I want to thank Reverend Whitfield and Mt. Carmel Baptist
Church for extending blessing to the community yesterday. Their invitation to pray over Waterloo’s law
enforcement, their gesture of bringing people together in the spirit of peace,
in the Spirit of Christ, felt like a little balm of Gilead being applied to
some wounds that so desperately need healing.
“There is a disconnect between our police department and
especially the African American community.
We want Mt. Carmel to be the re-connect. We want to show people we can work
together.”
Mayor Buck Clark thanked Mt. Carmel for welcoming The City
with open arms, and he shared points from the morning’s sermon at Orchard Hill
regarding blessing a broken world by turning our face toward people, offering
grace, and bringing peace.
Police Chief Dan Trelka talked about our common enemy,
Satan, who is hard at work in our community, nation, and world seeking to
devour, divide, and destroy. He
addressed the crowd saying, “Well, we’re making Satan mad today.”
Councilman Quentin Hart spoke to the congregation and reminded them that just as Martin Luther King Jr. spoke of a day when his children
wouldn’t be judged by the color of their skin, he reminded the congregation that neither do people want to be judged by the color of their uniform.
Reverend Whitfield invited Mayor Clark, Councilman Hart, and
Chief Trelka, along with other officers and family members, to the front. Deacons gathered around them, and the pastor
prayed over them.
Some of the officers left after that because they were on
duty, but a few others stayed, and at one point in the morning, a deacon stood
up, and spoke a powerful word to the officers remaining. He talked about his favorite movie “Avatar”,
and he looked intently at the officers, and said, “I see
you.” “I see you.” He was
speaking beyond the physical “seeing”.
He was in essence saying, 'I see your humanity. I see the risks you take and the sacrifices
you make. I see your wounds. I see your strength. I see you.'
Whitfield used his message to communicate a strong both/and
to those listening. He discussed the
reality of crime and needed accountability for criminal acts, but he also
addressed a history that is littered with a long string of injustices that continue today. He talked both of how these injustices can understandably bring people to such great anger, and yet he also talked about how Christians must respond so as not to sin in our anger.
He made three great points:
1.
He spoke about a godly anger that calls for
justice but refuses to hate. He shared
from Hebrews 13:1: Let brotherly love
continue. Whitfield talked about
recognizing our differences but working from a common place…the fact that we
have one common enemy and one common Savior.
If love is at work in us, we will become more sensitive to humanity, the
suffering and pain, and human rights.
2.
Reverend Whitfield’s second point: Be careful how we respond to strangers. We might be entertaining angels unaware. He spoke about how we have deeply embedded
stereotypes, assumptions, prejudices that often make us treat a person
negatively. We categorize people without
really knowing them. We need to be
careful how we respond to strangers. We
need to respond to injustice by putting it in God’s hands and never, ever lose
the capacity to love every single person.
3. And finally, Pastor Whitfield reminded us that we need to share the sorrow of victims. Injustice leaves people wounded. Can we bear the pain along with those who
have been wounded? We should galvanize our
sympathy to work toward something good together.
I was thankful Mt. Carmel friends extended an invitation to the community to worship with them yesterday, and I am grateful to have been present with them.
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