Tag Archives: Civil Rights

Rising into Justice

Living in the Spirit

June 11, 2020

Scripture Reading: Exodus 19:2-8a
They had journeyed from Rephidim, entered the wilderness of Sinai, and camped in the wilderness; Israel camped there in front of the mountain. Then Moses went up to God; the Lord called to him from the mountain, saying, ‘Thus you shall say to the house of Jacob, and tell the Israelites: You have seen what I did to the Egyptians, and how I bore you on eagles’ wings and brought you to myself. Now therefore, if you obey my voice and keep my covenant, you shall be my treasured possession out of all the peoples. Indeed, the whole earth is mine, but you shall be for me a priestly kingdom and a holy nation. These are the words that you shall speak to the Israelites.’

So Moses came, summoned the elders of the people, and set before them all these words that the Lord had commanded him. The people all answered as one: ‘Everything that the Lord has spoken we will do.’ Moses reported the words of the people to the Lord.

I love how the Bible is so interrelated like how Isaiah 40:31 (but those who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength, they shall mount up with wings like eagles, they shall run and not be weary,   they shall walk and not faint) reaches all the way back to our Exodus scripture above. We should never underestimate the impact being freed from Egyptian slavery had on the Israelites.

I recently watched a rerun of Finding Your Roots that shared the family tree of the civil rights leader John Lewis. Now Representative John Lewis discovered he inherited his enthusiasm for civil rights from a great great grandfather, Tobias Carter. The 13th Amendment to the Constitution of the United States was ratified by the states on December 6, 1865, freeing the slaves. Tobias Carter was one of those slaves. Finding your Roots discovered the documents that showed where this man was one of the first slaves to register to vote in 1967. He claimed his place in a world made new.

God’s eagle’s wings are there for all of us when we commit ourselves to live in God’s righteousness. The struggle for individuals and communities is first, ferreting out what is God’s justice. Secondly, bringing our definition of what is right and just into sync with God’s, and finally, living God’s justice. This process starts with our delving deeply into tracing the threads of God’s justice throughout the Bible, not just picking a few verses here and there that line up with our prejudgements. Christ-followers may be in for a big surprise as we consider the justice Jesus lived as our model. An interesting exercise might be reading Matthew 12 or 25 and then trying to imagine what we believe and live compared to what he taught and lived. Changing our ways of being is very hard. When we align with God, we receive the power of those eagle wings to lift us out of our disparities with God’s righteousness.

Prayer: Forgive us when we find ourselves caught in the world’s idea of justice. Lift us up on eagle’s wings to a higher plain of love. 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.

Justice without Violence

Living in the Spirit
August 7, 2018

Scripture Reading: 2 Samuel 18:5-9, 15, 31-32

Absalom happened to meet the servants of David. Absalom was riding on his mule, and the mule went under the thick branches of a great oak. His head caught fast in the oak, and he was left hanging between heaven and earth, while the mule that was under him went on. And ten young men, Joab’s armor-bearers, surrounded Absalom and struck him, and killed him.

 Then the Cushite came; and the Cushite said, ‘Good tidings for my lord the king! For the Lord has vindicated you this day, delivering you from the power of all who rose up against you.’ The king said to the Cushite, ‘Is it well with the young man Absalom?’ The Cushite answered, ‘May the enemies of my lord the king, and all who rise up to do you harm, be like that young man.’ –2 Samuel 18:9, 15, 31-32

An age old question, when is war ever necessary? And a second question, when war is deemed necessary why does it always seem to demand retribution and gloating by the victor? I am reading Stone Song: A Novel of the Life of Crazy Horse by Win Blevins that delves into the spiritual aspects of this warrior’s response to the disenfranchisement of his people during the 19th century in the USA. Western tribes were being removed from their traditional lands at gunpoint and restricted to reservations where many starved to death.  Crazy Horse’s early defined quest to lead his people against the white soldiers displacing them was accompanied by warnings from his spirit guide not to take scalps and not to participate in the after-battle celebrations.

Will we ever discern ways to accomplish justice without violence? Oklahoma City this week is preparing to celebrate one of the first, if not the first civil rights sit-ins held in the USA during August 1958. The sit-ins were led by a school teacher, Mrs. Clara Luper. Many of the participants were youth. All were taught how to respond non-violently to any provocations to their filling all the stools at lunch counters in various downtown Oklahoma City businesses. Participants were spat on, called many names, and not served but their point was made. It took a tremendous amount of courage to approach the issue nonviolently.

Jesus spoke to the problem of injustice when he identified the second most important commandment as loving our neighbors as we love ourselves*.  He recognized an eternal truth. How would we want to be treated if we projected ourselves into our neighbor’s situation? How would we feel if we along with our families were restricted to a small piece of land, not allowed to hunt for our food, and not provided enough food to sustain life for all our people? How would we react if we could buy goods sold in a store but could not eat at their lunch counter? It is a paradox, but it is an eternal truth we cannot love others as we love ourselves unless we can love ourselves in the same situation others are experiencing.

Prayer: God of Justice, gift us each with empathy allowing us to see ourselves and our neighbors as clearly as Jesus saw them. Amen.

*Matthew 22:37-39

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.

Weave us Together

1960s_montageChristmas
January 2, 2015

Scripture Reading: Ephesians 1:3-14

With all wisdom and insight he has made known to us the mystery of his will, according to his good pleasure that he set forth in Christ, as a plan for the fullness of time, to gather up all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth. In Christ we have also obtained an inheritance, having been destined according to the purpose of him who accomplishes all things according to his counsel and will, so that we, who were the first to set our hope on Christ, might live for the praise of his glory.
 — Ephesians 1:8b-12

Been shaking your head and wringing your hands recently? Think the world is falling apart and you don’t know how to stop it? Bothered by wars, economic inequity, and racism? Or perhaps you are on the other side of experiencing the world. Excited about the rising stock market, pleased with the value of your home going up, hope to have the best year ever in your job or business, don’t understand what all those naysayers are jabbering about? I have been reading various top ten news events of 2014 and been struck by how very different the perspectives are here in the United State of America.

This reminds me of a conversation I once had with a good friend as we looked back on our college days in the 1960’s. We did not know each other then. My memories were related to the Civil Rights and anti-war movements. I remembered attending a church whose minister was an outspoken white supremacists that my professor had invited to speak to my class on racism. The minister countered by saying that if the professor wanted his students to hear the minister’s message they needed to visit his church. The class all went together and were seated but by the minister’s instructions, the deacons asked the members of the class who were not white to leave. We all left with them. I also remember being totally against the War in Vietnam and totally ashamed of those who spit on the soldiers returning from it. My friend indicated that she did not remember any of that. She remember football games and homecoming, sorority events, and meeting her future husband.

In all honesty I long for a world where everyone’s memories of college relate to sports events and meeting future spouses. A world where all people live in security with justice, but we are not there yet. We are also not helpless. We serve a Risen Savior who came into this world to show us the way to peace and justice through acts of love. We are not called to bury our heads in the sand or to stop voting and let whatever will be, be. We are called to be a light on the hill by following Jesus’ radical way of being and doing peace and justice. We cannot do that as a fragmented Body of Christ. We must find the common ground and pursue it with all that we are with the guidance of the Holy Spirit.

Prayer:
Weave, weave, weave us together,
Weave us together in unity and love.
Weave, weave, weave us together,
Weave us together, together in love.* Amen.

* Words and music by Rosemary Crow. Full text of lyrics may be found at: http://songs-with-music.freeservers.com/weave.html

 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 American. Used by permission. All rights reserved.