Tag: Justice

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both sides.

Posted on by Wick

A few years ago I was able to preach on Luke’s story of the rich man and Lazarus (Luke 16:19-31). I feel like it went well Sunday morning, with two services of asking ourselves who the Lazarus in our own lives might be? And also asking ourselves what might be the “gates” in our lives…the things that are separating us from those God is calling us to love towards Him. (economic, social, status, schedule, etc…) Some gates we create, and some gates are just “there” by nature of the world we live in.

image(4)As usual, those who preach Sunday morning, are usually called on to preach for our food pantry service on Monday morning. I was excited to have a 3rd opportunity. 🙂 But in prayer Monday morning, I realized that the message I was about to preach needed a shift in focus. Many of those who came to the service that morning were the “Lazarus” on the other side of the worlds’ gates. I spent a few quick moments trying to rework the approach.

We hear from time to time that the Gospel message is best understood by those who are oppressed, disenfranchised, suffering, outcast and downtrodden. That morning, I’m not sure if I understood it in a new light….but preaching it sure was a lot more exciting than it had been on Sunday.

God had me speak about the coming Kingdom…the coming “overturning” of this world’s structures and economy. The redemption of how all things work. The fact that God was with Lazarus in this world AND after….and no matter how sometimes we wish things in our lives would work out like what we see through our “gates”…..God is with us…..and THAT is a pretty exciting thing to be reminded of.

I think most of us have moments/seasons of both identities throughout our lives.

Sometimes we’re Lazarus. We are hurting, suffering, alone, in need….and we look through gates of (finances, social status, employment, titles, popularity, etc.) and we wish we had what was on the other side. But God is with us.

Other times we’re the rich man. We’re doing pretty good. Things with our (finances, social status, employment, titles, popularity, etc.) are going so well that we forget about those on the other side of that “gate”. God calls us to remember those….and that by our solidarity with them…we are with Christ.

In Truth, no matter what side of what “gates” of this world we land on….it’s important to remember that in the economy of Christ…the structure of the Kingdom….the curtain has been ripped down the middle.

How we live in view of that will affect a multitude of eternities…many of them growing up within our walls…

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not guilty?

Posted on by Wick

“Not guilty”

the verdict flashes, and the masses don’t take long for their chance to pounce

To own just an ounce of the minutes that come after, to be a voice in the chatter

To say the one thing that remains unsaid, but the fact remains –

Someone is dead.

Someone died at the hands of another, a mother lost her son,

a gun that ripped through more than flesh and marrow,

but through the narrow veins of racism still pulsing through a nation

still committed to pretending it’s United. It’s invited all sorts of analytics, and politics, and tricks

of logic boosted by words spoken with great emotion.

All the while it’s simply a stream leading to an ocean.

There’s a larger problem than this case, or that person, or that issue

Something worth wetting more than single tissues,

Worth mourning floods and wails of confession,

and worth both individual and communal confessions

of we.

We’re comforted by pronouns that point the finger, the fact that guilty feelings never linger as long as we keep tuned in to the latest thing, the latest stream of others doing worse than what we’ve done.

But we’ve become numb, and so dumb – unable to speak for our lack of practice, but the fact is

We have a choice, and we’ve chosen against those without voice.

We strive for dreams labeled by nationality, but in reality an empty promise,

and throwing Doubting Thomas off the boat…see if he’ll float.

Authors wrote about days like these, and called them “last”.

But don’t move too fast, and twist my words into a chance to merchandise,

Rather, view this moment with new eyes…

Let the blasts of accusations fade, even the ones most recently made as the feed ticks slowly by

Your need to reply, or question why goes slowly the way of realizing the ocean beyond the stream.
See what I mean?

In the silence that follows, find solace in the hollows of comments never made

Take shade from the torrents of words and emotions, pray over that ocean.

Because even though the words spoken were “not guilty”, there is not end to what has happened

Neither was this the beginning, as our grip on morality is thinning

We realize it was not he, but we, who were on trial.

And We. Are. Guilty.

But there. Is. Grace.

Amazing.

Seek His Face.

(To hear this spoken by a young man who used to be a student in my youth ministry, click here!!!!)