Uncomfortable
He has showed you, O man, what is good.
And what does the LORD require of you?
To act justly and to love mercy
and to walk humbly with your God.
- Micah 6:8 (NIV)
To act justly and to love mercy
and to walk humbly with your God.
- Micah 6:8 (NIV)
Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.
- James 1:27 (NIV)
- James 1:27 (NIV)
I can't stand your religious meetings.
I'm fed up with your conferences and conventions.
I want nothing to do with your religion projects,
your pretentious slogans and goals.
I'm sick of your fund-raising schemes,
your public relations and image making.
I've had all I can take of your noisy ego-music.
When was the last time you sang to me?
Do you know what I want?
I want justice—oceans of it.
I want fairness—rivers of it.
That's what I want. That's all I want.
I'm fed up with your conferences and conventions.
I want nothing to do with your religion projects,
your pretentious slogans and goals.
I'm sick of your fund-raising schemes,
your public relations and image making.
I've had all I can take of your noisy ego-music.
When was the last time you sang to me?
Do you know what I want?
I want justice—oceans of it.
I want fairness—rivers of it.
That's what I want. That's all I want.
- Amos 5:21-24 (MSG)
On Sunday night, Mike and I decided to have a low key, easy going, relaxing night. So we cooked comfort food for dinner and ate it over some good ol' telly. Earlier in the evening, I was facebooking and I saw Andy's name mentioning a Darfur segment on 60 minutes. As a result of my curiousity - we decided to tune in.
That 15 minute segment changed the rest of our evening. We were struck to the heart at the atrocities that the Arabs have sufferred under the extremists and the government. Similar to that of the Holocaust, many people are using the same name to describe what is happening to the people there. Although we are a bit behind in the news - we were still highly distraught and bothered by it.
We prayed and prayed hoping that God would reveal to us what He would have us do. After praying for a bit, I told Mike that we couldn't just watch this and go on with our life. In the same way, we can't just witness the daily injusticies around us and not do anything about it. Must not grow numb, must not grow jaded, must not grow cynical. And all at the same time, it's hard not to feel completely helpless after watching something like that on the news.
At the end of the day, it's all about choice. The choice to stay comfortable but blinded to truth, or the choice to be uncomfortable but to really see.
We choose the latter.
So last night, I was meditating on those three verses above. They really help put to perspective what our God is like and what we should be like. God is one that has a special place for the widowed, the orphaned, those who are mistreated unjustly in His heart. God is one that is defined by His justice, His fairness, His righteousness, His mercy, His hope.
Mike was reminding me that the only solution and answer to all of this happening around the world is hope. And hope is something we must cling onto.
That 15 minute segment changed the rest of our evening. We were struck to the heart at the atrocities that the Arabs have sufferred under the extremists and the government. Similar to that of the Holocaust, many people are using the same name to describe what is happening to the people there. Although we are a bit behind in the news - we were still highly distraught and bothered by it.
We prayed and prayed hoping that God would reveal to us what He would have us do. After praying for a bit, I told Mike that we couldn't just watch this and go on with our life. In the same way, we can't just witness the daily injusticies around us and not do anything about it. Must not grow numb, must not grow jaded, must not grow cynical. And all at the same time, it's hard not to feel completely helpless after watching something like that on the news.
At the end of the day, it's all about choice. The choice to stay comfortable but blinded to truth, or the choice to be uncomfortable but to really see.
We choose the latter.
So last night, I was meditating on those three verses above. They really help put to perspective what our God is like and what we should be like. God is one that has a special place for the widowed, the orphaned, those who are mistreated unjustly in His heart. God is one that is defined by His justice, His fairness, His righteousness, His mercy, His hope.
Mike was reminding me that the only solution and answer to all of this happening around the world is hope. And hope is something we must cling onto.
Without hope - there's nothing left. Our prayer is that the church of Christ (ourselves included) may rise up to be that beacon of light, the source of His hope, the hands and feet of His love that reach out to practically make a difference in the lives around us.Jesus Christ is hope. If Christ is in us, the hope of Glory, than His church is supposed to be a place that embodies this hope.
Suppose a brother or sister is without clothes and daily food. If one of you says to him, "Go, I wish you well; keep warm and well fed," but does nothing about his physical needs, what good is it? In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead.
- James 2:15-17 (NIV)
- James 2:15-17 (NIV)
If we say we love our Father, we should love the things He loves. You know what I want? I want justice - oceans of it. I want fariness - rivers of it. That's what I want. That's all I want.
6 comments:
jane goodall was speaking at HKU last night and she talked about 'reasons for hope', and she talked about reconnecting our head and our heart (there's a post in there i'm working on)... she was amazing, and so are you. keep walking!
Interesting quote that I found:
"We must accept finite disappointment, but we must never lose infinite hope."
- Martin Luther King, Jr.
I totally agree with you when you said that if Christ is hope and in us, then we embody the hope this world needs.
Have an awesome time in Atlanta!
Amen to that Kat. Seriously, this is exactly the kind of passion that we need to have for Christ in order to understand that change IS possible because of the power that the Lord gives us. Indifference, complacency, and ignorance of the real issues that are out there will change nothing, and it's so awesome to see that there are more like you who know that with hope, belief and expectation, things can and will change. :) i've been thinking a lot about the issue of... mmm. what word do i put to it... lack of humanitarianism? haha.. but yeah. good post is what i'm saying. no more rambling.
Hey! I hope you had a really great conference! We'll have to plan another meeting sometime real soon... hope you're well rested d: hehe. Ttyl!
hey kat, this is abbie from 180... don't know if you remember me but hey! just stumbled across your site from some 180ers. amazing revelation there, i really understand that feeling of urgency, hope and calling all together.... it's really true to the core, that's why we are here, not to put on any facade but to live out those words from micah. (we had a sermon from the vine abt that last week!) anyway, God bless!!
tis true. i want to encourage you to keep pressing. there's only so much you can do, but ensure that what little you can do...
you do it.
blessings,
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