March Update

Dear Family and Friends,

Otis lives less than a mile from me. He runs a ministry from his home and in a nearby park. He takes to heart the passage in Matthew 25: “For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me...I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.” Otis has made his life about sharing the love of Jesus in an unjust world in the midst of those who suffer most: the homeless, the hurting, the sick, and the dying.

He took his stand for justice long ago and it has shaped his life and his ministry ever since. Recently, I was privileged to hear where his passion for justice began as he shared a story from his work with Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. in the 1960's. Otis recalls one day in particular when he and many friends from his church boarded a bus traveling to Alabama with plans to march peaceably for civil rights with Dr. King. About 45 minutes before they arrived at their destination the driver pulled over and allowed several men with weapons to board the bus as well. As the bus began to move again the men began mercilessly beating those on board.

Forty years have not erased the memories of that day for Otis. He gave vivid details of the horror of that bus ride. He also shared the beauty of a friendship which has endured both that experience and all the years since. Sitting next to Otis that day was a young white man with shaggy blond hair. His white skin did not protect him from the beatings on that bus. He and Otis took those blows together. Their love for Christ and their love for justice bonded them together forever.

Today each of these men are still fighting for justice. Otis through his ministry here in St. Louis, and his friend through a position in politics. Otis shared with us that his friend is the most just man he has ever known. I have to believe that because he experienced injustice, he understands better God’s perfect justice. What a great gift to have come from such a terrible experience.

I feel like I am beginning to catch a glimpse of that, too. This story and other recent events have pointed out to me man’s terrible injustice against fellow man. But I was encouraged as a friend shared a message on God’s perfect justice. I was reminded of Micah 6:8, “He has showed you, O man, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.”

My flesh is not just. But the Spirit of the living God within me surely is. My prayer is that I will learn to walk by the Spirit, to allow Him to move in me for justice. Will you pray for Otis, myself, and many others who are working in the inner city to act justly among our neighbors, to be merciful even to strangers, and to walk in humility before all so that our lives might bring others to the knowledge of our perfect God?

Serving Him,
Beth