On the sermon “No More Deaths / No Más Muertes” by The Rev. Kaji Douša

June 3rd,2019 Categories: Pastor Kaji's Blog

This week I am headed to the desert in Tucson to stand with a man named Dr. Scott Warren who is being prosecuted for leaving water for people in the desert. For years, as an act of his faith, he has walked through the desert, which he considers sacred and holy land, to leave water and food for people who don’t have access to it and who might otherwise die. And for years, this was fine, until something changed. Today in the pulpit, I am telling the story of a woman named Hagar, who one day, when she was under incredible and intense circumstances that had gotten beyond what anyone should have to endure, she decided to flee, to save herself and to save her son. She fled to the desert as an act of freedom. And this is what happens for any migrant who is under circumstances that would put themselves at risk, and they flee to the desert. And when we decide that the way that Christians and other people of faith are responding to them is worth twenty years in prison, then we are turning aside the Hagars of this world, we’re even turning aside Jesus who too went to the desert. So what I want to invite all of us to do, is to consider if we believe that it is a criminal act to help a person not to die, who are we? And what do we think about freedom? No more deaths.

Pastor Kaji’s full sermon is available here: https://parkavenuechristian.com/sunday-sermon-by-the-rev-kaji-dousa/