In the midst of a restoration

Reflections on my sermon on Sunday, July 14, 2013

[Photo: Socialworkersspeak]

You shall know that I am in the midst of Israel,
   and that I, the Lord, am your God and there is no other.
And my people shall never again
   be put to shame.  - Joel 2:27 (New Revised Standard Version)

Last Sunday after the previous night's decision to acquit George Zimmerman of second-degree murder and manslaughter of Trayvon Martin was a very tough one for our congregation. Many of them watched daily the proceedings of the trial and were very upset at the verdict. A number of people knew either firsthand the frustrations of the criminal justice system, not to mention the racism factor. So my challenge was to pray and discern God's will for a suitable text to address the issue. Fortunately I was on the second sermon in a series on the Minor Prophets (very apropos to the situation) and Joel spoke to us in a mighty way.

I began the sermon by sharing with the congregation what was up in our church storage space. One day I went up there and found among other things an old pulpit. I was told it was the original one before we purchased the one we have now. It is a beautiful pulpit that is stained dark brown and has a flat top so you can place the Bible. The pulpit was moved downstairs to our Sunday school room in the hope of getting it restored by a professional. However the pulpit remains in the same place to to this day with assorted, leftover papers and from time to time is used as a place for the big coffee urn. In other words, it is useless and in need of restoration.

Joel came as a prophet for the same reason. The Isrealites were going to be destroyed by the locusts for turning away from God. But God does plan to restore them, refilling their grain, wine and other resources. I shared with the congregation about the Zimmerman case and although you may not agree with the verdict, the process has run its course with due diligence. I was not watching the trial on a daily basis (because I have a day job!) and serving on a jury previously, I am familiar with the fact that you are given specific instructions by the judge that are to be debated and answered by the jury. The truth is that we really don't know what happened that night because we only heard one side of the story. Trayvon wasn't there to tell his side. More frightening is that I have an eleven-year old son and he could be shot and killed without any repercussions or relief from our justice system. Many African-American males over the years have been killed with little regard to their lives (like the movie Fruitvale Station). Both the Martin and Zimmerman families need our prayers because although Zimmerman is free, his life will never be the same.

But the hope in the midst of this tragedy is that God is in the restoration business. As God will restore Israel,  God will also restore justice to this land. As the professional woodworker takes the pulpit, fixes the nicks and scratches, strips off the old paint and put on a fresh coat of a new color, that is what God can do with us. We are not called to continue in the same way but are called to repentance for what we have not done and let God use us to work for the rights of all people. Through our hurt and pain of the -ism's we face in life our God is in the midst of a restoration. That is what we are called to believe. For George Zimmerman. For Trayvon Martin. For their families. For all of us.

 

Comments

[Jan Anderson]

Dr. Wade.....a lot of wisdom here. Thank you for posting this. You are truly a man of God who is trying to sort out this horrible situation. We would all do well to absorb what you are saying. We do pray for both families and all of those who are using it to divide. We need more ministers of the Word to call on all of us to pray and seek the Lord's Mind in this.....Thank you.....