The Fifteenth Sunday after Pentecost

+ In the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen.

This past Monday two men were murdered outside of an LGBTQ+-bar, the Venture-N. Their names were Vincent Anthony Siqueiros and Cameron Davis Capara. They were celebrating a friend’s birthday, and they were murdered for being queer by a man who had a list of other LGBTQ+ establishments in his pocket.

Violence and death is a tragedy. The murder of people due to hate is cruel.

 Sin, my friends, is alive and real.

On Wednesday evening, several of us attended a vigil for Vincent and Cameron at Catalina Park. Several news outlets reported over a thousand people present in solidarity, along with clergy from different denominations and faith traditions.

The vigil was deeply moving, and heart breaking. A moment carved out of the frenetic daily round to be in grief with one another. To be a visible and tangible body of support for the families, and the broader queer community in Tucson.

While gathered, I couldn’t help but contemplate the words which Christ speaks today, “For where two or three are gathered in my name, I am there among them.” (Matt. 18:20)

Why do we, as Christians, show up to vigils? Why do we show up to places where the grief of our death-dealing world is sharp and pronounced?

As followers of Christ, one reason why we show up is because we act as ambassadors of our loving Lord. When we gather and squarely face the brokenness of the world, we gather with Christ.

We bear witness to the evil and violence of a sinful world and cry out, “Lord, have mercy.”

We bear witness against the evil and violence of a sinful world. By showing up as servants of the living God, we live that great Gospel proclamation of John 1:5, “The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overtake it.”

And that proclamation is Christ’s proclamation, too.

We bear witness to the grief carried by our divine, image-bearing siblings and help shoulder that grief.

And that grief is Christ’s grief, too.

As servants of the crucified God, of the living God, we show up as an act of faith. Because we must show up. To be present amid the suffering of the world and to bear that suffering is part of the Christian call.

We must bear witness against the cosmic forces of evil which corrupt and destroy. We offer our very selves as Christ’s own eyes and hands to pray, and strive, for restoration and healing.

When we show up, we come to know the suffering which Christ Himself bore, stretched and gored on the hard wood of the cross. And, like the women at the foot of the cross who show up, we as servants of the crucified God, of the living God, are called to show up.

And when we show up, Christ Himself is present, for where two or three are gathered in Jesus’ name, He is there among them.

The call to show up extends to creation too. Today is the first Sunday of the “Season of Creation,” a month-long observance where we intentionally contemplate our role as stewards of God’s good creation. We intentionally bring light to the places of sin and death in the natural world and seek God’s help as we strive to respond to the call of Christ on our lives.

See, hate and violence against one another is a product of sin.

Exploitation and destruction of the natural world is a product of sin.

Both come from the same root issue: failing to love what God created.

So, we need to understand what sin is in order to understand our task in showing up.

The Bible Project, a phenomenal online resource with great information and beautifully animated videos, is helpful here.[1] The Hebrew word is khata’, which means “to fail” or to miss the mark. Sinning, then, is failing to meet a goal.

But what is humanity’s goal?

If we go all the way back to Genesis – quite appropriate for the Season of Creation – we see that we are made in the likeness of God (Genesis 1:26). It is suggestive that, “humanity’s most essential nature is divine love. Living with love for God and one another and all creation is our primary human goal. Choosing to not love invites corruption into the goodness of creation, so it is khata’ – sin.”[2]

Sin is when we fail to appropriately love God, one another, and creation.

When sin disrupts relationship, when we fail to honor one another and our world, reconciliation is necessary. Reconciliation requires humility, as Christ says today, “If the member (who sinned against you) listens to you, you have regained that one.”

If humility and changing one’s ways does not happen, other people are brought to bear witness to the fault.

And finally, at last, the Church is brought in to help restore relationship.

This process is relevant to the broader, global effort of creation care.

We as a species are failing to respect the dignity of God’s creation. We are missing the mark, we are khata’-ing. Like in the Gospel, we have sinned against God’s creation, our relationship is fractured.

And as this our planet veers towards climate catastrophe, decades ago, individuals came before the world to ring the alarm bells, to point out our sin. They showed up, they were a prophetic voice.

And the world did not listen.

Then larger consortiums of scientists and activists from all over the world came before to ring the alarm bells, to point out our sin. They showed up, they were a prophetic voice.

And the world did not listen.

And now Christ’s church comes before the world, alongside these scientists and activists and people from around the world, to ring the alarm bells, to point out our sin, to say there must be another way. And we are part of that prophetic voice.

As Christ calls us to confront interpersonal sin, and seek restoration with our siblings, so scientists, activists, and the church call us to confront sins against creation, so that our relationship with God’s creation can be restored.

So, we show up, to be a part of that prophetic voice.

As followers of the crucified God, of the living God, we will show up to bear the pain of an aching world and pray for God’s mercy.

As followers of the One who hung the stars in the sky and wove the world and called it good, we will show up to name our sin, and seek to repent of our ways, and do better.

As followers of a life-giving and liberating God, we show up to stand with those in grief, we show up to care for the goodness of creation, we show up as bearers of life in a death-dealing world.

To show up is part of the Christian call.

And when discouraged or broken hearted, know that our simple act of showing up is significant, because Christ is there with you, with us.

“For where two or three are gathered in my name, I am there among them.” (Matt. 18:20).

Amen.

[1] https://bibleproject.com/articles/sin-iniquity-and-transgression-in-the-bible/

[2] ibid