For part 1, click here
Many of you may know that one of my favorite people in the
whole world was my piano teacher growing up, John Kennedy. In addition to being
our church’s music director and patient teacher of little girls, he was also a
police officer. My sister and I loved when he showed up for lessons in his full
uniform and he would show us all the things that he kept on his utility belt
(except his gun, obviously). Thanks to John, I learned from a very young age
that cops are kind people who drink barrels of coffee and will help you and
protect you.
Years later, while driving home from a Wednesday night
worship service outside Managua, our motorcycle suffered a flat tire a few
blocks from the church. All the vulcanizaciones
(tire fixing places) were already closed but thankfully Eli’s brother
David, the pastor of the church, offered to give us a lift home. We heaved the
bike into the back of his truck and piled in among the other 12 people
already in the vehicle. About a mile later, as you might expect, the truck also
had a flat. Like clowns in a clown car, we streamed out to the side of the road
and the more useful among us started to change the tire. A police officer on a
motorcycle of his own pulled up behind us.
Everyone immediately tensed up. Even the children got quiet.
We were all as bland and polite as possible but no one
breathed until he finally left. In Nicaragua, when the police show up,
everything automatically becomes less safe.
I hate that feeling. I hate being afraid of the cops. Cops
are good and decent people with families who will give you a turkey for
Christmas dinner. Or at least they should be. And it’s all the more reprehensible
to me when they are not.
Yesterday, I read the report on the Ferguson Police
Department by the Department of Justice. 102 pages of absolute kick you in the
teeth lambasting of the FPD. In case you don’t have time to read a 102 page
report, I will summarize its contents in 6 words: you guys are greedy, racist,
d***s.
I know, depending on your political slant, you may be saying
that the Attorney General has an agenda and there are perfectly reasonable explanations
for why blacks are stopped more often than whites. Maybe you don’t agree that
the whole department is racist. I’m not willing to say that every single person
that works there is a racist but it’s also pretty hard to say race was not a
factor in their behavior at all. They sic’d their dogs on black people and only
black people. On black children. Sickening.
But my point is not to argue for or against the charges of
racism in the report. Let’s take that out of the equation altogether. It’s
still a stunning indictment of greedy jackassery and institutionalized abuse of
the weak and poor – bullies with badges and gavels.
I am not a lawyer and cannot cite pages and pages of case
law as the DOJ did. I am a nerd, so I will cite Spiderman: with great power
comes great responsibility. That’s why this situation is so wrong and why you
see rage flowing in the streets of Saint Louis. People with great power did not
exercise responsibility or compassion. They did not use it to protect their
community or serve its people. They used their power to demean, mistreat and
humiliate. They used the police force like mob enforcers to squeeze every last
penny from an already impoverished and vulnerable population. You can only beat
people for so long before they rise up against you.
With 102 pages of injustice boiling my blood and filling my
spirit with profound sadness, I went to chapel. I believe that God is still speaking to us
through his word but somehow I’m always blown away when it really happens. The
reading for the day was Isaiah 61, the verses Jesus used to announce the
beginning of his ministry on this earth.
As I listened to the ancient words, I
thought of the residents of Ferguson. And Jennings. And Pine Lawn. And
Overland and all the tiny municipalities burdened by poverty and oppression.
The Spirit of the Sovereign LORD is on me,
because the LORD
has anointed me
to proclaim good
news to the poor.
He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted,
to proclaim
freedom for the captives
and release from
darkness for the prisoners,
to proclaim the year of the LORD’s favor
and the day of
vengeance of our God,
to comfort all who mourn,
and provide for
those who grieve in Zion—
to bestow on them a crown of beauty
instead of ashes,
the oil of joy
instead of
mourning,
and a garment of praise
instead of a
spirit of despair.
They will be called oaks of righteousness,
a planting of the
LORD
for the display of
his splendor.
They will rebuild the ancient ruins
and restore the
places long devastated;
they will renew the ruined cities
that have been
devastated for generations.
Strangers will shepherd your flocks;
foreigners will
work your fields and vineyards.
And you will be called priests of the LORD,
you will be named
ministers of our God.
You will feed on the wealth of nations,
and in their
riches you will boast.
Instead of your shame
you will receive a
double portion,
and instead of disgrace
you will rejoice
in your inheritance.
And so you will inherit a double portion in your land,
and everlasting
joy will be yours.
“For I, the LORD, love justice;
I hate robbery and
wrongdoing.
In my faithfulness I will reward my people
and make an
everlasting covenant with them.
Their descendants will be known among the nations
and their
offspring among the peoples.
All who see them will acknowledge
that they are a
people the LORD has blessed.”
Isaiah 61: 1-9
This is the word of our Lord.
Thanks be to God.
