Day 5 – Issue 16

Be Still Know

Psalm 82:3-4 NLT

‘Give justice to the poor and the orphan; uphold the rights of the oppressed and the destitute. Rescue the poor and helpless; deliver them from the grasp of evil people.’

Today Premier’s Novena begins with an invitation to pray for nine consecutive days, as we wait just like those first disciples, gathered in an upper room, anticipating the visitation of the Holy Spirit on that first Pentecost. Each day we will identify and pray for a specific marginalised people group. But why does God have a special heart for the poor? Scripture continually reminds us this is the nature of God’s kingdom concern.

What is marginalisation? It is those who are involuntarily prevented from accessing the productive activity upon which society is built. It may be for a season, such as a period of unemployment, or as a vulnerable child grows into an independent adult.

For some, marginalisation is something they can’t escape. Those born with physical or learning disabilities are assumed incapable by many who believe disability is insurmountable, preventing a ‘normal’ life, where normal represents the lifestyle of the so-called able-bodied.

God sent his Son into the world to declare a year of Jubilee, freedom for all, no matter where they found themselves in society’s pecking order.

I observed Katey being forced to retire through ill health from an active teaching role, abandoned to a meaningless, shut-in existence due to her MS-related disability. Identity was stripped from her; she was quickly forgotten and isolated. Jayne, whom I am now married to, was abandoned by her husband when seven months’ pregnant with her first child, and experienced poverty. God invites us, just as Jesus came in search of the lost to open a door of mercy, to work together as Church to go in search of the marginalised, to find ways of offering hope that enables those who find themselves at the margins to walk back towards the centre. Such a Church has something to offer to a rapidly fragmenting society.

QUESTION: Who do you know who is at the margins? They are not simply on the other side of the world. They are on your streets, dotted throughout your community.

NOVENA PRAYER: Father, Son and Holy Spirit, give me the eyes of Christ that I might see those who have slipped to the margins of society within my neighbourhood. I offer my feet that you might carry me to them, my hands that I might be an authentic source of support and encouragement to bring them hope.