Justice Devotional - Citizenship

From 
Devotion to Justice
A series of devotions from the Justice table on the topics of

• Women and children
• Hunger and poverty
• Creation care
• Immigration

Citizenship

Matthew 20:9-12

Since we were little kids, most of us had a well-developed sense of what was fair. When our brother or sister got away with something, we were quick to say, “That’s not fair!” Maybe our parents told us the old adage, “Life isn’t fair.” But deep down, we still cling to the belief that it should be. That’s one reason we’re so incensed when someone doesn’t follow the rules.

For many, the thought of people entering the United States by crossing the border illegally evokes the same outrage: “Who do you think you are? You think you’re so special that the rules don’t apply to you? That’s not fair!”

But that’s just it: it’s not fair.

It’s not fair that I was born on U.S. soil, thereby becoming a U.S. citizen. Because of that fact, I have lived my life free from genocide, political dictatorship, civil war, religious persecution and famine. And then there’s my other citizenship: While I was still a sinner, Christ died for me, making me a citizen in the kingdom of heaven. If ever I should exclaim, “That’s not fair!” it’s because I have received so much more than I deserved.

Immigration is not a simple issue with simple answers. In fact, the more I learn, the more I appreciate the complexity of it all. But I have also found that starting the discussion with recognition that I do not deserve my citizenship — either of them — is a lot more productive than starting it by crying foul.

Can we set our indignation aside, or at least hold it lightly, while we learn about immigration? Because if we do, I believe we’ll find new understanding. And most importantly, I believe we’ll open ourselves to the ways God is working in the Church.

Gracious God, thank you for giving me so much more than I deserve. Help me to live into my citizenship in your kingdom.

Tana Liu-Beers: Immigration Legal Counsel, Disciples Home Missions Durham,
North Carolina Immigration and Refugees Read more!

Justice Devotional - The Problem with Names

From 
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 Problem with Names
Revelation 21:22-27

Life as a refugee is a hard life. There is the indignity of losing one's home. And then add to that the displacing of an entire family, a resettling in a land with different language and different customs and different expectations. Whatever you were in the prior land — a doctor, a teacher, a farmer — very likely bears no relationship on what you are allowed to do in the new place. On top of all this, there is the problem with names.

Many refugees lose their given names when they leave their home and settle in a new place. A few families in our congregation lost their last names when they traveled to Cambodia to a refugee camp. Men were given the initial Y as a last name and women were given a letter H. The US Government had drawn up paperwork to correspond to the legal names Cambodia had given people when they resettled. In a great irony, the process of becoming an American Citizen allows refugees to reclaim those lost names, that lost heritage. By becoming American, they are allowed (finally!) to be called by their names.

Our Lord knows us beyond the names and the labels we wear. Our Lord prepares a place for the faithful even if no other place in the world provides them a welcome. Our Lord finds a way. And with the Lamb, with Jesus the Christ, we are known deeply and completely. With the Lamb, we are home.

Personal experience and panic prompted some of our teenagers to ask a Bible Study teacher about the scripture where the Lamb's book has everyone's name. "How will we know if we're welcome in the new Jerusalem? How will we know if Jesus calls us? Which name will the Lamb use?" The answer the teacher gave was the only answer that mattered. "You'll just know."

Rev. Jolin Wilks McElroy: Pastor First Christian Church, Charlotte, NC Immigration and Refugees. Read more!

Justice Devotional - Worth Being Spent

From 
Devotion to Justice
A series of devotions from the Justice table on the topics of

• Women and children
• Hunger and poverty
• Creation care
• Immigration

Worth Being Spent
Isaiah 58:10

Injustice is a prevailing and ever present ill of society not to be ignored, disregarded or averted. It gives way to economic inequality, human trafficking, environmental degradation, the prison industrial complex, systemic racism and more woes than can be counted resulting in a burdensome list seemingly too great to fight. Yet, we are called to seek justice in the midst of this reality. To spend ourselves for those who hunger and satisfy the needs of those who are oppressed.

No matter how daunting this call may be, we have the power to make a difference in the lives of any who suffer. We are not being set up to fail. We are being invited to join with God in transforming the precious life of another, who is made in the image of God. A meal, a donation, a coat or a protest have the capacity to shine light into the dark situations that are faced during times of oppression and trial. May we be faithful enough to help, strong enough to stand and bold enough to illuminate that darkness.

Most benevolent Creator, forgive our hesitation to seek justice. Bring back to the forefront of our minds how significant changing one moment in one person’s life can truly be. Mature us out of attitudes that oppress our compassion and smother the light of Christ within us. May You mature in us the notion that only our needs are critical. Restore us when the work feels endless and burdensome. We submit ourselves to be bearers of justice and barriers of injustice. May Your grace, mercy and love abound. Amen.

Rev. Lashaundra Smith: Pastor First Christian Church (DOC), Gulfport, MS Hunger and Poverty Read more!

Justice Devotional-Forbidden Fruit

From 
Devotion to Justice
A series of devotions from the Justice table on the topics of

• Women and children
• Hunger and poverty
• Creation care
• Immigration

Forbidden Fruit

Genesis 2:15-17

Controversy has surrounded the Adam and Eve story through the years. The story leaves us with many questions. However, controversy aside, the eating of the forbidden fruit is the first sin in the Bible. That sin came to be known for Christians as “original sin,” the fragmentation of God’s perfect world. The eating of the forbidden fruit is where everything started to go wrong.

Speaking to Adam and Eve today, God might say, “You can enjoy fruits and vegetables, breads and beans, cheeses and nuts. Enjoy meat from grazing cows, scratching chickens, foraging hogs and swimming fish.”But what foods would God forbid us to eat?

Food with ingredients we cannot pronounce? Meat from confined animals that never feel rain, wind, or sun on their backs?

Adam and Eve and the generations that followed them suffered the consequences of their decision to eat the forbidden fruit. And we suffer the consequences when we eat forbidden foods through our health and well- being and so do our neighbors and creation.

We are blessed to live in places that can grow good food. Our local farmers grow foods that are healthy and tasty and raise animals with compassion and love. Food artisans put their hearts into their craft to give us breads, cheeses, pastas, and more. Good food is grown, harvested, and prepared in a way that connects us to each other, to the earth, and to God. When we eat good food in community, we partake of communion, we remember Christ, and we bring a bit of wholeness to our fragmented world.

Gracious God, May our dining tables be “Justice Tables” and may the food we eat bring wholeness to our community. In Christ we pray, Amen Rev. Carol Devine: Minister Green Chalice Providence Christian Church (DOC), Nicholasville, KY Creation Care Read more!

Justice Devotional - What's In a Name?

From 
Devotion to Justice
A series of devotions from the Justice table on the topics of

• Women and children
• Hunger and poverty
• Creation care
• Immigration

What’s In a Name?

Acts 4:36

The custom of modifying a person’s name to more appropriately represent God’s work in their life accompanied God’s relationship with God’s servants throughout the bible. The intriguing piece, however, is found in how this change of name always reflected the individual according to how God himself saw them, rather than they themselves or even others. Abram to Abraham, Jacob to Israel; and even Jesus himself changed Simon to Peter demonstrating in this way the transforming work of the Spirit, which would move him from being an insignificant fisherman to a rock within the church. Along with this was a change of location, a time of moving.

As Abram began his journey away from his family and from his land, he was a foreigner. He was an undocumented illegal alien. But he was only this in the eyes of those suggesting he didn’t look the same, talk the same or believe the same. In the eyes of the Lord, he was already Abraham! Seeking a better life, not for himself, but for his descendants that did not yet exist!

Times have not changed so much that this custom is not represented in our ever changing world today. But let us wonder if this was at the center of God’s intention as we compare in contrast this biblical custom, with the custom of man today where “nicknames” are placed on individuals, usually based solely on circumstances or physical characteristics. We live in a society that is divided on issues surrounding immigration and at the center of this we hear names such as “Wetback,” “illegal,” “alien,” “unwanted,” and “criminal” among other, many times worse names, used in a derogatory manner to degrade and minimize the value of another human being.

Our world is full of inequalities. Countries prosper while countries perish. People hunger while others indulge in excess. While these inequalities exist there will always be a fleeing people seeking a better life.

Let us strive to see others through the eyes of our Lord and Creator. Let us look and listen for the characteristics in others that reflect the name that most appropriately represents God’s relationship to God’s child and purpose. Could we possibly begin to comprehend the name our Lord would place on another individual? Do we understand the circumstances surrounding this life? Do we have this right to judge? After all, we are ALL part of a bigger Kingdom.

Pastor Lori Tapia: Iglesia Alas de Salvacion, Gilbert, Arizona Immigration and Refugees

Read more!

Justice Devotional - A Victim of Her Circumstances

From 
Devotion to Justice
A series of devotions from the Justice table on the topics of

• Women and children
• Hunger and poverty
• Creation care
• Immigration

A Victim of Her Circumstances

Genesis 16:1-10 Hagar's Song

Genesis, chapter 16, offers insight into the life of a young Egyptian woman named, Hagar. This pregnant slave girl is filled with confusion and distress. Everyone around her is uncomfortable. She did not choose this predicament for herself. Like other women, she became a victim of circumstances. After giving birth to Abraham's first son, Ishmael, they were asked to leave the security and comforts of what they had always known, only to go into a new reality called, the unknown. Although, complex in nature, Hagar’s life and the story of her womanhood is seen in an unhealthy light. There were several injustices committed. Rereading this story, reminds me of the number of women and children who are still being exiled, every day from amongst everything they have ever known. They are deserted, and left to find their own way? We cannot fix the Hagar story.

However, we can change the lyrics to her song.
Today, I am singing a new song. One that promotes inclusion, love, justice and reconciliation for all women. There is a new sound dancing around in my head; while muffling the old tunes of disrespect, abuse and injustice. That tune says, “What would this world exemplify if all women felt empowered and respected?”
Please consider this: Every time a “Woman is affected, a child is affected.” Whenever any woman is treated with disrespect, we are all disrespected. In the words of the late Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. “injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere."
Today’s challenge is choosing to see, hear, and gather persons from all points of exclusion. We must take the time to investigate our communities and spheres of influence, while listening for those persons who may be living a life similar to Hagar’s. We must not rest until all have been restored to their rightful places, (a) the arms of God (b) and the whole of Humanity. Friends, the redemption of Hagar's story is she was met by an Angel who assured her of God’s presence. She was given direct insight into a promised future, therefore, some dignity was restored. However, you and I (we) must become the one voice of God, whose total assignment is to sing the lyrics to the new song-quoting “With liberty and Justice for All!”
The Rev. Dr. Christal L. Williams: Associate Regional Minister
The Christian Church in Illinois & Wisconsin, Cherry Valley, IL
Women and Children Read more!

Justice Devotional - Strawberry Fields Forever

From 
Devotion to Justice
A series of devotions from the Justice table on the topics of

• Women and children
• Hunger and poverty
• Creation care
• Immigration

Strawberry Fields Forever

Matthew 20:1-16

In California, Kate and I would from time to time buy strawberries from a roadside stand. The stand was located within the limits of Los Angeles County where nearly ten million people reside. We never found a stand selling corn or tomatoes but there were several next to strawberry fields.

As we admired the baskets of strawberries we had just purchased, we could almost hear over our heads the melody of “Strawberry Fields Forever” and the question of how long would the growers of strawberries hold out. How long could the offers made by developers of new housing projects be resisted? Of course the real defenders of the strawberry fields in Los Angeles County, those who keep the fields flourishing and financially viable, are not the growers.

Those of us who buy the strawberries don’t ask the cashier if they are cultivated and picked by “legal” workers. We don’t ask if they earn the $8 minimum hourly wage in Los Angeles County. We breathe in the scent of fresh strawberries and are lifted by gratitude that the fields are still there. But we know that they wouldn’t be if the workers, the brown skinned men and women, earned a wage above the poverty level for a family.

It’s the same in the fields seen on the drive along California’s U.S. 1 up the coast. How can those fields be farmed on some of the country’s most valuable real estate? If their workers have been at it for more than five years, don’t they deserve to be considered “legal”? Do we really want to continue to punish them through our immigration system?

Doug Smith and Kate Moyer, 
ordained DOC ministers Long Term Volunteer Missionaries with Global Ministries Mesa Conjunta "Roundtable" in San Luis Potosi, Mexico Immigration and Refugees Read more!