Betrayed

Security photo of Dylann Roof entering the church for Bible Study

Each week, after our Sunday service, we have a Bible Study group meeting.  We read together, share our thoughts and questions and pray for each other.

Occasionally, we welcome someone new to the group, someone we may not know.

This week, we will be thinking of the members of Emmanuel AME Church in Charleston who did the same.  We will have the face of the young man in our minds as we look at each other and wonder if we would be afraid to be as welcoming again.

Then Peter said to her, 'How is it that you have agreed together to put the Spirit of the Lord to the test? - Acts 5:9

In  today's Gospel reading, the disciples have set up a camp, a safe place outside the city where all can live together in peace.  Ananais and Sapphira come to join them, but they are not fully honest.

When they hold back what they promised to share, Peter accuses them of sinning against the Holy Spirit, a sin that Jesus had said was unforgivable.

In the courtroom yesterday, family members of those Dylann Roof brutally betrayed and murdered offered their forgiveness and prayed for him to repent.  The Spirit of God was and is in them.

I don't think I could be as faithful to my faith as they.

When I compare the betrayal of the Holy Spirit that Ananais and his wife Sapphira did by holding back some of their property, to what Dylann Roof did by sitting and pretending to study for an hour before taking aim, I feel for the couple.

The families and friends of those slain were the embodiment of Christ yesterday, and they continue to set an example for the rest of us.  One young woman who lost her mother in the attack said that love will conquer hatred.

I would like to believe that with as much conviction as she.

So, what can we do?  Can we be as strong?

I think one thing we can do is go to church.  Go to our houses of worship, whatever our faith, and be together, worship together, study together.

We cannot hold back like Ananias and Sapphira.  We need to be all in, fully committed to our faith and  to each other.

And we can pray for those lost, for the victims, yes, but for the Dylanns of the world as well.

It isn't easy.

More to come...