From Pastor Brett:
Dear Westsiders,
I am calling for a Prayer Vigil tonight, Friday August 28th at 8:30 PM on Zoom to lament and pray for an end to violence against unarmed black people, and for God to grant repentance to those who resort to violence.
As you may know, Jacob Blake, a black man, was shot in the back at point blank range seven times earlier this week, in front of his children, as he readied to step into his vehicle in Kenosha, WIsconsin. This unacceptable act was followed by protests the following nights in the streets. During those protests, a 17 year old white civilian youth named Kyle Rittenhouse murdered two people and injured another after bringing an assault rifle with him to the streets.
As your pastor, and as a Jesus follower, this centuries-old pandemic of violence against black flesh is deeply disturbing. We serve a God, Jesus the Jewish Messiah, who was violently murdered in the first century by the Roman Empire, in coordination with the religious authorities, for being perceived as a threat to the established religious and imperial order of the day. Even though the Pontius Pilate, the religious leaders, and the crowds put the Prince of Peace to death, Jesus and his Father were working to destroy death once and for all. Since Jesus, no one needs to die as a sacrifice for anyone or anything. I'm summarizing the book of Hebrews here. Indeed, Jesus is the end of sacrifice, once and for all. He died for "law and order" (aka Rome) once and for all. Our faith tells us there should be no more bodies upon any altar, to any god or ideal, or system, and yet we still see a disproportionate amount black bodies sacrificed in the streets, sacrificed in the prisons, or sacrificed at home doing nothing (Breonna Taylor), just to name a few and say nothing of the countless black bodies sacrificed in the Atlantic slave trade.
This vigil will not be about stoking divisions on ideological sides, demonizing people out of the redemptive frame, it won't be about gaining attention for ourselves as individuals or for Westside as a church to post to social media about how 'woke' or righteous we are. In other words, it won't be about us. Instead, we will focus giving witness to Jacob Blake's life being shattered and his body paralyzed, his children and the greater black community (re) traumatized and terrorized, to give witness to those who were murdered on the streets during the ensuing protests, and to pray for the police officer Rusten Sheskey, who shot Jacob Blake, and to pray for Kyle Rittenhouse who shot three people, murdering two.
So, as you feel led, let's bring a candle, our griefs, our laments, and most importantly our prayers for tomorrow night. May the love of the Father, the grace of the Son, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you and remain with you today and forevermore. Amen.
Click link below to join, or copy and paste into your browser the following:
https://zoom.us/j/93451906873?pwd=WVdkaXdlQjlxK0hPK1o3QWplQkhvQT09
Meeting ID: 934 5190 6873
Passcode: vigil