Bishop Scott's October Reflections

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Bishop Scott’s October Reflections

September 18, 2025

Beloved of God in the Nebraska Synod,

I was horrified to learn of the murder of Charlie Kirk last week, the same day as yet another gunfire incident at a school in Colorado. The murders earlier this year of children at a Catholic school in Minneapolis, Minnesota State Senator Melissa Hortman and her husband, Dan, and countless others have weighed heavily on my mind these last few days.

In the earliest chapters of the book of Genesis, the first sin between humans is an act of violence. In a jealous rage, Cain killed his brother, Abel, and God said, “What have you done? The voice of your brother’s blood is crying to me from the ground.” (Genesis 4.10) Scripture makes it clear that humankind has been plagued by violence from the very beginning of our existence to present days.

Violence is not merely physical: we sinners are also plagued by mental, psychological, political, and spiritual violence as well. When Martin Luther defined the 5th Commandment, he taught, “We are to fear and love God, so that we neither endanger nor harm the lives of our neighbors, but instead help and support them in all of life’s needs.” Speech and political theater that threatens our neighbors is a form of violence. Government policies that dehumanize and demean human beings are a form of violence. Stereotypes that portray those who disagree with us as “enemies” is a form of violence. We will not move forward as a nation until we acknowledge that all of us bear responsibility for the violence we have done and are doing to one another.

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. wrote “[Violence] is impractical because it is a descending spiral ending in destruction for all…It is immoral because it seeks to humiliate the opponent rather than win his understanding; it seeks to annihilate rather than to convert.”^[1] Violence is not the answer to the problems we face. It never has been.

We should pray for all people who suffer the consequences of our cursed violence, but prayer is simply not enough, especially not at this moment. As a baptized people of faith, we are called by God to reject the ways of violence and commit ourselves to practices that bring peace: compassion, self-control, integrity, honesty, kindness, and mercy. As your bishop, I am recommitting myself to those practices. I know I will not always succeed, for I am captive to sin and cannot free myself, but I also know that our Lord’s grace is assured through Baptism and each day brings an opportunity to try again. I hope you will join me, and that we can work to be a force for peace in a world that has been far too violent for far too long.

Yours in the steadfast love of Christ,

The Rev. Scott Alan Johnson, Bishop

Questions to Ponder

Reflect on a moment when an interaction turned anxious, threatening, or even violence. What happened? How did you respond? If it happened again, what might you do differently?
Think of a example of disagreeing with someone without being disagreeable. How does that work? Where do you find common ground? How do you move forward?
Have you practiced the technique known as “active listening“ in order to understand your neighbor, without necessarily agreeing with them? If so, how has the relationship changed? If not, how could you learn and put it into practice?

Prayer

O God, where hearts are fearful and constricted, grant courage and hope. Where anxiety is infectious and widening, grant peace and reassurance. Where impossibilities close every door and window, grant imagination and resistance. Where distrust twists our thinking, grant healing and illumination. Where spirits are daunted and weakened, grant soaring wings and strengthened dreams. All these things we ask in the name of Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord.^[2]

Amen.