In Hebrews chapter 12, the writer speaks of the unshakeable Kingdom of God, in contrast to the things of this world that can be shaken:
28
Therefore, since we receive a kingdom which cannot be shaken, let us show gratitude, by which we may offer to God an acceptable service with reverence and awe;
29
for our God is a consuming fire. God does not call us to become comfortable or complacent - and He will shake our lives so that we might rest on the unshakeable foundation of the Word of God. His truth can make us uncomfortable, but in becoming ambassadors of Christ and agents of change in this earth, He will challenge us in our hearts and call us to meaningful action. In His desire to make Himself known to the earth, He will call and equip us to minister in a turbulent society, where there are many who would ignore His principles. We can ask God, the "consuming fire", to consume us with desire to speak and act according to His ways.
In John 16, we see how the Holy Spirit was sent as our Helper, who has come to make us uncomfortable, so that we can know and abide in God's true comfort and compassion:
(7) I
tell you the truth. It is to your advantage that I go away; for if I do
not go away, the Helper will not come to you; but if I depart, I will
send Him to you.
8
And when He has come, He will convict the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment:
9
of sin, because they do not believe in Me;
10
of righteousness, because I go to My Father and you see Me no more;
11
of judgment, because the ruler of this world is judged.
This is always a significant week on the calendar, which has been enhanced by the addition of the Presidential Inauguration. For the holiday set aside to honor the life and legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., coincides with the anniversary of the Supreme Court decision Roe vs. Wade. And, I think the two occasions coalesce around the issue of justice - Dr. King spoke out and acted for civil rights, and the Supreme Court essentially denied the right to life for millions of unborn children.
So, this week gives us a reason to think more deeply about these issues and to contemplate how we can join the Lord in advocating for true justice consistent with the Biblical model. There are a variety of issues and approaches, but I think a good word for today concerns whether or not we will be comfortable with the way things are, so that we can be a force for justice in our society.
Dr. King had one particular approach to injustice, which he justified in his famous "Letter from a Birmingham Jail", written in 1963 to a group of 8 white clergymen in the Birmingham area who believed that King's was the incorrect method - the ministers advocated court action rather than non-violent street protests, which lead to public confrontation. The Christian Post put it this way: they agreed that rights were being denied to the black community, but also believed that demonstrations on the streets were
"unwise and untimely" and urged African-Americans to withdraw from them.
In response, King wrote, "It is unfortunate that demonstrations are taking place in
Birmingham, but it is even more unfortunate that the city's white power
structure left the Negro community with no alternative.
"I cannot
sit idly by in Atlanta and not be concerned about what happens in
Birmingham. Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere." He said that, "Nonviolent direct action seeks to create such a crisis and foster such a
tension that a community which has constantly refused to negotiate is
forced to confront the issue. It seeks so to dramatize the issue that it
can no longer be ignored."
Just 2 years ago - in Birmingham - a group called Christian Churches Together in the U.S.A. – which includes leaders from
Protestant, Catholic, Pentecostal, Orthodox and evangelical churches –
said in a one-page letter that though virtually all church bodies have made formal statements against racism, many have failed to go beyond "spoken commitments."
No comments:
Post a Comment