“If I proclaim the gospel, this gives me no ground for boasting, for an obligation is laid on me, and woe to me if I do not proclaim the gospel! For if I do this of my own will, I have a reward; but if not of my own will, I am entrusted with a commission. What then is my reward? Just this: that in my proclamation I may make the gospel free of charge, so as not to make full use of my rights in the gospel. For though I am free with respect to all, I have made myself a slave to all, so that I might win more of them. To the Jews I became as a Jew, in order to win Jews. To those under the law I became as one under the law (though I myself am not under the law) so that I might win those under the law. To those outside the law I became as one outside the law (though I am not free from God’s law but am under Christ’s law) so that I might win those outside the law. To the weak I became weak, so that I might win the weak. I have become all things to all people, that I might by all means save some. I do it all for the sake of the gospel, so that I may share in its blessings.”      1 Corinthians 9:16-23

School Shooting Number 17:

“Police are investigating after a gunshot was fired in a Bronx school Thursday. It happened Metropolitan High School in the Longwood section around 3 p.m. Police responded to the call at 3:20 p.m. They found a bullet hole in the floor of a classroom inside the school. A 17-year-old is in custody, officials said. He is being questioned at the 41st Precinct. No injuries were reported.
The NYC Department of Education issued this statement about the shooting: “Students and staff are safe and this troubling incident is being investigated. We are treating this with the utmost seriousness and are working with the NYPD to ensure swift follow-up action is taken.” Sources say the student let off one shot, and no one was hurt. (Teen In Custody After Shot Fired Inside Bronx High School, Feb. 8, 2018, Eyewitness News, channel 7 ABC)

It is apparent to me, that many of the school shootings, and of course other shootings as well, it is apparent that broken relationships are often at the heart of shootings. A gun might be brought into school because someone feels threatened due to incessant bullying; someone feels jilted by a boy or girlfriend and wants to express their anger; or someone is trying to establish their authority within a group.

It’s all about relationships. I have a lot of people who stop by the church who we might refer to as “the disinherited”, “the marginalized”. Many of these people will stop by the church to ask for financial assistance or food, but they will not come on Sunday because they do not feel welcome or accepted. And yet we talk, and talk, and talk in the church about how we can be more welcoming to people from our community, especially the marginalized. Just because our doors are open on Sunday does not mean people will come on in. Until we are willing to open our doors and go out into the community to engage people and build relationships with them, then the doors to the church are not really open. The same is true within our society, and our communities. If we want people to feel more welcome, to feel less disenfranchised, to feel less desperate, we need to meet people where they are at and learn their stories. Then we might be able to share ours, and find how similar we really are.

Pastor Dave