The Angels of Los Angeles

IV.    Vows of Voluntary Sacrifice

“We freely offer up our appetites, wealth, and pride to relieve the suffering of the world, for the sake of our neighbors and God’s joy.”

15. I will accept with grace any suffering for myself resulting from my affirmations, rejections and witness; I will do all in my power to reduce the suffering in the world, including the suffering of victims and my adversaries in confrontation.

Reginald Denny and the LA Four

*Watching the live TV newscast in their homes, Titus Murphy and Terri Barnett, Lei Yuille, and Bobby Green saw the rock-wielding rioters rip the semi-truck driver from his cab. One man held the driver’s head to the ground with his foot while the others kicked at his body and hit him with a hammer and chunks of concrete. Reginald Denny was knocked unconscious by the blows to the head and one of the attackers pranced victoriously over Denny, flashing gang signs at the news copter.

Twenty years ago on the 29^th of April 1992, South Central and Southeast Los Angeles exploded in six-day riots killing 53 people and wounding thousands in wide spread violence and murder. The looting and arson cost nearly one billion dollars and destroyed over a thousand buildings. Long simmering anger over inequitable poverty, segregation, lack of educational and employment opportunities, police abuse, interracial violence  and unequal  services ignited into open rage in the poorest sections of L.A. the day the court acquitted four of black Rodney King’s white and Hispanic police assailants.

It was into this South Central inferno that Reginald Denny, a white truck driver, unwittingly drove. Seeing his brutalization by black youth on the live helicopter news feed, four separate African-American strangers sprang from their couches several miles away in the neighborhood to rush to Denny’s aid out at the intersection of Florence and Normandie.

This Is Your Weapon

II.      Vows of Rejection

“We renounce violence of the heart, tongue and fist, neither willing nor working harm to any”

9. I will reject violence of the fist: I will not retaliate toward anger or assault, provocation or violence, in word or action; I will not seek or inflict any injury, harm or death toward any person.

(Idi Amin testing a new weapon)

Idi Amin has been referred to as Africa’s Hitler. His eight-year reign of terror over Uganda in the 1970s resulted in hundreds of thousands killed. Amin perpetrated gross human rights abuses, violent political repression, ethnic persecution and extrajudicial killings. When church leaders spoke up in protest, they were interrogated and killed. Festo Kivengere, an Anglican bishop who escaped into exile after Archbishop Janani Luwun was murdered for speaking out against Amin’s tyrannical regime, was asked if he would strike back at Dictator Amin if he had the opportunity: “If you were sitting in Ida Amin’s office with a gun in your hand, what would you do?” Bishop Kivengere responded, “I would give the gun to Amin and say, ‘This is your weapon; my weapon is love.”* 

In the Same Way

I.        Vows of Affirmation

“We devote our daily life to God, and to serving our neighbors as images of God”

("Holy Trinity" Andrej Rublev via Wikimedia Commons)

2. I will seek the image of God in each and every person; I will treat them as fully worthy of the good I desire for myself.

The foundation for loving our neighbor (not to mention our enemy) is the conviction that they bear the very image of God and even have a calling from this God who loves them unceasingly. Trappist monk Thomas Merton writes clearly, “[A person] cannot be at peace with himself or with God unless he is trying to love others with a love that is not merely his but God’s own love.” Merton offers great insight into today’s vow in the following two paragraphs from, No Man Is an Island:

 “It is clear, then, that to love others well we must first love the truth. And since love is a matter of practical and concrete human relations, the truth we must love when we love our [sisters and] brothers is not mere abstract speculation: it is the moral truth that is to be embodied and given life in our own destiny and theirs. This truth is more than the cold perception of an obligation, flowing from moral precepts. The truth we must love in loving our brothers is the concrete destiny and sanctity that are willed for them by the love of God. One who really loves another is not merely moved by the desire to see him contented and healthy and prosperous in this world. Love cannot be satisfied with anything so incomplete. If I am to love my [sister], I must somehow enter deep into the mystery of God’s love for [her]. I must be moved not only by human sympathy but by that divine sympathy that is revealed to us in Jesus and which enriches our own lives by the outpouring of the Holy Spirit in our hearts.”

Getting in the Way

III.    Vows of Nonviolent Witness

“We pledge to act in allegiance to God alone, and to resist injustice with goodness”

10. I will speak up in defense and protection of anyone, even enemies, who are attacked with violence of word or action, even at the risk of my own life

In the historical World War II movie To End All Wars*, British Prisoners of War (POWs) in a Japanese prison camp in Burma suffer brutal treatment and excruciating forced labor at the hands of their captors. After the killing of one of their lead officers for his disrespect, some of the POWs decide the way to freedom is to organize a prisoners’ revolt. But the fatigued prisoners are unable to carry out the scheme and the leader, Major Campbell, is sentenced to death. Shockingly both to the Japanese and the other British prisoners an opponent of Major Campbell steps up to take his place. Dusty Miller, a soldier newly filled with Christ’s compassionate solidarity, vividly and sacrificially enacts today’s vow on behalf of a fellow prisoner who has treated him so poorly: “I will speak up in defense and protection of anyone, even enemies, who are attacked with violence of word or action, even at the risk of my own life.”

A Different Art

II.      Vows of Rejection

“We renounce violence of the heart, tongue and fist, neither willing nor working harm to any”

(by Jesslee Cuizon via Flickr)

9. I will reject violence of the fist: I will not retaliate toward anger or assault, provocation or violence, in word or action; I will not seek or inflict any injury, harm or death toward any person.

Read the short account, The Art of Reconciliation by the late aikido teacher, Terry Dobson (also found in print, if you prefer, in What Would You Do? edited by John Howard Yoder, pgs. 104-107). Notice the ways in which the older man responded in a very Jesus-like manner. In contrast, note the ways in which Terry responded like Jesus’ disciples—passionate, loyal to Jesus, trying to do things right, but not quite getting it.

In Secret

Diana Kathrina Leomo via Flickr

I.        Vows of Affirmation

“We devote our daily life to God, and to serving our neighbors as images of God”

5. I will daily seek to do good for someone without reward or recognition.

We love to make our decisions on cost-benefit analyses. Will the costs and the gains at least equalize, if not bring significant reward? But the way of Jesus often leaves behind this safe, business-wise pragmatism—at least at first glance. “Blessed are you when people revile you and persecute you for righteousness sake and utter all kinds of evil against you on my account.” Really!? The costs look a lot more painful than the ambiguous “blessedness” gain! “Love your enemies, do good, and lend expecting nothing in return.” What kind of foolish risk is this? 

The Hospitable

I.        Vows of Affirmation

“We devote our daily life to God, and to serving our neighbors as images of God”

madlyinlovewithlife via Flickr

4. I will live, speak and act with courtesy, respect, and honesty toward friend and enemy, neighbor and stranger.

There is a growing set of true stories sharing surprising outcomes to encounters with a violent enemy. One goes like this: A couple is asleep in their bed-and-breakfast home. As a man with a knife crawled in the open window, the wife awakens to see him approaching through the dark. As he nears she speaks out, “You can kill us, but first let me make you a cup of coffee.” The startled intruder gradually accepts the offer and over a hot cup decides against his original violent plans.