"When Joy is Gone", September 21, 2025

 

When Joy is Gone
Based on Jeremiah 8:18-9:1
By Rev. Jamie Green Klopotoski
First Baptist Church, Gloucester
September 21, 2025

 

I have to warn you, in this sermon I will be talking about kids killed by guns.

It’s not a happy topic.

According to the Gun Violence Archive, 172 children under the age of 12 have been killed by gun violence so far this year.

You may have heard the news of a popular adult man who was shot and killed last week in Utah. I heard so many calls on social media to “say his name”. But what about these 172 names? Young kids all across the country shot and killed. 172 kids no longer riding their bikes, eating macaroni and cheese, playing Hide and Go Seek, dressing up as Spiderman for Halloween. In the data, 44 children have not been named. May they rest in peace, may God know their names as God knows the sparrows and counts the number of hairs on our heads. The data does list the names of the other 128 children killed by guns.

 I want to say THEIR names.

From Alabama

Adonis Kane Tucker

Alex Reese

Jayden Howell

Kinsley Smith

From Arizona

Layla Ramos

From California

Jaden Mosley

Josiah Divodi-Lessa

From Connecticut

Stacey Glasgow

From the District of Columbia

Honesty Cheadle

From Florida

Blessyn Lightner

Breon Allen

Chosen Morris

Emery and Nova McKenzie

Xion Solomon

Yanelis Munuguia

From Georgia

Bryson Murray

Dior Scott

Emily Grace Mayo

Jayce Davis

Jeremiah George

Jianna Jones

Kylen Powell

Peyton Brielle Roberts

From Illinois

Darnell Wicks

Demeir Douglas

Josiah Hooker

Kh'aden Johnson

From Indiana

Alayna, Aurorah, and Ava Payne

Harmony Anderson

Javarius Bickett

Jayvinvontae Keion-Ray Carter

From Kansas

Davion Gunter

From Louisiana

Adalynn Mae Sadler

Amy Bohne

Emouri Woodard

Leelani Brooks

Ryliee Watson

From Maine

Jasper Smith

From Maryland

E'vaa Mikel Sewell

Kimana Sharieff

Micah Comegys

From Michigan

Alonzo Mallett III

Rylee Love

Samir Grubbs

From Minnesota

Amir Lamar Atkins

Fletcher Alexander Merkel

Harper Lillian Moyski

Kinsley Prinsen

From Mississippi

Josiah Williams

Keldrick Duncan

Zameria Jones

From Missouri

Aubreeyonna Muex

Charlotte and Jeffrey Hatcher

Jordan Neal

Marshaun Futrell Jr

Ophelia Daniels

From Montana

Stellan and Heidi Idunn Olson-Hartley

Samuel Aurther Moore

From New Hampshire

Blake Byrne

Parker and Ryan Long

From New Jersey

Elijah Rodriguez

Evangelina Velasquez

Yasin Morrison

From New Mexico

Leon Garcia

From New York

Anne Mancuso

Jeremiah Huff

From North Carolina

Avah Gracelynn Bullock

Hunter Hatch

Jayce Edwards

Kamarii Patterson

Mianna Roach

From North Dakota

Lokia Jay Lee Walking Eagle

From Ohio

Gionni Jackson

Kaden Coleman

Keilub Paul

Rosalie Martin

From Oklahoma

Elizibeth Feaster

Kenari Windom

Logan Shippy

From Oregon

Grayson, Nora, and Trenton Behee

Liliana Morgan

From Pennsylvania

Connor and Evelyn Swarner

From Rhode Island

Adele and Felix Arruda

From South Carolina

Antonio Kamani Burgess II

Ashley McFarland

Brite Shalom Acoy

Colin

Lavinia Lowe

Samantha Samarel

Zymir Demarco Smith

From Tennessee

Cyprien Argueta Romero

Jamarion Payne

Jeriko Logue Luna

From Texas

Astrid Fung

Daniel Casares

Jrako Castillo

Julian Guzman

Olivia Brooks

Pranish Pradhan

Râmani Sibley

Ta-Kirus Davon Jones

From Utah

Anderson Garcia

Eli Ronan Fox Painter

From Virginia

Emani and Ermais King

King Edmonds

From Washington

Alexia Garcia

From Wisconsin

Daquell Collins

Deon Sargent

Jainadia Little

Jesus Valladares

Michael Meagher

Ralph Taylor III

From Wyoming

Brailey and Olivia Blackmer

Brooke and Jordan Harshman

My joy is gone, grief is upon me, my heart is sick.

Since my people are crushed, I am crushed;
I mourn, and horror grips me.
O that my head were a spring of water, and my eyes a fountain of tears,
so that I might weep day and night for the slain of my people!

Oh Jeremiah, me too.

In these words, Jeremiah is expressing deep sorrow, utter grief, and overwhelming despair for the people of Israel. But Jeremiah isn’t just expressing his own grief. Jeremiah, as a prophet, is the voice of God. Imagine these same words spoken by God.

God’s joy is gone, grief is upon God, God’s heart is sick.

Since God’s people are crushed, God is crushed; God mourns.
God weeps day and night for the slain of God’s people!

God has compassion for us. God is with us in our pain and suffering and grief. God holds us as we cry. God cries with us.

In addition to expressing grief, Jeremiah is trying to shake Israel of her complacency. Perhaps more than anything else, Jeremiah is trying to wake the Israelites up. They do not have to live a grief-stricken life forever. They can DO something. Let us hope that Jeremiah’s words can awaken US from OUR slumber.

According to a report from Johns Hopkins University, gun-related injuries are the leading cause of death among children ages 1 to 17.

The reality is that if you have a child between the ages of 1 and 17, if they lose their life this year, it will most likely be because of a gunshot.

Ellen Braaten is a child psychologist who has been advising communities after shootings since 2011. In a recent essay in WBUR’s Cognoscenti, she explained that over the years, as shootings have gotten more common, she has had to let go of some of the reassurances she used to share in order to comfort people, especially the one about adults doing everything they can to keep kids safe. She writes: “We haven’t. We don’t. Whether through our lack of will to elect candidates who will champion gun control or a puzzling deference to a strict interpretation of the Second Amendment, we haven’t protected kids from increased school shootings.”

Ellen’s suggestion to solve the epidemic of gun violence: “We simply take away the guns.” But since in many states, common sense gun laws have not been enacted and likely won’t be, she describes others things that we can do.

She writes, “During this impossible time, I’ve found myself drawn to less empirically driven advice and more existential concepts. How do we find meaning in life when it seems so uncertain? When we can’t control the rules, how do we create and live by our own values? We’re not powerless. We can vote. We can demand gun control, like we demanded civil rights. It won’t be easy or quick. But we can pick this issue and vote exclusively on it. We can be a source of stability. That’s the number-one suggestion I make to parents, but it applies to all of us. Do the things that help you feel stable – the old standbys like exercise, sleep and spending time with loved ones –  and the world will seem more stable. We can make the world a better place by being kind, even when kindness is hard. We can find the words that represent our experience and speak them.

I’ve learned that when the old words no longer work, the answer isn’t to give up. Or stop speaking. Or reflexively scream at the opposition. The answer is to make the language about these issues a reflection of us — our fears, our priorities, our politics and our hopes — in a way that might shape the future. I’ll keep trying.”

Me too, Ellen.

I want to end with the words of The Rev. Dr. Cheryl A. Lindsay. She writes:

“As a church, we are called to be agents of divine healing in the world, even if all we have to offer is our public, unabashed tears.

I pray for a church that is willing to cry publicly for the world’s grief.

I pray for a church that follows in the compassion of Jeremiah and claims connection and belonging with all our poor (hurt, oppressed, marginalized, silenced, discouraged, hopeless) people.

I pray for a church that acknowledges the cries of others in distress and makes them her own.

I pray for a church that processes collective trauma and prays for the capacity to grieve fully and heal within in order to be released as agents of healing in the world.

I pray for a church that responds to the lamenting question, “Is there no balm in Gilead?” with these words: “We have the balm. We bring the balm. We are the balm.””

May it be so. Amen.