Tag Archives: Justice

Stepping Out of Our Comfort Zone

Eastertide

April 18, 2021

Scripture Reading:

Luke 24:36b-48

Then he said to them, ‘These are my words that I spoke to you while I was still with you—that everything written about me in the law of Moses, the prophets, and the psalms must be fulfilled.’ Then he opened their minds to understand the scriptures, and he said to them, ‘Thus it is written, that the Messiah is to suffer and to rise from the dead on the third day, and that repentance and forgiveness of sins is to be proclaimed in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem. You are witnesses of these things. –Luke 24:44-48

The history of God is a cohesive whole recorded by God’s followers as it occurred in the development of cultures, societies, and nations over time. I do not think God would have created beings made in God’s image had God not intended for them to excel when they set their hearts to the right. Jesus’ example tells us that serving God would require a lot of intentional, righteous work. Jesus also assures us that he will be sharing our burdens and strengthening us for that work.

Very truly, I tell you, the one who believes in me will also do the works that I do and, in fact, will do greater works than these, because I am going to the Father. I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son.  If in my name you ask me for anything, I will do it. John 14:12-14

Our challenge as people of faith is discerning what is right and what is just for ourselves and everyone. Such efforts can only be successful if we make an effort to step out of our comfort zones and see the world through the eyes of others.

Prayer: Lord, open us to understanding the lives of all your children, finding our common threads, and seeking to understand our different perspectives while we grow together in the love of God. 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.

Without Law

Eastertide

April 16, 2021

Scripture Reading: 1 John 3:1-7

Everyone who commits sin is guilty of lawlessness; sin is lawlessness. You know that he was revealed to take away sins, and in him there is no sin. No one who abides in him sins; no one who sins has either seen him or known him. Little children, let no one deceive you. Everyone who does what is right is righteous, just as he is righteous. –1 John 3:4-7

Pilate asked, “what is truth?1” with the inference that truth is relative. What is right, for many, may fall in the same category. The words right and righteousness refers to what is deemed right by the Lord (after [the Lord’s] examination), i.e. what is approved in [the Lord’s] eyes2. Truth and righteousness come from the same source and require that we seek the vision of God in all aspects of our lives.

The Greek word, anomia3, translated here as lawlessness, means without law, not against established law. Sin is acting without recognizing God as the author of both truth and righteousness.

Like Pilate, our society is having problems discern what is true and what is right. Perhaps our blindness or confusion results from our failure to gain clarity from the One who defines truth and righteousness. Have we reached the point that we feel we are beyond God’s righteousness? Are we now a people who think we are beyond God’s laws? Jesus identified the most critical laws as loving God and loving our neighbors as we love ourselves. Families are struggling from the impact of COVID. In the USA, poverty impacts 1.4 million people, mass shootings are occurring across our lands, and families are fleeing other countries because of starvation and violence. Where are the laws of love to address such needs? 

I have always appreciated M. Scott Peck4‘s definition of love as wanting the very best for another, which I think is defined by God and includes all others. We have a living Savior and the guidance of the Holy Spirit to show us how to turn away from the distractions that are separating us from God, restoring us to keepers of the faith, ruled by God’s truth and righteousness.

Prayer:

 Dear Lord and Father of mankind,
forgive our foolish ways;
reclothe us in our rightful mind,
in purer lives thy service find,
in deeper reverence, praise. 5 Amen

1John 18:38
2https://biblehub.com/greek/1343.htm
3https://biblehub.com/greek/458.htm
4 Author of The Road Less Traveled
5First verse of Dear Lrod and Father of Mankind by John Greenleaf Whittier see at John Greenleaf Whittier

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.

Dealing with Ignorance

Eastertide

April 12, 2021Justice

Scripture Reading: Acts 3:12-19
When Peter saw it, he addressed the people, ‘You Israelites, why do you wonder at this, or why do you stare at us, as though by our own power or piety we had made him walk? The God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, the God of our ancestors has glorified his servant Jesus, whom you handed over and rejected in the presence of Pilate, though he had decided to release him. But you rejected the Holy and Righteous One and asked to have a murderer given to you, and you killed the Author of life, whom God raised from the dead. To this we are witnesses. And by faith in his name, his name itself has made this man strong, whom you see and know; and the faith that is through Jesus has given him this perfect health in the presence of all of you.

‘And now, friends, I know that you acted in ignorance, as did also your rulers. In this way God fulfilled what he had foretold through all the prophets, that his Messiah would suffer. Repent therefore, and turn to God so that your sins may be wiped out,

Ignorance is a challenging word. There are at least two types of ignorance. The first is a lack of knowledge or experience. We all are acquainted with that one, which can be corrected by study or observation or wisdom shared by others. I remember the centurion saying at the foot of Jesus’ cross Truly this man was God’s Son*! My high school American and Oklahoma History teacher contributed much outside information than was provided in our textbooks. Besides being my teacher, he was the Principal Chief of the Otoe Missouria Tribe at that time. The second type of ignorance is gained by ignoring what we have observed and blindly believing what we have been taught. Many of the Jews had been anticipating a Warrior King, Son of David Messiah, not one willing to die on a cross whose rule is based on love rather than military might.

Ignorance does not need to last forever. We can learn the better way, and we can turn around from holding on to knowledge without substance and experience without knowing.

Prayer: God of Love, open our hearts and minds to your ways and your truths. Amen.

*Matthew 27:54

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.

Kindred

Eastertide

April 7, 2021

Scripture Reading: Psalm 133
How very good and pleasant it is
   when kindred live together in unity!
It is like the precious oil on the head,
   running down upon the beard,
on the beard of Aaron,
   running down over the collar of his robes.
It is like the dew of Hermon,
   which falls on the mountains of Zion.
For there the Lord ordained his blessing,
   life for evermore.

I acknowledge the basic idea that we are all brothers and sisters in Christ, kindred if you will. The more I delve into genealogy, the more I realize we are, at least, all biological cousins. I wonder how often we read the Bible searching for documentation of concepts already ingrained in our souls. For example, we cling to specific laws that we follow with zeal while ignoring many we do not heed.  The existence of slavery throughout the Bible credentialed the slave trade in America whether it was the right thing to do or not.  

The author of the Bible book of John elected to reach back to Genesis 1 when the author started writing. In the beginning was the Word. We all would benefit from heeding this example. I read an open inquiry on my genealogy software from an African American man tracking his linage. We share a DNA link. Our ancestor was the slave owner who impregnated the man’s great, great grandmother, his slave. I did not have much to share with him about this man that he did not already know. I sent him what I could. After all, he is my half-cousin several times removed. Our DNA link gave him additional proof that the man was his ancestor.

I think about that when I see mistreatment of people on our streets because of some reality we have created called race. When our ingrained ideas about people get in the way of loving them just as they are, we might want to recall the verse: How very good and pleasant it is when kindred live together in unity!

All my ancestors arrived in the New World before 1790. I have not yet tracked down all of them, but of those I have, all were devout Christian folk, and all but one owned slaves. They lived in both the north and the south. I think it is rather telling that my one ancestor who did not own slaves was an indentured servant. He, too, was Christian and prospered just as well as the rest of them, or better, after completing his indenture. God’s abundance is not limited to or defined by privilege and greed.

Prayer: Lord, cleanse us of the baggage of prejudice we have packed along life’s way. Open our hearts to see the kindred souls with whom we share this earth you created for all of us. 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.

After Death

Silent Saturday

Silent Saturday

April 3, 2021

Scripture Reading:
John 19:38-42
After these things, Joseph of Arimathea, who was a disciple of Jesus, though a secret one because of his fear of the Jews, asked Pilate to let him take away the body of Jesus. Pilate gave him permission; so he came and removed his body. Nicodemus, who had at first come to Jesus by night, also came, bringing a mixture of myrrh and aloes, weighing about a hundred pounds. They took the body of Jesus and wrapped it with the spices in linen cloths, according to the burial custom of the Jews. Now there was a garden in the place where he was crucified, and in the garden there was a new tomb in which no one had ever been laid. And so, because it was the Jewish day of Preparation, and the tomb was nearby, they laid Jesus there.

My Dad, a disabled vet, suffered a massive heart attack and was eventually rushed to the cardiac care unit at the Veterans Administration for care. One week later, I walked into his room and found him sitting on the side of the bed looking healthier than I had seen him in years. Having worked at a hospital as a social worker, I have seen and read lots of machines surrounding patient’s beds. That morning when I looked at his cardiac read-outs, I saw something I had never seen before. His heart readings looked like a picture a toddler might scribble on a plain piece of paper. I stepped out of the room to the nursing station and asked about what I had seen. I was assured that that happened at times, not to worry about it. When I walked back into the room, my Dad looked at me and said very calmly, “Marilynn, it is worse than they think.” He died about two hours later. He was preparing me for his death. I think of that experience each Holy Week as I read about Jesus’ preparing his followers for what he knew was coming.

Joseph of Arimathea, who previously had served Jesus secretly for fear of the Jews, now has the motivation to claim his body for burial. Nicodemus came to Jesus at night, obviously interested in what Jesus said and did. Nicodemus also did not want to be too public about it. He joined Joseph in burying Jesus. What does it take for us to commit ourselves entirely to serving as God calls us to help to risk our reputation while stepping outside the world’s definition of justice and righteousness?

While healing and saving people, Jesus taught prevention. The Sermon on the Mount cautions us to prevent the things that lead up to murder. We are to be a light to the world so people can not stumble into trouble. Feeding the hungry, giving water to the thirsty, and welcoming the stranger opens the door for all of God’s children to thrive and be the people God created them to be.

The day after a death is often a day of reflection. Some call the day after Jesus’ death Silent Saturday. His disciples then and we disciples now can use this day to consider our service to God as we work to do justice in the same kind of world that crucified a man for teaching and modeling justice through love.

Prayer: Lord, help me gauge my actions by your purposes. 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.

Growth from Guilt

Good Friday

April 2, 2021

Scripture Reading:
John 18:1-19:37

Simon Peter and another disciple followed Jesus. Since that disciple was known to the high priest, he went with Jesus into the courtyard of the high priest, but Peter was standing outside at the gate. So the other disciple, who was known to the high priest, went out, spoke to the woman who guarded the gate, and brought Peter in. The woman said to Peter, ‘You are not also one of this man’s disciples, are you?’ He said, ‘I am not.’ Now the slaves and the police had made a charcoal fire because it was cold, and they were standing round it and warming themselves. Peter also was standing with them and warming himself. –John 18:15-18

I listened to the young man testifying at the trial related to Georg Floyd’s death and cried for him. He felt at fault for Mr. Floyd’s death. If he had just refused to take the $20 bill he thought was counterfeit, the police would not have been called, and Mr. Floyd would not have been dead. The clerk was doing his job. I ran a cash register many years ago, where the staff was constantly warned about checking for counterfeit bills. The clerk was doubly concerned when he thought Mr. Floyd was high on drugs. That clerk will carry the guilt of the situation into the future. I pray for him that the experience turns him into a stronger person who can face the challenges of injustice within the context of righteousness. The witness has a good role model to follow, Simon Peter.

Peter, too, lived throughout his ministry with the knowledge he had denied Jesus. Tradition indicates when Peter was crucified in Rome many years later, he asked to be hung upside-down on the cross because he was not worthy to die the same death Jesus experienced.  The truth is that you and I would not have ever heard of this chosen One, this Jesus had there not been Peters and Pauls and James and Johns in the first century who shared the stories of the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus and worked to model his love. None of us are perfect. The witness to George Floyd’s death did his job correctly. What matters now in his life is how he grows in wisdom and in truth from that experience.

That clerk and the rest of us are called to recognize the societal ways of being that are not of God pandemic in our world. We must take up the mantle of those disciples who went before us and work for the justice and righteousness and love Jesus exemplified.

Prayer: God, empower your children to love like Jesus, who was willing to die on the cross for all, as we work to build a just world. 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.

What Is Justice

Lent

March 29, 2021

Scripture Reading:
Isaiah 42:1-9

Here is my servant, whom I uphold,
   my chosen, in whom my soul delights;
I have put my spirit upon him;
   he will bring forth justice to the nations.
He will not cry or lift up his voice,
   or make it heard in the street;
a bruised reed he will not break,
   and a dimly burning wick he will not quench;
   he will faithfully bring forth justice.
He will not grow faint or be crushed
   until he has established justice in the earth;
   and the coastlands wait for his teaching. –Isaiah 42:1-4

What is justice? Is it an individual reality only or is justice always interrelate? The Hebrew word translated above as justice is mishpat and means judgment* and is targeted at the nation. The pictures of scales evenly balanced is an apt illustration of this word. But how do we determine what is just–doing that which is right: acting rightly or justly: conforming to the standard of the divine or the moral law: free from guilt or sin**?

I read in the paper yesterday that a man was set free from a rape charge because the woman who was raped was drunk, and there was solid proof that she was drunk because she chose to drink. No one forced her to drink. That decision was following that state’s law.

The Oklahoma City jail has some significant infrastructure problems that have resulted in it not having running water for weeks. Yesterday, a guard was taken hostage, and the prisoners demanded better treatment. Many of the prisoners are there because they could not pay the required bail. One prisoner was killed as authorities regained control of the facility. Many people held in jail have not been found guilty of anything.

The state of Georgia just passed a law making it illegal to provide water to people standing in line waiting to vote. Christ-followers are commanded to provide water for the thirsty. (Matthew 25:35) Who determines what is just?

Prayer: Lord, as we observe today, Jesus driving the money changers out of the temple grounds, guide us to ponder on the things that are just or unjust in our individual lives and our land. Please help us to see ways we can foster justice across our world. Amen.

*https://biblehub.com/hebrew/4941.htm
**https://unabridged.merriam-webster.com/unabridged/righteous

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.

God’s Justice

Lent

March 28, 2021

Scripture Reading:
John 12:12-16
The next day the great crowd that had come to the festival heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem. So they took branches of palm trees and went out to meet him, shouting,
‘Hosanna!
Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord—
   the King of Israel!’
Jesus found a young donkey and sat on it; as it is written:
‘Do not be afraid, daughter of Zion.
Look, your king is coming,
   sitting on a donkey’s colt!’ –John 12:12-16

Sing aloud, O daughter Zion;
   shout, O Israel!
Rejoice and exult with all your heart,
   O daughter Jerusalem!
The Lord has taken away the judgements against you,
   he has turned away your enemies.
The king of Israel, the Lord, is in your midst;
   you shall fear disaster no more. –Zephaniah 3:14-15

Kings do not ride on donkeys. Yet here we have the King of Israel riding on a donkey. Donkeys were work animals and the transportation of the poor. Roman leaders arrived in Jerusalem with much pomp and circumstance. They flaunted their power with prize horses decked out in the finest tack, often leading an army. Jesus seems to be goading the powerful with this act.  Early in the book of John, Jesus chased the money changers out of the temple (John 2:13-16), upsetting the leaders of the Jews. What are we to make of these examples?

Civil rights leader Senator John Lewis died July 17, 2020. The history of his life has been in the news ever since. He was the son of a sharecropper. We probably all have seen the pictures of him being beaten on a bridge in Selma, Alabama marching for civil rights. He was both a gentleman and a gentle man who championed the idea of Good Trouble. He was a non-violent Christ-follower and a strong advocate for God’s righteousness and justice. He was perhaps prophetically named John, as he may have adopted his Good Trouble theory from the modeling of Jesus recorded in the book of John.

We must decide in this 21st Century, are we modeling our lives after the Pharisees, the Romans, the Pharisees in collaboration with the Romans, or Jesus as we strive for God’s righteousness today.

Prayer: God of Justice and Mercy, as we approach the Cross during Holy Week, open our hearts and minds to doing your justice. 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.

Fact and Faith

Lent

Lent

March 18, 2021

Scripture Reading: Hebrews 5:5-10

So also Christ did not glorify himself in becoming a high priest, but was appointed by the one who said to him,
‘You are my Son,
   today I have begotten you’;
as he says also in another place,
‘You are a priest forever,
   according to the order of Melchizedek.’ –Hebrews 5:5-6

Melchizedek is described as being both king of righteousness and peace and a unique (without parents or kin) and eternal (without beginning or end) priest (though never “high Priest”), Melchizedek resembles the Son of God*. (Hebrews 7:1-3).

Paul describes Christ as the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation; for in him all things in heaven and on earth were created, things visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or powers—all things have been created through him and for him. –Colossians 1:15-16

This phrase from Hamlet popped into my mind as I considered Melchizedek.

“And therefore as a stranger give it welcome. There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, than are dreamt of in your philosophy.” –Shakespeare from Hamlet

I love history. What I have learned most about history is that we never know the whole story. For example, some label Abraham as the first monotheist, but Melchizedek seemed to have been a monotheist too. Some consider Melchizedek as the very Christ who was present at creation. While we may enjoy exploring the facts of history from archeology to oral traditions, the truth proceeds from history, in the final analysis, based on faith.  We study history to avoid replicating known mistakes. However, knowledge does not translate into the avoidance of repeating the same acts. Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. (Hebrews 11:1) Faith provides the courage to change from the evil that draws us to continue in unrighteousness when we know it is wrong.  Faith sustains us through our relationship with God when we do not know all the answers.

Prayer: God of Grace and Mercy, forgive us when we are continually drawn back to wrong paths. Guide us to find the righteous way. Amen.

*The Interpreter’s Dictionary of the Bible K-Q page 343.

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.

What Motivates You?

Lent

March 16, 2021

Scripture Reading: Jeremiah 31:31-34
The days are surely coming, says the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah. It will not be like the covenant that I made with their ancestors when I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt—a covenant that they broke, though I was their husband, says the Lord. But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the Lord: I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. No longer shall they teach one another, or say to each other, ‘Know the Lord’, for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest, says the Lord; for I will forgive their iniquity, and remember their sin no more.

What would the world be like if we all knew the Lord as God is, not what we want God to be? Therein lies the rub. It is just too easy to take the road most traveled and measure righteousness by the quantity of society’s agreement rather than the justice of our actions as they represent God and the best outcomes for all people.

This year Tulsa, Oklahoma, is observing the 100th anniversary of the Tulsa Race Riot. The Oklahoma Bureau of Vital Statistics officially recorded 36 dead resulting from the riot. A 2001 state commission examination of events confirmed 39 dead, 26 black, and 13 white. The Commission estimated there could have been between 75 and 300 people killed. Mass grave sites are now being studied to provide answers. The riot started apparently when a young black man did something to scare a white woman. The truth is, the cause was probably tied to white privilege and greed. Tulsa’s predominately African American Greenwood District was dubbed Black Wall Street. It was a thriving middle-class and upper-middle-class community, probably also tied to the day’s oil boom. Killers of the Flower Moon: The Osage Murders and the Birth of the FBI documents the story of the greed of outsiders trying to reap the oil’s riches on Osage land. These activities occurred in the 1920s, shortly after the Tulsa Race Riot. Osage County borders Tulsa County on the North.

Lent is an excellent time to consider what motivates us to do the things we do and causes us to choose the values we practice. Are we growing in God’s wisdom and truth or being carried away by our cultural priorities?

Prayer: Lord, help us know you more nearly to shape our motivations to match yours. 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.