Streams of Mercy
I look forward to Vernon Broyles’ article, “Justice for God’s World,” in each issue of the Presbyterians Today magazine. The key verse he upholds from month to month is Micah 6:8: “What does the Lord require of you but to do justice, love mercy and walk humbly with our God.”
In his articles, Broyles follows the Presbyterian Church’s long history of trying to connect declared faith to actions in society. Referring to our “checkered history”, he writes, “Hindsight shows us we were derelict in our participation in the destruction of Native American life (though we did it to ‘Christianize and civilize’ the native inhabitants). We also failed to adequately address the issue of slavery in a timely way, and split our church over biblical disagreements as to whether slavery was right or wrong. We must acknowledge that even today our professed commitments to ameliorate the racism in our society fall far short of God’s will.” (January/February 2017, Presbyterians Today, “Justice for God’s World: Where do we go from here?”)
Opening the July/August 2020 Presbyterians Today, and turning to “Justice for God’s World,” I saw these words: “Truth in a Fake News World.” Broyles’ text was John 18:33-38, the conversation between Jesus and Pilate. “So you are a king?” Pilate asks. Jesus answers, “You say that I am a king. For this I was born, and for this I came into the world, to testify to the truth. Everyone who belongs to the truth listens to my voice.” Pilate asks Jesus, “What is truth?”
I been asking that same question in recent days. What is truth – today? There seems to be so much disagreement about that very question! “In our search for truth, we’ve created categories such as real news vs. fake news,” writes Broyles; “we’ve even seen some religious leaders artfully clothe political agendas in the language of faith to shape political reality.”
We are called to discern the truth of Jesus Christ, to embrace his call to “do justice, love mercy and walk humbly with our God.” Just what news service do we trust? Which politician is speaking truth? What books give truthful clarification on issues of the day? We must be about “discerning” truth day by day.
These words from A Brief Statement are words of truth:
“In a broken and fearful world,
the Spirit gives us courage
to pray without ceasing,
to witness among all peoples to Christ as Lord and Savior,
to unmask idolatries in Church and culture,
to hear the voices of peoples long silenced,
and to work with others for justice, freedom, and peace.”
May each of us be faithful to this high and holy calling in these days of truth-telling.
Elizabeth