Peace with Justice

Peace with Justice Sunday Devotional

A devotional “Peace with Justice” to allow us to take time and reflect on the injustices of the world and we ask that you seek God’s guidance and support to seek peace and justice for all.  Peace with Justice Sunday – June 12,  2022.

THOUGHT:

This Sunday, is “PEACE with JUSTICE Sunday”.  It is a special day set aside in the UMC calendar to thoughtfully recognize the injustices in the world, attempt to right those injustices through prayer and action, and ultimately to seek the Peace of God.

 In the past few weeks, we have seen two horrendous mass shootings. Unfortunately, this is not new to us. Nor are the shootings the only problem we are forced to address and hopefully change for the better. Justice is defined as “fair and reasonable.”  Isn’t it fair to ask a young person, whose brain has not completely matured yet, to wait a couple of years before picking up an automatic rifle? I believe most of us as Christians would agree. It is “reasonable and fair” and not an affront to anyone’s rights.

Similarly, in an attempt to live in a world of peace, there are many other issues of fairness and reasonableness that we need to address as well:

Gender Discrimination
Poverty, in various forms
Racism
War
Basic Access to an Education
Immigration
Freedom of Speech
Religious Freedom
Unstable work conditions
Citizens Safety

These are only the tip of the iceberg in order to instigate thought and action. In our world, the amount of injustices are innumerable.

If we practice living by the concept of justice, then we are promised the additional benefit of peace, defined as a freedom from disturbance or tranquility.

Of the greatness of his government and peace there will be no end. He will reign on David’s throne and over his kingdom, establishing and upholding it with justice and righteousness from that time on and forever. The zeal of the Lord Almighty will accomplish this. —Isaiah 9:7—

So, we as Gods’ people…. what do we need to do? How do we attain that peace through justice? Could it be that through prayer alone, peace is not accessible but only in conjunction with ACTION?

The author of “Conversations with God,” (in a biography about Francis of Assisi), Neale Donald Walsh writes:

Yearning for a new way will not produce it. Only ending the old way can do that.

You cannot hold onto the old, all the while declaring that you want something new;

The old will defy the new;

The old will deny the new;

The old will decry the new.

There is only one way to bring in the new. You must make room for it.

Francis of Assisi was a Christian of action. He altered his life dramatically in order to demonstrate action against injustice. Francis commended the concept of railing against injustice, not in any warlike fashion, but in peaceful outreach. In standing up for what you believe in and demonstrating a lifestyle and goals that are focused on helping others. Francis, as we should, always reiterated the importance of the non-violent way of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Biblically, we read of only one time that Jesus lost His temper, and we also know it was a righteous anger. Even hanging on the cross, He asked His Father God to forgive us.

In Richard Rohr’s book “Eager to Love,” about Francis of Assisi, the author states that in order to follow the ways of peace, we need to:

DO acts of peace and justice as much as your life is ITSELF peace and justice. You take your small and sufficient place in the great and grand scheme of God.

So, this Sunday, and always, we can look around us, (and it wouldn’t take a broad view), and find an injustice somewhere that we can pray about and take action against. Even if it has “always been done that way” – maybe, as Christians, we can be bold and proactive and “defy the old, deny the old, and decry the old.”

ENJOYED PEACE WITH JUSTICE?

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