Monday Scripture and Prayer: Acts 17
Riots in the Streets
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They rounded up some bad characters from the marketplace, formed a mob and started a riot in the city.
They rushed to Jason’s house in search of Paul and Silas in order to bring them out to the crowd.
But when they did not find them, they dragged Jason and some other believers before the city officials, shouting:
“These men who have caused trouble all over the world have now come here,
and Jason has welcomed them into his house.
They are all defying Caesar’s decrees, saying that there is another king, one called Jesus.”
When they heard this, the crowd and the city officials were thrown into turmoil.
Then they made Jason and the others post bond and let them go.
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Yesterday we celebrated Pentecost,
the day joy spilled out of the upper room and into the streets.
Thousands were added to the church that day.
Last night our nation erupted with frustration and anger.
Even here in Fredericksburg, the world has been turned upside down.
Riot police fired tear gas into a crowd, and a state of emergency was ordered.
In Washington, the President took to an underground bunker.
Thousands of people are demanding to be heard.
In Stafford, Sheriff David P. Decatur took off his protective gear.
He thanked and prayed with the protesters gathered there.
But the anger continued to build.
Highways were blocked.
Pepper spray was fired.
It is no great surprise that frustrations are boiling.
This has been a frustrating year.
Anxiety and isolation have fueled the fires.
Thousands of people feel their lives do not matter.
They are demanding to be heard.
Social distancing has been replaced by social uprising.
Silencing the frustration is not the answer.
We may be able to pass new laws and call for more investigations.
But they won't solve the problem either.
Sheriff Decatur is on the right track, but he can't do it alone.
People need to know there is a place where ALL lives matter,
a place where frustration and anxiety can be replaced with love and compassion.
At Grace-Hartwood, we are building a place like that.
But it's not enough.
We've been too private.
Too quiet.
Too long.
Let joy spill over into the streets.
Let thousands see we love them and care for them.
Let millions stand with Sheriff Decatur.
Those who have turned the world upside down have come here also.
Let''s turn the world right side up with the love of Jesus.
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Prayer of St Francis
Lord, make me an instrument of your peace:
where there is hatred, let me sow love;
where there is injury, pardon;
where there is doubt, faith;
where there is despair, hope;
where there is darkness, light;
where there is sadness, joy.
O divine Master, grant that I may not so much seek
to be consoled as to console,
to be understood as to understand,
to be loved as to love.
For it is in giving that we receive,
it is in pardoning that we are pardoned,
and it is in dying that we are born to eternal life.
Amen.