A Season of Repentance and Resurrection

By Drew Gilliland
Program Associate, G.L.O.B.A.L. Justice

This season is traditionally one of preparation for celebration of the resurrection of Jesus Christ – Easter! This season also emphasizes repentance and submission to Christ.  Interestingly, this coincides with our current global crisis. The Bible gives us tremendous resources that help us enter into an attitude of repentance as we recognize Jesus’ death and our behalf and celebrate the hope in His resurrection. Three scriptures I have found (from the Common Book of Prayer) are Jeremiah 18:1-11, Romans 8:1-11, and John 6:27-40 are particularly meaningful for reflection in this season. 

I find these passages to be particularly prescient in this time of crisis in our country. More than ever before, our cultural idols of the love of money, self-centeredness, and a “you-do-you” attitude are being exposed for everyone to see. And this isn’t just for people who do not claim to follow Jesus, but for many churches across the country as well.  We, as the Church, must take responsibility for the sin of our brothers and sisters.  In Daniel chapter 9, we see a biblical example of this. Daniel was morally upstanding, did justice, and was a true lover of God — and yet, in this chapter, we see him take painstaking responsibility for the sins of his people, owning his position as one of them. In the same way, we must repent for our own sins as part of this American Church. 

Jeremiah shows us the importance of this as well. Like the stubborn Israelites, we have a tendency to say to the Lord, who calls us to repent, “It is no use! We will follow our own plans, and each of us will act according to the stubbornness of our evil will” (18:12). This will lead to our destruction, as the church in Ephesus was warned in Revelation: “Repent, and do the works you did at first. If not, I will come to you and remove your lamp stand from its place, unless you repent” (2:5). Let us heed this warning and be like soft clay: repentant, with moldable hearts and attitudes, remembering our first love above all other loves: Christ and his kingdom.

Let us repent in boldness, because for in Christ Jesus there is now no condemnation, as Paul writes. Jesus welcomes our repentance with kindness and joy in his eyes. We are free from slavery to sin and death. We no longer need to be driven by the frenzied fears and desires of the world — greed, selfish ambition, economic & financial well-being, success, worldly pleasure, self-righteousness, physical safety from the “other.” Rather, as Christ has set us free and given us his life, we are now free to self-sacrificially serve others — an attitude and lifestyle desperately needed in this time of crisis. When we submit to Christ’s law, we paradoxically become the freest we’ve ever been.

As we repent and fulfill the law of love, Jesus himself will be our sustenance and resurrection life through this time of difficulty. In John 6, the Pharisees asked Jesus what must be done to perform the works of God. Jesus replied, simply, to “believe in him whom he has sent.” And who is Jesus, according to himself in this passage? The bread and water of life itself. When we do the work of God – believing in Jesus, putting our full weight on him – we receive him in his fullness, access the nourishment of his life until he comes again. As we die to ourselves in repentance, we experience his resurrection and new life. This is Easter: the conquering of sin, death, and injustice - abundant life, here and now, restoration in our relationships with ourselves, with others, with the created order, and with God himself. 

This gives me hope today, in a time where I desperately need it. Let us repent — for ourselves and for our sisters and brothers across our country. When we do this, we can trust in Jesus himself to free us from sin and death and free us to life and love for him and others.

By Faith

By Lauren Moustakas
Project Associate, G.L.O.B.A.L. Justice

“By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to a place that he was to receive as an inheritance. And he went out, not knowing where he was going. By faith he went to live in the land of promise, as in a foreign land, living in tents with Isaac and Jacob, heirs with him of the same promise. For he was looking forward to the city that has foundations, whose designer and builder is God…These all died in faith, not having received the things promised, but having seen them and greeted them from afar, and having acknowledged that they were strangers and exiles on the earth.  For people who speak thus make it clear that they are seeking a homeland. If they had been thinking of that land from which they had gone out, they would have had opportunity to return.  But as it is, they desire a better country, that is, a heavenly one. Therefore, God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared for them a city.”

— Hebrews 11:8-10, 13-16

I never planned on going to law school. In fact, I specifically remember sitting in my Constitutional Law class in my undergraduate program thinking, “Thank goodness I never have to do this again.”   “This” was spending hours reading and attempting to understand what on earth the Supreme Court meant by its decisions. I recently shared this story with my Constitutional Law professor and we had a laugh because, well, here I am in my second year of law school, taking Constitutional Law, and doing almost nothing but reading Supreme Court cases.

When I first I heard the call to attend law school, I had just started working at what I considered to be my dream job: working almost full time for G.L.O.B.A.L. Justice and supporting its programs and mission for biblical justice. It had been a journey for myself and for G.L.O.B.A.L. to arrive at this milestone and was what I thought God had purposed for me to do. When I distinctly heard God direct me to begin taking the steps to attend law school, less than a full year into my dream job, it was difficult to say the least, especially as it became clear that, not only was I to attend law school, but God was clearly directing me to attend a law school on the opposite side of the country in a place where my husband and I knew no one. 

During this process of uncertainty, Hebrews 11 and its description of Abraham’s faith became and has continued to be a source of strength and encouragement for me. Like Abraham, I did not know where I was being called or had ever been to the state that I was to go to live and study law. I did not know the ultimate purpose in why God called me out of what I believed to be my dream job, assisting in the work of biblical justice for an incredible organization, to be a law student. While my heart is for the work of justice and to be an advocate on behalf of those who cannot speak for themselves, I did not and still do not fully know what part I am to play in that work as a soon-to-be lawyer.  

But the thing is, God knows, just as He knew the great nation that would be born from Abraham into the land that He would show Abraham. And while Abraham may have had some doubts, what Hebrews 11 describes is that Abraham obeyed by faith and took the steps that God was asking him to take, not knowing what the next step would be or what the ultimate end of the journey would look like.  While I am no Abraham, his faith and this passage describing how he held onto the promise of God, has continued to be of great encouragement in my journey in law school. It has not been an easy journey — from selling three quarters of our possessions, leaving the home, family, and friends we loved, and to going to a place that was completely unknown to us. 

Furthermore, once I started law school, I began to have significant headaches and other health issues and was shortly thereafter diagnosed with Lyme’s disease and other health complications, which affect my mind and body in unpredictable ways. I am getting the help that I need for my health, but there are days where it is very difficult to get out of bed, sit in class, read for my classes, or take a three-hour exam. There are many days where I am weary of not feeling well and having to expend greater time and energy into completing my studies for the day because my brain does not want to cooperate, but God has shown His faithfulness to me over and over again. From giving me the strength for that day, to allowing me to succeed on an exam or class, He has been faithful in this journey despite the difficulties. I am so thankful for this faithfulness and for the fact that, because of my illness, I can never claim to have accomplished my law degree, or whatever is next, on my own abilities or my own strength. It is only because of God and his faithfulness that I am on this journey, and any and all success that I have achieved is because of Him. 

As a law student, a justice advocate, a wife, and a woman, one of the passages of Hebrews 11 that has especially spoken to me during this challenging season, is the description of how Abraham did not look back on the life that he left but was looking ahead to the “better country” even though it may have been more difficult at times to do so. My hope is that if God is calling you to do something about injustice, or calling you onto a path that you might have not considered to be yours, you will be encouraged even if you do not know exactly where you are going or if the prospective journey has been more difficult. I hope that the faith of Abraham is an encouragement to you as you step out in faith onto the path you have been called to walk in victoriously with His help and strength. 

As a Mother

By Amanda Hoops
Outreach Associate, G.L.O.B.A.L. Justice

I often feel as though it's my job as a mom, as the mom, to have it all together and to get it all done. I’m not alone in feeling this pressure to meet every need, have every answer, and keep everyone and everything looking good. But this reality comes crashing down around me time and time again. Whether it’s the wet sheets in the middle of the night, the tantrum at the worst possible time, or the forgotten item at the grocery store - crucial to tonight’s dinner - a mom’s life has a way of humbling us. In these moments, I have to stop and remind myself that to God, we are all like children who need the reassurance and guidance of our Father in heaven. 

“As a mother comforts her child, so I will comfort you.”

— Isaiah 66:13

God knows each of us, and loves us more than we can ever know. His desire is for us to be in an eternal relationship with Him. He wants to care for us, to comfort us, to meet all our needs. And He does so with the tender love and mercy that we, His children, crave. We do not earn this love, just like our children do not earn ours. God gives it readily and freely, whenever we need it. Just as any parent rushes in to hold and comfort their hurt, scared, or exasperated child, we can have the same image in our minds of our God rushing in to comfort and reassure us day after day. We are the children of an eternal, all-powerful God who meets our needs and gently leads us in His ways - not with judgement or a stern look, but with the same gentleness and kindness that a mother shows her little child. 

This verse in Isaiah is an invitation to us all to become more child-like when we go to our Father. We should never be ashamed of seeming weak or needy to God. When we feel discouraged, and so much is going wrong, let’s remember that Jesus came for those who are struggling, not for those who feel like they have it all together. Whether we are parenting or pursuing justice, we can seek Him to give us the encouragement to persevere. God sees our hardships - the overwhelming ones, and the mundane ones. And, as a mother comforts her child, He will rush in to comfort us. .