We Must Keep the Faith

Based on Hebrews 11:1-3, 8-16
First delivered Aug. 11, 2019
Rev. Dr. Kevin Orr


            This will be the one that will finally get Congress to act. Where have we heard that one before? After every major mass shooting the national conversation goes back to legislating gun reforms. The shooting is so heinous and shocking. People cry out “enough is enough” and “do something” and “save your thoughts and prayers.” It happened after the Aurora shooting. It happened after Sandy Hook. It happened after Parkland. It happened after Orlando. It happened after Las Vegas. It happened after Charleston. It happened after Pittsburg. It is happening now after El Paso and Dayton. Is this the one that will finally turn the tide? Will our leaders at the federal level finally pass meaningful gun reforms in an attempt to reduce the madness?

            After the Sandy Hook massacre, when all those children were killed in school, when a poll indicated that 90% of Americans supported the legislation being considered in Congress, and yet the legislation was not passed…many people, myself included, thought that the debate was over. If legislation could not be passed after Sandy Hook, then no legislation will ever be passed. At least not for a generation. We are horrified by the mass shootings, although not as horrified as we used to be. Regularity leads to normalcy. Becoming numb to the pain and horror is a survival mechanism for our psyches. Apparently mass shootings are part of America, a unique experience that is a manifestation of who we are. We don’t like it but there’s nothing we can do about it. That’s what I thought when after Sandy Hook nothing changed. It wasn’t the last one. And there will be more. Many more.

            It’s not just mass shootings. Homicides continue to plague our streets. A few days ago, I was walking up Hague between Mound and Sullivant and saw two memorials of young people whose lives were taken by gunfire. Too often we hear of some kid playing around with a gun and it accidently goes off and kills their friend. I recently heard of a family who were responsible gun owners. The gun was in one place. The magazine was in another and the ammunition in a third location. It was all locked up. Nevertheless, their child broke the locks of all three locations and ended their life. There are more guns than people in our nation and every year thousands of people lose their lives at the hand of a gun, either by their own hand or someone else’s. This has been going on for decades. It seems hopeless that it can change.

            Still, when these shootings happen people call out for action. A week ago, when Gov. DeWine was at the vigil for the victims of the Dayton shooting, he was drowned out with people in the crowd chanting, “Do something!” Two days later, the governor held a press conference where he outlined a series of things that he wants to do with the support of the legislature, including universal background checks and the passing of a red flag law. Our president came out vocally in support of background checks and said that majority leader McConnel was on board and that the NRA will come along. Public outcry surely had an impact on getting these political leaders to at least say what they want to do rather than what can’t be done.

            But will the talk become action? Will we ever get to a time where mass shootings are a thing of the past, when it will only be read about in the history books? I wonder if we can get to the minimum standard of universal background checks.

            So far, the evidence suggests that things won’t change. That in the end our political leaders will buckle to the pressure of the gun lobby and a vocal minority of their constituents and not pass any meaningful legislation. That is what we have seen time and time again. If nothing changed after Sandy Hook, why will this time be different?

            Politicians talk, but there is no action. People gather to protest and hold vigils, but nothing changes. So, if it’s the same lack of results time and time again, why should anyone push for change in our gun laws? What’s the point of speaking up and applying public pressure if it appears nothing can be done to stop these mass shootings? The evidence suggests it is wasted effort. It appears the prudent thing to do is adjust to the new normal, be vigilant, be prepared to run, hide or fight. The evidence suggests that change is hopeless.

            Why keep pressing for change? If we rely only on past experience, then there is no reason to keep pushing. We aren’t going to find any inspiration for bringing about gun reforms in our society if we rely on past experience. So where will the inspiration come? What will keep us from falling into despair over the reality of gun violence in our communities? We keep pushing for change because we believe that things don’t have to be this way. We believe that mass shootings are not the new normal, not something to get adjusted to, not something we just have to accept. It is belief that things can change, in spite of the evidence, that gives us the strength to keep pushing for change in our society.

            And this is where hope and faith come in to play. We hear in the scripture this morning that faith is assurance of things we hope for and certainty of things we do not see. If we don’t see a society in which mass shootings no longer happen and we don’t see any action to reduce gun violence, that is where we have to draw on our faith, to believe that the way things are is not permanent, that things can be different, that mass shootings can be a thing of the past. Faith is the capacity to have vision for what will be. Faith is what allows us to envision a future where gun violence is a thing of the past. Faith and hope are what gives us the strength and inspiration to keep pushing for change, to not settle for the status quo or give up in despair that nothing will ever be different. I’m talking a lot about gun violence because that is at the front of all of our minds. But this is not only about gun violence. It is our faith and hope in God, the belief that God is making all things new, that God is about the work of redemption, of restoration, of reconciliation, of healing…that’s what God is about. And that’s what we are about as children of God. This is our task as Christians, to be about God’s work of mending society as we follow Jesus and live out the way of Jesus. We are God’s workers, we are the hands and feet of Christ, we are the ones through whom God is working to bring to pass the kind of world God desires. The beloved community that God envisions for the world does not come to be by magic. It doesn’t suddenly appear. It is a process of becoming through human actions guided by the Spirit of God. It is our faith and hope in God that keeps us engaged in this redemptive work that we are all called to participate in.

            All that said, Heb. 11:13 resonates in a big way. Our ancestors in the faith “did not receive the things God had promised.” In their lifetime their hopes did not become reality. They lived and died without God’s promises being fulfilled. The promise of God is that one day justice shall roll down like water and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream, when nation shall not take up the sword against nation, neither shall they learn war anymore. And the promises of God remain unfulfilled.

            But what does it say? Our ancestors who died in faith were not bitter or resentful, so the author of Hebrews writes. They saw the promises of God fulfilled from a long way off and they welcomed the fulfillment of the promises. They had visions of what God’s fulfilled promises would look like. They did not let their current circumstance limit their vision of what God will accomplish. As the old saying goes, our ancestors kept their eyes on the prize. Verses 15 and 16, “they did not keep thinking about the country they had left…instead, it was for a better country they longed for, the heavenly country.”

            Our ancestors trusted in God, the one who made visible what was invisible by speaking it into existence. If God can create the heavens and the earth, surely God can and will bring to pass the new heaven and the new earth. Our ancestors were confident that God will fulfill what God has promised. It wasn’t in their lifetime. But they saw it as a future reality that one day their descendants will enjoy. God will keep God’s promises. That is the faith that sustained our ancestors. It is this faith that can sustain us in these trying times when it seems this earth is far from heavenly.

            Will we see the end to mass shootings and gun violence in our lifetime? It is possible. Thirty years ago, when the Berlin Wall was torn down, I remember my dad say he never thought he would live to see that day. Twenty years ago, few believed that they would see a black man as president of the United States in their lifetime. Ten years ago, few believed that gay marriage would be legal in this country in their lifetime. Who is to say that five years from now mass shootings are no longer something we experience as a society? If enough people act, it could happen. Or not. But the time will come. Of that we can be sure. Why? Because we have the promises of God who loves the world so much that God sent his only son so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life. God sent the son into the world, not to condemn the world but to save it. And that salvation is not only about going to heaven and avoiding hell. Salvation is about overcoming sin and death with righteousness and life. It is about being made right with God. It is about experiencing new life, forgiveness, new possibilities, peace, wholeness, and joy in this life. Salvation is not just a future experience but a present reality. God is in the business of salvation, of redemption, of restoration, of making all things new. And what God has set out to do will be completed. The new heaven and the new earth will one day be manifest. Heaven and earth will be one. On these promises we must stand, firm in our faith, our hope placed on God. Not looking back. Not frozen in place. But, as Abraham of old, moving forward on the journey toward the land that God will show us, a vision of what God will do, a commitment to be the instruments of God’s unfolding vision. Now, more than ever, we must cling to this faith.

            Brothers and sisters, we live in a time where God needs us to be instruments of peace, to speak words of truth and comfort, to proclaim good news, to incarnate Jesus in the world. We live in a time where we need to open ourselves to the Spirit of God to give us dreams and visions of God’s beloved community and then to live into those visions. Now is the time for all of us to keep the faith, to be a people of hope who worship the God of hope, and keep moving forward, following Jesus, who is the author and perfecter of our faith. May it be so.