“How Long, O Lord?”
On Tuesday evening a man shot and killed eight people near Atlanta, Georgia. The shootings occurred at three area day spas or massage parlors. The shooter was a white church-goer who had a sex compulsion. Six of the eight victims were of Asian decent. While in many respects we await due process; through which we trust conviction, all motives, and sentencing will become clear and just ... we do not wait to grieve. We do not wait to speak of justice. We do not wait to identity the specificity of pain. We do not wait, we lament. Professor Soong-Chun Rah says, “Lament recognizes the struggles of life and cries out for justice against existing injustices. The status quo is not to be celebrated but instead must be challenged" (Prophetic Lament).
Psalm 13:1-2 ... How long, O Lord? Will you forget me forever? How long will you hide your face from me? How long must I take counsel in my soul and have sorrow in my heart all the day? How long shall my enemy be exalted over me?
Today we grieve together and ask, "How long, O Lord?" ...
We grieve death. Death is the invasive scourge upon the human story into which God breathed life. The dignity, worth, and beauty of eight image bearers were disregarded by hate and violence. "How long, O Lord?"
We grieve with eight families. God names every family on heaven and earth, and eight women––sisters, mothers, cousins, aunts, and daughters––were taken from their families. "How long, O Lord?"
We grieve with the Asian American community. Nearly sixty of the sixty-six books of the Bible are centered on Africa and Asia. Yet the modern church and our country has been centered on whiteness. Many Asian Americans experience this invisibility, only seen when they are feared, belittled, and hated. "How long, O Lord?"
We grieve with women. Women are at the center of the story of Jesus, they are the first to carry and believe the gospel (physically and prophetically). Yet in our churches and society we objectify women sexually and belittle them in countless ways. "How long, O Lord?"
We grieve with the shooter's family and church family. God promises to be near the broken hearted. And as their community is exposed and criticized and blamed and shamed, we pray too that God would be near and bring all that is hidden into the light. "How long, O Lord?"
Today we heed the words of our sister, Jenny Yang (the Senior Vice President of Advocacy and Policy at World Relief), she said on Wednesday, "I call on the broader church to denounce such acts of violence and stand in solidarity with those of us in the Asian community." And so we do. We denounced these hateful acts of violence as well as the words and acts of hate which have only increased during this week and this global pandemic. We stand with you, our brothers and sister of Asian heritage at Church in the Square. We ask for your forgiveness. We grieve with you. We stand with you. We see you. Yet more than all of this, we recall with you the goodness of our God in the face of suffering and lament, Psalm 13:5-6 ...But I have trusted in your steadfast love; my heart shall rejoice in your salvation. I will sing to the Lord, because he has dealt bountifully with me.
