Establish Justice in the Gate
Download MP3First of all, I wanna wholeheartedly agree with Caleb's prayer. I went to a worship conference back in the fall with a couple of our worship leaders and musicians. And one of the main speakers said, it's time that we stop evaluating how our Sundays went simply based on how the sermon was. We should start talking about how our people sing. And we got together after that talk was over, and we were like, our people really sing.
Speaker 1:It is a joy to sit here with you guys and hear you declare your praises before the Lord. So, for those of you guys that I don't know, my name is Matt Francisco. I'm the pastor of Discipleship and Worship Leadership here, and, today marks the end of a 4 part series. On December 30th, we got together and we had a prayer service. On January 6th, Joel preached on living by every word that comes from God.
Speaker 1:That we are a church that is founded upon God and his word. And last week, Jeff Hinep preached on how the unusual kindness of God leads us to show gospel hospitality towards others. And this week, we'll be looking at what it means to be a church that seeks the welfare of the city. Now before we dive into Amos 5, which is going to be our core passage this afternoon, I want to establish 2 fundamental principles that are gonna undergird everything else that I have to say. So if you guys would, turn in your Bibles or in your worship guides to 1st Chronicles chapter 29 verses 12 through 14.
Speaker 1:And what's happening here is David is praising the Lord for the Israelites' giving towards the building of the temple. And listen closely, for these are God's words. Both riches and honor come from you, and you rule over all. In your hand are power and might, and in your hand it is to make great and to give strength to all. And now we thank you, our God, and praise your glorious name.
Speaker 1:But who am I, and what is my people that we should be able thus to offer willingly? For all things come from you, and of your own have we given you. This is the word of the Lord. Thanks be to God. Let's pray.
Speaker 1:Our father, what a great privilege it is to be able to call you father, and to know that we are your true sons, who've been bought with the precious blood of Jesus. That we, who were far off, have been brought near by his sacrifice. That we who are orphans are welcomed into your family. That we who are widows find our true husband in Christ. Lord, this afternoon, your people are here, and they are here to hear from you because your name and your renown, that's the desire of our hearts.
Speaker 1:So we say like Simon Peter did to Jesus, where else would we go, Lord? Because you have the words of eternal life. So speak to us, we pray, and give us ears to hear from you. Pray these things in the name of the father, the son, and the holy spirit. Amen.
Speaker 1:Now I told this story to our home group leaders a few weeks ago, but last March, I took a group of college students down to Haiti, partnering with an organization, known as Filter of Hope. What Filter of Hope does is they go into the poorest communities in Haiti, and they hand out water filters and share the good news of the gospel. And we spend a lot of time in an area known as district 5. District 5, or the 5th district, is the poorest of the poor. There's not really running water anywhere, and the land is just desert dry.
Speaker 1:It was absolutely devastating for our team to experience and see that depth of poverty. And late one night, as we were debriefing as a team, I asked them all a question. I asked them to imagine a kid in the 5th district. Imagine that he was twice as smart as they were. Twice as hardworking, and twice as ambitious.
Speaker 1:Then I asked them, if that kid worked hard enough for long long enough, could they lift themselves up out of poverty? And 1 by 1, the answers came back. Maybe 1 in a 1000000. Probably not. Because they don't get to go to school for very long.
Speaker 1:They probably have to leave at a certain age to go back home and help take care of their younger brothers or sisters, or they'd have to go to work early to provide for the family. So what separates a kid from the 5th district, from a kid from Sanford, or from Marietta, Georgia like me? We are starting from 2 absolutely different places. And you and I, we may have worked really hard and we may have overcome a number of obstacles to get where we are today, but we weren't born in the 5th district of Haiti. You were born where you were born to the parents that you were born to.
Speaker 1:Educated at the schools that you were educated at by grace. You were given your intellect, your abilities, your opportunities, your connections by grace. All of these things came unmerited. And it's not that we should feel guilty that God has given us these things and hasn't given them to people in the 5th district. The Lord dispenses as he chooses.
Speaker 1:But we have to recognize 2 very important things. 1st, that everything that we have is from God. And second, why did God give us everything that we have? In order that we might leverage all that we have for the glory of God and for the welfare of all people. So what does God say when he calls Abraham in Genesis 12:2?
Speaker 1:He says, I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. Where does everything come from? It comes from God. And why does God give it to us? Not for ourselves, but as a stewardship.
Speaker 1:Everything belongs to him and we are like his money managers. And he has said, what I want you to do with my things is to be a blessing to others. As the evangelist E v Hill used to say, God gave it to you to get it through you. And I said it that way because you'll all remember it. He also said that when God blesses you, he rarely has you in mind.
Speaker 1:Now, with those two principles as our foundation, let's turn our attention to Amos chapter 5. Now, Amos was a shepherd from Tekoa, which is in the Judean Hillside, and he was sent to preach to the northern kingdom of Israel. Now this was the height of Israel's wealth and peace. They were prosperous in every single way. Their agriculture was thriving.
Speaker 1:Their trade was going really well. Their population was exploding, and their rival Damascus had been conquered. But there is something going on beneath the surface that the lord is leading Amos to address. So let's read Amos 5141521 to 20 4. Seek good and not evil, that you may live.
Speaker 1:And so the lord, the god of hosts, will be with you, as you have said. Hate evil and love good, and establish justice in the gate. It may be that the Lord, the God of hosts, will be gracious to the remnant of Joseph. I hate. I despise your feasts, and I take no delight in your solemn assemblies.
Speaker 1:Even though you offer me your burnt offerings and grain offerings, I will not accept them. And the peace offerings of your fattened animals, I will not look upon them. Take away from me the noise of your songs to the melody of your harps I will not listen. But let justice roll down like waters, and righteousness like an ever flowing stream. As we look into this passage for the rest of this evening, we're gonna try to answer 3 questions.
Speaker 1:1st, why establish justice at the gate? 2nd, what does it mean to establish justice at the gate? And lastly, how to establish justice at the gate? So first, why establish justice at the gate? So in ancient times, the gates are where absolutely everything happened.
Speaker 1:You show up at the gates to do all of your shopping. It's also where you heard the latest news, but it was also the place where the courts resided. And in Amos's day, the gates were places of deep injustice. In Amos chapter 8, he tells us that there are businessmen who are using 2 sets of scales. 1 that they use for their friends and family, and then weighted scales that they use on the poor.
Speaker 1:In Amos chapter 5, he says that justice has been turned to wormwood. Why? Because justice goes to the highest bidder. In other words, the poor never receive justice because they cannot pay a bribe. And what God says is that he takes this as a personal offense.
Speaker 1:I don't know if you guys noticed this, but in our opening scripture this afternoon, which came from Psalm 146, it reads a little bit like God's self introduction. Like God telling us who he is and what he's about. Take a look back at it. What does God say about himself? God is the one who made heaven and earth, who executes justice for the oppressed, who gives food to the hungry, who watches over the sojourner, who upholds the widow and the orphan.
Speaker 1:It is who He is. The almighty God has tied his name and his reputation to his execution of justice in the world and his care for the marginalized. Notice it says he gives food to the hungry, and he doesn't qualify it. He doesn't say, I only give food to the hungry that deserve it. He doesn't talk about whether these people are hungry because they have made foolish choices or because they're victims of circumstances.
Speaker 1:He doesn't even say whether or not these people worship him. He just says I give food to the hungry. Without caveat or limitation, he says I execute justice for the oppressed. It's who I am. And God promises to provide for these marginalized people, and here's key, and this is why God is offended.
Speaker 1:He expects his people to the to be the means by which he fulfills that promise. God expects his people to be the means by which he fulfills his promise. God gave it to you to get it through you for His glory and for the welfare of all people. And Amos says that while the Israelites are faithful to come to worship services and while they are faithful to bring offerings, because they do not hate evil and love good, because they have not established justice at the gate, that when they bring offerings, God will not accept them. When they sing songs of praise to them, he closes his ears.
Speaker 1:Now why would God say a thing like that to his people? Because you cannot claim to love God and ignore the plight of your neighbor. They are intertwined because they're intrinsic to God's character. As Martin Luther King wrote, only a dry as dust religion prompts a minister to extol the glories of heaven while ignoring the social conditions that cause men in earthly hell. Mouths that are quick to sing praises to God ought to be mouths that are quick to speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves.
Speaker 1:Hands that are quick to be raised in worship ought to be the first hands that are extended to those that are in need. When you worship and really start to think how gracious and generous God has been to you, it starts to transform your heart, so that you look like him. So you love the things that he loves and you hate the things that he hates and you start to act in ways that God acts. So true love of God inevitably results in true love of neighbor. In Matthew 22, a lawyer comes to Jesus and he asks him which is the great commandment in the law?
Speaker 1:And in verse 37, Jesus responds, and he said to him, you shall love the lord your god with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And a second is like it. You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments depend all the law and the prophets.
Speaker 1:Jesus ties loving God with loving neighbors, saying the second is like it. And on these 2, depend all of the law and the prophets. But the real question comes, what does it mean to love my neighbor as myself? Or how do you love yourself? How hard do you work for your own welfare or your own success?
Speaker 1:Or for that of your loved ones or especially your kids? Don't miss this because what Jesus is saying here is absolutely radical. He's saying that the things that you pray for and that you work for, for you and your loved ones, work and pray for those same things, with the same passion, with the same creativity, with the same relentless commitment as you would to yourself for your neighbor. That's what it means to love your neighbor. This call is unbelievable.
Speaker 1:And that's why Paul can say in Romans 13:8 that the one who loves another has fulfilled the law. 2nd, what does it mean to establish justice at the gate? This phrase, seek the welfare of the city, it comes from Jeremiah chapter 29. And in Jeremiah, God has given Israel neighbors that they absolutely despise. Babylon has invaded Israel and Judah, has killed a lot of people and carried a great number off into exile.
Speaker 1:So they settle into Babylon very uneasily. They silo themselves in communities where they don't have to interact with the Babylonians. They are actively praying for its downfall and waiting for God to send them back home. But in Jeremiah 29:5 and 7, God tells the Jewish exile something unbelievably seek the welfare of the city where I've sent you into exile, and pray to seek the welfare of the city where I've sent you into exile, and pray to the lord on its behalf. For in its welfare, you will find your welfare.
Speaker 1:And the word for welfare here, it's the Hebrew word shalom. You guys might have heard this before, but shalom is the webbing together of God, humans, and creation in equity, fulfillment, and delight. It's universal, holistic flourishing. Doug Clapp is a professor at Sanford and a good friend of mine. He spent a lot of time over the years, working in some of Birmingham's poor communities, and he's often brought some students to come with him when he does small projects.
Speaker 1:He told me a story about a girl who came with him one weekend and was playing with some kids in a community, and after a little while, one of the kids' dads came out, started talking to her, and he said he remembered living in this same project, playing with Samford students when he was little. And the Samford student kind of told doctor Clapp this as a isn't it neat story. And doctor Clapp's heart just absolutely broke. The cycle of poverty was utterly unbroken. That students dropping in periodically didn't shape the outcome of this guy's life except for a vaguely positive feeling about a university down the road.
Speaker 1:Jeremiah says, Build houses and live in them. Plant gardens. Don't think about this as some sort of transition phase. Invest. Get to know your neighbors.
Speaker 1:You cannot just drop in and out if you want to seek their welfare, their shalom. And in their welfare, you will find yours. In order to truly seek the welfare of the city and to establish justice at the gate, there has to be proximity. You have to be close. You have to be willing to dig in for the long haul.
Speaker 1:Dig in long enough to see life come out of the barren ground. And if we wanna seek the welfare of this city, if we want to establish justice at the gates of Birmingham, Alabama, we'll have to get close, especially where there is suffering and neglect. And many of us have been taught as we've grown up that if there are areas of the city that are run down or where crime might be high, that those are the places that we ought to avoid. But that's not what seeking the welfare of the city is. Seeking the welfare of the city is doing the opposite.
Speaker 1:We have to get close. We cannot solve problems from a distance because we will never understand the complexities of the problems from a distance. We'll have to learn people's stories, and we'll have to learn their needs. We'll have to humbly sit and listen and learn. We'll have to be willing to get our hands dirty and serve consistently enough to see life come up from the ground, because that's what it means to love our neighbors.
Speaker 1:And whatever neighbor means in the Bible, it will never mean anything less than those people that are next to you. And here as Redeemer Community Church, that means the city of Birmingham. And since loving your neighbor means being unable to ignore their plights and learning their stories and their needs, it means that we're gonna have to talk about race. We're gonna have to talk about injustice. Because we cannot say we love our neighbors if we ignore their stories and ignore how systems have treated them.
Speaker 1:Race is an unbelievably difficult topic. When Europeans first started coming in droves to America, race as we now understand it, didn't really exist. Many of the people that we now, readily refer to as white people were not yet considered white. They were French or Italian or German or Polish or Irish. And I just wanna highlight one particular people for a second to illustrate a point.
Speaker 1:So the great famine strikes in Ireland, and this is crazy. Ireland has 8,000,000 people at the time and 2,000,000 of them, in a short span of years move to the US. Boston at the time has a population of a 100,000 and 37,000 Irish people descend upon it. You can imagine how disruptive this would be. They were poor, starving refugees who practiced this strange foreign religion, Catholicism, who threatened the life that people were used to and threatened to take away jobs from the people who had been there first.
Speaker 1:When they showed up, they faced great mistreatment. In 18/42, the New York Sun ran 15 help wanted ads and included the sub line: No Irish need apply. In 1844, in Philadelphia, there was an anti Catholic mob that burned every Catholic church in the city. Shortly after, an anti Catholic political party called the American party, that we call the Know Nothing party, was formed, and they elected 8 governors and a 100 congressmen. When they gained power in Massachusetts, the first thing that they did was bar naturalized citizens from voting unless they had lived in the United States at least 21 years.
Speaker 1:Meaning, that in one fell swoop, they stripped every Irishman of the right to vote. But just a few short years later, when the issue of slavery comes to the forefront of American politics, the Irish, those that were formally oppressed, slowly become white. And a narrative of racial difference, not difference based on ethnicity or culture, but simply on shade of skin starts to develop. And so did the idea of white people, as in those in contrast to Africans or Chinese or Mexicans. Listen to what Bryan Stevenson, the author of Just Mercy, says.
Speaker 1:We created a narrative of racial difference in this country to sustain slavery. When slavery was abolished in 18/65, it turned to decades of racial hierarchy that was violently enforced from the end of reconstruction until World War 2 through acts of racial terror. And so we are very confused when we start talking about race in this country because we think that things are of the past because we don't really understand what these things are. That narrative of racial difference that was created during slavery, resulted in terrorism and lynching. The humiliated, belittled, and burdened African Americans throughout most of the 20th century.
Speaker 1:And we're here together at a church in Birmingham, Alabama, which was the poster child worldwide of racial strife. And while, praise the lord, there has been glorious work that has been done and the lord has moved in tremendous ways, especially over the last 50 years, There is much work that is left to do. The history of this city has shaped its present in so many ways that we cannot deny. And we think it's so important that we understand the story of this city, and we would love for you guys to come on Wednesday night when Colin Hanson will be sharing just that, the history of Birmingham at 6:30. The real question for us is are we willing to see the brokenness that still exists around us and the brokenness that still exists within each of us?
Speaker 1:Are we broken over the things that still break god's heart? We have to see that even if we're not from here, even if we didn't actively participate in causing particular systems, that as the body of Christ, as the people of God, our call to seek the welfare of the city, to establish justice at the gate, to love our neighbors with the same passion and creativity and perseverance that we love our selves, requires that we work for their universal flourishing. And that means that we're gonna have to face a couple really difficult realities. We live in the wealthiest nation on earth and yet, even in our country, 1 in 5 children are born into poverty. That the racial wealth gap has tripled since the eighties so that now, it would take the average African American family 228 years to achieve the wealth of the average white American family.
Speaker 1:That, with the same background and qualifications, white sounding names are 50% more likely to receive a callback for a job interview than black sounding names. Or let me paint a picture of 2 public schools in this city 15 minutes apart. School a's reading proficiency scores are 50% higher than school b. Their math scores, 65% higher. The average SAT score at school a is 27 and at school b, it's 13.
Speaker 1:At school a, 60% of students took AP exams passing them at a 93% rate. At school b, 14% of students took AP exams, passing a grand total of 0. And we may disagree on the causes of these things, and we may disagree on how to solve them. These problems are complex and require an unbelievable amount of wisdom and hard work. But we can all agree that these things should not be.
Speaker 1:This is not the way that it ought to be. And we can all agree that whatever may separate school a and school b, it's not the kids' fault. Isaiah 58 calls for the people of God to break the yoke of the oppressed. Not simply to pity the oppressed but to break those things that oppress them. And that means that we're gonna have to break down things that perpetuate cycles of poverty, that we're going to have to work for better schools, for reform in our justice system, for reform in our businesses.
Speaker 1:And that we cannot wait because we cannot set a timetable for another person's freedom, lest we hear the words of doctor King from Birmingham Jail in our ears. This wait has almost always meant never. And justice too long delayed is justice denied. And before we move forward, let me say one thing explicitly, clearly. Yes and amen, we should preach the gospel.
Speaker 1:We should preach the gospel first. We should preach the gospel last, and we should preach the gospel often in between. The world needs to know that there is good news of great joy that our savior has come. The lamb of God, who came to take away the sins of the world. But a lot of times, when we talk about issues like we're talking about right now, some will say, preach the gospel.
Speaker 1:Stick to preaching the gospel. And what they usually mean by statements like that is when you talk about this, you're distracting from what the point of Christianity is, or at least what the heart is. But remember, Luke chapter 4, when Jesus is in the synagogue, he's starting his ministry, and he unveils his identity. He finds a particular part of Isaiah's scroll, Isaiah 61. And this is how he refers to himself, saying, this scripture is the one that's fulfilled in your hearing.
Speaker 1:The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovering of sight to the blind, To set at liberty those who are oppressed. When John the Baptist's disciples, they show up and they ask him, are you the Christ or or should we expect somebody else? Do you remember how Jesus responds? It's in Luke 722.
Speaker 1:He says, the blind receive their sight, the lame walk, lepers are cleansed, the dead are raised up, the poor have good news preached to them. Now these are the only ways that Jesus talks about His mission, but if we reduce His mission simply to preaching that souls might be saved, though that might be primary and is primary, we miss a great deal of the things that seem to be on Jesus' heart. The Bible doesn't just talk about the redemption of souls, but the redemption of all things. God created all things and said that they are good and in the end, God will look at everything and once again say that it is good. The Bible isn't meant just to renew our mind, but its word is meant to renew our entire world.
Speaker 1:Therefore, as Daniel Hill has written, we should hold together activism and evangelism, protest and prayer, personal piety and justice, intimacy with Jesus and proximity to the poor. If God only wanted us to know what we needed, that our souls might be saved, you could do away with a huge portion of your bible. No. We preach and we teach the whole counsel of God, whether or not we feel like our culture has co opted a message for its own. And therefore, we must weep and we must preach against abortion.
Speaker 1:We must weep and we must preach against the evils of sex trafficking. We must weep, and we must must preach and leverage all that we have on behalf of the poor, the fatherless, the widow, the oppressed, for the glory of God and for the welfare of all people. Do you know what it looks like to leverage all that you have, for the glory of God, and for the welfare of all people? It looks a lot like tutoring at Cornerstone or Avondale or Restoration Academy. It looks like going next door to empower and teaching adults how to read.
Speaker 1:It looks like inviting non native speakers in here to learn how to speak the English language. It looks like mentoring through Aspire, serving dinners at the Interfaith Hospitality House. It looks like cultivating a garden that the neighborhood may come and eat good food free of charge. Looks like inviting internationals into your homes and into your lives. And it looks like teaching young men to bridge the gap towards meaningful employment through faith, hope and building some beautiful tables at Magic City Woodworks.
Speaker 1:Praise the Lord that he is at work in this city, but there's a lot of work left to do. Now how are we gonna find the strength to go at this task together for the glory of God and the welfare of all people? If you were here last week, you heard Jeff say that our wills and our virtue will not be enough to sustain us for the long difficult task that lays before us. So how will we establish justice at the gate? Eugene Peterson, in his paraphrase of John 1, says, the Lord became flesh and moved into the neighborhood.
Speaker 1:I love that. But Jesus didn't show up at the palaces of kings. He was born and laid in a manger. When he was circumcised on the 8th day, Mary and Joseph, they show up to the temple and they only offer 2 pidge pigeons. An offering that was reserved for the poorest of the poor.
Speaker 1:Jesus says, foxes have holes and the birds have nests, but the son of man has nowhere to lay his head. He borrows a boat to preach from. He borrows a donkey to ride into Jerusalem on. He borrows a room to have the last supper in, and He borrows a tomb to be buried in. This is the Lord who made and actually owns everything, and yet He gave up all of His rights, so that the Bible might say, Though He was rich, yet for your sake He became poor, so that by His poverty, you might become rich.
Speaker 1:Not only that, but Jesus was a victim of injustice. He was captured under the cover of night. He was beaten without cause. He was denied counsel. He was whipped, though Pilate said he found no flaw in him.
Speaker 1:He was stripped naked. Everything about Jesus's trial and arraignment was a gross miscarriage of justice. So how will we persevere? How do we find the fuel to do the hard work of establishing justice at the gate? By seeing the one who deserved justice, suffering injustice, so that God could look at us and be faithful and just to forgive us because of what Jesus went through on our behalf.
Speaker 1:So that we who are orphans might be true sons and daughters of God. So that we who are widows might find our true husband. So that we who are poor might share in the glorious inheritance of the saints, which is kept in heaven for us with Christ. Trusting that one day, when the Lord himself comes back and brings heaven to earth, there will be no more racism or classism or sexism or injustice or refugees or cancer or poverty or widows, or wars, or slavery, or sickness, or crying, or dying, or any such thing. And the Lord himself will wipe away every tear from every eye.
Speaker 1:As we worship the one who was denied justice for our sakes, who divested himself of all riches and glory and honor, so that by his poverty, we might become rich. We are transformed more and more into his likeness. We're set free from obligation as our prime likeness. We're set free from obligation as our primary motivation. We can love our neighbor.
Speaker 1:We can seek the welfare of the city. We can work to establish justice as the at the gate because it's who we now are. Because it's who our father is, and that's what he does. And when we grasp our identities in him, we're finally freed up to serve other people out of love of God and love of neighbor. Not out of a need to validate ourselves or to show up to some place as though we were other people's saviors.
Speaker 1:We can, in joy in humility, say everything that I have was given to me by grace, by God. And he's giving it so that I might be a blessing to you and to the whole world, so that you might know my beautiful, matchless savior. And we can keep working until that day when every valley shall be exalted, every hill and mountain shall be made low, the rough places made plain, and the crooked places made straight, when the glory of the lord will be revealed, and all flesh will see it together. And until that day, we join Doctor. King in his words, saying we are not satisfied and will not be satisfied until justice rolls down like water and righteousness like a mighty stream.
Speaker 1:Let's pray. Lord, there may be people in this room who don't know what to make of the what they just heard. There may be some who are angry. There may be some who feel utterly overwhelmed. There may be some who feel guilty and don't know what to do with that.
Speaker 1:Lord, I pray that we would take all of these things, and we would lay them before you, that we would talk to you about them, that we would judge them according to your word and say, Lord, search my heart and see if there's any offensive way in me. I wanna see the world as you see the world. I wanna love the world as you love the world. I wanna see my things and everything that I have as though I were a steward, and that you don't need me to fill fulfill your mission. But, Lord, for some reason, out of the kindness of your heart, you've entrusted us the ministry of reconciliation, both in sharing the gospel word and in living out the gospel deed.
Speaker 1:Lord, make us a church who loves our neighbors well, who seeks the welfare of the city, who establishes justice at the gate. Heal our city, we pray. In Jesus' name, Amen. Now as the band comes back up, we're gonna do something, really unusual for us. We're gonna have a time of lament.
Speaker 1:And if you've never had a time of lament before at a church, neither had I, until 9 o'clock this morning. So you're in good company. I think the, a lot of us can run to what do I do now as our kind of first reaction to hearing something like this. And I think we should get there. But lament is an act of faith in which the family of God cries out to God about something that should not be, and asks him to do something about it, and trusts in his goodness and his character.
Speaker 1:Laments teach us to slow down, to respond to the reality of suffering and injustice, to realize that there are not easy solutions to complex problems, and to cry out to God in the midst of brokenness and pain. They give us permission to admit that we are not capable of fixing everything, so we go to the one who is. And we can sit in that sorrow without shame or self hate and trust God to work. So here's what our time is gonna look like. We're gonna do a slow, meditative, responsive prayer, where I'm going to to pray something.
Speaker 1:And then in between, you're going to pray one of the historic prayers of the church. You're just gonna say, lord, have mercy. Christ, have mercy. Lord, have mercy. Lord, have mercy.
Speaker 1:Christ, have mercy. Lord, have mercy. Let's pray. Our father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come, and thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.
Speaker 2:Lord, have mercy. Christ, have mercy. Lord, have mercy.
Speaker 1:How long, oh, Lord? Will you wait to establish your kingdom on earth? How long until you crush Satan under your feet? We come to you distressed and troubled and begging you to come. We're filled with sorrow over the brokenness of our city and the brokenness that yet remains in our own hearts.
Speaker 2:Lord, have mercy. Christ, have mercy.
Speaker 1:We plead, oh Lord, for you to give us eyes to see the brokenness around us, that you would give us your heart to desire its change. Lord, establish justice at the gate here in Birmingham, Alabama. God, we mourn over our city's history and our city's church's histories towards specific people, and we acknowledge that the past has greatly shaped the present. And we ask that you would heal, oh lord.
Speaker 2:Lord, have mercy. Christ, have mercy.
Speaker 1:We mourn, oh lord, and acknowledge that we all have blind spots. Show us them, lord, that we may repent and be healed. On behalf of the poor in this city, lord, we cry out. Lord, we pray that you would provide for the a 1000 homeless that live here. May we, your church, be those who give generously, who break the yoke of the oppressed in your name, and who incarnate your love to our neighbors.
Speaker 2:Lord have mercy. Christ have mercy. Lord have mercy.
Speaker 1:Lord, we pray that you would be with the family of Wytasha Carter and with the Birmingham Police Department. May you comfort them. May you guide them in all wisdom to serve our city. God, we pray that you would protect the unborn of this of this city and in our country. We mourn that there are 900,000 children aborted every year, lord.
Speaker 1:Let that no longer be the case.
Speaker 2:Lord, have mercy. Christ, have mercy.
Speaker 1:Lord, have mercy. Lord, we mourn that there are children that go to failing schools. We mourn our deep racial divides and systems of injustice. Heal, oh lord. Give us your strength to powerfully work in us, to leverage what we have for others' good.
Speaker 1:Teach us to be humble, to love, and to listen, and to learn from one another. Give us the grace to seek the welfare of our beloved broken city, and to trust that in its welfare, we will find our welfare.
Speaker 2:Lord, have mercy. Christ, have mercy. Lord, have mercy.
Speaker 1:Lord, you will heal. You will restore. You are not slow as some consider slowness. God, and even if we are not, you are faithful because you cannot deny yourself. You will come and you will heal all things.
Speaker 1:You will bind every broken heart, and all flesh will see your glory together, and we say amen. Come, Lord Jesus.
Speaker 2:Lord, have mercy. Christ, have mercy. Lord, have mercy. Amen.
