Values (Day 21, Tuesday)

March 07, 2021, By: Jimmy Scruggs

Starter Prayer: God of new awakenings, help me see the things that you see as you sit with me at a table that oppression built.

Focus Phrase: Values

I can’t help but comment on “Flipping Tables,” the poem by Rev. Sarah Are on p. 19 of our devotional booklet. 

I remember when I woke up and realized I was sitting at a table that oppression built. The said-table is not the only such table at which I sit or have been seated; but the table is the strangest of all such tables in my life.

The table I have in mind is the table of church leadership.

It’s one thing to wake up and admit you’ve been complicit in an oppression served up by a system that is obviously “godless.” It’s another thing to realize you are complicit in an oppressive system built in the name of God.

So, here we are. It’s 2021, a year of reckoning. I began to list here all the reckonings on our minds, but the list seemed so long and burdensome that I deleted it from this post. You know the list.

Would you join me in meditating on Rev. Are’s poem, John 2:13-22 and Rev. Anderson’s commentary? What are the tables at which we sit where the message and practice of that table is out of sync with the truest values God has placed in the collective heart of humanity? There are values that cut across religions, age groups, economics, ethnicity and gender. What do we all value and recognize as LOVE’s highest priorities? If these are God’s values, then where are we at cross purposes with God in Christ?

SPIRITUAL PRACTICE:

  • Read “Flipping Tables” on p. 19 of Again & Again. The link is in every Journey email. If you’re not getting those, register here.  Review John 2:13-22 and Rev. T. Denise Anderson’s commentary on p. 20.
  • Questions for journaling and spiritual conversation:
    • What are the truest values that God has placed in the collective heart of humanity– values that cut across religious groups, age groups, economics, ethnicity and gender? In other words, what do we all value and recognize as LOVE’s (God’s) highest priorities?
    • What are the tables at which you sit where the message and practice of that table is somewhat out of sync with God’s love?
  • As the week unfolds, what word or phrase captures your attention? Weave your word into the prayer wall at the Taft Avenue facility; or text your word to 970-500-0970, and the prayer team will weave it into the wall for you.

ENDNOTES:

  • For daily texts with the Focus Word, Starter Prayer and link to these daily posts, text the word “lent” to 970-500-0970.
  • Join Ryan on Facebook Live, every weekday morning at 10am for spiritual conversation on these Lent themes.
  • Looking for the link to the digital devotional or your copy of the print version? Register here.
  • Join the Orange Dots of Hope Facebook Group for spiritual conversations.

This is part of Again & Again: Journey of Lent 2021 with Crossroads Church. The theme, devotional booklet, poetry and art is the work of the creative community of theologians and artists at A Sanctified Art. Crossroads is grateful for this resource!

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