Perhaps the most striking thing about the aftermath of the mass murder in a black church in Charleston, South Carolina is the attitude of the victim’s families toward the killer.
During Dylann Roof’s bail hearing, one by one, family members of the dead spoke through a television monitor in the corner of the courtroom to Mr. Roof who was watching from his cell.
One by one the survivors, members of Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church, offered him forgiveness for making them motherless, snuffing out the life of a promising son, taking away a loving wife for good, bringing a grandmother’s life to an end.
“You took something very precious away from me,” said Nadine Collier, daughter of 70-year-old Ethel Lance, her voice rising in anguish. “I will never talk to her ever again. I will never be able to hold her again. But I forgive you. And have mercy on your soul.”
As they testified to a faith that is not compromised by violence or grief, they reminded Mr. Roof that God can forgive too.
“We welcomed you Wednesday night in our Bible study with open arms,” said Felicia Sanders, the mother of 26-year old Tywanza Sanders. “You have killed some of the most beautifulest people that I know,” she said in a quavering voice. “Every fiber in my body hurts, and I will never be the same. Tywanza Sanders is my son, but Tywanza was my hero. Tywanza was my hero. But as we say in Bible study, we enjoyed you. But may God have mercy on you.”
The act of racial terrorism did the opposite of what was expected. If Roof intended to stir up a race war the Charleston church members were having none of it. Instead of riots, there was forgiveness.
“I acknowledge that I am very angry,” said Bethane Middleton-Brown, sister of one of the victims, DePayne Middleton-Doctor. But “she taught me that we are the family that love built. We have no room for hating, so we have to forgive. I pray God on your soul.”
What a statement! “No room for hating.” The Bible says we are to love our enemies, Mathew 5:44. This principle was clearly demonstrated by the families of the victims. Wouldn’t that solve the race problems we face? What if, everyone forgave each other?
It is the spirit of Christ that forgives. Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do,” as he was hanging on the cross. What better demonstration of that spirit could there be than was seen and heard by Roof himself? Charleston is a lesson for the whole nation, even the whole world! Racial hatred has no place in America. It has no place in the Middle East. It has no place in Africa. It has no place, anywhere. Let the record of those courtroom testimonies be blazoned across the nation in living color. Let their words be repeated on the airwaves, the internet and in social media.
If we want peace in our cities and on our streets, we don’t need Baltimores and Fergusons. We need Charlestons; not the murderous rampage, but the spirit of forgiveness.
“We all have one thing in common. Our hearts are broken,” Charleston Mayor Joseph Riley Jr., told a crowd gathered in an arena to commemorate the victims. If “that young man thought he was going to divide this community with his racial hatred, we are here today and all across America to resoundingly say he measurably failed.”
The enemy is not one race or another, for we are all of the same human brotherhood. We are all descendents of Adam. The real enemy is Satan who stirs up racial animosity.
Jesus said in Matthew 24:12 that in the last days “because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold.” The cold-blooded mass murder is a testimony to the truth of the Lord’s prophetic words. It is a potent reminder that Satan is still stirring it up; not just racial hatred, but hatred of all kinds. And he will continue to do so to the close of probation and even again at the end of the millennium.
The Charleston victims, Bible students, demonstrated that love and forgiveness is also still around too, and that it is more powerful than revenge, more powerful than hatred, more powerful than pain. And that’s the biggest lesson to be learned from the tragedy in Charleston.
Bible prophecy will certainly unfold. This earth is filled with pain, sorrow and hatred, which will increase until the close of time. Crimes almost too gruesome to mention happen all too often. Yet, we are advised in scripture: “and when these things begin to come to pass, then look up, and lift up your heads; for your redemption draweth nigh.” Luke 21:28
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