“Think of us in this way, as servants of Christ and stewards of God’s mysteries. Moreover, it is required of stewards that they be found trustworthy. But with me it is a very small thing that I should be judged by you or by any human court. I do not even judge myself. I am not aware of anything against myself, but I am not thereby acquitted. It is the Lord who judges me. Therefore do not pronounce judgment before the time, before the Lord comes, who will bring to light the things now hidden in darkness and will disclose the purposes of the heart. Then each one will receive commendation from God. I have applied all this to Apollos and myself for your benefit, brothers and sisters, so that you may learn through us the meaning of the saying, “Nothing beyond what is written,” so that none of you will be puffed up in favor of one against another. For who sees anything different in you? What do you have that you did not receive? And if you received it, why do you boast as if it were not a gift?” 1 Corinthians 4:1-7

 School Shooting Number 6:

(MARSHALL, TX) – The Marshall Police Department is investigating a shooting that occurred on the Wiley College campus.  On Monday, January 15, at approximately 12:15 a.m., officers responded to the area of University Avenue near Wiley Avenue on reports of gunshots. Preliminary reports indicate that a black sedan entered the Strickland Hall parking lot and possibly exchanged gunfire with a person who was in the parking lot. It is believed the black sedan was occupied by two subjects. The suspects in the sedan crashed into a retaining wall, causing damage to the retaining wall and the vehicle. The vehicle left the scene prior to officers arrival. During their investigation, officers discovered that a bullet went through a window in one of the Strickland Hall dorm rooms. Three female students were inside the dorm room at the time of the shooting and no injuries were reported. It is not believed that the dormitories were the target of the shooting.” (www.ktbs.com, “Shooting Reported at Wiley College in Marshall”)

It happened in the blink of an eye. Did you ever hear someone say that? The shooting of Pope John Paul II in 1981 – happened in the blink of an eye. So did the assassination of President John Kennedy. One minute John Lennon was signing an autograph for John Hinkley Jr. – and in the blink of an eye he pulled out a gun and shot the former member of “The Beatles”.

 In the 6^th shooting that happened in a school in 2018, if just one of the three girls in the dorm room had been just a few feet in another direction, the bullet may have hit them – and killed them. This shooting is not like most school shootings – it was a random act where the shots were intended for another target. Of course, how could we refer to a shooting as a random act? And yet too often the police will refer to a shooting as just that – a random act. Shouldn’t we be doing random acts of kindness rather than random shootings? Of course you know the answer. But every day we learn about a shooting where it seems someone was shot in a random act of violence.

What has become of our society? When I was a kid, a shooting was an unususal event – and usually not random. For example, on August 1, 1966, Charles Whitman stabbed his mother and his wife to death. He then climbed to the observation deck on top of the Main Building tower at the University of Texas at Austin, and for the next ninety minutes he randomly and indiscriminately shot people in the courtyard below. He eventually killed seventeen people, wounded thirty – and thus began the modern era of mass shootings. It was still an unheard of event in the 1970’s there were only thirteen mass shootings that decade. But by the 1990’s there were forty-two mass shootings in America.

My friends, the change in our society – the disregard for life did not happen in the blink of an eye. It happened slowly, over time, right in front of our eyes, as if in a slow-motion montage. Claiming our sanity and security and valuing life again will not happen in the blink of an eye either. It will take time, prayer and living faithful lives. It will require the power of the Holy Spirit. It will require all of me, all of you – all of us being stewards of G-d’s love, mercy and Grace.

Pastor Dave