1:30
Good morning, church. Thank you for having me here this morning.
Pope Francis invites to witness God’s forgiveness and love. “We must put mercy before judgement and in any event, God’s judgement will always be in the light of his mercy.”
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I want to share with you a story about four people named Everybody, Somebody, Anybody, and Nobody. There was an important job to be done and Everybody was asked to do it. Everybody was sure Somebody would do it. Anybody could have done it, but Nobody did it. Somebody got angry about that, because it was Everybody's job. Everybody thought Anybody could do it but Nobody realized that Everybody wouldn't do it. It ended up that Everybody blamed Somebody when Nobody did what Anybody could have done.
God, I ask you to give me the words that you would have your people to hear. Equip me to do your will and not my own. Bless me that I may be a blessing to those under the sound of my voice.
For the few minutes that I am standing before you I’m going to invite you to pull down your mental screen. Travel this very short and intimate journey with me. I’m going to ask you to do four things: hear my voice, feel my heart, take my hand, and walk with me.
My older son Louis was 15 years old. He was an excellent student and her had big dreams. He wanted to become a PhD and to be the first and youngest black President. Now int he early 90’s there were particularly violent times in the city of Boston. And Louis at that time was concerned about the other young people in our neighborhood. He was frustrated that he and his friends had inherited a violent world from us, the adults. He also did not appreciate all the blame and shame that adults were putting on his generation, especially young men of color. Louis believed in the potential of all young people to be peacemakers. He was active inches community, committed to working for peace and justice and concerned that if things didn’t change too many of his peers were going to end up dead, addicted to drugs, or in jail. On December 20th of 1993, Louis left our house int he afternoon to go to a meeting for the teens against gang violence Christmas party. On his way to the train, fifteen minutes from our house, he was caught in the crossfire of a shootout.
I often tell people it was on that cold December afternoon that I woke up. It is because of his murder and the love of my living children Alexandra and Allen that I knew that his life could not end on the streets, that as a child of God he was worth more. The question then moved from “Why me, God?” to “What do you want me to do, God?” I want to let you know that turning to God was not an overnight decision, nor was it an easy journey. i was often tempted to mentally replay the murder of my son and bestir the painful emotion of that December afternoon. I constantly battle with good and evil, life and death, and yes that thirst for revenge. I am grateful to my priest. You see he guided me to the scriptures. He gave me books to read with gentleness, patience, and care. And this pathway helped me cry out to God for ways to redirect my pain, my grief, my sorrow, my sadness, guided me to embrace His peace. I was reminded by God that He will never leave me nor forsake me. With a plan in hand, I read what the Bible said about God’s principles of love, unity, faith, hope, courage, justice, and forgiveness. You see, these are the seven principles that God gave to me. He said This is how you will bring my peace to the world.
While there are many many more principles, those seven were mine. So in my humanity I struggle in understanding these principles and yet in the spirit I internalize the strength in how God was guiding me. You see I realized that the choice was mine and I made a conscious choice. I tried on a principles of peace a day. You know how we say “An apple a day keeps the doctor away?” Well, I said that a principle a day brings God my way. I practice it daily. Internalizing what the scripture said is how I gained the strength to make it through each day. I’m just going to share some of my favorites with you. First Corinthians: Let all that you do be done in love. Ephesians 3:4: Eager to maintain the unity of the spirit in the bond of peace. First corinthians 2:5: That you faith might not rest in the wisdom of man, but in the power of God. Romans 15:13 May the God of hope fill you with all joy in believing so that by the power of the Holy Spirit, you may abound in hope. Courage brings freedom and peace. John 14:27 Peace I leave with you. My peace I give to you. I do not give it as the world does. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.
You see, it has to be about me. I couldn’t take these principles and wonder what someone else was doing and so I seek Psalm 26:19 and it reminded me to ask God Consider my afflictions and my trouble and forgive all my sins. When I practice self focus and meditate on these principles, the recollection of the murder of my son seemed to hold less prominence in my thoughts. After we laid Louis to rest, I needed to do something. I needed to figure out how to channel this rage and anger that I had inside of me. And I needed to find peace in my pain. I co-founded the Peace Institute in 1994 with three goals: To teach the value of peace, to focus on the assets of my community, and to transform society’s response to homicide. The work of the Peace Institute is guided by seven core principles, the same principles that God gave me for my personal journey: love, unity, faith, hope, courage, justice, and forgiveness. Our mission is to serve as a center of healing, teaching, and learning for families and communities impacted by murder, trauma, grief and loss. Our belief is that all families deserve to be treated with dignity and compassion regardless of the circumstances. This is how my personal and professional journey intertwines. The sermon on the mount remind me Matthew 5:7 God blesses those who are merciful for they will be shown mercy. It is a blessing that I am here today. You see, 24 years on this journey right here, right now will be the first time that I will share my personal mission statement. I am called and equipped to be a minister of God’s will in love, compassion, mercy, and humility.
God’s peace and the role of the church. Families on both sides of homicide undergo emotional, physical and financial stress. And this leads to instability and it has a negative impact on the entire community. Addressing the impact of homicide requires a significant investment, yet not addressing it is even more expensive. Research tells us that homicide is a public health issue and that it is time that we treat it this way. I want to add that homicide is also a spiritual issue and it is of greater need that the faith communities hear our voices, hold our hands, feel our hearts and walk with those who are suffering. The church, the house of God must create a community of kinship that includes a safe space that ministers to families impacted by murder, trauma, grief and loss. This type of ministry is a much needed ministry is our houses of worship. Ministry that will minister the peace of God to the hearts of survivors, not preaching to us, not telling us to get over it, a ministry that uses the seven principles of peace guiding families to walk through the valley of the shadow of death rather than to get over it in in line with Matthew 5:4. God blesses those who mourn for they will be comforted. Yet, we cannot depend on government to comfort those who mourn and we cannot do this on our own. We need the church, we need the house of God to embrace this ministry. The people are waiting.
Are you still walking with me? Are you still hearing my voice? Are you feeling my heart? Are you holding my hand?
The God of mercy calls for the following in Micah 6:8: He had showed you oh man what is good. And what does the Lord require of you, but to act justly, love mercy, and walk humbly with God. These are the words to all mankind. Mercy is offered to you and to me alike. He has shown us what is good and answers what is required of us. Merciful God, you are never weary of speaking to my broken heart. Grant me grace. If today I hear your voice, my heart amy not be hardened.
As a mother, I needed to know who could raise a child to kill? Doris was a mother just like me who tried her best to raise her son Charles. Charles was the young man convicted of killing my son Louis. When we met in 2000 with Doris, there were silent tears and a warm embrace, mother to mother, heart to heart, woman to women. I saw Doris’ shame and I felt her pain. It is then I realized that we were both impacted on that cold December. I offered my hand and my heart of forgiveness. And Doris accepted. Be strong and of good courage. Do not fear nor be afraid of them. For the Lord your God, He is the one who goes with you. He will not leave you, nor forsake you. Equipped with the courage, I made a decision that in 2001 I wanted to meet face to face with the young man convicted of killing Louis. You might ask why. That’s another sermon.
In 2010, a victim-offender dialogue happened at MCI Shirley facilitated by John Wilson at Just Alternative. That is another sermon. After 15 years of Charles being incarcerated, the parole hearing was held and the feeling of anger, sadness, rage seemed to take over my soul. But I soon came to realize that within the criminal justice system, there are no winners. I searched my heart, I prayed to God, talked to my priest, cried with friends, families and sought our guidance from my spiritual advisors. I prayed for God’s will to be done in this situation and for Him to make his presence known to me in a very real way. In the midst of stress and emotional turmoil in the midst of my pain and anger, I did not oppose his right to parole. However the decision came with conditions, recommendations and expectations. And this included personal accountability, spiritual guidance, community service, family engagement and family support. Ephesians 4:3 says Eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. I took that literally. In 2015 we held a meeting at the Peace Institute with friends and family of Mr. Bowles. There we created a clearly defined comprehensive community re-entry plan for Mr. Bowles. I want you to know that Charles Bowles is out on parole. He continues to do well in his family and in our community. You see, I know that extending my hand and my heart of forgiveness has given Mr. Bowles a sense of inner peace where his healing can begin to happen and can in turn save him, his family, and in our community. Murder stopped with me and my family. God’s will be done on earth as it is in heaven.
Today, 2017, my cry to God continues. He is not done with me yet. What else do you want from me Lord? It seems like the world is going to… can I say hell? The world is going to hell in a hand basket. Yet, I am reminded of the sermon on the mount. God blesses those who work for peace, for they will be called the children of God. And as a child of God, I am embracing this as a year of mercy with my own individual actions with open arms, an open heart, an open mind. At the Peace Institute, we believe that peace starts within, and then with community and eventually society will catch up. Our invitation to faith leaders is to take inventory of what unites us rather than what divides us. That the faith community adopt the seven principles of peace as part of their ministry. That we, as people of faith, commit to doing our own personal healing, and we invite you to try our Peace Play in Urban Settings. To sign on to a multi- faith statement of support for the Mother’s Day Walk for Peace and for transforming society’s response to homicide. Thank you to the Ministry of Justice and Compassion for your generous gift. Thank you to Barbara. Your commitment to us and for introducing us to Hope Central Church. We are honored to be part of your family and we look forward to seeing you on Mother’s Day, May 14. I close with this gift to you. Ephesians 2:8 For by grace, you have been saved through faith and this is not your own doing. It is a gift from God.
May the peace of God guide your heart, your mind, and your words as you continue this season of Lent with the theme of Mercy. Amen.