Justice and Worship

The following prayers and litanies are only a sample of the resources available from the new Refugee Justice toolkit. Want more? You can find sermon examples, children's messages, children's books, Sunday school plans, film discussion questions, and much more in the toolkit. And coming soon, a 90-minute workshop! 

For the Courage to Do Justice

I have a confession: I talk about my congressperson more than I talk to my congressperson. I talk about politics more than I participate in politics.

I often rant about how disappointed, upset, or annoyed I am for how my representative voted on this or that, how he does not care, listen or have any sense. Is that gossip? Maybe. But, more importantly it is unproductive. What if I instead went to the actual person and let him know how he has disappointed me and then addressed how we can move forward?

I'm no expert but over the years we have met a few of our Members of Parliament (MPs).  Maybe because we have lived in the ridings of backbenchers and they are happy to interact with their constituents. Maybe part of it was that we lived in towns where they had easily accessible constituency offices.

No one is born an MP so they all have to start somewhere. They are the most easy to communicate with when they are seeking election. 

Everyone's story is different, but maybe there are some general principles that can apply in many situations.

It doesn’t matter how much we talk, what kind of words we may use, or even in how many languages I can say something. If my talk does not go together with my walk, the words are just noise.

Nehemiah could not ignore the dangerous state of the city he loved. The gates had been burned and it all needed rebuilding. Nehemiah knew that a city in such a broken state, facing constant threat, would never be able to thrive. He knew the people would struggle and it broke his heart.

So, Nehemiah spoke to his king and asked for permission to go and rebuild the city.

We had a hard week, justice seekers. John Boehner announced that immigration reform isn't going to happen this year.

I’m driving down a dirt road somewhere in Western Kenya. It has been raining heavily in recent days, so the consistency of the surface of the road is something like semi-melted butter. I’m with my friend and colleague, a pastor at a local church. His church has recently facilitated a business training program designed not only to improve the economic bottom line of the businesses within his congregation, but also the social, spiritual, and environmental impacts of the business.  

Did your congregation miss Refugee Sunday this April? World Refugee Day is coming up on June 20. Why not focus on refugees then? 

Reconciliation requires lamentation. An expression of sorrow at the ways we allow oppression to persist is an important step before true reconciliation can take place. Accordingly, this is my reconciliation lamentation…

Instead of giving something up for Lent this year, try walking a new step on the justice road every day. We've put together some suggestions for you, one for each day of Lent.