allows us to feed into and act on our worst fears and preconceived notions about each other, which lead to mistaken and unnecessary fatalities.
You know about Trayvon Martin being killed by George Zimmerman; you know about unarmed Jordan Davis being killed because his music was too loud. But don’t forget about Chad Oulson, the father who was killed by a 71 year-old retired police officer in a movie theatre over text messaging and popcorn throwing. Perhaps you haven’t heard about 19-year-old Christopher Cote who was killed by his neighbor, after a dispute over walking his dog on his new neighbor’s property. When Cote came back, unarmed, to talk to 62-year-old Jose Tapones about the dispute, Tapones answered the door with a shotgun, stepped outside onto the lawn, and shot Cote twice. Don’t forget about 19 year-old Renisha McBride, the Detroit teenager who was shot in the head by the homeowner on whose door she knocked looking for help after having an accident in her car. The common thread in all of these cases is that the shooters defended their actions with Stand Your Ground laws on Florida and Michigan state books. And such laws embolden people to use deadly force when such is not necessary. Open Carry and Stand Your Ground laws eat away at the fabric of civilization and lead us to a culture of fear and fatality. And we as a state and as a nation must resist the temptation of letting what’s legal determine for us what’s moral.
Don’t get me wrong. Like most of you, I don’t feel sorry for the criminal who ends up getting the short end of the stick. When I hear about the homeowner who protects his family and himself in a responsible way, I don’t struggle with that. And to be clear, I don’t believe that there’s any contradiction in being Christian and being a gun owner. The issue is putting guns in more and more public spaces without permits. Teenagers need permits to operate cars, but Open Carry makes it possible to carry a gun without any kind of oversight. You need a license to carry a gun into the woods to hunt for wild game. But Open Carry allows you to walk down city streets populated by people with heat strapped to your hip without any kind of permit qualifying you to do so. In effect, we are becoming a state of cowboys in the Wild West. As a matter of fact, when these laws were first being introduced in states across America, they were called “Make My Day” laws. You remember who said “Make my Day” don’t you?
The problem is this- - when you legalize a kind of vigilantism that endorses and defends violence against each other, we pave the road to the collapse of civilization. When you embolden violence by making it legal, you begin to destroy the hope for humanity and community. Dr. King said it this way, “That old law an eye for an eye leaves everybody blind.” And I recognize that I speak from a position of great privilege as I have never been the target of such violence. None of my family members have been killed due to gun violence. So my perspective is not jaded by a tragic accident or a senseless murder involving guns. However, I am persuaded that even in the midst of such tragedy and violence that God’s word still stands. And tragedy does not excuse us from practicing the principles and living out the precepts of His word. And so as a community of faith wrestling with the tragic murder and the temptation to exercise our legal rights to Open Carry I want to lift up to you the words of Micah who reminds us of God’s Providential protection.
Look for just a moment at the first few verses of this chapter: Micah 4:1-4 In days to come the mountain of the Lord’s house shall be established as the highest of the mountains, and shall be raised up above the hills. Peoples shall stream to it, 2 and many nations shall come and say: “Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob; that he may teach us his ways and that we may walk in his paths.” For out of Zion shall go forth instruction, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem. It is worth noting that as a nation we claim and print on our currency “In God We Trust.” As a state we felt a need to add it to our seal, “In God we Trust.” Yet, we make laws that make it easy to kill each other. But Micah speaks to us here for he says, the mountain of the Lord’s house shall be established as the highest mountain. In other words, the time will come when we won’t just declare that we trust in God, but that trust will be reflected in how we relate to each other. Because the highest law won’t come from the state house; they won’t come from the courthouse. But they will come from the House of the God of Jacob, “that He may teach us His ways and that we may walk in His paths. For out of Zion; not out of Jackson, but out of Zion; not out of Florida, but out of Zion; not out of Washington, but out of Zion shall go forth instruction.”
Listen, we have a higher law. And it is not signed by Phil Bryant. It is not passed by any legislature. It is not written by any American Legislative Exchange Councils. But our law comes from our God. And we must resist the temptation to let the lower laws of man destroy the beloved community that the church must always push to create. Micah calls the church to be at the forefront of such a movement and at such a moment as this so as to keep God’s law and God’s love in plain sight. His love should be raised up above this loss; raised up above this law; raised up above this legislature to give direction to His pathway to peace and to provide inspiration for the journey.
And when we dare to take this journey to such a place; when we dare to move to such a position of putting God’s law above our own; when we dare to live out His principles of love and peace and forgiveness, Micah tells of something transformative that will happen. He writes, v.3 He shall judge between many peoples, and shall arbitrate between strong nations far away; they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks. In other words, the first thing that happens is that we live in such a way that we are confident in the Lord being our judge. “He shall judge.” That means I’m not trying to bring others to judgment by my own actions, but “He shall judge.” That means that I’m not trying to get revenge, but “He shall judge.” That means that I’m not on a crusade to correct the wrong that was done to me, but “He shall judge.” That means that I trust that the Lord is able to make this wrong right, “He shall judge.” “He shall judge between many peoples and shall arbitrate between strong nations….” But this is what I’ve been trying to get to. “They shall beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks.”
That’s a vivid picture and a powerful prophecy. “They shall beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks.” In other words, Micah is saying when we allow God to be our judge and to arbitrate our cause and our case, the result is that our swords (our weapons) will be transformed into plowshares (tools). Our spears (weapons of violence) shall become pruning hooks (tools of productivity). The prophetic word here is that if we resist the temptation to live by a lesser law and on a lower level, that weapons will be turned into tools. And isn’t that the kind of God we serve? One who can take evil and turn it into good. One who can take ashes and turn them into beauty. One who can take mourning and exchange it for dancing. He can take the spirit of heaviness and turn it into a garment of praise. One who can take hurts and turn them into hallelujahs. He can take tests and make out of them testimonies. He can take problems and from them get praise. He can take our worries and use them to produce worship. So it ought not be surprising for Him to take weapons and turn them into tools.
But wait a minute, let’s reread that. Because the text says, “they shall beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks.” So this is not something that God is going to do for us; but this is something that He expects for us to do for ourselves. And so the question becomes how do we transform weapons of violence into tools of productivity?
I’m glad you asked that question because that’s the crux of this sermon. And the first thing we’ve got to do is:
1. Change the Conversation.
Isn’t it interesting that when you have this conversation about guns that the loudest response; the most passionate response centers around protecting gun rights. The conversation is high-jacked by the NRA and the narrative that emerges is that if you’re for responsible gun laws then you must not believe in freedom and the Constitution. Because if you love freedom and if you love the Constitution, then you must be willing to protect the 2nd amendment right to bear arms. But if we’re going to win this battle, we’ve got to change the conversation such that we’re protecting children not guns. Protect people, not guns. Protect that which has been created in the image of God, not guns. Protect that which has been fashioned by God rather than that which has been manufactured by man. Protect that which has been stamped by God, not