Pastoral message following the attempted assassination of Former President Trump

Dear friends in Christ:

Our divided nation reached a new low with the attempted assassination of our former president at a campaign rally in our own backyard. A rally attendee was assassinated, two attendees were wounded.

Also wounded was our American Spirit, which has already been suffering beneath the strain of the polarization tearing our country apart.

In prior sermons, I’ve expressed concern over growing segments of the population, on both sides of the political divide, who believe that violence is necessary to fulfill their aims. To those persons, I ask: what if you or someone you care about were to be killed for who they vote for? Would Jesus point a gun at your enemies?

American soldiers, police, and emergency responders sacrifice their lives and die to protect the freedoms we enjoy, and the safety, security, and prosperity we all take for granted. How could anyone possibly want more bloodshed? To love your country but hate your neighbor is to betray everything our nation stands for.

In the aftermath of this tragedy, I pray that all people will heed the call to repent of the lust for power and the contempt we have for those different from us. We do well to remember Luther’s Small Catechism, where, in his explanation of the Eighth Commandment, he writes: “we are to fear and love God, so that we do not tell lies about our neighbors, betray or slander them, or destroy their reputations. Instead, we are to come to their defense, speak well of them, and interpret everything they do in the best possible light.”

We will hear calls for the nation to “come together,” but reconciliation will never happen as long as one person says to another, “you’re not one of us.”

This is not the first time our nation has faced crisis, nor will it be the last. But our finest hours have occurred within our greatest trials, such as how we came together following 9/11.

Let us pray for our former president, for David Dutch and James Copenhaver, who were wounded, for the family of Corey Comperatore who died while protecting his family from the gunfire, and for the family of the shooter.

Let us pray for a renewed resolve to be good neighbors to one another and see the face of Jesus in those who look, live, and think differently from ourselves. When we love our neighbors as ourselves, we will make the future brighter and better for all.

May God bless us, defend us from all evil, and bring us to everlasting life.

+Pastor Jim

Photo by Paul Weaver on Unsplash