The Tears Of A Crown

TITLE: THE TEARS OF A CROWN

SCRIPTURE: ISAIAH 53:3a

We have all watched in horror as the news media has replayed the events of two weeks ago and we have watched it over and over again on our television sets. A man walks into a local Wal-Mart in El Paso, Tx and takes the lives of 22 people and injuring over two dozen others. He drove for over 9 hours to take the lives of those that don’t look like him. And then less than 12 hours later a man walks outside a night club in Dayton, Oh, and guns down 9 – one being his own sister and her boyfriend. Thankfully he never made it into the nightclub alive where he could have done extreme damage and perhaps taken more lives.

Before that dreadful weekend, there were 18 high-profile, mass shootings at least as deadly as Dayton in the past dozen years, including –

• At a Concert in Las Vegas, Nevada

• At the Pulse Nightclub in Orlando, Florida

• At Virginia Tech University in Blacksburg, Virginia

• At a Church in Sutherland Springs, Texas

• At a Church in Charleston, South Carolina

• At an Elementary School in Newton, Connecticut

• Sadly, the list goes on and on

In the midst of all this pain is the big picture, we have been telling children -

• How much God Loves them

• That God Knows them

• That God Hears them

• That God Strengthens them

• And we send them out to share God’s love with others

We send them out into a world where a gunman can walk into a Nightclub -- An Elementary School -- A High School -- A Movie Theater -- A Church -- and people die.

The amount of mass shootings across the U.S. so far in 2019 has outpaced the number of days this year, according to a Gun Violence Research Group. This puts 2019 on pace to be the first year since 2016 with an average of more than one mass shooting a day. As of Aug. 5, which was the 217th day of the year, there have been 255 mass shootings in the U.S. We should be shocked by this because we live in the United States and things like this aren’t supposed to happen here. This should not be our reality.

The sad reality is knowing Christians in America hold diverse views about guns and gun culture.

• Some Christians have never owned or fired a gun

• Others, primarily evangelicals and fundamentalists, appear to revere or at least give credence to the Second Amendment as if it were nearly on par with the Bible

• They seem to think that appealing to it should settle the matter

• Therefore, nothing gets done

• We just wait for the next Mass Shooting in our nation

• If we are not careful, we will become immune to them

A proper interpretation and application of the Second Amendment would settle the matter legally. However, this would not settle the matter morally or spiritually. The mixture of faith - patriotism -- and the veneration of the constitution, and in particular the Second Amendment, is worrisome.

As America grapples with a relentless tide of gun violence, pro-gun activists have come to rely on the Second Amendment as their trusty shield when faced with mass-shooting-induced criticism. In their interpretation, the amendment guarantees an individuals right to bear arms—a reading that was upheld by the Supreme Court in its 2008 ruling in District of Columbia. v. Heller.

• The Second Amendment doesn’t say what you think it does

• The amendment protects gun ownership for purposes of military duty and collective security

• It was drafted, after all, in the first years of post-colonial America

• An era of scrappy citizen militias where the idea of a standing army—like that of the just-expelled British—evoked deep mistrust

• It is about time our Congress and Senate wrestle with the direction of our nation as it pertains to high powered weapons in the hands of its citizens

I see in the El Paso shooting which stirs up the ongoing battles and divisions within our communities --

• The Islamic community

• The LGBTQ community

• Gun control

• Immigration

• Democrats and Republicans act like enemies

• House of Representatives and US Senate behave like Squabbling Children

• The President of this nation has no desire to bring our country together

• And the hatred, violence and division swirls around me, and I am oftentimes overwhelmed

And it makes it seem like the Gospel is just a good Novel to read. Like it is just a Pollyanna wishful thinking where we Sugar-Coat the harsh reality of life.

• How can I hold up a candle to this?