Terry Storch

Writing about life, leadership, faith, and anything else I find interesting.

Acts 27 Part 2, Injustice and Mercy

 

Acts 27 Part 2, Injustice and Mercy

As I read today, and honestly, most of this week, my mind and heart are in another place. I am still wrestling and processing all the protests, riots, and the injustice in our nation. The death of George Floyd weighs so heavily on me. My posture is listening and empathizing primarily, but with that in mind, it would be wrong, in my opinion, to just listen and empathize without a little speaking. Staying silent sends the wrong message, so let me be clear the horrific murder of George Floyd was wrong and tragic. Justice is required, and MLK said it best. 

Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. - Martin Luther King, Jr

I can not pretend to understand to know what it is like to grow up in America as a black man or woman. The stories I hear and the realities that are exposed are heartbreaking to me. The data and numbers are tragic, seeing the oppression that is all around us, still! Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere, and I believe we must take this seriously and lean into this now. 

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Act Justly. Love Mercy. Walk Humbly. To personalize this, I am so proud of my daughters, who have a passion for justice, and mercy is a beautiful way. How they are responding and reacting to all of this brings joy to my broken heart. My girls, who are teenagers, have zero tolerance for racism, bigotry, or any suppression. It does not stop at race, it extends beyond, and they both offer a loving hand to those who might be on the fringe or considered outsiders. 

The feelings and deep emotion inside of me won't come through in these words that I type because I just have not been able to sort through them all and land on the way to express it. What I can say is this, when I look at my right forearm, I am reminded of Jesus and his words to us. 

“He answered, “ ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind’; and, ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ ” - ‭‭Luke‬ ‭10:27‬ ‭NIV‬‬

Tattooed on my arm in a band design is Love God Love Others. Love others in on the inside of my forearm, and I see it just about every minute of every day... and this is on purpose. Below, hidden a bit in the design is a single dot that represents the one. When I am thinking about loving others, I like to remember this needs to be personal and brought down to the one. 

I do not have the right answers, and I imagine I am not even asking all the right questions. In these moments, I am walking humbly with a listening ear and a posture of love. 

What on earth does this have to do with Acts 27, part 2? Well, I am not sure. When I read this chapter, I read about 276 people on board a ship that is in a horrific storm; the mass majority of them feel hopeless and believe they are going to die. They go two weeks without food, and at every turn, their situation looks darker and direr. I read this, and with the context and posture of my heart, it makes me feel honestly a bit like the situation around us right now. We are on board a ship that is being beaten, cracking, taking on water, and the surrounding are dark and gloomy. 

The end of Acts 27 closes with a lot of drama. 

“The soldiers planned to kill the prisoners to prevent any of them from swimming away and escaping. But the centurion wanted to spare Paul’s life and kept them from carrying out their plan. He ordered those who could swim to jump overboard first and get to land. The rest were to get there on planks or other pieces of the ship. In this way everyone reached land safely.” - ‭‭Acts‬ ‭27:42-44‬ ‭NIV‬‬

Death was imminent for the prisoners, but their lives were spared. In this historic moment, God’s mercy transcended, and everyone reached the land safely. We must not forget that before this, many many lives were taken and lost in the name of Jesus. At this moment, lives were spared, but that was not always the case. In our society today, we see lives lost, and oppression all around...not unlike the time's Paul was facing. Paul’s words of encouragement, acts of mercy, and humility inspire me. Paul pushed back when he needed it and did not rollover. I believe Paul would be at the center of protests and giving a voice to the injustice. While Paul was doing it, the thing Paul would do would be a representative of Jesus Christ and bring glory to His name. My prayer for us and the body of Christ is that we can listen with deep empathy and compassion, and speak in a way that brings the message of Jesus to these tragic times. 

Act Justly. Love Mercy. Walk Humbly. 

other writing
John 20 - The Gospel

John 20 - The Gospel

The Gospel, the Good News! Jesus, Son of God, was born of Mary, lived as the Son of Man, died, and rose to life to rescue the world and bring about a new life. The central message of the gospel. Jesus, the centerpiece! John 19 & 20 cover the brutal death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus.

In this scene, I can not imagine how the disciples felt. John describes them as overjoyed...but those words just fall short of what I can imagine this moment was like.

John 19 - The Magnitude of the Cross

John 19 - The Magnitude of the Cross

The day of Jesus' crucifixion fulfilled 28 Old Testament prophecies. Scripture was fulfilled! Beyond that, trying to wrap my mind around what happened this day, on the cross, and fully grabbing the magnitude of the cross is mind-boggling.

Sure, we can dumb this down or simplify it to a place where I just don’t believe it is anywhere near accurate. We can get into penal substitution and argue over was God full of love or was God full of wrath and hate that he killed his son. To me, John 3:16 is pretty clear on the love part.

John 18 - Jesus levels an army

John 18 - Jesus levels an army

In John 18, we come to the great betrayal. Judas came with the soldiers, officials, and chief priest and Pharisees. We know the scene. But this morning, I saw something I don’t remember reading and surly don’t remember learning about.

“So Judas came to the garden, guiding a detachment of soldiers and some officials from the chief priests and the Pharisees. They were carrying torches, lanterns and weapons. Jesus, knowing all that was going to happen to him, went out and asked them, “Who is it you want?” “Jesus of Nazareth,” they replied. “I am he,” Jesus said. (And Judas the traitor was standing there with them.) When Jesus said, “I am he,” they drew back and fell to the ground.” - ‭‭John‬ ‭18:3-6‬ ‭NIV‬‬

John 17 - The Lords Prayer

John 17 - The Lords Prayer

John 17 is Jesus looking heavenward and praying to God the Father. So much beauty and mystery in this prayer. One thing that jumps out to me is that Jesus, fully God, and fully man prayed. Jesus is God fully. Why did he need to pray, He was One with the Father, He was God...and yet he prayed. This is so powerful;

“And now, Father, glorify me in your presence with the glory I had with you before the world began.” - ‭‭John‬ ‭17:5‬ ‭NIV‬‬

John 16 - What does it take to believe?

John 16 - What does it take to believe?

By the end of John 16, Jesus had done countless miracles, preached some amazing sermons, transformed so many lives, and developed a close and personal relationship with his disciples. So, when reading these verses, I am just utterly confused on so many levels.

“I came from the Father and entered the world; now I am leaving the world and going back to the Father.” Then Jesus’ disciples said, “Now you are speaking clearly and without figures of speech. Now we can see that you know all things and that you do not even need to have anyone ask you questions. This makes us believe that you came from God.” “Do you now believe?” Jesus replied.” - ‭‭John‬ ‭16:28-31‬ ‭NIV‬‬

John 16 - Undervaluing God in Spirit

John 16 - Undervaluing God in Spirit

Jesus’ time on earth is quickly coming to a close, and he finishes up his last sermon or teaching to his disciples as they walk to Gethsemane. This final teaching was a heavy one that no doubt left his disciples with a heavy heart. Jesus said it this way;

“...None of you asks me, ‘Where are you going?’ Rather, you are filled with grief because I have said these things.” - ‭‭John‬ ‭16:5-6‬ ‭NIV‬‬

Jesus goes on to say;

John 15 - Constant Growth

John 15 - Constant Growth

We were built for growth, constant growth. From birth, all the way until our death, we were designed by God for constant growth. The problem is, we often can find ourselves stuck in a belief, a phase, or a part of life where we stop growing.

One of the most brilliant investors embodies this understanding. Charlie Munger, at 96 years old, is still learning and growing as a person. I love this quote:

“Knowing what you don’t know is more useful than being brilliant.”
- Charlie Munger

John 14 - The Gift of Peace

John 14 - The Gift of Peace

John 14 opens with Jesus, saying, Don’t let your hearts be troubled. And the chapter closed down with Jesus saying Don’t be troubled or afraid.

A message that needs to resonate with our spirit and our inner self. This was such a good reminder, reading through John 14 over and over. This passage lifted off the screen.

“But when the Father sends the Advocate as my representative—that is, the Holy Spirit—he will teach you everything and will remind you of everything I have told you. “I am leaving you with a gift—peace of mind and heart…

John 14 - Troubled Hearts

John 14 - Troubled Hearts

The world today seems so volatile and chaotic. Everywhere you look, whatever we read and see on TV just seems to be troubling. Last night, I noticed my lovely wife Tweeted this;

“I can’t be the only one who watches the news and is simply embarrassed right now, right? (Dear Jesus, we tap out. Come on back.)”

I find this first humorous, but then I also find it sad. It’s true, watching the news as a Christ-follower is pretty embarrassing. In John 14, we see Jesus…

John 13 - Unselfish Concern

John 13 - Unselfish Concern

Summarizing John, chapter 13, looks like this. The Lords Supper takes place. Jesus washes the disciple's feet. Jesus calls out Judas, and Satan enters him. Night comes, Judas leaves, and Jesus says he must go, and where I am going, you can not come. To cap it all off, Jesus also calls out Simon Peter and tells him that he will deny and completely disown Jesus three times. Whoa, a really full chapter, and historical day.

Nestled in the wrap up of the day is the parting message Jesus leaves his disciples, a message Jesus is sharing with us right now.

 
thoughtsTerry Storchacts