Matt Chandler - God the Protector and Defender

Good morning! How are you doing? Well, that’s awesome! It sounds like you’re doing great. If you have your Bibles, grab those; we’re going to be in Exodus chapter 15. If you don’t have a Bible nearby, there should be a hardback black one. If you don’t own one, that’s our gift to you. While you’re turning there, I want to spend some time as a community of faith praying.

While most of us slept—though I know not all of us did—last night in Orlando, Florida, the worst mass shooting in U.S. history occurred. A man went into a gay bar called Pulse and shot and killed 53 people before the police shot and killed him. This man is of Muslim descent, and so there’s a lot of conversation going on right now about whether this was an act of terror, a hate crime, or something else entirely. I want to address this event on two levels.

First, I want us to pray because it is horrific and awful. Secondly, I want to present two things that are happening right now. If you have a friend or family member in the LGBTQ community, this would be a good time to make a call, check in, and see if they’re alright. Most of us do not live in an environment where we worry about being murdered as a hate crime at any moment. So if you wish to call and ask, «How are you in light of this news? How can I pray for you?» that would be a kind gesture.

The second thing to consider is that every Muslim neighbor and coworker you have is likely thinking, «Oh great, here we go again,» because they may feel like we see them all as terrorists. Some may be ignorant enough to believe that, but in reality, as a man named Zapat taught us back in January, he moved here with his family from Iran and faced significant cultural distrust and hatred from Americans. It was literally someone who counseled him in English and gave him a Bible that led to him becoming a Christian.

So if you have friends or family members in the LGBTQ community, this is an opportunity for you to reach out, check in, and see how you can pray for and encourage them. And if you have neighbors, family members, or coworkers who are Muslim, this is also an opportunity for you to love and be the presence of Christ for them.

What I want to do now is give us a few moments to pray and recognize our shared humanity. There are 53 moms and dads who just lost their child, 53 brothers and sisters who lost siblings—there is immense loss that just occurred in Orlando, and we should grieve the brokenness of this world. I want to give us an opportunity to mourn with those who mourn and lament the brokenness that surrounds us because there is nothing good about what happened in Orlando.

Today will be a heavier day, even by topic, but let’s start by praying for these families, asking that God would work in the midst of this mess. As Christians, we believe that the world is messy, but that God is at work within that mess. So we want to pray for comfort for these families, for mercy for those involved, and simply to ask the Spirit of God to be at work.

Here at the village, if you’re with fellow Christians, you can group with them and pray. We will fully embrace any awkwardness here, so you don’t even need to know anyone; just lean in and say, «I’ll pray with you guys,» and we’ll love that. If you’re not a Christian and you’re here because a family member brought you, we’re glad you’re here too! You can awkwardly stare at me, pray, or send happy thoughts to a higher power—whatever you feel comfortable with. We want you to feel welcomed and comfortable because we love that you’re with us today.

Let me give you a couple of moments to pray for these families and for this terrible situation. The saints in the first century would often cry out, «Maranatha,» which means «Come quickly, Lord Jesus, and make sense of this madness.» So let me give you a few moments to pray, and then I’ll close us out.

Father, we thank You for Your sovereign reign and rule. This morning we confess, much like the Apostle Paul did in the scriptures, that we are perplexed but not crushed. We pray for these families and for those who have suffered great loss today. We pray that we might be marked as a people of compassion and grace—that whatever we read on Facebook or whatever foolishness echoes out on other social media platforms, we would not join in with it. Instead, let us be known as Your people, those who mourn with those who mourn…