pastorjohnb

Thoughts and musings on faith and our mighty God!

Tag Archives: injustice


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Listening and Talking

Reading: Isaiah 50: 4-9a

God gifts us with many good things.  Two of them are our tongue and our ears.  Over time we too can become like Isaiah, having an “instructed tongue”.  We do this by developing a close relationship with God so that His Word is deep within us.  This is accomplished by faithful Bible reading and study, by a consistent and committed prayer life, and by an active and engaged worship life.  As we immerse ourselves in the things of God, we come to have an instructed tongue.  While I do believe in the old saying that God gave us two ears and one tongue so that we can listen twice as much as we talk, I am also convinced that there is great power in our words.

Like Isaiah in today’s text, we too can give attention to God so that He can awaken our ears.  When we take the time and slow down and really listen, we can hear a lot.  When we are fully tuned into the one before us, we are able to hear much more than the words they are saying.  We are able to understand their needs below the surface level.  From this point of view our ” instructed tongue” can offer much to another in need.

God also desires to awaken our ears to the world out there.  He desires for us to be in the world to make a difference, to make the world a better place.  God desires for our ears to hear the cries of the needy, to hear the wails against injustice, and to hear the sighs of the suffering.  It is very necessary to hear those in need if we are going to respond.  We must be listening closely and understanding deeply if we are going to be able to bring the light, love, and hope of Jesus Christ to where God calls us.  When we hear and respond, we are  being His hands and feet.  When we do so, God will direct our instructed tongue to share His message and all else that He offers our brothers and sisters in need.


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May His Love Abound

In the Philippian church, the love of God was evident.  Paul’s affirmation of this love must have been uplifting and encouraging for them.  But Paul also challenged them to let this love grow so that it yeilds knowledge and insight.  Like a good coach, Paul built them up with a positive and also gave them an area to work on.

Church is the place where we should find love.  Jesus was all about loving all He met.  As His hands and feet He calls us offer His love both to those within the church and to those outside our walls.  His love calls us forth to alleviate suffering, to right injustices, and to share the good news of Jesus Christ.  These efforts are the ‘fruits of righteousness’ that Paul writes of and they bring praise and glory to God.

This knowledge and insight gained through allowing our love to grow and abound also helps churches in their relationships within.  As imperfect human beings there will be times when we are less than God intends us to be.  This may cause hurt and even division within the body of Christ.  Paul reminds the Philippians and us that the same guiding force must be used here as well: love.  When we meet challenges with love, then the outcome and resolution will also bring glory and praise to God.

As we prepare ourselves to receive our King, may this love abound more and more within us.  As we seek to love each other and our world in need, may His love within us be pure and blameless, seeking to bring praise and glory only to God and Jesus Christ.

Scripture reference: Philippians 1: 9-11


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Offering All

In response to the people crying out to God, He promises to send a messenger.  The people are asking God to end the oppression and injustices they are enduring.  In their hearts they probably want God to swoop in and destroy their enemies.  How hard it is to look within.  How hard it is to see that we are often the cause of our own struggles.

God knows the true root of the problem so instead of sending a powerful king or a legion of angels, He tells Malachi that He will send a refiner.  God is sending a messenger who will purify the hearts of the people.  This messenger will use the refiner’s fire and the launderer’s soap to cleanse the people of their sin.  God even poses the question, “Who will stand?”  It will be an ordeal for the people.

I love this text as we begin Advent.  As we prepare for and pray for the coming of Jesus, I think we do so too often with the misconception that we ourselves are ready.  It is fine for God to come and refine all those other people so they are adequately prepared for Advent.  We want to think we are okay.  How we hate to look within.

The refiner’s fire and the advent of God;s righteousness will touch us all.  How clean are we willing to make ourselves?  How much of self are we willing to lay aside so we are truly ready to welcome Jesus at Advent and into our hearts?  He only refines what we offer up.  He only enters through the door we open.  This Advent season may we offer all we have to our Lord and Savior.

Scripture reference: Malachi 3: 1-4


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God’s Presence

Job is suffering and he cries out to God.  He searches for God so that he can plead his case and find relief. But God is silent.  When we we are in the midst of a darkness we too cry out to God.  Often we also ask the “why?” question.  If there is no answer, we feel like the darkness deepens.  But even is we do not feel it, God is present.  He is always there.  Through faith we must trust in and rely on this and soon enough His light and love will break through.

The book of Job reminds us that although there is unjust suffering in our world, the world is still good.  It was created by God and He declared it ‘good’.  Much has been corrupted since then but good is still present and will one day come to reign absolute again.  God yearns for us, His people, to cry out for His presence, to seek Him, to experience a loving relationship with Him.

There are many people who suffer without hope because they do not know the Lord.  We must fight to bring His light and love into their lives.  There are many who have given up on the God they once knew and are mired in their suffering.  We must fight to bring an end to their suffering and to reveal God’s love to them again by being His love ourselves.

Too often God is made invisible to people by the darkness in which they live.  As God’s people we must bring justice, grace, mercy, love, and relief to those suffering so that God’s light and love may once again dwell in the hearts of all people.  God wants to be made known.  To whom will we make Him known today?

Scripture reference: Job 23: 1-9 and 16-17


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For Such a Time

Esther became queen essentially by winning a beauty contest.  The old queen fell into disfavor with the king and was deposed.  The King of Persia was a powerful man – his words could make or break any and all.  While Queen Esther was obviously beautiful, she was also Jewish.  This was her little secret in the royal court.  The Jewish people had been living in captivity in Babylon for years and many lived in the capital city of Susa.

Esther and her uncle Mordecai were just two of thousands living there.  He had raised her and was like a father to her.  Haman was a higher-up in the court.  All were supposed to bow down and to honor Haman but Mordecai refused.  This greatly angered the proud Haman and he convinced the king to issue a decree to be rid of these disobedient Jews.  The decree went out and the date of execution was set.

Mordecai convinced Esther that she alone could save her people.  After praying and fasting for three days, Esther did go to the king.  It was risky – it was punishable by death to approach the king uninvited.  Mordecai’s words must have been echoing in Esther’s head as she approached the king: “And who knows but that you came to royal position for such a time as this?”

Esther stepped up and saved her people from an evil man’s plot.  Because of her faith in God she was willing to take a risk.  She stepped out in faith after praying and fasting, after entering into God’s presence.  Esther was just an ordinary person that God had placed there for “such a time as this.”  In each of our worlds there are things that are not right, things that are unjust and unfair. Maybe the wrong does not affect you or your kin, but you see it.  Perhaps, just perhaps, God has placed each and every one of us right where we are so that we too may step out like Esther to bring God’s justice and righteousness and love to those around us.

Scripture reference: Esther 7: 1-6 and 9-10


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Bring God’s Presence

The psalmist expresses the belief that God has given Israel the land and will assure their possession of it.  He acknowledges that evil will come in from time to time but that God will ultimately restore good to the people.

In America we live in the general belief that our country is secure, almost impenetrable.  We feel like no other country could invade and topple us.  9/11 and events since have brought home the fact that we are vulnerable to attack but I think most see these as isolated events.

In other parts of the world warfare and living in fear are the norm.  In some countries, war or civil war has been almost constant.  Daily children are left as orphans and property is taken or destroyed.  In some countries, parents worry daily about their children being abducted or drafted into the militia.  In some places, religious intolerance and persecution forces Christians to live in secret and to fear exposure.

In our country people live in poverty, many on the streets or in shelters.  Others live with a feeling of insecurity and some segments of our society live with injustice and oppression.  For many here and abroad, the world is a tough place.  For many, they question God or they do not even know His presence.

The psalmist reminds us and the afflicted that God will surround those who trust in Him like mountains.  How reassuring.  But many do not know God.  This day may we pray for all who suffer and for all who do not know God’s love and protection.  And may we be moved to do all we can for those God places before us this day.

Scripture reference: Psalm 125


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Engaging Systems

Our sins are not always the things we do.  Sometimes they are the things we fail to do.  Our sins are not always personal; sometimes they are communal or corporate.

About once a month we have a homeless person come to church on  Sunday.  Sometimes it is some other individual who is noticeable because they are different from the regular worshiper.  As the people of God we are called to love all people and as a whole we really do well at this.  But not always.  Some days we are only as loving or good or welcoming as our weakest or lowest part.  So it is our task as fellow believers to notice these weaker parts and to build them up in love for all people.  We cannot and should not accept less.

As a society there are ills and things that are not ‘right’ in all of our communities.  These are things that certainly cause a tear to roll down God’s cheek.  As the people of God we are called to address the issues in our communities.  This does not mean simply jumping on the latest Facebook bandwagon and adding your ‘like’.  It means being on the streets and in the shelters and in the jails.  It means going to the places where the least, the lost, and the broken are and entering into relationships with them.

To truly be the people of God and to really love all of our neighbors, we must roll up our sleeves and get a little dirty.  We must truly walk alongside those in need to begin to see things at a systemic level.  It is at this level that we must begin change.  To end prejudice, injustice, and hate we must begin with fixing the systems that cause these evils.  As Christians we must engage the evils of the world.  We are called to be the light in the darkness.  Our light needs to shine into these dark places to begin real change at the base level.

Scripture reference: Psalm 51: 1-12


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Each Day

Some of the challenges our world faces seem massive and insurmountable.  Some of the things that occur in our world seem so full of hate and evil that they are hard to comprehend.  When I think of myself against this backdrop, I feel small and powerless.  In these times I long for Christ’s return when He will make all things new and our new world will know no hate, no war, no pain, no injustice.

But as we look at our world today, sometimes we wonder where God is in the midst of all this or maybe we question how these things could be a part of His plan.  We begin to doubt.  In Paul’s letter to the Ephesians be opens by reminding them of God’s ultimate plan for the world as a means to counter the doubt beginning to rise in them.   Paul reminds them that all things in heaven and earth will be brought to wholeness and unity in Christ.  He also reminds them that they are part of God’s redeeming work in the world.  We too are part of this plan, part of His work.

I may not be able to end global hunger, but I can help feed hungry people in my community.  I may not be able to rid the world of evil, but I can work for justice and equality in this place.  Each of us can play our part in His plan.  The Holy Spirit will empower us to be difference makers in our little corners of God’s kingdom.  The Spirit also reminds us of our call as children of God and the Spirit works in and through us to hep bring God’s plan into being.  Each day we are closer to Christ’s return.  Each day we must live out our faith, knowing we each can make a difference for Christ.

Scripture reference: Ephesians 1: 9-14


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Make a Difference

The person of Jesus has been gone a long time.  His presence, brought to us through the power of the Holy Spirit, has been with humankind ever since.  Some believers spend a lot of their time looking to heaven through the disciplines of prayer, meditation, worship, and study.  To know and understand Jesus more and more is definitely a part of our journey of faith.  All of these means of grace develop our personal relationship with Jesus Christ.

Many are comfortable with the presence of the Holy Spirit in their lives in terms of how it helps them in these pursuits.  But our faith life is not all about looking up – it is also about looking in and looking around.  Faith is not meant to be lived in isolation or even with just our fellow believers.  The Spirit calls into our passions and seeks to use our God-given gifts and talents to be a difference-maker in our world.

As Spirit-filled followers we are called to be the kingdom of God here on earth. The Spirit leads us to wrestle with the things of this world – racial tension, economic injustice, violence, corruption… – the things that cause the heart of God to hurt.  We are called as followers of Christ to come alongside folks who struggle with these things and to lead the way for change in helping our world become the place God desires it to be.  We are to work for a world where justice and equality and fairness are the norms, not the exceptions.  Each of us must ask the Holy Spirit where we are called to minister in this world.  The twelve were sent out to make a difference in the world as they spread the message of the gospel.  This is our call as well.

Scripture reference: Acts 1: 9-11