If I were preaching this morning --- and I do that here sometimes you know --- I'd begin by stating the obvious:
A police officer named Derek Chauvin --- in that single act of calculated cruelty that killed George Floyd in Minneapolis --- lit the match to tinder-dry centuries of racial inequity, injustice and oppression. And America burned. A single act.
I would point out, too, if you're a believer, that Magic Jesus is not going to save us from ourselves just because you park your sorry ass in the right pew. Nor is he going to fulfill your bizarre fantasy of being swept directly into heaven, leaving everyone you dislike behind to suffer the consequences. Nor do your peculiar personal-salvation formulas have any real power beyond your imaginings.
I'd add, however, that the spirit of this guy whose name Christians have taken in vain for millennia still has the potential to dwell within you if you follow his way, and can rise again --- through you --- in single acts of kindness. Collectively and in conjunction with our brothers and sisters of all colors, creeds and traditions, through a multitude of kindnesses, we have the potential to redeem the world.
But it is up to you, and to me. Because we're all in this together. And as we've seen, single acts can have unimaginable power. Amen.
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