Today’s Scripture Reading (January
20, 2014): Hosea 13 & 14
On Monday
morning, October 2, 2006, Charles Roberts entered a one room, Amish school in
Nickel Mines, Pennsylvania. Roberts was carrying a gun and enough ammunition to
wage a small war. He ordered the teacher and the boys to leave the classroom.
One nine year old girl who did not understand English followed the boys and the
teacher out of the classroom. She would be the only girl in the small school to
escape the events of this day without injury. After the exodus, Roberts ordered
the ten girls that remained in the classroom to kneel down on the floor. One
girl, a thirteen year old and the oldest student left in the classroom, begged
Roberts to just kill her and let the younger ones go. But Roberts refused. He
said that he was angry with God for the death of his daughter, and with that
explanation Roberts shot each one of the girls execution style on the classroom
floor. By this time the authorities had gathered outside. At the sound of the
gunshots they rushed the small schoolhouse. But by the time they got there the
damage was done - and Roberts lay dead on the classroom floor alongside of his
victims. Two of the girls died immediately, one on the way to hospital and two
more during the night that followed. Five of the ten girls died as a result of
Roberts’ anger.
But the
scene that was taking place outside of the classroom was really what caught the
attention of the watching world. One of the grandfathers of the murdered girls
was rushing around to the grieving parents, imploring them to not “think evil
of this man.” When it was announced that the gunman was dead, the message that
“he was now standing before a just God” was circulated by another Amish man.
The Amish community responded overwhelmingly to the Roberts family. Cards and
gifts from the community were received by Roberts’ widow. One scene of an Amish
man sitting and holding the weeping father of Charles Roberts for over an hour
trying to comfort him dominated the headlines. At the funeral for Charles
Roberts, over half of the mourners were from the Amish community. The Amish
forgiveness of Charles Roberts for the deeds he had done in the small
schoolhouse was so complete that the Amish even contributed to a fund to help
Roberts’ surviving family.
But outside
the Amish community, people struggled with their reaction. Some even criticized
the forgiveness, a dominant characteristic of the Amish beliefs, saying that
the forgiveness that the community freely gave to Roberts was unwarranted –
that forgiveness should never be given unless it is asked for, and in this
situation, Charles Roberts was in no position to do the asking. But their pleas
fell on deaf ears. For the Amish of Nickel Mines, forgiveness was given, even
if it was not deserved.
Hosea
finishes his prophecy with this promise of divine forgiveness. Nowhere in the
prophecy do we find the people crying out for it. Even in the story of Hosea
and Gomer that starts off the book of Hosea, nowhere do we read of Gomer’s plea
for or acceptance of forgiveness. Hosea simply forgives her in spite of her
action. And at the end of the prophecy, God simply forgives Israel of all of
their transgressions and welcomes them back in his arms.
Historically,
the Northern Kingdom of Israel never did return from exile – and yet, according
to this passage in Hosea we know that they are forgiven and exist in the ever
present grace of the Father. It has been said that we are as close as we can
get to the image of the divine when we decide to act with forgiveness.
Following the events of October 2, 2006, a community tried desperately to show
that kind of divine nature to the watching world. Some of us got, but others
refused to understand. The world understands our anger, but I am convinced that
it is only changed by the way we forgive. Go and be the divine in your world,
forgiving freely, even when some would say that forgiveness is not appropriate.
For those who try to exist reflecting the divine nature of the ever present
God, forgiveness is always an appropriate response to life.
Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: Micah 1
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