A Message from the Rev. Joshua Sullivan, pastor of Christ the Good Shepherd Lutheran Church, Hamden, Connecticut, about the recent mass shootings in Uvalde, Texas, and Buffalo, New York:
I write to you all with a broken heart, and a pit deep in my gut. On the heels of horrific violence in Buffalo, New York, now I read that 19 little children and two adults are dead in Uvalde, Texas.
Another community is ripped apart, just like Sandy Hook 10 years ago here in Connecticut. We plead with God to give these people—and all people retraumatized by this brutality—peace and comfort amidst their grief. This is not what God intends for creation. Christ weeps again with us.
These are dangerous days. Not only do parents and grandparents have to worry that their beloved children will be murdered at school, at the movie theatre, at the grocery store… but we also might feel we have to watch carefully what we say in the days to come. From mental health funding to gun control legislation, from conspiracy theories to arming teachers—though some may be noble, all of these talking points avoid the heart of the matter.
I am in the strange and uncomfortable situation as a pastor: People think what I say about these things is important! It’s not. But what God says about these things does matter—killing is wrong because God loves life. Christ is in all things and in all people, and so again in Buffalo and in Uvalde, Christ himself is crucified again and again. Yes, of course, in Christ’s Resurrection we confess that the power of death and cruelty has been shattered. This is our hope. But still, with Christ, we weep.
Then the Lord said to Cain, “Where is your brother Abel?”
Genesis 4:9-10
He said, “I do not know; am I my brother’s keeper?”
And the Lord said,
“What have you done? Listen, your brother’s blood is crying out to me from the ground!”
Murdering children at school, murdering adults at a grocery store—these are acts of hopelessness. If pundits and commentators bandy words about this circus of death, it’s because they will not, or cannot, face the truth that our culture is very, very sick. Eighteen-year-old boys who kill and murder ought to be wept for too. As a nation, we have let them down, just as we have let down the parents mourning their own lost, precious children. The blame, collectively, rests upon our shoulders. May Christ have mercy upon us all.
As disciples of Jesus, we follow him only. And we follow him to the cross. We go on, knowing our path will lead through suffering, loss, rejection and death. Today, we are again at the foot of the cross. The blood of Abel cries out once more to God. We believe God does truly hear the cries of the hopeless, the grieving and the slain. Though the light of Easter burns still, today I’m sure it feels far off.
I pray we may be steadfast, at least as much as the Spirit will empower us to be—steadfast to endure these dangerous days and to speak courageously in them, steadfast in prayer for both enemy and friend, and steadfast in confessing that death is powerless and that hope yet lives.
I am yours in Christ,
Pastor Josh Sullivan