Tuesday, July 21, 2020
Justice as Love in Action
“Lord, convict this nation as never before. Let our lives testify to your majesty, your love, your grace–and may this land know your displeasure, taste your holy wrath…Let this nation repent of its murderous ways. Only then will we even believe that white folk know the God who plants a foot on earth and regulates the wheel of time and circumstance. Until then, O Lord, give us the courage to tell the truth to white folk who need it more than air itself–who, we pray, will come to hunger for it more than they hunger for our death.” pages 32-33
“Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.” Matthew 5:6
The hunger for justice that the author, Michael Eric Dyson, describes in this passage from his book is the same hungering and thirsting for righteousness that Jesus speaks about in the beatitudes. The Hebrew and Greek terms for righteousness and justice are closely linked. In the Hebrew parts of the Bible, you cannot really separate their meanings. To be holy is to seek after justice.
It is hard for people to know that we are Christians if they don’t see it, and the ways that they see it is in our love for them. Love isn’t something we can just say with our words but not show in what we do. Love is an action. Pray that God would convict you as to how God is calling you to show others, especially those who are suffering the impacts of injustice, that you love them as Christ loves you.
Question to Ponder: Who are some of the people who I know who are suffering because of injustice? How can I show them that I love them, not in a way that just makes me feel good but a way that meets their needs?
This week’s devotions are adapted from the book, Tears We Cannot Stop: A Sermon to White America by Michael Eric Dyson. St. Martin’s Press, New York. 2017.
Justice as Love in Action
“Lord, convict this nation as never before. Let our lives testify to your majesty, your love, your grace–and may this land know your displeasure, taste your holy wrath…Let this nation repent of its murderous ways. Only then will we even believe that white folk know the God who plants a foot on earth and regulates the wheel of time and circumstance. Until then, O Lord, give us the courage to tell the truth to white folk who need it more than air itself–who, we pray, will come to hunger for it more than they hunger for our death.” pages 32-33
“Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.” Matthew 5:6
The hunger for justice that the author, Michael Eric Dyson, describes in this passage from his book is the same hungering and thirsting for righteousness that Jesus speaks about in the beatitudes. The Hebrew and Greek terms for righteousness and justice are closely linked. In the Hebrew parts of the Bible, you cannot really separate their meanings. To be holy is to seek after justice.
It is hard for people to know that we are Christians if they don’t see it, and the ways that they see it is in our love for them. Love isn’t something we can just say with our words but not show in what we do. Love is an action. Pray that God would convict you as to how God is calling you to show others, especially those who are suffering the impacts of injustice, that you love them as Christ loves you.
Question to Ponder: Who are some of the people who I know who are suffering because of injustice? How can I show them that I love them, not in a way that just makes me feel good but a way that meets their needs?
This week’s devotions are adapted from the book, Tears We Cannot Stop: A Sermon to White America by Michael Eric Dyson. St. Martin’s Press, New York. 2017.
