is love incarnate, splashing divine love all over everyone. The Sermon on the Mount may sound like Jesus is correcting First Testament teachings, but he is actually intensifying the torah teachings he learned at his mother’s knee. He is expressing how God’s will is for every person’s wellbeing. Divine giving to humanity is extravagant; one commentator even says God’s giving is “nonsensical” because everything we need is all around us if we share. All is given freely from God’s hand. Those who struggle the most or find themselves most in need are the very ones Jesus reaches out to first. There is enough food, there is enough water, there is enough love, there is enough meaningful work, there is enough everything for everyone to have enough, because the Creator wants everyone to have enough. If we look at the creation of the world, clearly God’s intention from the very start was abundant life for every created thing.
So, God’s love must guide us, too. Our job is to imitate the love of Christ in all our actions. Unfortunately, when we are faced with ugliness all around us, or feel overwhelmed by hatred creeping in on every side, our inclination is to fight against it. We find ourselves ready to meet hatred with hatred. When guns take more lives every day, we can’t help but hate the guns and the smug faces that claim the Second Amendment allows people to have whatever weapons they desire, regardless of the outcome. So, we wear orange to indicate where our commitment lies, but we are called to more. We are called to change. Instead of responding with hatred, we are called to resist those emotions. We must not see gun supporters as enemies, because Jesus calls us to live out of the very heart of God, and there is no room in God’s heart for hatred. Jesus calls us to love our enemies, even if they persecute us. How can we love them?
A group of people recently discussed the importance of our treatment of “others.” In fact, someone said, “How you treat others is all that matters, not your religion or your words.” One of people present was a Native American elder who was asked if he agreed that how one treats “others” is most important. He looked confused and replied, “What others?”
There it is. It’s not only how we treat those we want to hate. We must be open to God’s changing our hearts, so we see everyone as part of us. There are no “others.” We need to devote ourselves to imitating God. Of course, we grieve for those who are killed, but we have to invite God’s love to have its way in our lives. If God desires the welfare of all, we must also, especially those with whom we vehemently disagree. We might ask ourselves what makes them so enamored of guns; what fear makes them shoot first and look later? Regardless of the answers to those questions, we must love them. Jesus says, “Love your enemies.” And we must pray for them. Jesus says, “Pray for those who persecute you.” What change would happen in us if we prayed honestly, fervently, for gun manufacturers, gun lobbyists, every gun owner in Florida, for NRA CEO Wayne LaPierre and Board President Charles Cotton. What changes might happen in their lives if we prayed for their wellbeing, for their sense of safety, peace, and joy? Might it drive out fear, the desire for weapons? Maybe it will change them, maybe. But first, praying for them will change us. If we honestly pray for and truly desire the welfare of all, we are changed. We become people filled with compassion and guided by love, which is what God wants for everyone.
When there is so much evil and hatred and fear in the world, praying for others seems useless. We feel strongly we should be doing something real. And certainly we need to do things. But first, pray. Invite God to change us, because loving all our siblings is very difficult. If we pray for peace and contentment for all our siblings, if we slather the world with so much love, might it be that no one would have a need to shoot anyone else? We might just discover, as we get closer to being filled with God’s love, that the whole world is changed, including us.