Week: Justice and Righteousness
We start by pausing and taking a deep breath:
In and out.
In and out.
We remember that God is here, and so together we prepare ourselves to be with God.
Pause
Mighty God, open our eyes, stir our hearts and teach us how, ‘To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly’ with You today. (Micah 6:8)
Desmond Tutu was born in South Africa in 1921. Throughout his life, he showed incredible kindness to those who had harmed both himself and those he loved. Let’s REFLECT what the Bible says about this way of living.
Read by Eli
Matthew 5:43-45,47
Jesus said, ‘You have heard that it was said, “Love your neighbour and hate your enemies.” But I say to you, love your enemies. Pray for those who hurt you. If you do this, you will be true children of your Father in heaven… if you are nice only to your friends, you are no better than other people. Even those who don’t know God are nice to their friends.’
Matthew 5:43-45,47 (NCV)
For most of Desmond Tutu’s life, a racist system called ‘apartheid’ separated people in South Africa according to their skin colour. Life was very unfair and much more difficult for those who weren’t white. Many suffered terrible violence. Like many black South Africans, Desmond was often treated very badly – he was even beaten and put in prison because he believed in treating people fairly.
One day, when Desmond was young, he was walking with his mother and he was surprised to see a white church leader take off his hat as a sign of peace and respect to her.* It had a big impact on him – showing Desmond that kindness and friendship was possible between people from different backgrounds.
Desmond grew up to be a passionate follower of Jesus. He became a church leader and was the Archbishop of Cape Town at a time when many people were trying to end apartheid. Desmond used his role to inspire people to do so peacefully – without fighting or taking revenge. Eventually Desmond and his friends were successful! In 1994 apartheid ended, in an amazingly peaceful way.
Afterwards, Desmond ran something called ‘The Truth and Reconciliation Commission’; a way for those who had suffered during apartheid to tell their stories, and for those who had hurt others to own up to the wrong they’d done. By doing this Desmond helped many people to say ‘I’m sorry’ and ‘I forgive you’ to one another.
Desmond Tutu is a beautiful example of someone who chose to forgive rather than take revenge. Let’s pause and talk about today’s question which is: When have we forgiven someone? How did it feel?
Is there somebody who we need to say sorry to, or perhaps we need to forgive? Let’s ASK God to help us now.
Loving God, help us to say sorry when we’ve done or said something wrong, and to forgive others when they upset us. We don’t find this easy, so we ASK you to help us.
Unfortunately, apartheid and racism still exist in many parts of the world. Let’s ASK God to help those who are working to end this.
Loving God, please raise up lots more leaders like Desmond Tutu; people who will lovingly lead the struggle against apartheid and racism. And help all of us to play our part in making the world just and fair wherever we are.
Let’s use some of Desmond Tutu’s words as we say YES to receiving more of God’s love – so that we can spread that love and make the world a better place.
‘Dear Child of God, I write these words to you because we all experience sadness, we all come at times to despair, and we all lose hope that the suffering in our lives and in the world will ever end. I want to share with you my faith that… there is no such thing as a totally hopeless case. Our God is an expert at dealing with chaos, with brokenness, with all the worst that we can imagine. God created order out of disorder, cosmos out of chaos, and God can do so always, can do so now – in our personal lives and in our lives as nations, globally. Indeed, God is transforming the world now – through us – because God loves us.’**
YES, Father God, we want you to transform us by your love.
Pause
Let’s put a hand on our heart.
Father God, fill us with Your love. Help us to love You, and everything that You’ve made.
Let’s point to our eyes.
Lord Jesus, help us to see You, and to see others the way that You see them too.
Let’s point to our ears.
Holy Spirit, help us to hear You, and give us courage to do what You say.
* well documented story, see: https://www.spectator.co.uk/article/the-father-i-knew-a-tribute-to-desmond-tutu/
** Desmond Tutu, God Has a Dream: A Vision of Hope for Our Time
Unathi lives in Johannesburg, South Africa, with her husband and 5 kids; and has a passion for seeing families thriving.
You’ll most likely find her homeschooling the tribe, reading, writing, or dreaming about the next DIY project.
She also loves good coffee, dark chocolate and hiking.
Eli is 11 and lives in Melbourne, Victoria with his mum, dad and two younger sisters. He enjoys music, reading, riding his skateboard and playing soccer.
