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03/13/2015

SELMA

Welcoming the Stranger

Last weekend marked the 50th anniversary of the “Bloody Sunday”
Selma to Montgomery march, a historic moment for our country
as brave individuals marched toward the Alabama capital to fight
for the civil rights of African Americans to vote in the South. This
effort was met with violent resistance at the Edmund Pettus
Bridge as state troopers used teargas and nightsticks to beat
back the marchers.

This moment caught national attention and was instrumental in
passing the Voting Rights Act of 1965, which banned racial
discrimination in voting, and also helped pave the path for many
justice movements that continue to this day.

Whether our fight is for racial, economic ,or environmental justice,
we are committed for the long haul to resisting the forces that
disenfranchise communities and seek to limit the rights of people.
As we remember Selma and continue our march for immigration
reform facing the resistant forces of today, we must remember
the words of Martin Luther King Jr., “The arc of the moral universe
is long, but it bends towards justice.”

In faith,

The Sojourners Immigration Team

20:26 Posted in Blog | Permalink | Comments (0)

AM I BLIND

Lenten Devotion

"Jesus said, 'For judgment I came into this world, that those
who do not see may see, and those who see may become
blind'" (John 9:39).

Read John 9:24-41.

Over and over again Jesus' light shone over the people around
Him through His words and His countless miracles. But the
Jewish leaders refused to see. Despite a thorough investigation
into Jesus' healing of the man born blind, they can find no way
to disprove the miracle. Still, they refuse to believe the evidence
right before them.

But Jesus isn't ready to give up on them yet. If they won't accept
the evidence, maybe they will listen to the man who had been
healed. In eloquent testimony the man told them, "If this man
were not from God, He could do nothing." But again, they
stubbornly refuse to see the light and answer, "You were born
in utter sin, and would you teach us?" Then they threw out the
man born blind.

Hearing that he had been thrown out, Jesus found him and
revealed Himself to him. Jesus told those around Him that He
came to give sight to the blind, and blindness to those who see.
Some Pharisees heard Him say this and asked if they were blind.
Jesus said, "If you were blind, you would have no guilt; but now
that you say, 'We see,' your guilt remains."

That is a terrifying thought. These Jewish leaders had seen
overwhelming evidence time and again that Jesus is the promised
Savior, God's Son, yet they refused to believe. How much evidence
have we seen? How many Bible readings have we heard in services?
How many times have we received Holy Communion? Do we believe?

THE PRAYER:

Lord, You know the darkness within each of us, take away my
blindness and help me see Jesus clearly through the eyes of faith.
Amen.

Written by Rev. Wayne Palmer

13:46 Posted in Blog | Permalink | Comments (0)

03/12/2015

RELUCTANT WITNESSES

Lenten Devotion

"... For the Jews had already agreed that if anyone should
confess Jesus to be Christ, he was to be put out of the
synagogue" (John 9:22b).

Read John 9:13, 18-23.

"We don't know!" What a puzzling response! Have these
parents forgotten their disappointment when they first
learned their son could not see? Now he stands before
them seeing perfectly! But when they are asked to testify
they refuse. It seems they would have preferred for their son
to have remained blind than for Jesus to have given him sight.

What caused this silence? Mom and dad felt more fear of the
threats of the Jewish leaders than gratitude for what Jesus
had given their son. They wanted to keep their place in the
synagogue and knew they risked being thrown out if they
spoke up about Jesus. So they pushed their son back into
the witness stand and refused to speak up.

How often are we ruled by fear-fear of the condemnation of
our enemies, of the judgment of acquaintances, of the
rejection of our friends or family members? How often do we
fear being excluded, ridiculed or worse?

How can we stand up to those fears? It is possible only by
the power of the Holy Spirit strengthening us and shoring us
up against these pressures. That is why God has given you
a church family, to encourage and strengthen you, to build
you up in His Word and Sacrament.

The opposition we face is just as real as that which they
faced. Jesus would continue to stand up to that opposition
and hatred-all the way to the cross and the empty tomb. He
suffered and died at the hands of His enemies and rose again
in victory that we might live with Him forever.

THE PRAYER:

Lord Jesus, give me courage and strength to stand up against
Your enemies and boldly declare my faith in a hostile world.
Amen.

Written by Rev. Wayne Palmer

13:21 Posted in Blog | Permalink | Comments (0)