With all the noise in the world, do you hear the voice of God? Your calendar tells you what to do, but do you remember who you are? Being comes before doing. This is a call to put first things first. Return to the Lord with this daily pattern of prayer and devotion. Set aside this time as a sanctuary. Find a space free of distraction and follow this pattern.
Invocation
In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Word
But God has so composed the body, giving greater honor to the part that lacked it, that there may be no division in the body, but that the members may have the same care for one another. If one member suffers, all suffer together; if one member is honored, all rejoice together. (1 Cor. 12:24-26).
Reflection
In his “Letter from a Birmingham Jail,” Martin Luther King Jr. explains how his concern for his neighbor drives him to action and to seek justice for his neighbor, much like what we see in the Bible.
Moreover, I am cognizant of the interrelatedness of all communities and states. I cannot sit idly by in Atlanta and not be concerned about what happens in Birmingham. Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. We are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment of destiny. Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly. Never again can we afford to live with the narrow, provincial “outside agitator” idea. Anyone who lives inside the United States can never be considered an outsider anywhere within its bounds.
You deplore the demonstrations taking place in Birmingham. But your statement, I am sorry to say, fails to express a similar concern for the conditions that brought about the demonstrations. I am sure that none of you would want to rest content with the superficial kind of social analysis that deals merely with effects and does not grapple with underlying causes. It is unfortunate that demonstrations are taking place in Birmingham, but it is even more unfortunate that the city’s white power structure left the Negro community with no alternative.
https://www.africa.upenn.edu/Articles_Gen/Letter_Birmingham.html
How might Christ ask us to respond to those suffering hardship and injustice? How might our Christian faith compel us to look at underlying causes of injustice and act on behalf of those suffering injustice?
Prayer
Heavenly Father, by water and the Word you have knit together people of every tribe and race into one body. Open our eyes, our ears, our hearts, our hands to the members of our body who suffer. Enable us to respond with unity, compassion, and love. Amen.