It was never my intention to work in the city of Plymouth. I have never experienced a sense of “calling” to the West suburbs of Minneapolis. It was not until speaking at Plymouth Creek Christian Church this last Summer that I learned that the Disciples of Christ even existed as a denomination. So, I am surprised to find myself as the lead pastor of a Disciples of Christ church in Plymouth, Minnesota. I am sure many of my new friends at PCCC might be surprised too.
But for me it has become more and more clear, while I may have had my own plans for 2017, the Lord has had something else in mind. In my arrogance when Deb Knight spoke with my wife, Kelly, about needing someone to speak at PCCC I thought I was doing a favor for my wife’s coworker. I was oblivious to the Lord’s orchestration of these events. Maybe Deb or Kelly had a sense of what God’s spirit was doing in this whole process, but I was in the dark.
Proverbs 16:9 (NIV)
In their hearts, humans plan their course,
but the Lord establishes their steps.
I have always prepared sermons hoping God will speak to people’s hearts through the thoughts that I share. Now I believe God was trying to speak to my heart by having me share at PCCC. God was doing a work in me when I hoped God would do a work through me. Funny how that works.
Six months ago I thought 2017 was going to be a year of testing my resolve, but March is here and 2017 appears to be a year that is going to test my ability to adapt.
Adaptation is an important trait of anything that wants to survive into the next season of life. As our oceans warm around the world, coral reefs are dying at an incredible rate. Some corals have proven resilient though as others die around them. They continue to multiply despite the new warm conditions. Scientists have even begun transplanting resilient corals to other reefs hoping to combat the large scale loss of life as these habitats die. Some corals have adapted, and many have not.
Plymouth Creek Christian Church wasn’t planning for a lot of the struggle it has faced in the past years. But look how much has happened. For over a year without a pastor, the church held services, celebrated communion weekly, visited and prayed for those in need, cleaned and remodeled a building facing so many problems, hired a new pastor, and many more great things I’m sure I don’t know about. This resiliency, this ability to adapt, is what kept PCCC healthy.
I need to adapt by learning all about Plymouth Creek Christian Church. I need to learn the history, values, leadership structure, denominational structure, and most importantly the names and stories of every person who calls Plymouth Creek their church. I need to learn about the city of Plymouth and find out what God is already doing there.
The Lord has been with each of us on our journeys, and now the Lord has brought us together. It has come as a surprise to me, but I am so pleased with the work we have ahead of us as a church.
Mark Keeler
Plymouth Creek Christian Church Pastor
Read more!
Saturday, March 4, 2017
Friday, February 3, 2017
Financial ministries affirm commitment to socially responsible investing
Disciples News Service
The resolution, approved by the boards of Christian Church Foundation, Disciples Church Extension Fund and Pension Fund of the Christian Church, calls attention to the use of the Interfaith Center on Corporate Responsibility (ICCR) as a major influence in determining investing practices. ICCR, co-founded by Disciples, researches and directs investing practices for organizations concerned about a “double-bottom line,” which Pension Fund President Todd Adams describes as “investing with an eye on doing good in the community, while doing well by our members.”
Foundation President Gary Kidwell said, “When so much is changing in our world and challenging us as church, it is good for us to reclaim and recognize the vital role Disciples have played and will continue to play in seeking justice through our economic power while maintaining our fiduciary responsibilities to our members, donors and investors.”
Disciples Church Extension Fund President Rick Reisinger noted, “As part of the resolution, in 2019, the three ministries look forward to collaborating on a General Assembly workshop centered on investing practices and policies.”
Division of Overseas Ministries President Julia Brown Karimu appreciates the public position the financial ministries are taking. She has witnessed injustice, hunger, poverty, neglect of the earth and more, both nationally and around the globe. She recognizes that Disciples are called to bring wholeness to a fragmented world by acting upon these injustices.
“We celebrate this effort to work together for peace with justice alongside the financial ministries of the church,” Brown Karimu said, “and we rejoice in their response to God’s call in the book of I Corinthians 12:26: ‘If one member suffers, all suffer together with it; if one member is honored, all rejoice together with it.’”
Friday, January 27, 2017
What do you KNOW?
What do you KNOW?
Bill Spangler-Dunning
Regional Minister
Published in Jan-Feb 2017 Disciples Together Express
When I was a child I never knew about classism until I overheard people talking about “how sad it was that nothing good would ever come from my family because my parents were too poor.”
Now, I cannot un-know that!
When I was a child I never knew about sexism until I overheard a clergy say to my wife that she was not allowed to preach at the community thanksgiving service because “God does not call Women to be ministers.”
Now, I cannot un-know that!
When I was a child I never knew about racism until I overheard one of my teachers say, “Black kids are just not as smart.”
Now, I cannot un-know that!
Up until last week when I visited Standing Rock Reservation I never knew how much hatred people can have for others who have a different story. That is until I received a note on facebook telling me how deceitful and selfish those “Indian people” can be and I should not “Waste my time with them.”
Now I cannot un-know that!
Dear Church we are a people who say we are A MOVEMENT FOR WHOLENESS IN A FRAGMENTED WORLD. We say we are a people who know the stories of Jesus who always stood with the poor, the outcasts, the women, the gentiles, the blind, the lepers, the sick and all others who were vulnerable and excluded by the bullies of life.
We cannot UNKNOW these stories!
O people of the Church,
let ‘what we KNOW’
effect deeply our
actions in this world!
Read more!
actions in this world!
 |
| Bill Spangler-Dunning, Standing Rock, ND |
Friday, January 20, 2017
Justice Devotional - The Persistent Call to Justice
From
Devotion to Justice
A series of devotions from the Justice table on the topics of
The picture of the young Hispanic boy sitting on a prison bed dressed in a uniform that was obviously too large made it impossible to fight back tears. The symbolism is most disturbing. Here in this photograph is an eight year old child remanded to life in prison without the possibility of parole — a life that he is not “big” enough to navigate emotionally or physically. It does not matter which side we fall on when it comes to crime and punishment, we are all diminished when we lose our concern for humanity and the human condition. Who will advocate on his behalf?
I saw this photograph at one of five sites I visited with an ecumenical group of participants on an immersion experience focusing on human and civil rights. Indeed it was painful. At the end we shared an unintended collective lament.
Devotion to Justice
A series of devotions from the Justice table on the topics of
- Women and children
- Hunger and poverty
- Creation care
- Immigration
The picture of the young Hispanic boy sitting on a prison bed dressed in a uniform that was obviously too large made it impossible to fight back tears. The symbolism is most disturbing. Here in this photograph is an eight year old child remanded to life in prison without the possibility of parole — a life that he is not “big” enough to navigate emotionally or physically. It does not matter which side we fall on when it comes to crime and punishment, we are all diminished when we lose our concern for humanity and the human condition. Who will advocate on his behalf?
I saw this photograph at one of five sites I visited with an ecumenical group of participants on an immersion experience focusing on human and civil rights. Indeed it was painful. At the end we shared an unintended collective lament.
We cried because of the impact of brokenness and sin on our lives. We also cried because of the persistence of God’s love through Jesus Christ for us to be our gracious and merciful judge. Our scripture reminds us that God beckons us each day through prayer and action to advocate for justice on behalf of hurting members of the human family. Jesus is teaching the disciples through this parable the importance of prayer in action. We, too, are invited to “weary” God with our prayers for justice in our daily witness on behalf of Christ.
Rev. April G. Johnson, Minister of Reconciliation CC (DOC) Women and Children
Read more!
Rev. April G. Johnson, Minister of Reconciliation CC (DOC) Women and Children
Thursday, January 12, 2017
Justice Devotional - Equality and Need
From
Devotion to Justice
A series of devotions from the Justice table on the topics of
2 Corinthians 8: 13-14
"We don’t want others to have it easy at your expense. We want things to be equal. Right now you have plenty in order to take care of what they need. Then they will have plenty to take care of what you need. That will make things equal. "
I work in a middle-class job and observe a lot of discussions in the church and in government about poverty. People talk about anecdotes and theories. A lot of proof-texting is done with scripture and political ideology, both on the left and the right. Some of it inspires me, but more leaves me cold.
Poverty in the United States and across the globe often seems overwhelming and too big to do anything about. Then I go to church and there is an offering every Sunday, every Sunday of the year. Part of the offering will go to outreach — wells for drinking water in poor nations, disaster relief in developed and developing countries, urban food pantries, a variety of reconciliation ministries — and part necessarily goes to paying the church building's electric bill and the preacher's salary.
Occasionally around offering time my mind is drawn to Paul's words in 2 Corinthians 8, to remember people who gave when they might have been on the poorer side of the middle class to encourage generosity. Paul realized that there are differences in resources among communities, yet he wanted those resources to move so that there would be equality. Need mattered. Resources should move from those who have to those in need and later resources would move from those who received to take care of the need of those who have given.
The goal is that kind of equality, an equality that flows from generosity, almost in a circle. Our lives are not static and we receive generous gifts in order to be generous because we have been and will be in need. So we write checks and volunteer time and talent to keep the flow moving. We are part of the flow toward equality, even though often we are not as much a part as we need to be. Love and justice are like that because they move to meet a need and we are all part of their movement.
Prayer: O God, help me to be a part of making things equal, in the Name of Jesus, Your Gift to make things equal. Amen.
Jess Hale, Legislative Attorney with the Tennessee General Assembly Hunger and Poverty Read more!
Devotion to Justice
A series of devotions from the Justice table on the topics of
- Women and children
- Hunger and poverty
- Creation care
- Immigration
2 Corinthians 8: 13-14
"We don’t want others to have it easy at your expense. We want things to be equal. Right now you have plenty in order to take care of what they need. Then they will have plenty to take care of what you need. That will make things equal. "
I work in a middle-class job and observe a lot of discussions in the church and in government about poverty. People talk about anecdotes and theories. A lot of proof-texting is done with scripture and political ideology, both on the left and the right. Some of it inspires me, but more leaves me cold.
Poverty in the United States and across the globe often seems overwhelming and too big to do anything about. Then I go to church and there is an offering every Sunday, every Sunday of the year. Part of the offering will go to outreach — wells for drinking water in poor nations, disaster relief in developed and developing countries, urban food pantries, a variety of reconciliation ministries — and part necessarily goes to paying the church building's electric bill and the preacher's salary.
Occasionally around offering time my mind is drawn to Paul's words in 2 Corinthians 8, to remember people who gave when they might have been on the poorer side of the middle class to encourage generosity. Paul realized that there are differences in resources among communities, yet he wanted those resources to move so that there would be equality. Need mattered. Resources should move from those who have to those in need and later resources would move from those who received to take care of the need of those who have given.
The goal is that kind of equality, an equality that flows from generosity, almost in a circle. Our lives are not static and we receive generous gifts in order to be generous because we have been and will be in need. So we write checks and volunteer time and talent to keep the flow moving. We are part of the flow toward equality, even though often we are not as much a part as we need to be. Love and justice are like that because they move to meet a need and we are all part of their movement.
Prayer: O God, help me to be a part of making things equal, in the Name of Jesus, Your Gift to make things equal. Amen.
Jess Hale, Legislative Attorney with the Tennessee General Assembly Hunger and Poverty Read more!
Thursday, January 5, 2017
New Year’s greetings from Sharon Watkins
January 2017
Dearest Friends in Christ –
“Hope is a star that shines in the night, leading us on till the morning is bright.” [1]
From the Advent promise of Emmanuel: God with us; to the Epiphany revelation: God-with-us-now, we hope.
And yet, I confess, as 2017 begins, my heart is bruised by the pain and division the United States and Canada have experienced which have filtered into our communities and congregations. Antagonistic elections in the United States have upended civil discourse. Repeated public incidents of both individual and institutional racism have fractured relationships in communities. And beyond our borders, civil wars in places like South Sudan and Syria, as well as natural disasters in long-suffering Haiti, only increase the need for healing of all kinds.
Thursday, December 29, 2016
Justice Devotional - Lessons on Hunger, Poverty in America’s Breadbasket
From
Devotion to Justice
A series of devotions from the Justice table on the topics of
Luke 11:11
I grew up on the outskirts of a little Oklahoma town. A barbed-wire fence separated two sides of our lawn from a wheat field. A Jersey cow stretched her heavy head through the fence on the third side, to reach our greener grass.
In short, we knew from whence came our food — the miracle that transformed dirt into diet.
I lived in cities most of the rest of my life but engaged, with celebration, the urban gardening movement that converts asphalt parking lots into raised- bed gardens. These oases bring the wonder of homegrown food — and education about food, food security, and nutrition — into the heart of metro areas. Farm-to-table programs let children tend school gardens — then eat the produce in the cafeteria.
Thus, our children also learn from whence comes their food — the miracle that transformed dirt into diet.
Our family recently moved to rural Lebanon, IN — a county-seat town surrounded by crops like government-subsidized corn and soybeans. But where was fresh, healthy food for human consumption?
Oddly, I found Lebanon’s fast food joints outnumber fresh food stands 13 to one. Ironically, the County Health Department pays close attention to the one, noting that unprocessed foods — like fresh lettuce or homegrown tomatoes — are suspect.
At Zionsville Farmers’ Market, vendors label their fresh gazpacho soup as “not intended for human consumption,” to sidestep “ridiculous regulations.” Inspectors “don’t know the difference between head lettuce and leaf lettuce,” one vendor complained.
At the Boone County July 4 parade in Lebanon, dozens of children delighted in the display of everything from teen twirlers to rear-steering tractors. Both could turn on a dime. Yet many of these children (to say nothing of the adults) were obese — many of them morbidly so.
Turns out, the only thing growing in some rural backyards is food insecurity.
According to Feeding America, about 3 million rural households — yes, those that share fences with farmland — in this nation are food insecure. And: “among all people in female-headed families with related children under 18 years, 50.7 percent were poor in rural areas compared to 35 percent in the suburbs.”
So, you go on, urban farmers. Help keep the gardening knowledge alive. Too many of our rural neighbors are up a row without a hoe.
Rev. Patricia R. Case, Boone County, IN Works on young adult and mission renewal efforts for CC (DOC) Hunger and Poverty Read more!
Devotion to Justice
A series of devotions from the Justice table on the topics of
- Women and children
- Hunger and poverty
- Creation care
- Immigration
Luke 11:11
I grew up on the outskirts of a little Oklahoma town. A barbed-wire fence separated two sides of our lawn from a wheat field. A Jersey cow stretched her heavy head through the fence on the third side, to reach our greener grass.
In short, we knew from whence came our food — the miracle that transformed dirt into diet.
I lived in cities most of the rest of my life but engaged, with celebration, the urban gardening movement that converts asphalt parking lots into raised- bed gardens. These oases bring the wonder of homegrown food — and education about food, food security, and nutrition — into the heart of metro areas. Farm-to-table programs let children tend school gardens — then eat the produce in the cafeteria.
Thus, our children also learn from whence comes their food — the miracle that transformed dirt into diet.
Our family recently moved to rural Lebanon, IN — a county-seat town surrounded by crops like government-subsidized corn and soybeans. But where was fresh, healthy food for human consumption?
Oddly, I found Lebanon’s fast food joints outnumber fresh food stands 13 to one. Ironically, the County Health Department pays close attention to the one, noting that unprocessed foods — like fresh lettuce or homegrown tomatoes — are suspect.
At Zionsville Farmers’ Market, vendors label their fresh gazpacho soup as “not intended for human consumption,” to sidestep “ridiculous regulations.” Inspectors “don’t know the difference between head lettuce and leaf lettuce,” one vendor complained.
At the Boone County July 4 parade in Lebanon, dozens of children delighted in the display of everything from teen twirlers to rear-steering tractors. Both could turn on a dime. Yet many of these children (to say nothing of the adults) were obese — many of them morbidly so.
Turns out, the only thing growing in some rural backyards is food insecurity.
According to Feeding America, about 3 million rural households — yes, those that share fences with farmland — in this nation are food insecure. And: “among all people in female-headed families with related children under 18 years, 50.7 percent were poor in rural areas compared to 35 percent in the suburbs.”
So, you go on, urban farmers. Help keep the gardening knowledge alive. Too many of our rural neighbors are up a row without a hoe.
Rev. Patricia R. Case, Boone County, IN Works on young adult and mission renewal efforts for CC (DOC) Hunger and Poverty Read more!
Friday, December 23, 2016
Love All
As we did not have a worship service on Dec. 18, a link to the blog that contained the intended message is included below.
Love All—A Sermon for the Fourth Sunday of Advent
“Love All” is the final theme of the four-week Advent Conspiracy study. It’s been an interesting challenge to connect those themes with the lectionary texts each week. This is how I did it today.
MaryAnn McKibben Dana
Idylwood Presbyterian Church
December 19, 2010
Fourth Sunday of Advent
Matthew 1:18-25
Idylwood Presbyterian Church
December 19, 2010
Fourth Sunday of Advent
Matthew 1:18-25
Monday, December 12, 2016
Justice Devotional - Where is Your Treasure?
From
Devotion to Justice
A series of devotions from the Justice table on the topics of
Matthew 6:21
What we treasure most in life is what we tend to place our focus on. As we strive to live in our fast-paced, ever changing world that places emphasis on what you have and who you are according to material standards, we often lose track of what is truly important. All too often, we seek to fill the void in our lives with temporary solutions, food, alcohol, shopping, even success, instead of turning to God and the relationships he has placed in our lives. The quality of life we live and our level of joy depend greatly on our ability to develop healthy relationships.
The key to a happy life and making it count every day is spending quality time with God and those we love. As a mother it can be easy to take this relationship piece for granted, especially with our children, inadvertently placing it on autopilot to tend to the “things we need to get done”. This is fueled by the hope and expectation that this relationship will still be intact when we are able and ready to give it time. As life seldom slows down, we can go weeks, months and even years not investing time in those we love the most. Learning where to place our priorities (treasure) can be somewhat concerning, as there is so much seeking our full attention. Placing the focus on intimacy with God will help establish this priority in life around developing and investing in these relationships with those we love most.
If what matters most in life is relationships with God and others, let us ask ourselves then, what are we doing to strengthen these closest relationships? Where is your heart? Are you enslaved by the human desire to store up treasure in this world? Ask a child whether they would rather have a new toy or have a date with mom, more often than not, they will choose time with mom. If a mother’s children are her treasure, where will her heart be?
Children were precious to Jesus when he was here on earth, as they should be to every mother as we seek to nurture relationships with God and those we love. Look a child in the eyes today for within them is the foundation of a beautiful relationship from the heart.
Lori Tapia, Pastor Iglesia Alas De Salvacion, Gilbert, AZ Women and Children Read more!
Devotion to Justice
A series of devotions from the Justice table on the topics of
- Women and children
- Hunger and poverty
- Creation care
- Immigration
Matthew 6:21
What we treasure most in life is what we tend to place our focus on. As we strive to live in our fast-paced, ever changing world that places emphasis on what you have and who you are according to material standards, we often lose track of what is truly important. All too often, we seek to fill the void in our lives with temporary solutions, food, alcohol, shopping, even success, instead of turning to God and the relationships he has placed in our lives. The quality of life we live and our level of joy depend greatly on our ability to develop healthy relationships.
The key to a happy life and making it count every day is spending quality time with God and those we love. As a mother it can be easy to take this relationship piece for granted, especially with our children, inadvertently placing it on autopilot to tend to the “things we need to get done”. This is fueled by the hope and expectation that this relationship will still be intact when we are able and ready to give it time. As life seldom slows down, we can go weeks, months and even years not investing time in those we love the most. Learning where to place our priorities (treasure) can be somewhat concerning, as there is so much seeking our full attention. Placing the focus on intimacy with God will help establish this priority in life around developing and investing in these relationships with those we love most.
If what matters most in life is relationships with God and others, let us ask ourselves then, what are we doing to strengthen these closest relationships? Where is your heart? Are you enslaved by the human desire to store up treasure in this world? Ask a child whether they would rather have a new toy or have a date with mom, more often than not, they will choose time with mom. If a mother’s children are her treasure, where will her heart be?
Children were precious to Jesus when he was here on earth, as they should be to every mother as we seek to nurture relationships with God and those we love. Look a child in the eyes today for within them is the foundation of a beautiful relationship from the heart.
Lori Tapia, Pastor Iglesia Alas De Salvacion, Gilbert, AZ Women and Children Read more!
Thursday, December 8, 2016
Justice Devotional - May the Words
From
Devotion to Justice
A series of devotions from the Justice table on the topics of
Luke 13:10-16
Walking down a dusty road at camp, a young woman and I spoke about an incident from her life. While jogging, a worker in the neighborhood decided to whistle at her as she started her run and again when she was returning. The first whistle elicited a fierce glare. As her feet pounded the pavement, her heart rate and her anger increased. She wasn’t just miffed or mildly perturbed; instead, her anger reverberated within her. The second whistle unleashed the rage that had been building, and vehement words spilled out. The intensity of the response surprised her. As we walked on, we analyzed her reaction.
In a time when some legislators seek to redefine rape and make outrageous statements that disparage violence against women...in a time when girls and women are bought and sold as easily and sometimes with less thought than buying a cup of coffee...in a time when girls are emaciated by anorexia because their bodies do not match the bodies in the teen magazines...in a time when some girls are maimed for simply wanting to learn, smaller acts of unwanted comments and gestures toward women point toward even greater violations of selfhood. Words and images help shape how women perceive themselves and how women are valued in the world. Justice begins in how we describe those among us. Something as simple as how we describe an assertive woman versus an assertive man speaks to a continuing difference in valuing.
When Jesus healed a woman bent over for eighteen years, his actions and words spoke to her “bondage,” challenging those who had defined her by her gender and her condition. He confronted the powers that protested her healing. He directed her and all present to see her fully as a beloved and valued part of the community: “And ought not this woman, a daughter of Abraham whom Satan bound for eighteen long years, be set free from this bondage on the sabbath day?” (Luke 13:16)
And ought not all girls and women, beloved daughters of God, be set free from bondage...all forms...on each day?
Blessed and Gracious God, who bestows the name Beloved on each and all, transform the words of our mouths, the thoughts of our minds and the longings of our hearts into gifts of justice. Amen.
Rev. Mary Jacobs: President, IDWM Interim Regional Minister Northern California/Nevada Women and Children Read more!
Devotion to Justice
A series of devotions from the Justice table on the topics of
- Women and children
- Hunger and poverty
- Creation care
- Immigration
Luke 13:10-16
Walking down a dusty road at camp, a young woman and I spoke about an incident from her life. While jogging, a worker in the neighborhood decided to whistle at her as she started her run and again when she was returning. The first whistle elicited a fierce glare. As her feet pounded the pavement, her heart rate and her anger increased. She wasn’t just miffed or mildly perturbed; instead, her anger reverberated within her. The second whistle unleashed the rage that had been building, and vehement words spilled out. The intensity of the response surprised her. As we walked on, we analyzed her reaction.
In a time when some legislators seek to redefine rape and make outrageous statements that disparage violence against women...in a time when girls and women are bought and sold as easily and sometimes with less thought than buying a cup of coffee...in a time when girls are emaciated by anorexia because their bodies do not match the bodies in the teen magazines...in a time when some girls are maimed for simply wanting to learn, smaller acts of unwanted comments and gestures toward women point toward even greater violations of selfhood. Words and images help shape how women perceive themselves and how women are valued in the world. Justice begins in how we describe those among us. Something as simple as how we describe an assertive woman versus an assertive man speaks to a continuing difference in valuing.
When Jesus healed a woman bent over for eighteen years, his actions and words spoke to her “bondage,” challenging those who had defined her by her gender and her condition. He confronted the powers that protested her healing. He directed her and all present to see her fully as a beloved and valued part of the community: “And ought not this woman, a daughter of Abraham whom Satan bound for eighteen long years, be set free from this bondage on the sabbath day?” (Luke 13:16)
And ought not all girls and women, beloved daughters of God, be set free from bondage...all forms...on each day?
Blessed and Gracious God, who bestows the name Beloved on each and all, transform the words of our mouths, the thoughts of our minds and the longings of our hearts into gifts of justice. Amen.
Rev. Mary Jacobs: President, IDWM Interim Regional Minister Northern California/Nevada Women and Children Read more!
Tuesday, November 29, 2016
Justice Devotional - Back to the Garden
From
Devotion to Justice
A series of devotions from the Justice table on the topics of
Matthew 21:12-16
I'd prefer to be an Earth Mother-type, a loamy smell of earth clinging to my clothes...as people in my presence discover in themselves a desire to plant flowers...and I suggest we all sing Joni Mitchell’s “Woodstock.” (We do have to get ourselves back to the Garden.) I’d rather nurture the agents of culture change gently, patiently.
But Earth’s climate has changed on us. It’s happening fast, and it’s accelerating. In the last year, the Atlantic Ocean made a bid for a midtown Manhattan address, the Arctic ice cap looked like an endangered habitat, and “heat wave” became too moderate a term for infernal weeks that cooked crops and killed the sick and elderly. The climate has gone mad. I’m mad and getting madder along with it. I hate feeling this way. But I’m angry at bumper-sticker arguments that say global warming is a hoax. (How can anyone believe that, over a dozen decades, thousands of observers in hundreds of thousands of locations conspired to fake millions of measurements?) I feel crazy when I’m told, “It’s not us, it’s sunspots.” And I thought I would drop off the deep end when the House passed a bill which abrogates half a dozen laws in order to sell a trans-continental corridor for toxic oil sludge to foreign money changers.
What is this crazy culture I’m in? Who are these people I live among? How can they...how can we...be so blind to relationships? How can we have so forgotten the covenantal foundations of community? How can we ignore our children’s future like this?
Jesus confronted his culture’s craziness, and it made him crazy-mad. He took changing his culture hands-on. He opened the eyes of at least some of the blind. Then, by some standards, he lost. By others, however, the story’s still unfolding.
I think if we don’t change our culture, climate change will do it for us. That future horrifies, and its setting doesn’t look like a garden at all. So I’m glad to be mad after all. Anger is energy at and for change.
Are you mad, too? Welcome ... there are millions of us, of every tribe. In our brother Jesus’ footsteps, let’s walk together. For all that God called good, let’s work together. Let’s change the ending.
Douglas Job: Evergreen Christian Church (DOC) Green Chalice Congregation, Athens GA Creation Care Read more!
Devotion to Justice
A series of devotions from the Justice table on the topics of
- Women and children
- Hunger and poverty
- Creation care
- Immigration
Matthew 21:12-16
I'd prefer to be an Earth Mother-type, a loamy smell of earth clinging to my clothes...as people in my presence discover in themselves a desire to plant flowers...and I suggest we all sing Joni Mitchell’s “Woodstock.” (We do have to get ourselves back to the Garden.) I’d rather nurture the agents of culture change gently, patiently.
But Earth’s climate has changed on us. It’s happening fast, and it’s accelerating. In the last year, the Atlantic Ocean made a bid for a midtown Manhattan address, the Arctic ice cap looked like an endangered habitat, and “heat wave” became too moderate a term for infernal weeks that cooked crops and killed the sick and elderly. The climate has gone mad. I’m mad and getting madder along with it. I hate feeling this way. But I’m angry at bumper-sticker arguments that say global warming is a hoax. (How can anyone believe that, over a dozen decades, thousands of observers in hundreds of thousands of locations conspired to fake millions of measurements?) I feel crazy when I’m told, “It’s not us, it’s sunspots.” And I thought I would drop off the deep end when the House passed a bill which abrogates half a dozen laws in order to sell a trans-continental corridor for toxic oil sludge to foreign money changers.
What is this crazy culture I’m in? Who are these people I live among? How can they...how can we...be so blind to relationships? How can we have so forgotten the covenantal foundations of community? How can we ignore our children’s future like this?
Jesus confronted his culture’s craziness, and it made him crazy-mad. He took changing his culture hands-on. He opened the eyes of at least some of the blind. Then, by some standards, he lost. By others, however, the story’s still unfolding.
I think if we don’t change our culture, climate change will do it for us. That future horrifies, and its setting doesn’t look like a garden at all. So I’m glad to be mad after all. Anger is energy at and for change.
Are you mad, too? Welcome ... there are millions of us, of every tribe. In our brother Jesus’ footsteps, let’s walk together. For all that God called good, let’s work together. Let’s change the ending.
Douglas Job: Evergreen Christian Church (DOC) Green Chalice Congregation, Athens GA Creation Care Read more!
Tuesday, November 22, 2016
Justice Devotional - When Jesus Comes Back Let’s Be Sure the Earth is Clean and Green!
From
Devotion to Justice
A series of devotions from the Justice table on the topics of
Genesis 2:5-17
Way back in 1979 my wife Julie and I attended a lecture by a very popular Pentecostal preacher from Southern California. He was there to tell us exactly when Jesus was going to return to earth.
At that time in my life, I was beginning to question the sort of theology that tried to predict the second coming. After all, Jesus himself says that “no one knows” when that will happen. If Jesus doesn’t care about the date why should we?
What I really learned from that night was in the question and answer period after the lecture. The preacher had just predicted that Jesus was coming back, sometime in 1981. The first question was about the environment. “If Jesus is coming back then we don’t have to worry about care for the earth, right?” Many similar questions and comments followed. I don’t remember the preacher’s answers but I have never forgotten how quickly the audience decided that the earth was no big deal.
Isn’t that surprising? At the beginning of the Bible, we have a marvelous image of humankind being placed in the middle of the garden where the humans are given the command to “till it and keep it.” Another way to translate that phrase is to “serve and protect.” Maybe you’ve seen that on the side of a police car. The Genesis author seems to be saying that we are the police force that oversees care for the Earth!
I thought about our experience in that lecture when I read NT Wright’s, essay in The Green Bible titled, “Jesus is Coming — Plant a Tree.” As the title of his essay implies he believes that the idea of Jesus’ return is a call to Christians to care even more deeply for the environment.
Wright gets this conclusion from the Bible. He quotes the Apostle Paul who wrote in Romans 8 that the creation will be “set free from the slavery that consists in corruption.” This is the promise that the creatures who bear God’s image, that is you and me and every other human being, will one day live in harmony with the garden in the way that God has always intended. This ancient idea seems to have been forgotten. However, a basic reading of the Bible reveals that this teaching is central to the biblical story. The Bible teaches that Creation will be redeemed. All of creation, the Bible promises, is under the care and nurture of God and we are called to be God’s coworkers in this work. The second chapter of Genesis is an intense theological presentation on creation and humanity’s interaction with it. This story is a reflection on power and control, on anxiety and the way we respond to it.
When we lay this story over the top of our world today we see that these issues have not gone away. Power? Control? Anxiety? When it comes to the environment we have all too often eaten the forbidden fruit while failing to serve and protect the garden of the earth itself.
Perhaps what we need is a reminder of the simple fact that we have come from the dust and to the dust we will return. When our Genesis story teller relates this story of creation he uses a play on words. When humankind is created, the word for human is adam. It can be translated as man or humankind. We think of it as the name of the first male, Adam, but it is not a proper name; it’s just a regular word for humankind. The adam, humanity as it were, was created from the soil. The word in Hebrew for soil is adamah. Do you hear the word play at work here? Adam has come from adamah. Humans are soil. We are basically lumps of clay. This implies that our lives are interwoven with the life of the soil, of the dirt. The health of our bodies depends on the health of our soil.
Ellen Davis, a professor at Duke and a contributor to The Green Bible, has helped me remember all of this. Our health depends on the health of the food we receive from the soil. If the soil goes bad, the food goes bad, and, well, you can fill in the blanks, can’t you?
The first human sin is connected to eating. God sets a boundary and says, “Stay away from here.” We don’t know why. We don’t know what is wrong about this forbidden fruit. All we know is that the boundaries are clear. “Do not cross this line. It will be bad for you.” And like we so often want to do today Adam refuses to take the responsibility for his sin. Have you ever noticed this? Whenever I teach on this text I always ask the class, “Who does Adam blame for his sin?” They almost always say, with one voice, “Eve!” But, no. The story is clear. Adam is asked about his sin and he says, “The woman that YOU gave me, caused me to sin.” He points his finger at God and says, “It’s your fault.” We do the same thing don’t we? We see the city of New Orleans destroyed by a hurricane and we call it an act of God. Then, to make things worse we avoid the deeper issues at work in the city, things like racism and poverty and crime and unemployment and we turn it into a political football while all the time failing to face our sin, our weakness and our refusal to care for the environment and the people therein.
This reminds us that when we fail to care for the earth the first ones to experience the pain of the soil are the poorest of the poor. Check your political concerns at the door for a moment. We should, every one of us, fall on our knees in prayer asking for the forgiveness of our sins and the way we have abused the planet and its resources at the price of the poor.
The first result of sin in the Bible is the ruination of the ground. The soil is affected. The ground is cursed. It is filled with thorns and thistles. It will now be a labor to till and work. Professor Davis read this text with a group of farmers and asked them to interpret it. They said: “It is obvious. When humans are disconnected from God, the soil will be the first to suffer.”
They had not been to seminary but they helped her, and us, see something that any Hebrew would have already recognized: the degradation of the land is a sign that humans (the adams) have turned away from God. When the land is flourishing it is a sign that humans have returned to God. In other words, the single greatest indicator as to whether or not we are in good relationship with God is the condition of the land!
As Professor Wright proclaims, “Jesus is Coming — Plant a Tree”
Dr. R. Glen Miles: Senior Minister, Country Club Christian Church, Kansas City, MO Creation Care Read more!
Devotion to Justice
A series of devotions from the Justice table on the topics of
- Women and children
- Hunger and poverty
- Creation care
- Immigration
Genesis 2:5-17
Way back in 1979 my wife Julie and I attended a lecture by a very popular Pentecostal preacher from Southern California. He was there to tell us exactly when Jesus was going to return to earth.
At that time in my life, I was beginning to question the sort of theology that tried to predict the second coming. After all, Jesus himself says that “no one knows” when that will happen. If Jesus doesn’t care about the date why should we?
What I really learned from that night was in the question and answer period after the lecture. The preacher had just predicted that Jesus was coming back, sometime in 1981. The first question was about the environment. “If Jesus is coming back then we don’t have to worry about care for the earth, right?” Many similar questions and comments followed. I don’t remember the preacher’s answers but I have never forgotten how quickly the audience decided that the earth was no big deal.
Isn’t that surprising? At the beginning of the Bible, we have a marvelous image of humankind being placed in the middle of the garden where the humans are given the command to “till it and keep it.” Another way to translate that phrase is to “serve and protect.” Maybe you’ve seen that on the side of a police car. The Genesis author seems to be saying that we are the police force that oversees care for the Earth!
I thought about our experience in that lecture when I read NT Wright’s, essay in The Green Bible titled, “Jesus is Coming — Plant a Tree.” As the title of his essay implies he believes that the idea of Jesus’ return is a call to Christians to care even more deeply for the environment.
Wright gets this conclusion from the Bible. He quotes the Apostle Paul who wrote in Romans 8 that the creation will be “set free from the slavery that consists in corruption.” This is the promise that the creatures who bear God’s image, that is you and me and every other human being, will one day live in harmony with the garden in the way that God has always intended. This ancient idea seems to have been forgotten. However, a basic reading of the Bible reveals that this teaching is central to the biblical story. The Bible teaches that Creation will be redeemed. All of creation, the Bible promises, is under the care and nurture of God and we are called to be God’s coworkers in this work. The second chapter of Genesis is an intense theological presentation on creation and humanity’s interaction with it. This story is a reflection on power and control, on anxiety and the way we respond to it.
When we lay this story over the top of our world today we see that these issues have not gone away. Power? Control? Anxiety? When it comes to the environment we have all too often eaten the forbidden fruit while failing to serve and protect the garden of the earth itself.
Perhaps what we need is a reminder of the simple fact that we have come from the dust and to the dust we will return. When our Genesis story teller relates this story of creation he uses a play on words. When humankind is created, the word for human is adam. It can be translated as man or humankind. We think of it as the name of the first male, Adam, but it is not a proper name; it’s just a regular word for humankind. The adam, humanity as it were, was created from the soil. The word in Hebrew for soil is adamah. Do you hear the word play at work here? Adam has come from adamah. Humans are soil. We are basically lumps of clay. This implies that our lives are interwoven with the life of the soil, of the dirt. The health of our bodies depends on the health of our soil.
Ellen Davis, a professor at Duke and a contributor to The Green Bible, has helped me remember all of this. Our health depends on the health of the food we receive from the soil. If the soil goes bad, the food goes bad, and, well, you can fill in the blanks, can’t you?
The first human sin is connected to eating. God sets a boundary and says, “Stay away from here.” We don’t know why. We don’t know what is wrong about this forbidden fruit. All we know is that the boundaries are clear. “Do not cross this line. It will be bad for you.” And like we so often want to do today Adam refuses to take the responsibility for his sin. Have you ever noticed this? Whenever I teach on this text I always ask the class, “Who does Adam blame for his sin?” They almost always say, with one voice, “Eve!” But, no. The story is clear. Adam is asked about his sin and he says, “The woman that YOU gave me, caused me to sin.” He points his finger at God and says, “It’s your fault.” We do the same thing don’t we? We see the city of New Orleans destroyed by a hurricane and we call it an act of God. Then, to make things worse we avoid the deeper issues at work in the city, things like racism and poverty and crime and unemployment and we turn it into a political football while all the time failing to face our sin, our weakness and our refusal to care for the environment and the people therein.
This reminds us that when we fail to care for the earth the first ones to experience the pain of the soil are the poorest of the poor. Check your political concerns at the door for a moment. We should, every one of us, fall on our knees in prayer asking for the forgiveness of our sins and the way we have abused the planet and its resources at the price of the poor.
The first result of sin in the Bible is the ruination of the ground. The soil is affected. The ground is cursed. It is filled with thorns and thistles. It will now be a labor to till and work. Professor Davis read this text with a group of farmers and asked them to interpret it. They said: “It is obvious. When humans are disconnected from God, the soil will be the first to suffer.”
They had not been to seminary but they helped her, and us, see something that any Hebrew would have already recognized: the degradation of the land is a sign that humans (the adams) have turned away from God. When the land is flourishing it is a sign that humans have returned to God. In other words, the single greatest indicator as to whether or not we are in good relationship with God is the condition of the land!
As Professor Wright proclaims, “Jesus is Coming — Plant a Tree”
Dr. R. Glen Miles: Senior Minister, Country Club Christian Church, Kansas City, MO Creation Care Read more!
Friday, November 18, 2016
Justice Devotional - Child Nutrition
From
Devotion to Justice
A series of devotions from the Justice table on the topics of
Matthew 18:10
Babies! Whether it is mom, dad, grandparents, aunts or uncles, we get so excited about babies. When we hear the news of expectant parents we throw parties and buy gifts and start planning what the life of this child will look like. We think about bright eyes and chubby cheeks and smiling, happy faces.
I planned all of those for my first pregnancy, too. At 7 months I began to have problems with my health. In spite of the blizzard outside, I was sent to the hospital for tests. A quick x-ray (before the day of sonograms) showed that there were, in fact, two babies. “Oh no! I need a second crib and a second car seat and twice as many clothes and bottles and diapers.....” Well, at least I had two months to get all the plans made.
Regardless, the snow was still falling and we were told to double up in houses in case the grid couldn’t handle the demand of heating everyone’s home. Ten hours after my x-ray, in the midst of the blizzard, I went into labor. The doctor said not to delay...to get to the hospital immediately because they were coming too soon and we needed to be certain to be there before they were delivered. They arrived two hours later. They lost weight, had breathing problems, had to be fed intravenously. It was 16 days before I was permitted to hold them in my arms.
Scary? Challenging? Yes. But within a year they had gone from a weight of three pounds up to within normal development range. After those initial challenges they grew and developed normally and there were no residual difficulties.
How can preemie babies thrive so well? How is it that some babies go full term and still struggle? The truth is there is a whole host of reasons. One of those reasons can be addressed: nutrition for the child for the first 1,000 days from conception to her second birthday. I was blessed to have proper food, vitamins, and medical care during my pregnancy. When this unexpected challenge came along my daughters were healthy enough to be able to overcome those early difficulties. How different might the outcome have been without that safety net? If they survived, they might still have had emotional or learning challenges. Full term babies without the proper care face those same challenges.
As we face the challenge of child nutrition, may we recognize the hope that lies in the fact that WE CAN DO something about it.
Rev. Dr. Patricia Donahoo Disciples Women Indianapolis, IN Women and Children Read more!
Devotion to Justice
A series of devotions from the Justice table on the topics of
- Women and children
- Hunger and poverty
- Creation care
- Immigration
Matthew 18:10
Babies! Whether it is mom, dad, grandparents, aunts or uncles, we get so excited about babies. When we hear the news of expectant parents we throw parties and buy gifts and start planning what the life of this child will look like. We think about bright eyes and chubby cheeks and smiling, happy faces.
I planned all of those for my first pregnancy, too. At 7 months I began to have problems with my health. In spite of the blizzard outside, I was sent to the hospital for tests. A quick x-ray (before the day of sonograms) showed that there were, in fact, two babies. “Oh no! I need a second crib and a second car seat and twice as many clothes and bottles and diapers.....” Well, at least I had two months to get all the plans made.
Regardless, the snow was still falling and we were told to double up in houses in case the grid couldn’t handle the demand of heating everyone’s home. Ten hours after my x-ray, in the midst of the blizzard, I went into labor. The doctor said not to delay...to get to the hospital immediately because they were coming too soon and we needed to be certain to be there before they were delivered. They arrived two hours later. They lost weight, had breathing problems, had to be fed intravenously. It was 16 days before I was permitted to hold them in my arms.
Scary? Challenging? Yes. But within a year they had gone from a weight of three pounds up to within normal development range. After those initial challenges they grew and developed normally and there were no residual difficulties.
How can preemie babies thrive so well? How is it that some babies go full term and still struggle? The truth is there is a whole host of reasons. One of those reasons can be addressed: nutrition for the child for the first 1,000 days from conception to her second birthday. I was blessed to have proper food, vitamins, and medical care during my pregnancy. When this unexpected challenge came along my daughters were healthy enough to be able to overcome those early difficulties. How different might the outcome have been without that safety net? If they survived, they might still have had emotional or learning challenges. Full term babies without the proper care face those same challenges.
As we face the challenge of child nutrition, may we recognize the hope that lies in the fact that WE CAN DO something about it.
Rev. Dr. Patricia Donahoo Disciples Women Indianapolis, IN Women and Children Read more!
Saturday, November 12, 2016
Friday, November 4, 2016
Justice Devotional - Connectedness
From
Devotion to Justice
A series of devotions from the Justice table on the topics of
Galatians 5:13-14
I always held a keen interest for geography, specifically the inter- relationship between places and people. The relationship between a given landscape and how its inhabitants interact with it continues to intrigue me. The first law of geography states that, “everything is related to everything else, but near things are more related than distant things” (Tobler, 1970). As a graduate student in geospatial sciences, I began to see beyond statistical relationships. I became increasingly aware of how we are connected to one another more than we realize. People are connected to each other because of their proximity to one another. Faith communities are connected to each other because of our willingness to listen deeply and compassionately to one another’s stories. Our relationship to one another is bridged as a result of connectedness. For many geographers, connectedness is difficult to quantify. Yet, somehow the depth of our connectedness is correlated to our proximity in distance we have with one another.
Connectedness can be experienced as we laugh, mourn, rejoice, worship and fellowship with each other.
Connectedness is found in appreciating diversity without expecting conformity or homogeneity.
Connectedness is never done instantaneously neither is it an easy passive task. While connectedness takes time to foster, connectedness isn’t weakened overnight. When we trivialize another human being’s experiences, we distance ourselves. When our social sphere has a price of admission or appears inclusive to individuals of similar culture, education, and socio-economics, we distance ourselves. When issues like poverty, marginalization and disenfranchisement are articulated as “THE poor,” “THE marginalized,” and “THE disenfranchised,” we distance ourselves. Little by little the distance causes disconnection. As a people of faith, we value connectedness. Where do we start? Perhaps a good way is to prepare our hearts and have room for others. Let us go forth prayerfully and faithfully as we seek to establish connectedness and meaningful relationships. May we continue to seek the Holy Spirit help guide us into deeper fellowship with one another. In the process, let us awaken our senses to God’s loving compassion for all humanity and creation. With Jesus our prime example of our faith, may we go forth!
Lynette Li: Seminarian at Phillips Theological, Oklahoma Region Worked with General Youth Council on GA programming Immigration and Refugees Read more!
Devotion to Justice
A series of devotions from the Justice table on the topics of
- Women and children
- Hunger and poverty
- Creation care
- Immigration
Galatians 5:13-14
I always held a keen interest for geography, specifically the inter- relationship between places and people. The relationship between a given landscape and how its inhabitants interact with it continues to intrigue me. The first law of geography states that, “everything is related to everything else, but near things are more related than distant things” (Tobler, 1970). As a graduate student in geospatial sciences, I began to see beyond statistical relationships. I became increasingly aware of how we are connected to one another more than we realize. People are connected to each other because of their proximity to one another. Faith communities are connected to each other because of our willingness to listen deeply and compassionately to one another’s stories. Our relationship to one another is bridged as a result of connectedness. For many geographers, connectedness is difficult to quantify. Yet, somehow the depth of our connectedness is correlated to our proximity in distance we have with one another.
Connectedness can be experienced as we laugh, mourn, rejoice, worship and fellowship with each other.
Connectedness is found in appreciating diversity without expecting conformity or homogeneity.
Connectedness is never done instantaneously neither is it an easy passive task. While connectedness takes time to foster, connectedness isn’t weakened overnight. When we trivialize another human being’s experiences, we distance ourselves. When our social sphere has a price of admission or appears inclusive to individuals of similar culture, education, and socio-economics, we distance ourselves. When issues like poverty, marginalization and disenfranchisement are articulated as “THE poor,” “THE marginalized,” and “THE disenfranchised,” we distance ourselves. Little by little the distance causes disconnection. As a people of faith, we value connectedness. Where do we start? Perhaps a good way is to prepare our hearts and have room for others. Let us go forth prayerfully and faithfully as we seek to establish connectedness and meaningful relationships. May we continue to seek the Holy Spirit help guide us into deeper fellowship with one another. In the process, let us awaken our senses to God’s loving compassion for all humanity and creation. With Jesus our prime example of our faith, may we go forth!
Lynette Li: Seminarian at Phillips Theological, Oklahoma Region Worked with General Youth Council on GA programming Immigration and Refugees Read more!
Thursday, November 3, 2016
Justice Devotional - Advocates for the Poor
From
Devotion to Justice
A series of devotions from the Justice table on the topics of
Proverbs 31:8-9
Speak out for those who cannot speak, for the rights of all those who are destitute. Speak out, judge righteously, defend the right of those who are poor and in need. (Proverbs 31:8-9).
As people of faith and conscience, we are called by God to be advocates for the poor and needy. This we must do among our friends and colleagues, within our families, within our congregations, within our communities, and within our democratic system of government.
Sovereign God, with great joy and hearts full of thanksgiving, we thank you for all your many blessings. Forgive us, we pray, for our selfishness and our blindness, open our eyes, ears, hearts and hands to our suffering and struggling sisters and brothers, and empower us humbly yet boldly to advocate for those whose voices go unheard and whose needs go unmet. This we pray in your Holy Name. Amen.
Rev. Dr. Ken Brooker Langston Executive Director, Disciples Center for Public Witness,
DOC Justice Advocacy Consultant and Public Policy Advisor, Office of the General Minister and President of the Christian Church (DOC)
Director, Disciples Justice Action Network (DJAN) Hunger and Poverty Read more!
Devotion to Justice
A series of devotions from the Justice table on the topics of
- Women and children
- Hunger and poverty
- Creation care
- Immigration
Proverbs 31:8-9
Speak out for those who cannot speak, for the rights of all those who are destitute. Speak out, judge righteously, defend the right of those who are poor and in need. (Proverbs 31:8-9).
As people of faith and conscience, we are called by God to be advocates for the poor and needy. This we must do among our friends and colleagues, within our families, within our congregations, within our communities, and within our democratic system of government.
Sovereign God, with great joy and hearts full of thanksgiving, we thank you for all your many blessings. Forgive us, we pray, for our selfishness and our blindness, open our eyes, ears, hearts and hands to our suffering and struggling sisters and brothers, and empower us humbly yet boldly to advocate for those whose voices go unheard and whose needs go unmet. This we pray in your Holy Name. Amen.
Rev. Dr. Ken Brooker Langston Executive Director, Disciples Center for Public Witness,
DOC Justice Advocacy Consultant and Public Policy Advisor, Office of the General Minister and President of the Christian Church (DOC)
Director, Disciples Justice Action Network (DJAN) Hunger and Poverty Read more!
Thursday, October 27, 2016
Justice Devotional - Greatness of a Nation
From
Devotion to Justice
A series of devotions from the Justice table on the topics of
Psalm 72:11-14
Make other rulers bow down and all other nations serve him. Do this because the king rescues the homeless when they cry out, and he helps everyone who is poor and in need. The king has pity on the weak and the helpless and protects those in need. He cares when they suffer, and he saves them from cruel and violent deaths. (Psalm 72:11-14, Contemporary English Version).
This Scripture teaches us two things: (1) that the greatness of a nation depends on how it treats the poor, vulnerable and needy; and (2) that the government (here represented by the king as sovereign) has a God-given responsibility for the life, health and well-being of all who suffer and are in need. In a democratic society where the people are sovereign, it is now our responsibility to work together through our government to fulfill this sacred obligation for political leaders in all nations.
Just and merciful God, you are the Giver of all good things and the Judge of all nations. Have mercy on the nations of the world, including our own, bless us with good and wise and compassionate leaders, and help us always to remember that the greatest among nations is the one that does the most to lift up the least of its people, especially those who are poor and hungry. In your Holy Name we pray. Amen.
Rev. Dr. Ken Brooker Langston Executive Director, Disciples Center for Public Witness, DOC Justice Advocacy Consultant and Public Policy Advisor, Office of the General Minister and President of the Christian Church (DOC) Director, Disciples Justice Action Network (DJAN) Hunger and Poverty Read more!
Devotion to Justice
A series of devotions from the Justice table on the topics of
- Women and children
- Hunger and poverty
- Creation care
- Immigration
Psalm 72:11-14
Make other rulers bow down and all other nations serve him. Do this because the king rescues the homeless when they cry out, and he helps everyone who is poor and in need. The king has pity on the weak and the helpless and protects those in need. He cares when they suffer, and he saves them from cruel and violent deaths. (Psalm 72:11-14, Contemporary English Version).
This Scripture teaches us two things: (1) that the greatness of a nation depends on how it treats the poor, vulnerable and needy; and (2) that the government (here represented by the king as sovereign) has a God-given responsibility for the life, health and well-being of all who suffer and are in need. In a democratic society where the people are sovereign, it is now our responsibility to work together through our government to fulfill this sacred obligation for political leaders in all nations.
Just and merciful God, you are the Giver of all good things and the Judge of all nations. Have mercy on the nations of the world, including our own, bless us with good and wise and compassionate leaders, and help us always to remember that the greatest among nations is the one that does the most to lift up the least of its people, especially those who are poor and hungry. In your Holy Name we pray. Amen.
Rev. Dr. Ken Brooker Langston Executive Director, Disciples Center for Public Witness, DOC Justice Advocacy Consultant and Public Policy Advisor, Office of the General Minister and President of the Christian Church (DOC) Director, Disciples Justice Action Network (DJAN) Hunger and Poverty Read more!
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