How Long O Lord?

"Lord, how long will I call for help and you not listen? I cry out to you, 'Violence!' but you don't deliver us. Why do you show me injustice and look at anguish so that devastation and violence are before me? There is strife, and conflict abounds. The Instruction is ineffective. Justice does not endure because the wicked surround the righteous. Justice becomes warped." - Habakkuk 1:2-4

Last night the verdict was read in the case against Darren Wilson, the white Ferguson police officer who shot and killed an unarmed 18 year old black youth named Michael Brown.
That verdict was the product and the result of hundreds of years of racial oppression, subjugation and segregation that underlines, scores and marks the fabric our nation, our communities and our relationships to this day.

This day, Today.
Today is a painful reminder of just how long the moral arc of the universe really is.
Today many brothers and sisters of color have woken up from the hope of justice and returned to the bleak reality of systemic racism that puts a price on their life and a millstone around their neck.

Today many continue to remark that #blacklivesmatter. However, making the proclamation more often than not feels like shouting into the void.
Yes, #blacklivesmatter.

Yes, #blacklivesmatter. They matter to black people, they matter to me, they even matter to other white people even in the face of the overwhelming evidence to the contrary.

This is perhaps the most difficult aspect of that proclamation. That even while I proclaim #blacklivesmatter I know that the devaluation of those lives is a very real, persistent, and present threat.

As a nation we need our "come to Jesus" moment. We idle in the sin of racial injustice, too many made comfortable by its false promises. For most white folks, today we wake up and it is business as usual. No assumptions have been challenged, no hearts convicted. We continue to idle in sin while our brothers and sisters cry out, and many of us have the audacity to discount their cries, as if their pain is the true violence which shakes us.

So warped has sin made us that the reality of trials such as this one is that it is in fact the dead who are put on trial. Those who cannot respond for themselves are assessed of their innocence or guilt. Those who cannot give testimony to their version of events are expected to have their full perspective represented by the one who killed them. The result, more often than not, is that the dead are found guilty. The dead deserved to die. Michael Brown needed to die. He was dangerous, though he was unarmed, he was a threat to white lives, and he had to die. What other conclusion can be drawn from a refusal to indict?

By affirming Darren Wilson's decision to kill Michael Brown, the Grand Jury asserted two very powerful messages: Michael's death was justified; #blacklivesdon'tmatter

What other lesson is there for young people, white and black alike, looking in to discern how they should best relate to one another?

That's what hurts the most. Black lives are devalued every time this happens. Black lives are proven to be less valuable than those of their white neighbors, and thus the cycle of violence, systemic violence, marches on.

Indeed, Justice does not endure because the wicked surround the righteous. Justice becomes warped.

Today justice has been warped, delayed, subverted, denied.

Today we again wait for the moral arc of the universe to bend toward justice.

But now it's not for Michael Brown, not for Eric Garner, or Trayvon Martin, Ezell Ford, Orlando Barlow, Oscar Grant, Renisha McBride, Dante Parker, Jordan Davis, John Crawford, Alonzo Ashley, Kimani Gray, Danta Price, Steven Eugene Washington, Victor Steen, Sean Bell, Aiyana Stanley-Jones, Wendell Allen, Aaron Campbell, Kendrec McDade, Bo Morrison, Timothy Stansbury Jr., Timothy Russell, Jerean Blake, Jonathan Ferrell, Amandou Diallo, Ervin Jefferson, Angelo Clark, Steven Rodriguez, Johnnie Kamahi Warren, Nehemiah Dillard, Stephen Watts, Michael Lembhard, Tendai Nhekairo, Manuel Loggins Jr., Rekia Boyd, Melvin Lawhorn, Marquez Smart, Patrick Dorismond, James Brissette, Jersey Green, Ousmane Zongo, Duane Brown, Justin Sipp, Christopher Kissane, Raymond Allen, Travares McGill, or Sheron Jackson,

Now we wait for Tamir Rice, a twelve year old black child killed by police.

How long O Lord?

The Pieces Left Over

This past week we held a celebration of the life and connection of our church in my backyard.
We made plans for food, games, seating.
We invited our friends, neighbors, and community to celebrate with us.
I spent a good amount of time preparing our home for the gathering, making sure that we could have a good flow of people in and out of the house if necessary, ensuring the bathrooms were clean and well stocked, and prepping the lawn for a big tent
and tables
and chairs
and feet.

What I hadn't anticipated was that the weather would drop 30 degrees the night before and everybody would have to bring out their jackets and blankets. But even still, our turn out was good, there was more than enough food for everyone and after all of the cleanup I still had time to put my feet up before passing out for the night.

I have found that I am eternally grateful for the responsiveness of dedicated people. When I first came in to this church I put this event on our calendar to usher in a new season. I knew that as I put it on the calendar the church had gathered for their church picnic only a month prior. I was worried that we would suffer from an over abundance of cookout related events and that there wouldn't be any enthusiasm for more.

What I found instead was a church willing to go back to it again. And as I prepared coffee in the kitchen, I looked out the window and saw a familiar sight:

Jesus said to his disciples, “Make them sit down in groups of about fifty each.” They did so and made them all sit down. And taking the five loaves and the two fish, he looked up to heaven, and blessed and broke them, and gave them to the disciples to set before the crowd. And all ate and were filled. What was left over was gathered up, twelve baskets of broken pieces.

The sharing of a meal is a sign to the world of who is included and who isn't. Meals play a huge role in the Gospel of Luke, they reveal to us the willingness of Christ to bring all people together to the table. So fitting it was to see some old friends, those who once broke bread together under the same roof, reunite and join together with new faces, new lives to be touched, transformed and loved.

Jan Richardson says that "It is part of the miracle: how Jesus, with such intention, cares for the fragments following the feast. He sees the abundance that persists, the feast that remains within the fragments."

When I looked out my window I saw long standing church members sitting down on property that they help maintain, that they labored over, that they helped build brick by brick, that they prepared for my wife and I before we came. They were joined by neighbors, some new, some that they remembered from way back when, some that had walked away long ago.

When I believed there was scarcity in our preparation, God found abundance. Where I believed that this was simply a community gathering, God saw the broken pieces that we leave through our lives and began to pick them up. Our churches share deep roots with their communities. Some of those roots will lead to greater growth through careful nurturing. Others may have been damaged along the way and are in need of Christ's patience to collect the broken pieces for replanting. But all are invited, all are gathered in, and all may find welcome rest here among the family of God.

Prayers for the City

In the coming weeks, Motown Mission's website will be releasing an art project that is the symbol of all of the work our volunteers have been doing this summer. At the end of each week, we ask the groups to join into a collage of prayer. When they are all done, their prayers make up a house, a symbol of the work that they've done. On the site, we've compiled many of these prayers into a virtual collage.

Check it out here

Each prayer represents a hope for the future of the city, the individual, and the love that God brings to the world. Many have brought insight and inspiration to my life, and so I've compiled a few for you. The following is a look at some of my favorites:
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"Dear heavenly father, this trip has reminded me of why I became a part of this church. I know now that I can’t do it without you because I’ve tried and it never worked. Lord I thank you for this week, it really refreshed my faith. “when the world hates you, remember that it has hated me first"

"I pray that the hope we have ignited burns long after we leave... and the change in our hearts spreads awareness of those who need us to be God's hands and feet"

"Father, your children here are hurting. Let them feel your presence surround them and your love hold them. Give them the ability to hold onto hope of a future better than they have dreamed. Christ have mercy."

"Just Peace and Love."

"I pray for Detroit. I pray for all the lives we touched this week. But I also pray for the lives here we did not get the chance to touch. I pray that their lived will be touched soon. Changes are being made. I pray things keep changing. I pray for each child and parent we helped by making it safer. I pray for all the things that got done and also all those that didn't That they will be done soon. You are changing things. Thank you."

"Thank you for the unity of Spirit that took place with the team."

"Lord, pour out grace and healing upon Detroit."

"Holy Spirit, restore the city to its place of prosperity, that the glory of the Lord falls upon us. Lord break the spirit of poverty, fear and shame within its walls."

"Lord, use the Church to bring your light into the darkness."

"Thank you for this week. You have been doing so much in this city and love this city. Thank you for putting it on the hearts of those in charge to put on this trip so we can visibly see what difference one person can do. We were able to be your hands and feet, serving others. It didn't seem like much work for us - but to those living in the neighborhood it made a difference and brought hope. Thank you for Brick. For his sister and family - for the refreshment we were able to bring them in simply cleaning a yard. Let him know you through that. He saw you though us. Thank you that we were able to be You to him. Thank you for our group who came, for those who grew this week and know you more because of it. Let us not forget what we have learned and experienced this week."

"Lord, a house is broken, a house is in disrepair, a house is ugly. Your love, Your servants changed a house that's fixed, a house repaired, a house that is beautiful. Your love changed our hearts, your love changed the hearts of those with the house, Your love made a garden grow without weeds, your love made people happy and gave them hope."

"Here in Detroit there are wounds, deep cuts that are leaving deep scars. So even though I believe that we touched so many people in this week, all of the people need assistance not just a select few. So please God love these people and send them your strength, so it will help heal this city. This city is all so filled with hopeful people. Please give them courage. Love. Love. Love."

"Help us to remember that through you, we can be the hands and feet, the light and hope for a world in need. Give us the courage and strength to stand up to and fight injustice wherever we might find it."

"I pray people realize how beautiful the city of Detroit is already, and how wonderful it can be."

"Lord, make me an instrument of your peace - let me be an answer to someone's prayers, as Detroit has been to mine."

"Your love is all we need to change a life. Thank you Lord for Your abundant love."

"I pray for great communities, strong families and places of love and safety."

"Every kid in this city has a place to come 'home'"

"Detroit is Your city and thank for reminding me it's my city too! When we work with you we can make a difference in a big problem. Help is to keep making a difference and help everyone living here to have hope and have your love and peace guide them."

"I pray that the joy I saw in the people of Detroit will be contagious; that it will spread throughout the neighborhoods and among the people, young and old. I pray they will have hope. Enough to take action to carry on the work I now have to leave. I pray for an army of joyful, hopeful people who are energized to recreate this beautiful city - and make it better than its ever been."

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I want to thank each and every person who has been a part of Motown Mission this summer. Your work and love has made a tremendous difference in the lives of so many people. We all hunger for to be closer to one another, to something or someone that can anchor us in when the world seems to slip away. By participating in Motown Mission, you become that anchor for someone else, a beacon of light to the love of God. I can only hope that ministries like this will continue to grow and foster real relationships with God out of love and bravery through the abundant need of God's people.