Don't Look Down On Me - Listening To Marginalized Voices, CRC Office Of Social Justice

“I’ll ask that the next time you see someone who is different from you, think about what their day is like… And think about what part of their day do you want to be.”

This courageous man who has Achondroplastic Dwarfism was tired of sharing stories about the harassment he experiences in his day-to-day life so he decided to show us instead by filming a day in the life of a person with physical difference. He is not voiceless—but are we listening?




Let us move from compassion to full acceptance as we challenge our perceptions of normalcy.  Read more about the Listen To Marginalized Voices Challenge or the CRC Office Of Social Justice

I Was Hungry & You Fed Me, Even When It Was Illegal - Craig Watts in Red Letter Christians

Those who say feeding those on the streets does not solve the problem of homelessness are right. It doesn't. But it does help solve the problem of hunger. 

Beginning this Friday, October 31st, it is illegal to feed a person on the street in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. Many of the people who stood to speak in opposition were from the religious community.

Unfortunately, laws against feeding the homeless are now on the books in 21 US cities.

A recent study by the Urban Ministry Center in Charlotte, North Carolina found that it is less expensive to provide permanent supportive housing for the chronically homeless than to deal with homelessness through either callous disregard or by means of punitive approaches.

However, because of the common stereotypes many people hold about the homeless (they choose to be homeless, they don’t want to work, they are dangerous drug addicts, etc.), punitive measures are more popular. Help for the homeless, some claim, just rewards bad behavior and flawed character traits. This sort of thinking has allowed cities to move beyond criminalizing homelessness to criminalizing compassion.

Those who say feeding those on the streets does not solve the problem of homelessness are right. It doesn't. But it does help solve the problem of hunger.

Hungry people are desperate people. They are more likely to commit crimes to get the food they need. By making it much more difficult to feed the homeless, the city leaders harm the homeless, harm those who are compassionate and increase the possibility of real crime in the city.

The full article is available here

Very, Very Simple: Love Is The Main Thing - Kayla McClurg in inward/outward

Through which lens are we seeing life?

A lawyer tries to trap Jesus by asking, “Teacher, which commandment in the law is the greatest?”

I’m glad he asked because it leads Jesus to clarify the main thing: “‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ This is the greatest and first commandment. And a second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.'”

Through which lens are we seeing life? Through the lens of the personal, we calculate what will bring the most success, the greatest protection, the most comfort and praise. Through the lens of loving God with all of who we are, we reach out to others, but we know our limits, how we can’t do all that needs to be done. It’s okay. We are not here to be God.

We are here only for the main thing: to love God by learning to love ourselves and letting that love flow to others. We do not have to do all, or see all, or be all. Very, very simple.

We love God by getting to know our whole self, all the hidden caves of our hearts, souls and minds. Only with greater understanding of our most intimate, vulnerable self in all our fractured glory—each of us precious images of God’s strength revealed in and through weakness—are we able to love our neighbor, in whom we see the best and worst of ourselves. It costs us our prejudice, our fear, our religiosity, all our walls and wars—everything that keeps us from the one path, the one pursuit, the single purpose, the all.

The full article is available here

5 Way Churches Can Help Stop Ebola Hysteria - Tom Ehrich in Sojo

 Our society's worst instincts, as always, are to blame those portrayed as being "other," to imagine barriers and travel bans that would protect us, and to turn against each other.   Such nonsense plays well in an election year, at least with a certain portion of the electorate.

Similar instincts served us poorly after 9/11, during various Red Scares, with the migrant children refugee crisis, during the internment of Japanese Americans in WWII and countless other instances. They are like a child’s instinct to hide under a bed: We crouch in fear without thinking first.

Many of our current legislative leaders have little instinct for leadership. They've been willing to harvest votes among the fearful by stoking their fears. All but the most responsible media have joined them in sowing misinformation and fear.

Let’s imagine a better scenario, perhaps even one that faithful people could help to bring about.

1) No cheap blaming.  God isn’t causing this virus to spread through western Africa as some sort of punishment for the people there, or to come to these shores as some punishment of us. Diseases happen, and they spread through a combination of bad luck, human error and ignorance

2) Avoid the hysteria.  Turning to our most primal, base and reflexive instincts is an unreliable way to make good decisions.  We should think critically about who is saying what for what reason.

3) Get informed.  We need to be able to provide useful guidance to children and the vulnerable and take appropriate precautions within our sphere of care and influence.

4) Identify who needs help.  We need to look outside our walls to see who needs help. Beyond family, beyond church, beyond our community — where is help needed, who is already involved, and how can we partner with our support them?

5) Prepare to stand against forces of fear.  We need to muster our personal and spiritual resources and find the courage to face something largely beyond our control. If the Ebola virus breaks out of current containment measures and spreads into the general population, our communities will require people with mature judgment and the courage to stand against the legions of fear.

The full article is available here

Benediction: Being A Blessing Everywhere That We Go (based on Genesis 12)

We have been called to be a blessing in this world which God created and called "good."

So may what we've sung and said here, as well as what we've heard and learned here, continue to guide
us as we do God’s work of bringing out the best in everyone and everything.

Reflection and Renewal: Not Seeking Guidance (based on John 9:1-3)

God,

Sometimes we struggle in dealing with the unknown. Sometimes we worry about all the unanswerable questions and what other people might think, so we stay on the sidelines of life and don't engage your world.

Sometimes we see the unknown as a thrilling thing.  But sometimes, instead of discerning what we are doing and seeking to be guided, we charge ahead full-speed, following our own instincts and desires.
When we do that, we forget to take the time to consider other’s needs or the impact of our actions on their lives.

Other times we have a severely limited view of what you can do, where you can do it, or with and through whom you can work. In our hunger for certainty, we are blind to how big and all-encompassing
your love is, so we can’t imagine you doing and being more than the boxes we try to put you in.

Often we do these things without a second thought.  But even when we try to trust in your way and follow your guidance, we all-too-easily slip into our old, familiar ways of thinking.

So we ask for forgiveness. Help us to have the faith to trust that what you've asked us to do is what we should be doing.  Help us to care for your world and where you've called us to be active in it.

Forgive us for when we've missed the point. Thank you for extending grace to us time and time again.

Amen.

Responsive Call To Worship: God's Presence and Guidance (based on Psalm 16:7-9)

Reader: Let us give thanks to God who guides us
All: We bless the Lord who is present among us, as he is in all of creation.

Reader: God’s wise teaching and kingdom way of living directs our days.
All: We will not be shaken or live in fear even though we may lack certainty.

Reader: Divine Presence sustains us and surrounds us.
All: We will sing God’s praise and worship with joy!

Real Life & The Bible - Brian McClaren

Call To Worship: Trust and Seeking (based on Luke 7:1-10)

God, we come today wanting to believe in many things but actually trusting very few if we're completely honest. Our faith in you may be ragged and worn around the edges, but you’ve promised that you don’t brush aside the bruised and the hurt.

Instead, you welcome all who come seeking; so meet us where we are. You're a God of limitless love, creativity and compassion.

For this, we give you praise.

Next Trip To The Fridge, Think On This - Bread For The World

There is a difference between charity and justice. Charity treats symptoms; justice addresses cause.

Imagine 100 cities the size of New York City, all bunched together in one location. One by one, the people walk by you, begging for a piece of bread or chunk of cheese. And imagine that happening again tomorrow, and the next day and the next.

It is a fact. Every day, 842 million people in the world are hungry. More than one in five children in the U.S. live in households that struggle to put food on the table.

If you doubt this fact, contact your local school and ask what percent of your school district’s children qualify for free lunches.

It matters to God and to Jesus that people are hungry today.  The question is: Does it matter to us?

Don’t get me wrong. Many wonderful things are happening within congregations to feed hungry people. But many of these efforts involve charity.  There is a difference between charity and justice. Charity treats symptoms; justice addresses causes.

A well-worn but appropriate analogy goes like this: A church may stand on the riverbank, rescuing children who have been mercilessly thrown into the current. But eventually, the church should go upstream and ask, “What is creating this crisis? Who is throwing babies in the river?”

God cares deeply about physical as well as spiritual hunger. Jesus did not divide human beings up into sections and say, “I care about getting people into heaven, but not about their empty stomachs.”

The full article is available here

Changing The Climate - Paola Fuentes in Do Justice!

I used to be one of those people who thought that I did not have the time to care about the environment and climate change.

One of the issues that caught my attention was climate change and its impacts on vulnerable communities around the world. From doing research and talking to people that I respect who know a lot more than I do about environmental degradation and climate change, I learned that climate change is a problem and that we need to do something about it. But what could I do? There was that question again.

I used to be one of those people who thought that I did not have the time to care about the environment and climate change because I was too busy caring for people and those in situations of poverty. However, after working in Nicaragua and learning about the effects of climate change on farmers there and then learning that what I had seen in Nicaragua is a common theme throughout the world, I can now resonate with one of the signs I saw at the march that read “Climate Action = Loving our Neighbors.”

It is important for Christians to be a voice in the public square on the issues that matter. Climate change and environmental degradation is one such issue. As Christians, we bring the hope to overwhelming tasks like addressing the climate crisis that our efforts are part of bringing the kingdom of God and the flourishing of all creation on earth.

The People’s Climate March was a global event--hundreds of thousands of people marched in streets across the world to demand action to end the climate crisis. The march occurred on Sunday, September 21, to coincide with the United Nations Climate Summit held in New York City on September 23.  

Participating in the march was both a humbling and an empowering experience. It was humbling to be part of such a large demonstration and to realize the scale and complexity of climate crisis and the large number and diversity of people and organizations working on different aspects of the crisis. It was also empowering because being in the midst of such a large gathering of people helped me to realize the power that we have as individuals when we unite and work together to solve a crisis and demand that our global leaders join and strengthen our efforts.

The full article is available here 

Nobody Is Getting Left Behind - Zack Hunt in The American Jesus

American Christian's love for the rapture reveals a lack of love for the very world Jesus came to save.

The very idea of the church abandoning the world in its time of need is endemic of an American Christianity that is more focused on the self than the needs of the other, more gnostic (concerned with right ideas and escapist hatred of the world and flesh that God created and called "good") than actually Christian, and hyper-focused on the hereafter to the detriment of the here and now.

I’m sorry Left Behind fans, but there is no such thing as the rapture.

The idea of a rapture never even appears on the church’s radar until it was invented in the late 18th and early 19th centuries.

You would think that such a pivotal moment in the life of the church would get a least a brief mention by someone like Luther or Calvin or Aquinas or maybe Augustine. But there is only silence.

Why? Because the term "the rapture" never appears in the Bible and - most importantly - the very idea of the rapture is antithetical to the narrative of scripture. The Bible is a story about a God who journeys with people through hard times. He doesn’t pluck them out of danger.

Perhaps the most important thing to remember is that the Bible is not a road map to the future. It is the declaration that justice will be granted to the oppressed, and all things will be made new.

The full article is available here

How’s Our Comprehension? Kayla McClurg in inward/outward

We are not meant for violence and greed. Aggressive love and forgiveness are our calling, not aggressive apathy or aggressive avoidance of the realities of war and poverty and the destruction of our earth home. 

In elementary school I remember getting high marks for Reading Skills but not quite as high for what was called Comprehension. Similarly, we can “read” Jesus quite fluently without truly comprehending him. 

It is easy to point at the chief priests and elders who were listening to Jesus without comprehending and call them slow, but the rest of us are not winning any races when it comes to comprehending some of the most basic truths. 

People of forgiveness, called to be heralds of peace, yet too often silent and complicit in greed and violence. Called to extreme generosity and the rule of love, we seem unable to grasp the seriousness of our failing to steward the earth and one another.

We have been entrusted with an awesome responsibility to care for all creation. We are not meant for violence and greed. Aggressive love and forgiveness are our calling, not aggressive apathy or aggressive avoidance of the realities of war and poverty and the destruction of our earth home. 

Isn’t it time to slap our global forehead in disbelief that we have been such thoughtless stewards? Isn’t it time to beg collectively for pardon and seek to make amends? Or we can just keep plodding along, acting and reacting mindlessly, reading the signs of these times without comprehending. It is our choice. I wonder what kind of marks we will receive.

The full article is available here 

Have We Gotten Heaven All Wrong? John Murowski in Religion News Service

"What the majority conventional view of heaven is, is very different from what we find in these biblical testimonies,” said Christopher Morse of Union Theological Seminary in New York. “The end times are not the end of the world — they are the beginning of the real world — in biblical understanding.”

Scholars on the right and left increasingly say that comforting belief in an afterlife has no basis in the Bible and would have sounded bizarre to Jesus and his early followers. Like modern curators patiently restoring an ancient fresco, scholars have plumbed the New Testament’s Jewish roots to challenge the pervasive cultural belief in an otherworldly paradise.

The most recent expert to add his voice to this chorus is the prolific Christian apologist N.T. Wright, a former Anglican bishop who now teaches about early Christianity and New Testament at Scotland’s University of St. Andrews.   Wright’s insistence that Christianity has got it all wrong seems to mark a turning point for the serious rethinking of heaven. He’s not just another academic iconoclast bent on debunking Christian myths.

"What the majority conventional view of heaven is, is very different from what we find in these biblical testimonies,” said Christopher Morse of Union Theological Seminary in New York. “The end times are not the end of the world — they are the beginning of the real world — in biblical understanding.”

In classic Judaism and first-century Christianity, believers expected this world would be transformed into God’s Kingdom — a restored Eden where redeemed creation would be liberated from death, illness, sin and other corruptions.

The sect of first-century Jews who believed Jesus was Messiah also believed he inaugurated the Kingdom of God and were convinced the world would be transformed in their own lifetimes, Wright said. This inauguration, however, was far from complete and required the active participation of God’s people practicing social justice, nonviolence and forgiveness to become fulfilled.  Doing God’s Kingdom work has come to be known in Judaism as “tikkun olam,” or “repairing the world.”

Many clues to an early Christian understanding of the Kingdom of heaven are preserved in the New Testament, most notably the phrase “your will be done on earth as it is in heaven,” from the Lord’s Prayer.  The two dimensions intersect and overlap so that the divine bleeds over into this world.

“Our picture, which we get from Dante and Michelangelo, particularly of a heaven and a hell, and perhaps of a purgatory as well, simply isn’t consonant with what we find in the New Testament,” N.T. Wright said. “A lot of these images of hellfire and damnation are actually pagan images which the Middle Ages picks up again and kind of wallows in. Heaven isn't a Platonic, timeless eternity, which is what we were all taught."

The full article is available here

Why The Rapture Isn’t Biblical & Why It Matters - Kurt Willems in Patheos

With the release of the film Left Behind, critically-thinking Christians are once again needed to refute the pessimistic, escapist, divisive and unbiblical notions put forth by this franchise.

The unbiblical, recently-fabricated understanding of The Rapture invites us to escape this world: the last thing that Jesus would have ever taught! “On earth as in heaven” is what he said, not “in heaven away from the earth!” Our world’s future is hopeful. Let’s tell that story and not the escapist narratives that many of us grew up with (and that the Left Behind franchise continues to perpetuate).

I grew up in American church culture, which taught that this “world is not my home, I’m just a passin’ through.”  This mentality was reinforced by a wide-range of Bookstore McChristianity kitsch; from movies to books, music to posters, bumper stickers to t-shirts.

World and physicality = bad.
Jesus and spiritual bliss in a distant heaven = goal of the game.

This distinction came with a subset of beliefs about the destiny of God’s world.  Eventually this planet would be destroyed and we Christians would “fly away” to heaven at the rapture of the church.

The church of my youth probably had the rapture all wrong.  You see, the Bible flows from Creation (Gen 1-2) to Renewed Creation (Rev 21-22).  This is the narrative of Scripture.  Nothing in the text (if read in its proper context) alludes to the actual complete destruction of the planet.  Christ will return to resurrect, to purge, to heal, and to establish the eternal kingdom of God on this earth. Heaven and earth will unite like a bride and husband – for all eternity. That’s it.

This world’s worth to the Creator runs deep and because of this, the world as a whole ought to be intrinsically valuable to us.  Physical/earthly realities such as social injustice, violence, hunger, preventable sickness, and the destruction of nature are invitations to the church of Jesus to get our hands dirty and proclaim that this world matters (even in its broken state)!

The unbiblical, recently-fabricated understanding of The Rapture invites us to escape this world: the last thing that Jesus would have ever taught! “On earth as in heaven” is what he said, not “in heaven away from the earth!” Our world’s future is hopeful. Let’s tell that story and not the escapist narratives that many of us grew up with (and that the Left Behind franchise continues to perpetuate).

The full article is available here

And That Is Grace - Joe Kay in Sojourner's

We like to put flesh-and-blood on the notion that we are recipients of some great gift that arrives unexpectedly and is given freely. Someone or something that comes into our life and significantly changes it for the better in some ways.

It’s interesting how the word “grace” gets used a lot, even by those who don’t necessarily consider themselves religious. It’s a favorite name for a character that represents someone who is a gift to us — I’m thinking about Bruce’s girlfriend Grace in Bruce Almighty, or Eli’s reassuring encounter with a woman named Grace in the second season of the TV series Eli Stone.

You can probably cite many more examples of characters named Grace in different movies, television shows, and books.

We like to put flesh-and-blood on the notion that we are recipients of some great gift that arrives unexpectedly and is given freely. Someone or something that comes into our life and significantly changes it for the better in some ways.

But what is grace? Who is grace to us?

You make a bad decision and suffer the consequences (we‘ve all been there). You make what seems to be a good decision and it has unintended consequences (we‘ve all been there, too). Some people are there with you through it all, no matter what it costs them. They think that you are worth whatever price has to be paid to be with you. And you are willing to pay the price to be there for them, too.

That is grace.

You feel lost and alone. You begin to despair about whether you can get your life together. You feel trapped. You feel inadequate. And yet you find others who remind you that you are amazing. They make you see the possibilities of each day. And you end up doing the same for them.

That is grace.

You think that if anyone knew the real you, they wouldn’t like you. You hide parts of yourself from others. And then you find that there are those who want to get to know those parts of you and appreciate them and celebrate them with you. And you want to do the same with them.

That is grace.

You realize that life is limited. You lose sleep over the realization that you’ll never achieve all of your dreams. Someone comes along to remind you that you’re never alone in your worries and concerns. They tell you that you are perfect just as you are. And you are inspired to remind others of it, too.

That is grace.

The full article is available here

Benediction: Love and Serve With Body, Mind & Spirit (based on Luke 10:27)

We are called to love God with all of our hearts, souls, and minds. We are likewise called to serve by loving God’s creation and all that lives within it.

So may our hearts be open and overflowing with compassion. May we be conduits of God’s limitless love and each do our part to bring the kingdom here to earth as it is in heaven.

Responsive Call To Worship: One Body, Many Parts (based on Romans 12:3-6)

Reader: The human body is made up of many parts which are mutually dependent on one another.
All: In the same way we, as children of the one creator God, all belong to one another.

Reader: When we realize this and live it out, we relate to one another in compassion and kindness.
All: The goodness of the divine in us recognizes and honors the goodness of the divine in others.

Reader: This is where we see God - in the ordinary compassion we share with the people around us ...
All: ... in the hug of a friend or the embrace of a family member, as we extend kindness to another human being who is hurting.

Reader: May this helps us to be aware that God’s compassion is constantly surrounding us.
All: So let's give thanks together for the amazing web of grace and love to the one who is its source.

Reflection and Renewal: We've Kept Our Hearts, Hands & Minds Firmly Closed (based on James 1:27)

God,

Your grace and mercy are endless. In contrast, we confess that - all too often - we have kept our hearts, hands and minds firmly closed.

Forgive us for when our own wants and desires have been all that we pay attention to, making us blind and deaf to the needs and concerns of others.  Forgive us for when we live only for material comfort and status while excluding and disadvantaging others.

Forgive us for the way that we let fear and greed keep us from caring for those around us that are in need. Forgive us for when we don’t move beyond charity to the ongoing, difficult and often inconvenient work
of seeking justice that you've said is required of us.

Help us move past our self-centeredness. Help us grow into living out the hope and generosity of your Kingdom, where all are welcome.

Amen.

4 Ways The Church Can Make Good Art Again - David Ryan Gutierrez in Relevant Magazine

Real talk: there is very little about the modern evangelical church that is creative. And this is a huge problem.

The church was once the workshop for the greatest art the world has ever known. Past tense.

Many churches are no longer seeking to create unique encounters with God. Instead, we’re often settling for following a successful model from CD's, books or personalities.

Real talk: there is very little about the modern evangelical church that is creative. And this is a huge problem.

1. Embrace The Crazy Beauty of Artists. Most of us can’t hear the music anymore. We’ve grown creatively deaf. So when faced with an artist who can still hear their internal song loud and clear, it’s easy for us to assume they’re crazy.

Artists can be a challenge to work with. They’re an emotional crowd. But that’s only because they’re more in tune with their emotional spectrum than most. That’s how God designed them. And because of that, artists can give language and vision to our deepest emotions. When we reach the end of our limited emotional bandwidth, artists take us further.

2. Demand A Higher Standard. While art is subjective by nature, there are elements that are objectively good or bad. An out-of-tune note is displeasing to the ear. Wooden dramatic performances are uncomfortable to watch. Poor writing fails to engage the mind.

The Church is, of course, meant to be a place of support and encouragement. However, we have to be careful that we don’t extend this to a point that costs us objectively good art.

3. Refuse Mimicry. If the Church is going to re-establish itself as a birthplace for creativity, it has to take a stand against mimicry. Imitation may be the greatest form of flattery, but when our efforts end at imitation, we've missed an opportunity to grow.

It’s certainly easier. It’s safer. But it’s wrong. With so many new songs to write, new sermons to speak and new pieces to perform, why would we ever settle for the art that’s already been created?

4. Take Risks. Standing on the front lines of a revolution will always carry with it greater risk. Many of us who take up the charge as creative leaders will find ourselves taking the first shots from the opposition.

Great art is an investment of self and soul. Any investor will tell you that the greater the risk, the greater the reward. Artfully leading people into the story of Christ is a risky endeavor.

But that’s only because there’s no greater reward than inspiring creation to return to its Creator.

The full article is available here

Benediction: Active Vision of the Kingdom of God (based on Ephesians 4:4-6)

The love of God - which Jesus made known - helps us to sense the Spirit anywhere and everywhere.  This love is intended for all, boldly claiming that the whole world is God’s work-space. Just as Jesus welcomed the marginalized, the excluded, and the dehumanized, God's love removes barriers so that life and grace can pour out in abundance.  

This active vision of the inclusive and beautifully diverse kingdom of God is the agenda of those of us who follow Christ. May we work for the restoration and redemption of the entire world, which God created, called “good,” and inhabits.

Reflection and Renewal: Not Living and Giving Abundant Life (based on John 10:10)

God, your grace and love strives to bring forth abundant life. When that fullness is thwarted by forces of oppression, self-centeredness, and greed, your spirit is heard in the groaning of all creation for peace and wholeness.

Sometimes we are unintentionally complicit - by proxy - in the wrongs done in your world. Sometimes we have remained on the sidelines when you have called us to be conduits of grace. Sometimes we resist letting your love lead us beyond our fear. And sometimes - even when we are trying our best to live and give abundant life - we don't get it right. 

So we come asking for forgiveness and healing.

Help us to surrender the narrow lenses which limit our vision. Help us to see the world as you do and help us to listen for your everyday nudges with open ears, hearts, and minds.

Amen

Responsive Call To Worship: God's Goodness (based on Psalm 66)

Reader: God, we gather together to remember and to give you thanks.
All: Countless generations have experienced your loving guidance and blessing.

Reader: God, we gather together to rejoice in how we experience you here and now.
All: We celebrate and give thanks for God’s continuing grace and mercy.

Reader: God, we gather together in hope and faith, waiting and expecting.
All: Help us to find you in all of life. Hear us as we offer our thanks and
praise for your steadfast love, mercy and grace poured out to each generation.

Seeing Jesus Through The Tear Gas Smoke - Viviana Cornejo in Do Justice!

If Christians aren't applying the Gospel to situations that create marginalization and oppression in our backyards, then the Gospel isn't being lived. Period.

In this interview from the Reformed African American Network, the interviewer asks a Reformed pastor in Ferguson: “Why are African Americans so upset?”

Her answer? African-American lives are consistently devalued. African Americans in Ferguson feel betrayed by the police, the very people who are supposed to protect them. They’re tired of seeing the same story play itself out over and over again.

This reminds me of something that my friend Mike is always saying: "Reconciliation with indigenous peoples is about the integrity of the church." If Christians aren't applying the Gospel to situations that create marginalization and oppression in our backyards, then the Gospel isn't being lived. Period.

As Pastor Thabiti Anyabwile writes, “We want a living, breathing, risk-taking brotherhood in the Gospel lived out where it matters. Until evangelicalism can muster that kind of courage and abandon its privileged, “objective,” distant calls for calm and “gospel”-this or “gospel”-that, it proves itself entirely inadequate for a people who need to see Jesus through the tear gas smoke of injustice.”

What’s interesting about all this is that we’re only talking about two ethnic groups in Ferguson. If we start digging just little more - no need to go much deeper - think about all the 57,000 children who are crossing the USA's southern border.  The devaluing of their lives keeps us from seeing these children at the border in the same light as we see whoever in our family first landed on these shores.

The church should have a voice against these systemic forms of racism, not a passive one, but one that is active and loud enough that everybody can hear. The church is called to go against the current, to speak and be justice where there’s injustice. Why the church is so afraid to do that? Have we forgotten its purpose and reason? Jesus was rejected, criticized, and even murdered because he pointed the finger where it hurts.

Words have their place. Here we are, writing words. Words can change attitudes, bring awareness, start conversations, change conversations. We believe words have power. But how are we standing with our racialized sisters and brothers in the places of their pain? How are we putting ourselves on the line? If we aren't putting ourselves on the line, perhaps it's the integrity of the Church that's on the line.

The full article is available here

The Sabbath = Withdrawing - Walter Brueggeman