Responding in Faith

From The Cafe-

A reflection on the mass murder in Las Vegas

The appalling massacre that took place in Las Vegas is almost too much to comprehend. The death toll and the numbers of injured are staggering. As is often the case, we will never fully know what was in the mind and heart of the shooter, or why a group of innocent people became the target of his rage. In the face of such unspeakable violence, there are loud and insistent voices coming from many sides. There are some who advocate arming ourselves to the teeth. Others call for the total disarmament of civilians. There are lots of folks in between these two extremes who are overcome with grief and sorrow, who despair of ever finding a way to stop what has become a familiar pattern of violence and bloodshed. There are no easy answers here, but that does not mean that there is nothing we can do. In fact, I believe that John the Baptist might teach us something about our response to the massacre in Las Vegas.

In the third chapter of Luke’s Gospel, the word of God comes to John the Baptist in the wilderness. John begins to preach in the area around the Jordan River, calling people to repent of their sins and be baptized, so that they might become a new people fit for the coming of the Lord. John is not subtle – he entices the crowds to the river’s edge, only to insult them by calling them a brood of vipers. He speaks in ominous terms about an ax that is already lying at the root of the trees, ready to destroy those that do not bear good fruit. John’s vision is radical: he is calling for a new kind of purity based not on one’s religious heritage, but on words and deeds that reflect the will of God.

More here-

https://www.episcopalcafe.com/responding-in-faith/