Stirring the Still Waters

Focus Statement

Peace without justice isn’t peace at all—

it’s just silence dressed up for worship.

Point of Relation

Before the dream, there was disruption.

Before the marches,

the Nobel Prize,

and the memorials,

there was a father—

also a pastor of Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta—

standing his ground.

One day, a white police officer called him “boy.”

And he looked that man in the eye and said, “I’m a man. I’m Reverend King.”

He didn’t raise his voice. He didn’t back down.

And he didn’t let the moment slide.

He stirred the waters—

not to create division, but to call forth dignity.

That kind of peace—the kind rooted in truth, not silence—

is what he passed on to his son,

the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

And that kind of peace is still stirring.

Things to Consider

What do we call peace—and who gets to define it?

Have we confused calm with faithfulness, silence with holiness?

Is our worship stirring anything beyond these walls?

On this Father’s Day, we honor those who’ve passed down not just love, but courage—

the kind that speaks up, shows up,

and shakes the waters when justice demands it.

Because the question Amos asks still echoes:

What does God hear when we sing?

What Scripture Says

In Amos 5, God says: “I hate, I despise your religious festivals.” Not, “I’m disappointed”—

but, “I hate them.”

Because while hands are lifted in worship,

the poor are crushed beneath them.

“Even though you bring offerings…

I will not accept them.

Away with the noise of your songs!”

God isn’t rejecting music—

he’s rejecting worship that ignores injustice.

Rituals became a substitute for righteousness.

More about repressing the oppressed than releasing them.

Amos speaks to believers who show up,

say the right words, and look away.

James echoes it: what good is faith if it doesn’t feed the hungry,

care for the sick,

take in the homeless,

Pause

and accept the rejected?

Pause

God doesn’t want a performance.

God wants a river—justice that moves, flows,

and doesn’t dry up by Sunday afternoon.

What This Means for You

Maybe you’ve been going through the motions—

faithful on the outside, but distant inside.

Maybe worship has become routine, or peace has become silence.

It can and does happen to me too!

But here’s the good news: God isn’t finished with you.

God isn’t looking for perfection—

God is looking for movement.

For faith that flows beyond these walls.

For justice that begins with

YOU.

You don’t have to fix the world today.

But you can stir the waters.

You can make peace real—

in your words, your actions, your table, your life.

What This Means for Us

As a church, we are called to more than comfort.

We’re called to let justice roll—

not just in what we say, but in how we live.

That means listening more deeply,

loving more boldly,

and refusing to stay quiet when others are crushed.

Let’s be a community where peace isn’t passive—

here worship overflows into action. Amen? Amen.

Written by Rev. Todd R. Lattig with the assistance of ChatGPT (OpenAI).