Daily Devotion – June 2, 2020 – Pastor Brian Hansen
Luke 10:29
But wanting to justify himself, he asked Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?”
Jesus spent most of his time wondering with people about two questions: Who is my neighbor? And how do I love them? Why? Because Jesus knew that life is better when we are connected. Over these past months, our country and our wider community have become more keenly aware of some of the deep divisions that separate us.
It can become easy to only take casual notice of injustices when they happen hundreds and thousands of miles away. Often times we try to convince ourselves that discrimination based upon race, nationality, gender, sexual orientation and creed are problems elsewhere but not here. However, recent events in our country and community have brought a spotlight to the inequality and fear far to many are forced to live with day in and day out.
Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor, Dreasjon (Sean) Reed, and George Floyd were our neighbors. The protests that have taken place all across our nation and even in our immediate community are a direct response to the realities of oppression and casual indifference that far too many are forced to endure while most of us walk by on the other side of the road. When we remain silent, we stand with systems that oppress at the cost of those who suffer injustice. Which is why when Jesus is asked the question, “and who is my neighbor”, Jesus responds by telling the story of the Samaritian who choose to get involved when he saw one who was hurting and in need.
We are invited by God to take the time to stop, to get into the ditch, and to stand in solidarity with our neighbors in need. For when we begin to care for all people that God has created, then we can begin to live into the reality of God’s kingdom come and God’s will be done. When we work for justice and peace alongside our brothers and sisters of all races, nationalities, gender, sexual orientations and creeds to help reshape oppressive systems, then we can begin to shape our community, state and nation into a place envisioned by our founders when they penned the words, “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men (people) are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness.”
A prayer of St. Francis of Assisi:
“Lord, make me an instrument of your peace; where there is hatred, let me sow love; where there is injury, pardon; where there is discord, union; where there is doubt, faith; where there is despair, hope; where there is darkness, light; and where there is sadness, joy.
“O Divine Master, grant that I may not so much seek to be consoled, as to console; to be understood, as to understand; to be loved, as to love; for it is in giving that we receive, it is in pardoning that we are pardoned, and it is in dying that we are born to eternal life.” Amen.
