“When Jesus saw the crowds, he went up the mountain; and after he sat down, his disciples came to him. Then he began to speak, and taught them, saying: 

“Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. 

“Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted. 

“Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth. 

“Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled. 

“Blessed are the merciful, for they will receive mercy. 

“Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God. 

“Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God.”

To the Saints of Church of the Epiphany in Tempe,

Grace and peace to you from God our Father and our Savior Jesus Christ. 

It is with much sadness that I am writing to you today. In less than two weeks’ time, our country finds itself in the wake of another mass shooting. We find ourselves numb from the ongoing string of violence that afflicts the body of our nation. And, we find ourselves to be tired. Tired of hearing of the news of innocent people being killed with a well-aimed piece of lead. Tired of communities being torn apart through gun violence.

It is a time in which it is easy to feel resigned or hopeless. It is easy enough for us to think that we have no ability to change the direction of violence in our country. It is far too easy to become numb to the death of innocents in our streets when nothing has changed to curtail gun violence for so long. It is too easy to fall into living a life defined by fear. 

But, we are people of hope, and we believe in the power of God’s love to change the world. As those who follow Jesus Christ, we believe that words become flesh, and we believe that through loving God and loving our neighbor as ourselves that we can transform the world from a place of fear and violence into a place of justice and peace. 

In the farewell discourses of the Gospel according to John, Jesus says, “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled, and do not let them be afraid.” (John 14:27 NRSV) We are in a moment in which we need to take Jesus to heart. Jesus has gifted to us his peace, and we should not be afraid. Instead, we are invited to become the peacemakers who follow in the ways of God’s household and to be called children of God precisely because we follow in the peace Christ gives to us. We, as disciples of Jesus Christ, have not received a spirit of fear but a spirit of adoption to be children of God and joint heirs with Christ. When we call out Abba! Father!, we are witnessing to that very spirit that lives within us granting us the courage to love with abandon. (Rom. 8:15-17 NRSV)

And, we will continue that work of being peacemakers this evening at 5:30pm in the church. We will gather to pray for those who have been murdered, for the one who did the murdering, for those who grieve the loss of a beautiful child, and for those who respond to the ongoing epidemic of gun violence in our nation. We will fall in behind our bishops, united against gun violence, to pray for our leaders, for our nation, and for the world. We will grieve the loss of important members of our body, and we will commit ourselves to following in the footsteps of Jesus Christ. 

As we leave our prayers, we will be invited to take up action. As the Bishops United Against Gun Violence website says, “We offer this litany, once again, with the reminder that one does not pray in lieu of summoning political courage, but in preparation for doing so. Bishops United Against Gun Violence invite you to join in this litany and our commitment to take action so that our country can be freed from the epidemic of gun violence.“

But today, we will grieve with the families in Ulvalde, Texas. We will grieve with the families of Buffalo, New York. We will grieve with all the families who have lost a loved one to gun violence this year, which already numbers over 17,000 deaths. We will grieve, and we will lament the loss of life. We will seek God’s grace to transform us into people of peace and our nation into a place of peace. We will pray that God grants us the very spirit of adoption that gives us the courage to be the very peacemakers Christ invites us to become.

Let us pray. 

O God, You have bound us together in a common life. Help us, in the midst of our struggles for justice and truth, to confront one another without hatred or bitterness, and to work together with mutual forbearance and respect; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Grant, O God, that your holy and life-giving Spirit may so move every human heart and especially the hearts of the people of this land, that barriers which divide us may crumble, suspicions disappear, and hatreds cease; that our divisions being healed, we may live in justice and peace; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. 

In Christ,

Hunter+