#BringBackOurGirls: Righteous, compassionate justice

Nate Hosler, with the
Church of the Brethren Office
of Public Witness

The Scripture from Ephesians guiding yesterday's prayers for the abducted girls in Nigeria focused on the Lordship of Jesus Christ, the name above all names, the name to which ultimately every knee on earth and in heaven will bow, and every tongue will confess as "Lord."

I'm alluding there to another Scripture, this from Philippians 2:1-11, which talks about the kenotic/self-emptying nature of Jesus' lordship. It is not a lordship enforced by the power of the sword, but rather it's a power born of suffering and absorbing the world's violence. It is a path that Jesus calls his disciples to talk, individually and collectively in his body, the church. We are to be a crucifom/cross-shaped people.

Today's daily prayer focuses on God's justice, which in this situation we actively and desperately desire. In the face of such horror, even people far separated from it such as myself want to see these innocent girls redeemed and the men responsible brought to face justice. But both our burning desire for justice and concrete expressions of justice must themselves be brought under the Lordship of Christ. We must think carefully about what God's righteous, compassionate justice might look like even in horrific situations such as this.

#BringBackOurGirls: Jesus, redeeming Lord

Dr. Rebecca Dali, of the Center for
Caring, Empowerment,
and Peace Initiatives.
(Photo by Stan Noffsinger)

The Toledo church plant project received a letter from the denominational offices of the Church of the Brethren today. It contains a list of name, those of the more than 200 girls abducted from a school in Chibok, northeastern Nigeria. Many of these girls have connections to the Ekklesiyar Yan'uwa a Nigheria (EYN), the CoB in Nigeria.

The denomination has also provided a daily prayer guide for this horrifying tragedy. The page shows a photo of my fellow Christian peacemaker, Nate Hosler, demonstrating in D.C. with many others on behalf of the abducted girls. Nate and his wife, Jennifer, spent a number of years in Nigeria teaching Christian peackemaking and my correspondence with them has been edifying. While I don't have any personal experience with the EYN, I have many friends and colleagues here in the U.S. like Nate and Jennifer who do. So the horror I've only barely been able to grasp myself has been brought somewhat closer to me through these connections. I do indeed join my prayers with them and all the saints who are praying for this horrible situation...

A prayer for The Farm

My folks have started the process of moving from city life to what had been my grandparents' farm, an idyllic 80-acre piece of land at the edge of the South Skunk River bottom near Reasnor, Iowa. It's been in the family for over a century. Having grown up in a small farm town about 15 miles from this place, and spending what seems to have been nearly every weekend of my childhood there, it's always been "The Farm" to me and my family. The century-old farm house has recently been knocked over, burned, and bulldozed - and construction on the new house is underway. Today we gathered at the farm to pray for the next chapter of its stewardship in my family's hands. Here's what we prayed...

My mom, Diane, and her dad, Dale Mullins

Gracious and loving God - You are the source of all that is great and good in this world. In you we live and move and have our being. And today we gather here as a family whose forebears have known and loved and worked this small piece of your good earth for over a century: Sheelers, Mullins, Nolins, Gumms.

And God, our family's stewardship here registers as a mere fraction of a fraction of an instant in your grand story of creation, fall, and long-yearning redemption.  So our first task here today, in seeking your guidance and provision for this - a new chapter of our family's story in this place, this farm - is one of humility.

So out of that place of humility we lift up to you a deep gratitude for the blessing, the privilege that this place has been to our family across the generations. It could have been otherwise, we could have been elsewhere - yet here we are. And we continue to receive it as the gift it has been. Thank you.

As houses are built and eventually fall, as generation gives way to generation, we mark this moment as one of passing, but with that passing - like the coming of spring after a long, cold Iowa winter - the promise of new life comes upon us. Now Lord, fill us with your Spirit for the help we need in faithfully stewarding this gift in the coming years.

Standing at the outset of this new chapter, the familiar has been made strange. God, orient my parents - Doug & Diane - as they go about the work of making the strange familiar again. Give them patience and wisdom for their work. Give them gracious hearts to love their neighbors and those in need in this nearby. Help them remember and practice Sabbath - for themselves and the land - in the face of seemingly endless to-do lists. Be with Grandma Dorothy in her elder years, after a long and fruitful life here with Dale. Give our generation and those to come the grace to walk alongside and the vision to be ready for yet more chapters down the road.

May our hands be dirty in the good earth and our hearts be made glad by the fellowship of family and your loving kindness. Father we end this prayer together with the words that our humble king Jesus taught us:

Our father in heaven

Holy is your name

Your kingdom come

Your will be done

On earth as it is in heaven

Give us this day our daily bread

And forgive us our debts

As we forgive our debtors

Leads us not into temptation

Deliver us from evil

For yours is the kingdom, the power, and the glory forever

Amen.

My daughter Lauren and her great-grandmother, Dorothy Mullins