pastorjohnb

Thoughts and musings on faith and our mighty God!

Tag Archives: equity


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On Earth as It Is…

Reading: Philippians 3:17-4:1

Verse 20: “Our citizenship is in heaven.”

As followers of Jesus Christ we all have an eternal inheritance. In today’s passage Paul puts it this way: “Our citizenship is in heaven.” Paul is speaking to a time yet to come for us. Many have experienced what he is speaking of. We are told in scripture that heaven will be a kaleidoscope of people from every race, tongue, and nation. The great multitude will reflect our world in all its diversity. This is great news, isn’t it? Hallelujah and amen!!

While the promise of eternity in God’s presence is indeed wonderful and glorious, don’t we pray ‘on earth as it is in heaven’ at least each Sunday? Didn’t Jesus come not just to open the way to heaven but also to bring the kingdom of God here to the earth? In light of the honest answers to these questions, we can see that while we believe these things to be true, we don’t necessarily seek to live them out.

Paul’s initial audience was the church in Philippi. It was a city in the Roman empire so the average person in Philippi enjoyed the rights and privileges of Roman citizenship, much as you and I enjoy the rights and privileges of American citizenship. Much of the early church, though, was made up of slaves and others from the lower rungs of society. They did not enjoy the rights and privileges of membership in the earthly kingdom. News of citizenship – of belonging, of being equals, of having worth – this news would bring great hope to those largely without. Imagine hearing these words from their perspective. Great news, huh?! Hallelujah and amen!!

And while this is indeed wonderful and glorious news for many, there are people who truly love Jesus that at least feel outside of or excluded from our communities of faith. And there are people who don’t yet know Jesus but do need his love and grace and transforming power. Many of these also feel outside or excluded. So, the question is: how do you and I better reflect ‘on earth as it is in heaven?’ How do you and I live and act and think and speak in ways that offer belonging, equity, and worth to all people, flinging wide open the doors to the kingdom of heaven here on this earth?

Prayer: Lord God, may your love and justice roll down like a mighty river. May your love for all people, all created by you in your image, be manifest in our churches and in our lives. Amen.


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Justice, Equity, Righteousness

Reading: Psalm 99:1-5

Verse 4: “The King is mighty, he loves justice… equity.”

Photo credit: Wylly Suhendra

Psalm 99 is a song of God’s faithfulness, holiness, and justice. It calls us to worship God and it reminds us of God’s actions on behalf of the people of God. The psalmist opens with, “The Lord reigns.” For all who believe, this remains true. As the Psalm continues we read, “Great is the Lord in Zion.” At the time, that meant Israel, where God’s “chosen people,” the Jews, lived. Today “Zion” is many places. It is everywhere and anywhere that those who love and worship God are found.

In verse four we read, “The King is mighty, he loves justice… equity.” The psalmist continues in this same verse, noting that God has done “what is just and right.” The heart of God has always been bent towards justice and to equity, to what is right. Today ‘right’ seems to be a subjective term in many ways and places. But in God’s kingdom it is living according to God’s ways as defined and exemplified in the Bible. To me, this way of living is best exemplified and modeled by Jesus.

God in Jesus has a heart for those experiencing injustice, inequality, marginalization… Over and over Jesus was drawn to these people and situations and those experiencing these unrighteous things were drawn to Jesus. He saw their plight, their struggle, their suffering and he offered healing, wholeness, life in community… Jesus loved them as they were and sought to restore and redeem them and/or their situation.

God remains the God of justice, equity, righteousness… As God’s hand and feet and voice in this world, we are called to see and be drawn to the lives and places where these things are missing, lacking, inadequate. In love, may we walk with and minister to these, bringing God’s restoration, healing, and wholeness. May it be so.

Prayer: O God of all people, lead me to live and love as Jesus did, with a heart for the vulnerable and the hurting. In all I say and do and think, use me to build the kingdom that you desire here on earth. Amen.


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The Footstool and the Mountain

Reading: Psalm 99

Verse 5: “Exalt the Lord our God and worship at his footstool; he is holy”.

Psalm 99 establishes that God reigns over all the earth and is to be worshipped by all the nations. Above all, God is holy. Because of this God loves justice and equity. God answers prayers. The Lord is pleased with Moses, Aaron, Samuel, and others who have walked faithfully. When one such as these calls on the Lord “he answers them”. All this leads the people to praise God. Verses five and nine speak of this and are almost identical. Verse five reads, “Exalt the Lord our God and worship at his footstool; he is holy”. Verse nine just substitutes “holy mountain” for “footstool”. The affect is the same.

The call to walk faithfully and to worship God is a call that we hear well. When we consider the presence of God in our lives and the contentment, peace, joy, hope… that God brings us, our responses are to keep walking and worshipping. Even though we know these practices to be true and right and worthy of our time, we can also struggle to always be obedient.

Being fully human we desire to walk our own way at times. We want what we want. Our selfishness seizes control and we claim to know better than God. As we begin down this road we find other idols to worship. They can be the common and obvious ones: possessions, status, or power. Or they can be the ones harder to see from the outside: pride, ego, jealousy, envy, gossip, anger… When we get off track come to the point where we find ourselves far from God.

When we are reawakened by the call or the nudge of the Holy Spirit, we can again seek to be faithful and obedient. In his great love and mercy, God welcomes us back. From this place of humility we bow and worship God at his footstool. God does not leave us there long. In that same great love and mercy God lifts us up. He restores us to fullness of life once again and we worship him as Moses did – on God’s holy mountain. Praise the Lord!

Prayer: Lord God, you are rich in mercy and abundant in love. Your grace washes away my failures and your light guides me back to the path of faithful obedience once again. Thank you for always seeking me out by the power of your Holy Spirit. May my life be one of worship and praise, bringing others into your love and grace. Amen.


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God is…

Reading: Psalm 99

Verse 9: “Exalt the Lord our God and worship at His holy mountain, for the Lord our God is holy”.

The Psalm opens with “The Lord reigns”. God does indeed reign. This is fact for me. Yet some days do not feel like God is fully in control. Some days things happen and I shake my head and wonder how or why in my heart. Sometimes a righteous anger rises up and at other times the tears flow.

The psalmist goes on to write, “The King is almighty, He loves justice – you have established equity”. Yes, God is almighty. There is nothing that God cannot do. Our King loves justice – what is good and right and holy. These too are facts for me. The King also establishes equity. In creating all in His image, in the image of God, we are all brought into the world in the same way: as a beloved child of God. In knitting us all together in our mother’s womb, God say I love you all just the same. Jesus would become God in the flesh, living out this type of equity. He loved all people. To one and all Jesus offered healing – whether spiritual or physical or emotional or all three – to all who came to Him. He did do out of love for all His fellow children of God. Jesus even named love as the most important thing we can do: love God and love neighbor. There were no exceptions for Jesus.

The Psalm also speaks of Moses and Aaron and Samuel. They we’re called by God to lead and guide and teach the people. Many, many, many more were called by God to be prophets, priests, and servants. These folks served God, loving God and the people with all their hearts. Jesus too stands in this line. He was called out of heaven and sent to this earth to lead, guide, and teach. In doing so, Jesus came to all people. His mission was to draw all into a saving relationship based upon love. Leaving, He commissioned His followers to go and do likewise, making disciples of all peoples, for the transformation of the world.

Sometimes things happen and it feels like it is harder to do this than it was yesterday or the day before. Some days we hurt. The Psalm closes with these words: “Exalt the Lord our God and worship at His holy mountain, for the Lord our God is holy”. Some days we just need to rest in God’s presence. Some days we just need to be in His love, praising and worshipping the Lord for His love for you and me and for all people. Today is such a day. May we rest in God’s love as we worship in His holy and loving presence.

Prayer: Draw me fully into your loving presence today, O God of love. May I feel your love for me and for all people as I abide in that love today. Amen.


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One Matters

Reading: Psalm 99: 1-4

Psalm 99 begins by speaking of God’s love of justice and the nation’s response.  They tremble.  God’s justice is universal – it applies to all people.  God’s justice removes power dynamics and the desire to elevate oneself over others and replaced them with equity.  When do much of our world is driven by power, position, and authority, justice stands counter to these forces, instead saying things like ‘the last shall be first’.  Of course the nations tremble.

The call of Christ leads us to stand alongside God and to champion His love for justice and equality.  Through the ages, great men of faith have gone just this, no matter the cost to themselves.  Martin Luther stood against the abuses of the church, preaching that faith alone saves.  All people can tap into faith, meaning all are loved by God, meaning all can be saved without price.  John Wesley stood for equality, believing that all people should have access to the Word of God.  He preached salvation in the fields, streets, and mines, welcoming all people, not just those who met certain qualifications.  Both of these men, and many others too, led to opening the church doors a little wider and expanding the circle of God’s love.

You and I may not be people of Luther’s or Wesley’s fame, but we too are people who are called to stand for justice and equality, to make a positive difference in our world.  We too are called to be people who say ‘no’ to injustice and inequality.  We too can each work to open the doors of our churches a little wider, to welcome all into our communities of faith, and to draw the circle of God’s love even wider.  One sheep that was lost and is now safely in the fold matters.  One son that was wayward and returns home matters.  One widow who finally receives justice matters.  Who will you matter to today?


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One Day

Reading: Psalm 98

The psalmist solemnly reminds us that the Lord “will judge the world in righteousness and the people with equity”.  It is a truth we know: one day we will all stand before the judgment seat to be deemed worthy of heaven or to be condemned to hell.  We do not know the when or the how, but we know that the who and what we are now is not forever.

God will first judge in righteousness.  There will be truth in how we are judged.  The simple question that is illustrated in the parable of the sheep and the goats will be the one Jesus asks us: “Do you know me”?  It is the hope and prayer of every Christian that when Jesus looks back over the course of our lives, that He will see we knew Him.  It will be revealed in how we lived out our daily life.  It will be revealed in how we treated our neighbor and the stranger in our midst.  It will be revealed in how we used the gifts and talents and blessings God gave us to help build the kingdom here.

God will also judge with equity.  Loving God and loving neighbor can look like and be a lot of different things.  There is not just one way to love.  By judging with equity God will look at each of us uniquely.  If I was given the gift of teaching, did I teach others about God and faith?  If I was placed in a situation to help the person on the street, did I?  If I was feeling the call or nudge to go to a friend in need, did I respond?  We will each be judged by our own lives, not against some set standard.

When Jesus asks, “Did you know me?” may our answer be a joyous “Yes”!  And may our Lord and Savior say, “Yes indeed – welcome home”!  May we live each day so that one day this will be.


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Words

Words easily flow from our lips.  The words we speak can build others up or they can bring people down.  Careful thought needs to be given to the words we speak.  Our words can carry great power.

In the psalm the king has ‘lips of grace.’  The kind and wise words he speaks flow from his heart and reflect the deep compassion and care he has for his people.  In his words he triumphs justice and equality and prosperity for those he leads.  He is a king I would like to be around.

There are people I know who build me up with their words.  They are people I want to be around.  In my life I too try to choose words that build others up.  One cannot simply dispense kind words but the words must be genuine and honest.  Words are powerful and through intentional practices we can build another up or offer some light when another is struggling or is in need.

Jesus was a man who also spoke words of justice, equality, and prosperity.  He advocated loving and serving all we meet.  He was a man that I picture as being slow to speak as He weighed His words carefully.  Jesus’ words convey the deep love and compassion He has for each of us.  He too is a king I like to be around.

Scripture reference: Psalm 45: 1-2 and 6-9