Journal to Bethlehem

Today’s reading is

Jeremiah 33:14-16

¹⁴The days are surely coming, says the Lord, when I will fulfill the promise I made to the house of Israel and the house of Judah. ¹⁵In those days and at that time I will cause a righteous Branch to spring up for David; and he shall execute justice and righteousness in the land. ¹⁶In those days Judah will be saved and Jerusalem will live in safety. And this is the name by which it will be called: “The Lord is our righteousness.”

Tonight President Obama will be making a speech about the war in Afghanistan.  What a mess we are in.  What would it mean to “execute justice and righteousness” in that land and is that something we are even capable of doing?

Justice and righteousness seem to look different depending on where you sit.  In the current health care debates there is great fear that we not lose any of the health care we currently have.  It would not be just to take away what we have now.  But what does justice look like for those who have no health care?  Is it just for some to have much while others have none?

Jeremiah and his people were in exile and their greatest hope was that God would restore them to their land.  What would you like to see God set right in the world?  Some folks are very passionate about hunger or human rights or war or AIDS.  What would you most want to see God set right in the world?  What from your perspective is most painful?  Write about that in your journal.

Then look at what you have written and ask how God might use you in the healing of the world.  How can you be a beacon of light and justice for the Gospel’s sake?