What might happen to us if we spend
our lives fighting injustice and suffering? Would we end up feeling frustrated
and helpless over the tenacity of evil? Evil seems just to sit like a blob that
we cannot budge. If we spend our lives fighting poverty, discrimination, even
slavery and human trafficking, how do we keep our spirits up? In June of 2014,
one United Methodist pastor, who had spent his career seeking justice, decided
to end his life in a dramatic fashion by setting himself on fire. Rev. Charles
Moore drove to his childhood home in Texas, stopped in a parking lot and
immolated himself.1
Who can know exactly why he did it?
In part, he felt frustrated that progress came too slowly. He had spent his
life fighting for the rights of others. He felt as though the world never
changed. Perhaps his fiery suicide would inspire others to work harder. How
much of his last act could we attribute to courage and how much to despair? If
he had asked us, we might have told him that even sacrificing himself would not
likely move the blob even a millimeter. For all of his courage, Moore likely
did not change the heart of one racist, or rescue one child from sex slavery.
The evil of the world watched Moore burn and die later at a hospital, but then
went back to work.
Evil is tenacious
The evil of the world did take
notice of Jesus. The unclean spirit in the man who confronted Jesus in the
synagogue at Capernaum seems to have represented all of the forces of evil that
...approximately 1,079 words remaining. You are not logged in. Please see options at the top of this page to view complete sermon.
