Again, for this week I will be using selections from "The Strength of Love" in which M.L. King focuses on this parable: "Which of you who has a friend will go to him at midnight and say to him, 'Friend, lend me three loaves; for a friend of mine has arrived on a journey, and I have nothing to set before him."
When the man in the parable knocked on his friend's door and asked for the three loaves of bread, he received the impatient retort, "Do not bother me; the door is now shut, and my children are with me in bed; I cannot get up and give you anything." How often have men experienced a similar disappointment when at midnight they knock on the door of the Christian church where they seek the bread of social justice, have either been altogether ignored or told to wait until later, which almost always means never. Millions of American Negroes, starving for the want of the bread of freedom, have knocked again and again on the door of so-called white churches, but they have usually been greeted by a cold indifference or a blatant hypocrisy. Even the white religious leaders, who have a heartfelt desire to open the door and provide the bread, are often more cautious than courageous and more prone to follow the expedient than the ethical path.
Unfortunately this is still the environment of the church in too many situations - more cautious than courageous - more prone to follow the expedient than the ethical path. In such a church we must be the church to one another and pull us into the gracious Reign of God where bread is plentiful and all who long to be fed are welcome to the table as one who is a guest for whom we have waited with high expectation and love. It is my expectation that I will go the ELCA's national assembly. I will go to listen. I will more than likely close my eyes at times and just listen to us. I deliberately say "us" because I am a part of this church even when we do not model church as I would pray we would. I long for word of invitation to be spoken and then actions taken that make it absolutely clear that all - without exception will be grasped by our God who claims us from beginning to end and beyond. In that grasping and holding, all of our lives will be transformed by that very love that exists only within the realm of life where the bread of social justice is always on the table ready for all to eat.
Connection: We cannot point fingers at others. We must act as church - all of us. Even when we are not willing to put bread out on the table we must also be willing to stand up and say that we cannot sit down until all are welcome to eat and drink...and be the body of Christ - one body.
You feed us with your love, O God, and we become aware of the many ways this bread needs to be passed on to others who long to be filled and made whole. Remind us of how interconnected we are when we pass that bread of justice to one another. Amen.
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