Just Like Jesus / 21 Days of Justice Week 2 (Justice & Righteousness & Shalom): MONDAY
With all the noise in the world, do you hear the voice of God? Your calendar tells you what to do, but do you remember who you are? Being comes before doing. This is a call to put first things first. Return to the Lord with this daily pattern of prayer and devotion. Set aside this time as a sanctuary. Find a space free of distraction and follow this pattern.
Invocation: In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Word: Take no part in the unfruitful works of darkness, but instead expose them. (Eph. 5:11)
Reflection:
In Ephesians 5:11, we read “Take no part in the unfruitful works of darkness, but instead expose them.” Similarly, Martin Luther King Jr. in his “Letter from a Birmingham Jail” asks injustice to be exposed and addressed.
Shallow understanding from people of good will is more frustrating than absolute misunderstanding from people of ill will. Lukewarm acceptance is much more bewildering than outright rejection…
I had hoped that the white moderate would understand that law and order exist for the purpose of establishing justice and that when they fail in this purpose they become the dangerously structured dams that block the flow of social progress. I had hoped that the white moderate would understand that the present tension in the South is a necessary phase of the transition from an obnoxious negative peace, in which the Negro passively accepted his unjust plight, to a substantive and positive peace, in which all men will respect the dignity and worth of human personality. Actually, we who engage in nonviolent direct action are not the creators of tension. We merely bring to the surface the hidden tension that is already alive. We bring it out in the open, where it can be seen and dealt with. Like a boil that can never be cured so long as it is covered up but must be opened with all its ugliness to the natural medicines of air and light, injustice must be exposed, with all the tension its exposure creates, to the light of human conscience and the air of national opinion before it can be cured. (https://www.africa.upenn.edu/Articles_Gen/Letter_Birmingham.html)
Are there ways we have tried to hide and avoid the tension of racial injustice? How can we be faithful to the words of the Apostle Paul by confronting tension and exposing structures that perpetuate injustice, first in ourselves and secondly outside of ourselves?
Prayer: Almighty God, shine the light of your presence into every dark and sinful place: our society, our churches, our homes, even our own hearts. Expose our sin that it may be forgiven and healed. In the name of Jesus, amen.