Pastor’s Corner – February 1, 2026
Spirit of Justice – Matthew 5:1-11
“My relationship with the Lord is my foundation in all things. As a result, the values I hold according to biblical principles impact my decisions: we are called to love, but we’re also instructed to stand for truth. I’m hopeful my leadership reflects that.”
Believe it or not, the above statement is from Kristi Noem on public radio when she was running for governor of South Dakota. Another thing I discovered about her – she is a PK, a pastor’s kid like me. She is a member of Foursquare Pentecostal Church where her grandparents were founding members. While mainline denominations have spoken against injustice and inhuman treatment of immigrants by ICE, and more recently against another American citizen Alex Pretti being executed by ICE last Saturday, it’s hard to see how the DHS secretary can reconcile her faith with her leadership that terrorizes immigrants and communities. In an article by Brian Kaylor, Foursquare’s silence is an indictment, a self-condemnation against everything the gospel is about that “calls us to love and stand for truth!” Kristi Noem is Foursquare’s most visible public figure and they are silent.
We Presbyterians are not silent. It’s not in our DNA or tradition. We try to be faithful to God’s call “to do justice, to love kindness, and to walk humbly with our God.”(Micah 6:8). Though we may feel overwhelmed by the news and all the mess that’s going on in our world, we cannot ignore nor be silent in the face of injustice. We often feel exhausted when time and time again we hear news of brutality and violence. The grief and sadness can numb and paralyze us. In times like these, I need inspiration and a message of hope.
As I prepared for this week’s sermon, I came across Diana Butler Bass’ blog, The Cottage, where she shared a sermon delivered by Dr. Jemar Tisby at the Southern Lights Conference last weekend (https://tinyurl.com/yke9f9sz). I highly recommend you watch this. There were some key points and takeaways that empowered me with wisdom, but the home run delivery was the story of his experience at the Mississippi Civil Rights Museum when Myrlie Evers Williams spoke just an arm’s length away from the rifle that was used to murder her husband in 1963 by a KKK member. She began by saying how she is now seeing things she hoped she would never see again, but “There is something about the spirit of justice, that raises up like a war horse, that horse that stands with its back sunk in, and here is that bell, and all of a sudden it becomes straight, and the back becomes stiff and you become determined all over again.”
Come Sunday, we hear the bell ringing again. We hear, reflect and ponder the words from the prophet Micah and the sermon on the mount by Jesus. It’s not by accident during this season of Epiphany we come across these lectionary readings. God is calling us to righteousness, to make wrong right, to side with God who loves justice and to love what God loves, to center those who are marginalized and to be led by the same Spirit of God that led Jesus. God is calling us to faithfulness to the way of Christ and the prophets. As the preacher Jemar Tisby says, “justice is not a distraction from the gospel but demonstration of the gospel!” Amen!
The world now is too dangerous
and too beautiful for anything but love.
May your eyes be so blessed you see God in everyone.
Your ears, so you hear the cry of the poor.
May your hands be so blessed
that everything you touch is a sacrament.
Your lips, so you speak nothing but the truth with love.
May your feet be so blessed you run
to those who need you.
And may your heart be so opened,
so set on fire, that your love,
your love, changes everything.
Brian Baker from A Black Rock Prayer Book