Kingdom Building
October 28, 2019
Scripture Reading: Habakkuk 1:1-4; 2:1-4
The oracle that the prophet Habakkuk saw.
O Lord, how long shall I cry for help,
and you will not listen?
Or cry to you ‘Violence!’
and you will not save?
Why do you make me see wrongdoing
and look at trouble?
Destruction and violence are before me;
strife and contention arise.
So the law becomes slack
and justice never prevails.
The wicked surround the righteous—
therefore judgement comes forth perverted. –Habakkuk 1:1-4
Why do you make me see wrongdoing and look at trouble? I have wondered this very question and would add “that others do not see.” I attended college from 1965 to 1969 where I was caught up in the civil rights movement and the Vietnam war. Fast forward some 20 years in a church small group and I was surprise to hear from people my same age who attended college at the same time who truly did not know anything about the civil rights activities and their only concern about the Vietnam war was that their student deferments remained in place. They enjoyed the normal college experiences of football games and staying up all night to finish a paper and meeting a future spouse and beer parties. I must tell you I long for a world where the worst thing that might happen to me or anyone else is that I might not get a paper in on time. Before that world can become reality, we must enact justice throughout the world we live in now.
So, what is justice? If we cannot define justice, it will never prevail. If we cannot see injustice, we can never define justice. Confining our lives to seeing only what is comfortable and safe for us will not lead to justice. I grew up in a small rural homogenous community. May introduction to the outside world was through books and it remains a primary source of learning about the world in which we live. I was also raised by news junkies. My parents watched TV news morning, evening, and night and read the daily paper which always arrived a day late to the farm because it came through the US Mail. I realize keeping up with the news is a challenge in these days of 24/7 reporting and accusations of “fake news” with concerns that indeed foreign countries may be posting unsubstantiated information on the media. Looking at more than one source helps.
Reading books or watching the news is not unlike reading the Bible. If we only listen to the parts that support the beliefs, we already hold we may miss the injustice all around us.
Prayer: Lord, open our eyes to the injustice in our world and our hearts to finding ways to correct it. Amen.
All scriptures are quoted from the New Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicized Edition, copyright 1989, 1995, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights are reserved.