The Prayer Room--11/23/14, Last Sunday After Pentecost

A man kneels and prays at a makeshift memorial for Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri. (Photo: CBS News)

Many of us will turn our hearts to Thanksgiving this week, and we should definitely do that. Most of us will never know what it's like to be truly hungry.  Many of us will never know what it's like to not have a roof over our heads.  Many of us will never be a victim of violent crime.  Those of us who are fortunate in these and other respects should give thanks for the blessings in our lives.

But we need to remember that this isn't the same for everybody.  In particular I'm thinking about the people of Ferguson, Missouri.  Most of us will be familiar with the events of August 9, 2014, when Michael Brown, an African American teenager, was shot and killed by Darren Wilson, a white police officer.  This sparked racial tensions throughout not only the Ferguson area, but in different places all over the country as well.  It also raised the specter of violence in our society and concerns about the legitimacy of the use of deadly force by police officers.  In short, this incident has become about more than just the particular facts of the case.

Look, I don't know what happened.  I wasn't there, and I haven't seen the evidence.  Perhaps the only person who REALLY knows is officer Wilson himself.  However, this doesn't make the questions that have been asked and the issues that have been raised less valid.  The issues will have to be faced and these greater questions will be have to be answered going forward.  They're not going to go away. 

Many people believe that the church has a role to play here, not only in the larger sense of confronting these big issues, but in the smaller sense of helping the community of Ferguson throughout the days ahead.  The grand jury that will decide whether or not to indict officer Wilson will be announcing their findings soon, likely in the next couple of days.  Most legal experts have said that they don't believe that Wilson will be indicted for killing Brown, and it's quite likely that this is going to cause a great deal of strife in that community which has already been through so much.  There might be some pretty bad things going on there while most of us focus on turkey, football, and family this week.  I pray that this won't be the case, but I fear it will be. 

So I ask that we all keep the people of Ferguson in our prayers and thoughts this week and ask Christ to bring about peace in this situation.

JOYS AND THANKSGIVINGS

--For family and friends that gather around us and support us not only in the good times, but in the bad.

--For the blessings that we each receive in our lives every day and every year.

--For those who will be working to provide a thanksgiving dinner to people who are homeless or less fortunate.

CONCERNS AND PETITIONS

--For those who don't have family and friends, or who are separated from them for Thanksgiving and the holidays.

--For those who will be experiencing the first Thanksgiving after losing a loved one.

--For those who will be traveling throughout the week.

--For the people of Ferguson, Missouri, as they try to cope with the ramifications of the events taking place in their community.

--That Christ will grant us his peace and help to look past race, gender, sexual orientation, and the like and see the humanity in each and every one of his children.