Transcript of a sermon delivered on November 20, 2022. Video at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sxZZVXITvzI
Greetings. My name is Rev. Dr. Jeff Hood. I am coming to you today from a society that is in deep moral confusion. You see, every single day I wake up to stories of murder, to stories of killing, to stories of war, to stories of rumors of war. You see, we are a society that is experiencing a pandemic of violence, an epidemic of violence, and we are, as a society, deeply confused.
You see, in our minds, we think the way to end such things, the way to end murder, to end violence, to end killings, to end wars and rumors of wars is to perpetuate more killing and more violence and more wars, and to create more rumors of war. I come to you today from a society that is deeply confused. I come to you from a society that does not understand that you cannot teach people not to kill by killing. You cannot save lives by taking lives. You cannot create a just society by killing.
Murder is an injustice no matter where it takes place. Murder is evil no matter where it takes place. Murder is wrong no matter where it takes place. Moral confusion, my friends. We exist in a space of deep moral confusion. You see, I come to you today to advocate on behalf of Scott Eizember. Presently, he is scheduled to be the next person executed in the state of Oklahoma.
Decades ago, Scott committed a heinous act. His actions led to the death of AJ and Patsy Cantrell…which he followed up with a violent spree of other actions.
He was sentenced to death, I’m sure, by a bunch of people who were just as confused as society is today. They thought that murder and killing could stop more murder and killing. Death can stop more death. They were confused. Those who continue to advocate for more murder, for more killing, for more violence, for more war, for more rumors of war, they are confused. Just in the same way that they have been confused in this case of Scott Eizember. You see, God has nothing to do with killing. The message of Jesus is clear… Love your neighbor as you love yourself, no matter who, what, when, where, why, or how. Love your neighbor. How can we love our neighbors by killing? How can we love our neighbors by taking more lives? How can we love God? How can we love Jesus and kill Scott Eizember?
I want to speak today directly to those who think that murdering Scott Eizember. Vengeance isn’t going to do anything to help the state of Oklahoma…isn’t going to do anything, to help our world, to do anything to help our culture, our society. I want to speak directly to you from the 23rd Psalm.
The scripture says, God is my shepherd I shall not want. If God is your shepherd, then you shouldn’t want any killing. There should be no want for vengeance because God is your shepherd. You see, it is folks who, God is not their shepherd, that are desperate to kill, that are desperate for vengeance. My friends, I can tell you, God is all that we need. The message of love, the message of Jesus is enough. We don’t need no more killing. The message of love is enough.
The scripture says, God leads us besides still waters not the rough waters of killing, but the still waters of love and of life, not the chaos…the mayhem…of killing. But the still waters of life.
God makes us lie down in green pastures. He leads us beside still waters. Those green pastures and those still waters…that’s not a place of killing. That’s not a place of mayhem. That’s a place where God is real, that love is real. You see, the message of Jesus is to love your enemies. The message of God is to love your enemies, to find forgiveness in your heart. In the midst of whatever you’re going through, in the midst of confusion, you see that which is clear is love. That which is clear is grace. That which is clear is forgive. You cannot kill in forgiveness. You cannot kill in love. You cannot kill in grace. You see, those things have nothing to do with killing. The scripture says that God restores your soul. You see, God will restore your soul. Not more killing.
The execution of Scott Eizember will not restore your soul. It will not restore our society. It will not restore. Killing only destructs. Killing only makes us worse. It doesn’t make us stronger. It doesn’t give us grace. It doesn’t give us mercy. It just destroys you…it destroys us. See, God is waiting to restore your soul. Repent. Repent. Repent from killing. Repent from vengeance. Repent from this desire to cause more mayhem, more violence. Repent. God is guiding us on paths of righteousness for God’s namesake. You see, God is showing us what righteousness is. God is showing us that we can’t kill in order to make our society better. We can’t commit violence in order to make our society better. God is calling us to love…to grace…to forgiveness. God is calling us to stop the execution of Scott Eizember. Because it is not gonna make us more loving. It’s not gonna make us more graceful. It is not gonna make us more forgiving. It is going to make us worse. Please listen. It is God who restores our soul, not vengeance.
Paths of righteousness. Paths of grace. Paths of mercy, paths of love. Such things have nothing to do with killing You see, God says, even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, we are walking in this moment through the valley of the shadow of death. We are walking in this moment through the valley of the possible execution of Scott Eizember. If we are to listen to God, the God whose name is love, the God whose name is Grace, the God whose name is righteousness, the God whose name is peace, then we will walk through a such a space to life. We will not walk through such a space to death. We will not walk through such a space to execution.
So often we assume… If I don’t kill this person, if I don’t commit vengeance, if I don’t kill Scott Eizember, if I don’t commit vengeance against Scott Eizember, then I will be afraid. The scriptures say, I will fear no evil. God tells us to not fear any evil. For God is with us. God is with us. You see, the very rod and staff of God comfort us. Do not look to vengeance. Do not look to the death of Scott Eber to bring you any sort of comfort. God is the comforter. God is the one who shows us what love is. God is the one who shows us what grace is. God is the one who shows us what righteousness is. We do not have to fear. We do not have to fear who or what Scott Eizember could be. We have to trust God. That is not our place. Fear no evil, rely on God. Fear no evil, rely on God.
You see, the scripture says that God prepares a table before us in the presence of our enemies. If you believe that Scott Eizember is your enemy, God is preparing a place for you to sit with love, to sit with grace, to sit with mercy, to sit with righteous.
The scriptures say that God will anoint our heads with oil and our cups will overflow us. You see, if you choose, if you make the choice, if you look to grace, if you look to mercy, if you look to righteousness, God will anoint your head with oil. God will make your cup overflow. You see, there is great gain in love. There is great gain in righteousness. There is great gain in forgiveness, in mercy. If we want to make our society a better place, then we need to stop killing people…stop murdering people…stop committing ourselves to wars and rumors of. We need to step back from the needle. We need to stop these executions. We need to stop the execution of Scott Eizember.
The scriptures say… Surely goodness and mercy will follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever and ever. If you want goodness and mercy to follow you all the days of your life, if you want goodness and grace to follow you all the days of your life, if you want goodness and love to follow you all the days of your life, then look to life. Look to the author of Life. Look to the author of Love, the author of Grace, the one who is shouting down from the heavens, who is advocating for God’s child…Scott Eizember, if you want to dwell in the house of God, if you want to dwell in the house of love, if you want to dwell in the house of grace, if you want to dwell in the house of mercy. STOP THE KILLING. Stop the murdering. Stop the wars. Stop the rumors of wars…and save the life of Scott Eizember.
Wake up Oklahoma! If you don’t want no more killings in your neighborhood, if you don’t want no more killings in your cities, if you don’t want no murders in your neighborhood, in your cities, stop the killing. You cannot teach a society not to stop killing by killing Scott Eizember. It is my prayer this day that you will choose who you will serve. Will you serve the God of grace, the God of love, the God of righteousness, the God who is leading us to a path of non-violence, who is leading us to a path of wholeness? Or will you rely on the vengeance you carry in your self? Will you rely on your own violence, your own desire for murder, your own desire for killing, your own desire, for vengeance? There is no life in these executions…there is only death.
If you continue to pursue the execution of Scott Eizember…there will be no life in your soul. There will only be death. Choose wisely. For the realm of God is at hand.
Amen.
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