The death of 17 year old Trayvon Martin who was shot by George Zimmerman, a neighborhood watch captain, has captured national and world attention. Martin was shot and killed back on February 26th in Sanford, Florida. Eyewitnesses told police that there was an argument between Zimmerman and Martin, a scuffle, a cry for help and then a gunshot. According to the police, Zimmerman was found standing over Martin. He had a bloody nose and a wound on the back of his head and the gun in his hand. Zimmerman and a witness told police he shot Martin in self-defense, which Florida law allows.
Over the past few weeks more information has been uncovered including accounts that Zimmerman followed and may have taunted Trayvon using racial slurs (Trayvon is Black and Zimmerman is Hispanic). And there may have been a lax police investigation. Now the U.S. Justice Department and the FBI are involved. Let the investigation do its job, so that justice is served. But now there is also irrational ranting about the tragedy.
An MSNBC host, Ed Schultz, blames Jeb Bush and the Florida gun law for Trayvon’s death. Geraldo Rivera blames the hoodie that Trayvon wore stating “You cannot rehabilitate the hoodie” because of its gang association. There was a “Million Hoodie” march in New York City. And Nation of Islam leader, Louis Farrakhan, is calling for retaliation and justice in the street. The reason for this tragedy and others like it is not the law or the hoodie; it is the human heart, the inner core of who we are. Jesus Christ said, “For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies (Matthew 15:19). We don’t need more violence on the streets we need to help people become new in Christ.
Missing in all this news is the deep loss and heartache in the Martin family and the tragedy in the Zimmerman family. What is also missing is the news that just last week in Chicago, because of gangs and street violence, 49 people were shot and ten killed. And among the dead, was an innocent 6 year old girl. Where’s all the rage about this event? There is injustice and cries of despair everywhere—in your town and mine.
If you listen to your heart you can hear the cries of the injured everywhere. There is the cry of a child beaten by a drunken Dad. There is the cry of an old man assaulted by a gang. There is the cry of the young lady raped by someone she knows. Do you hear the cry of the wife abandoned by her husband after many faithful years of marriage? What about the cries of those trapped in an uncaring welfare system or the tears of a drug addict? Can you hear the deep, heart wrenching cry of a mother and father, a husband or wife, who has lost a loved one to war? What about the silent crying of a Dad who can’t find work to care for his family? There are millions of cries of hurt and injustice every day. Why?
The Old Testament prophet Hosea hit the nail on the head. He cried, “There is no truth or mercy or knowledge of God in the land.” And so there is “swearing and lying, Killing and stealing and committing adultery, They break all restraint, With bloodshed upon bloodshed. Therefore the land will mourn (Hosea 4:2, 3). Why the injustice? “There is no truth or mercy or knowledge of God in the land.”
This should cause us all to weep; if we have sinned, to repent. And if we know the Word of God and the love of God we should boldly and lovingly make it known—now, today, at your home, at work, at school, with your neighbors. We don’t need Ed Schultz blaming Jeb Bush. We don’t need Geraldo blaming hoodies. We don’t need Louis Farrakhan calling for violence in the streets. We need God’s people to be God’s people.
If you are a Christian fortify yourself by reading your Bible, make the time to pray, put the love of God into action and please speak the truth in love. You are an ambassador for Christ (2 Corinthians 5:20). Reach out with the good news—“How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the gospel of peace, Who bring glad tidings of good things! (Romans 10:15).”
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