“So by your knowledge those weak believers for whom Christ died are destroyed. But when you thus sin against members of your family, and wound their conscience when it is weak, you sin against Christ. Therefore, if food is a cause of their falling, I will never eat meat, so that I may not cause one of them to fall.” 1 Corinthians 8:11-13

School Shooting Number 15:

Two teens have been charged with attempted murder in the shooting of an Oxon Hill High School student Monday afternoon. Prince George’s County police said 17-year-old Zanaya Bryant and 18-year-old Anthony Hollingsworth, both of Clinton, Maryland, are being charged as adults in the shooting. The victim is a 17-year-old 11th-grade student at the school. The student was shot twice in the chest about 5:15 p.m. Monday after getting inside an SUV with Bryant and Hollingsworth in a parking lot on the periphery of the Oxon Hill High campus, police said. Police said Bryant and the student who was shot were acquaintances and that the motive may have been robbery. Earlier, police had said the shooting came after an altercation involving the students. The student who was shot exited the SUV and ran back into nearby Oxon Hill High where staff members called 911, police said. The student was taken to the hospital and was initially listed in critical condition. His condition improved to stable, and police said Tuesday afternoon he had been released from the hospital.”  (Two Teens Charged With Attempted Murderin Shooting of Oxen Hill High Student, by Jack Moore, Feb. 6, 2018, wtop.com)

For anyone to say that this is a “School Shooting”, well, I hope they realize that including this in their list challenges their integrity. Of course, let me ask you, does the definition of a “school shooting” have to include just shootings that happen in a school building during school hours?

Let’s talk about something I would like to call “Integrity Theology” – the thinking that one is morally or intellectually better than others based upon their knowledge and facts. There are plenty of people you know that if you challenge them to think or consider something from a different point of view, just the fact that you ask them challenges their integrity. The sinful nature of “Integrity Theology” can invade our Lenten disciplines: the thinking in Lent that “Because I’m free in Christ, justified by faith, I don’t need to maintain my Lenten discipline – after all, my faith and integrity is better than those weaker believers.” Integrity theology – or maybe call it “I’m holier than you” theology – or “my views are more correct than your views” theology. This is, perhaps, why we cannot get along with each other in this world – because we are unwilling to consider anyone else’s point of view. Only my views are right, correct, valid, and knowledgeable. And to consider your point of view will threaten my integrity.

So, maybe this is why we need Lent – among other reasons for Lent. It should be humbling and some relief that we do not need to pretend we are more mature in our faith than others. It’s an opportunity to entertain the notion that maybe we are weaker than we thought, that we stumble more readily than we would like to admit, or that maybe we do not know as much as we pretend to know. There is freedom in saying, “I need help. I am not where I want to be. I want you to tell me your point of view so I can discern more how we can move forward.”

I hope we feel free enough to get in touch with our own weakness and lack of knowledge this Lent and, in so doing, grow in compassion for those around us, who are struggling along just like we are.

Pastor Dave

“Hurry and go up to my father and say to him, ‘Thus says your son Joseph, God has made me lord of all Egypt; come down to me, do not delay. You shall settle in the land of Goshen, and you shall be near me, you and your children and your children’s children, as well as your flocks, your herds, and all that you have. I will provide for you there—since there are five more years of famine to come—so that you and your household, and all that you have, will not come to poverty.’ And now your eyes and the eyes of my brother Benjamin see that it is my own mouth that speaks to you. You must tell my father how greatly I am honored in Egypt, and all that you have seen. Hurry and bring my father down here.” Then he fell upon his brother Benjamin’s neck and wept, while Benjamin wept upon his neck. And he kissed all his brothers and wept upon them; and after that his brothers talked with him.”  Genesis 45:9-15

School Shooting Number 14:

“A 12-year-old girl was booked on suspicion of negligent discharge of a firearm Thursday after a shooting at Sal Castro Middle School left four students injured, authorities said. Los Angeles police do not believe that the shooting was intentional, spokesman Josh Rubenstein said Thursday evening. “At this time, the information suggests that this was an isolated incident, involving the negligent discharge of a firearm, where innocent children and a staff member were unfortunately injured,” the LAPD said in a statement. The girl was taken to Los Angeles County‘s Central Juvenile Hall. The gunfire erupted in a classroom at the school in the Westlake neighborhood shortly after the opening bell and caused numerous students to run from the area, according to Los Angeles police Officer Drake Madison. A semiautomatic handgun was recovered from the scene. (School shooting that injured four students now believed unintentional, police say; 12-year-old girl is booked, latimes.com, by Ruben Vives, Feb. 1, 2018)

Is Joseph a paragon of mercy and grace? Was he able to write off his brothers’ crime as a “boyish prank”? Who is the primary agent in this story – Joseph and his ability to forgive, or G-d whose mercy continues to grace Joseph’s story and Joseph’s life? Will Joseph be able to extend grace after he himself received God’s grace?

Can we forgive someone who is accused of “negligent discharge” of a firearm? What exactly is “negligent discharge” of a firearm? Here are some examples of behavior that could lead to charges of negligently discharging a firearm:

• After his favorite baseball team wins the World Series, a man fires his gun into the air during a celebration in a park.
• A 12-year-old boy finds a loaded gun that belongs to his father and decides to engage in some target practice by shooting at toys in a room where his younger sister is playing.
• A woman is showing off a gun she owns at a crowded party. When a man laughingly suggests that she probably doesn’t know how to use it, she shows him that she does by firing a shot at a dart board hung on the wall.

Each and every day there are ways we can be negligent, and sometimes we do several of them in one day. If you ever have started pumping gas into your automobile and walked into the store to buy something, or use the bathroom, you are being negligent. If you ever have seen your child watching a video, or the television, and decided to close your eyes for a quick nap, you are being negligent. If you have driven your car with your cat or dog along for the ride, and they are not properly secured in some restraint, you are being negligent. 

We might be negligent with our behavior, even be negligent toward our family and our neighbor, but we should not be negligent with our relationship with G-d. Joseph’s brothers would come to learn that their personal jealousies and coveting made them negligent with their relationship with G-d. Joseph never abandoned that relationship – and that relationship formed his response to his brothers – “what you intended for evil, G-d intended for good”. Our challenge is to find the good in all experiences – or at least find what we can learn about ourselves, our relationships with others, and our relationship with G-d. In this season of Lent, let us not be negligent with our love of and trust in G-d.

Pastor Dave