“You may be the only Jesus that some people see…”
I saw this in an ad in our diocesan newspaper the other day. It made me think of the Gospel today, where Jesus tells His disciples, and in fact all of us, to:
Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations,
baptizing them in the name of the Father,
and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit,
teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you.
And behold, I am with you always, until the end of the age.
We, you, me – we may be the only Jesus that some people see. Think about that. What a responsibility. And in our world, this is not an easy thing to do.
But it is our responsibility – it’s our responsibility as Christians, to be Jesus’ instrument in this world. Especially in this world.
I write this with a heavy heart today. A little over 10 miles from here, yesterday, there was another school shooting in the Indy suburb just to the north of where my family and I live. People I work with have kids that go there. I coach kids in cross-country that go there.
This one hit home. Thankfully, a teacher reacted and tackled the student, taking three shots in the process. But it wasn’t before another student was shot as well. Both are recovering, and so we are thankful no lives were lost, but it could have been so much worse. It was bad enough.
We can continue to ask why God would let this happen – again. We can continue to ask for gun control and other security measures – again. Don’t worry, that’s the last time I will mention that in this reflection. This is not a political forum and I will delete anyone’s comments who turn this into a gun control debate.
This problem is deeper – it is a family problem. And deep, deep down, it’s a faith problem. We have become an internalized society, where we are hunched over like zombies, glued to our phones. Our idea of friends and relationships is conducted through Facebook and Twitter, and Snapchat, and Instagram.
People isolate themselves in their digital world, and we parents as a whole, are doing the same. Selfish desires, instant gratification, the unwillingness to work at things as they get tough, especially in our marriages leads to divorce for half of all marriages and as a result, broken families. This brokenness, this isolation, is nowhere more detrimental than to our youth, our teens, who are already emotionally fragile simply due to their age.
We as parents get too wrapped up in ourselves way too often, too wrapped up in all the things we want our kids to be doing, too busy – with everything.
The breakdown of the family is in full-swing, and it is not pretty. This problem, this violence problem, it is a family problem. The family life in America, and in the world is disintegrating, and unfortunately, this is one of the by-products – kids who internalize everything, who think that the only way to deal with the problems in their lives is to either take their own lives, or the lives of others in the process.
This kid, a 13-year-old kid, was hurting. Hurting so much that he thought the only way to solve it was to bring two guns to school and start shooting. Look past the guns for a sec, look past the action itself, and look at the 13-year-old boy. He’s 3 years older than my son. Filled with anger, rage, and despair. At what? Why?
I saw something the other day that there have been 288 school shootings in the United States since 2009. Make that 289. This is our future, people, unless we get over ourselves and our own selfish desires, and really look at our youth, and our very own kids, and talk with them, be there with them, reach out to them, and love them. Spend time with them, in the now, not online, not in the same room while everyone is looking at their own screen, and for us, be Jesus to them.
But it all starts with this Gospel today, where we need to go out and be Christ to others, especially those close to us, especially our youth, who are dealing with mental pressures previously unseen. We as parents need to be Jesus to our families, especially our kids, and to others around us, those we work with, and actually do something and live our faith out in our lives to help break this vicious cycle we live in.
People need to feel that they are part of a family, and I’m pretty certain that in all these case, these kids feel that they are all alone.
If we want to change things in this world, in society, thoughts and prayers are not enough. Every time after one of these shootings, we hear all kinds of sentiment about thoughts and prayers. Prayer is important, obviously, but perhaps the fruit of our prayer is to take action and do something – do something to make a difference. We need to all get out of our comfort zones and do what God is asking us to do. We can all do something in some way. Myself included.
We cannot neglect this, or neglect our families, our kids, the kids around us anymore.
We cannot neglect our responsibility as Christians anymore. Ranting on Facebook, Twitter, or even websites like this doesn’t accomplish anything if we are not willing to invest our lives in the lives of our kids in our own families and those around us to learn what they are dealing with and to try to help them. It’s a very tall order.
This type of pain does not discriminate. It knows no boundaries. It has touched all of us. And it’s only going to get worse unless we get up and do something. One thing we can do, all of us, is be the Jesus others need to see. Because, we might be the only Jesus they ever see. And it might just be that one little thing that makes a difference in the life of someone who is hurting and calling out for help. My question is, what can you do?
On this Holy Trinity Sunday, may our prayers be with Noblesville, Indiana and the students, staff, and families associated with West Middle School, and all those affected by all the mass shootings in recent weeks and years. Jesus, we are thankful for your grace you poured out on that classroom. Other schools have not been as fortunate, and we pray for them as well. We pray for understanding of what our youth are dealing with these days, and we pray that parents, our communities, and our churches invest time and effort into understanding the source of this and the actions we can take to make a difference in the lives of those experiencing pain and despair. And we also pray, Jesus that you give us the grace and wisdom necessary to be your disciple, and show us how we can fully do the will of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit in the world we live in, and show us how to overcome the trials that come our way.
I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.
John 16:33
