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Prayer Tip: Lessons from @MLK on Using Social Media

January 15, 2023
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Daily Scripture

Proverbs 31:8-9 (CEB); Matthew 7:12a (NRSV); Ephesians 4:29 (NRSV); James 2:14-17 (NRSV)

Proverbs 31:8-9 (CEB)

Speak out on behalf of the voiceless, and for the rights of all who are vulnerable. Speak out in order to judge with righteousness and to defend the needy and the poor.

Matthew 7:12a (NRSV)

[Jesus said,] “In everything do to others as you would have them do to you.”

Ephesians 4:29 (NRSV)

Let no evil talk come out of your mouths, but only what is useful for building up, as there is need, so that your words may give grace to those who hear.

James 2:14-17 (NRSV)

What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if you say you have faith but do not have works? Can faith save you? If a brother or sister is naked and lacks daily food, and one of you says to them, “Go in peace; keep warm and eat your fill,” and yet you do not supply their bodily needs, what is the good of that? So faith by itself, if it has no works, is dead.

Prayer Tip

by Chris Holliday, Resurrection West Connection & Care Pastor and Adult Discipleship Director

I grew up in a small southern town in eastern North Carolina. It was a nice quiet place with a church on about every corner, not a lot of crime, and people who waved and smiled as they passed one another. It was a one McDonald’s, one Pizza Hut, one high school kind of town.

The population of my high school was about half black and half white. I had many black friends-–good friends whom I enjoyed singing with in choir, marching alongside in band, and serving with in various school clubs. Most of us had known each other and played together since we were kids.

Each year right before high school graduation, a party for the seniors and their families was held at the town’s one and only country club. But the gathering wasn’t for all seniors. It was only for those who were white.

Tina was in my graduating class and a friend since elementary school. She also happened to be black. Her Dad was our assistant principal, well liked and respected in the community. Tina and her parents knew what was happening was wrong, so on the same night as the country club gathering, they hosted a party for ALL seniors.

I wish I could tell you I went to Tina’s party, but I didn’t. I went to the country club party with all my white friends. Yes, I was in church from the time I was a baby. Yes, my parents were wonderful, loving people. Yet I conformed to a broken, unjust system and accepted it without any real thought or feeling. I did what we had always done in my town.

As I grew older and my world became larger, my eyes were opened to the prejudice within me. How could I not have seen or understood how wrong and hurtful this was?

Fortunately, the racially segregated high school senior parties are long gone from my hometown. And as a country, we’ve certainly made some strides towards what Dr. King described as the “bright and glittering daybreak of freedom and justice.” But we have a long way to go. There is still far too much societal injustice and inhumanity plaguing our communities, nation, and world. As we pray today, let’s ask God to help us realize our own prejudices and ask for forgiveness. Let’s pray for those living in the wake of inequality and oppression. Let’s ask God to show us the best ways to rise up and stand firm against injustice and evil. And let’s pray for the strength and courage to work towards making Dr. King’s dream a reality for all. Amen.