In 2015, Dylann Roof sat through a Bible study class at the Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Charleston, S.C. and then fired more than 70 shots at attendees, Nine were murdered and one was wounded. Roof, a self-proclaimed ‘white supremacist’ said that he wanted to start at race war. He has been sentenced to death.
 

The Legacy of Racism

Confederate flags and shrines have a camplicated and sometimes ugly purpose. They remind us of the past but they are also a rally point for white supremacists. Two years after Dylan Roof's murderous acts,  New Orleans officials removed the Liberty Monument, an 1891 obelisk honoring a 19 ^th Century white racist paramilitary organization that tried to topple a biracial Louisiana government in the name of white supremacy. While New Orleans government officials tore down that monument, other citizens of New Orleans held a vigil protecting the statue of Jefferson Davis. In recent weeks, other southern local governments removed Confederate flags and statues, mostly in the middle of the night, for fear of repercussions.
 
A week ago Friday, in Charlottesville, Virginia, hundreds of mostly white men carrying torches marched towards a college campus church that was holding a prayer service against racism. They shouted Nazi slogans among other things. The next day, one of them drove a car into a crowd demonstrating against racism killing a young white woman, Heather Heyer, and injuring another twenty or so counter-demonstrators. The Bishops have joined the voices condemning white supremacy in particular and racism in general.

 Are some people chosen and others are not?

Based on the scriptures, I would say emphatically yes. We are chosen to bring God’s holiness into the world. 

Isaiah

Isaiah confronts Israel’s sense of being chosen, a special people with special privileges. Isaiah admits Israel is chosen. That is, chosen to be a “light to the nations” so that God’s house “… shall be called a house of prayer for all peoples.” Is. 56:7.

St. Paul

St. Paul picks up the ancient theme in his letter to the Romans. He is trying to explain why the Jewish people did not flock to Jesus although the Gentiles were coming in great numbers. Paul believes they are chosen. He said, “For if their rejection (Jews rejecting Christ) is the reconciliation of the world, what will their acceptance be but life from the dead?” Rom. 11:32. Israel cannot escape that it is chosen for God’s purposes, not its own. Why does St. Paul believe this?

The Gospel of Matthew

The Gospel tells the story of Jesus encountering a Canaanite woman. The Canaanites were the ancient enemies of Israel. She came to Jesus seeking healing for her child. Jesus puts her off, rudely, several times. She implored him,

She said, "Please, Lord, for even the dogs eat the scraps that fall from the table of their masters."  Then Jesus said to her in reply, "O woman, great is your faith! Let it be done for you as you wish."  And the woman's daughter was healed from that hour. Mt. 4.

 
She is one of the few people in scripture to whom he says, “great is your faith.”

The Image of God in the World

The only image of God in the world is his image in other human beings. His image is in Jews, Canaanites, and the young women killed in Charlottesville last weekend. His image is in the nine people killed by Dylann Roof. His image is also in Dylan Roof sentenced to death and the driver of the car that purposefully killed Heather Heyer in Charlottesville.
 
Racism, anti-Semitism, Nazism and all the other evil ‘isms’ are sacrilegious in that they attack the image of God in humanity. It is no coincidence, in my mind, that white supremacists attack Christians made in the image of God while at church in prayer. Because we believe God’s image and likeness is in all persons, we must publicly condemn the evil of racism and actively resist blasphemous ideologies that deny the image of God in others.
 

What can we do? Pray and Act!

Bishop Kicanas wrote the pastors of our Diocese this week. He said, that “the events in our country these past days have been most worrisome.  The level of violence and harsh divisions within our nation cause concern to all of us.” He asks us to pray, for an end to violence, racism, prejudice, and all that divides us as a nation.”

We must pray, but we also must act. Consider how in your friendships and community involvement you can speak and act in a manner that builds community, not tear it apart. Americans have grown to accustomed to dwelling on the failures in our society. The reason people want to come to our nation is the great good that is here. This violence is an assault on the common good. Speak and act in a way that respects others and builds our community and the common good. Especially when racism rears its ugly head! Nothing good can come of it.

Eternal rest grant unto Heather Heyer, O Lord, and let a perpetual light shine upon her. May her soul and all the souls of the victims of racism rest in peace. Amen.