We Will Not Be Silent

Content Warning: Today’s devo addresses sexual violence.

Tamar… Rahab… Ruth… Uriah’s wife… Mary.

In this list of unusual names from Matt. 1, the names of the mothers jumping out from the text amidst the sea of fathers, one is not like the others. Bathsheba’s actual name does not appear. Instead, she’s listed as Uriah’s wife, as well as parent to Solomon with the “great” King David.

It’s an interesting paradox. On the one hand, the writer of Matt. 1 is very interested in highlighting Jesus’ connection to David, as part of the justification for recognizing Jesus as messiah. David matters deeply in Israel’s history. On the other hand, the writer also seems to deliberately remind us of David’s whole story, which is to say, Bathsheba’s whole story. That she had been sinned against horribly by David, raped and impregnated, her husband killed in an attempt to cover it all up.

The Bible here refuses to be silent against sexual violence. Why then are churches silent so often?

If religious communities fail to tell stories that reflect the experience of the women of our past, we will inevitably fail to address the sense of entitlement, assumption of superiority and lust for punishment carried through those stories and inherited by men of the present. - Pastor Emily M.D. Scott

On Sunday we shared the full version of a prayer for women and survivors first offered at CCLB several years ago. You can find it HERE if you’d like. Or perhaps you’d like to sit quietly with a smaller portion of it, allowing yourself to be aware of the stories and emotions it brings up for you, and aware of Jesus’s presence with you.*

In your kingdom, God, all are heard.
In your kingdom, pain is not mocked.
In your kingdom, the marginalized are honored.
In your kingdom, swords are turned into plowshares, and spears into pruning hooks.
In your kingdom, we are ALL co-heirs with Christ and there is room for ALL at your table.
In your kingdom, God, there can be no injustice because you yourself are just.
In your kingdom, the powerful are brought down from their thrones and the lowly are lifted.

So today we pray today that your Kingdom would come, and your will would be done.

In Jesus’ name,

Amen.

*This topic may bring up emotions and memories you need support to process. Please do not struggle alone! CCLB community, you can always reach out to a pastor. And HERE is a list of resources in Los Angeles County, some but not all specifically Christian. We’d like to highlight the Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network (RAINN), Crisis Hotline 24/7:  800-656-HOPE (4673), www.rainn.org