Pastor Sean Palmer offers a convicting challenge, asking each of us to assess the ways we are blind to, benefit from, or participate in the injustices of our world. Considering the words of Jesus and the prophets, Sean urges us to embrace our tireless call to the work of Kingdom justice, even when doing so may carry a heavy cost.
Text
Isaiah 58: 1-8
Matthew 25: 31-40
Micah 6: 8
“By my junior year at Alabama State, I understood more fully that everything was completely segregated not only in Montgomery, but throughout the South and in many places across the nation….If a person of color had a claim against a white person there was very little likelihood he would obtain justice. There were no African American lawyers in Montgomery at that time. Very few white lawyers would handle these cases. I concluded that in addition to being a minister and trying to save soul for eternity, that in the here and now African Americans were entitled to all the rights provided by the Constitution of the United States of America. Therefore, I decided I would become a lawyer. Privately, I pledged that I would return to Montgomery and use the law to ‘destroy everything segregated I could find.’”
— Fred Gray
Reflection and Practice
Sean offers two primary points for further consideration:
Justice is a first order issue: Is this true for you? How is your answer to that question evidenced by the direction of your actions and energy? What things keep you from thinking about, and then acting upon, the injustices to which you bear witness?
Justice is what you do with your life: Within your own life, vocation, and circles of influence, what injustices are you equipped to directly address? What are the first steps you will take to do so?
Worship Set
The Joy Of The Lord
10,000 Reasons (Bless The Lord)
Dust We Are And Shall Return
Come And See
See The Love
Be Still My Soul (Psalm 131)