This week is City on Our Knees. It is one week a year that we join with thousands of brothers and sisters across our city to pray in unity to see the kingdom of Jesus break into Ottawa.
“Share your food with the hungry, and give shelter to the homeless. Give clothes to those who need them, and do not hide from relatives who need your help.”
Isaiah 58:7
“All they asked was that we should continue to remember the poor, the very thing I had been eager to do all along.”
Galatians 2:10
Reflection
A theme we see continuously throughout the scriptures is generosity towards those in need. The Hebrew word for this is tzedakah or righteousness. Its fuller meaning includes the actions of giving charity and doing justice, with an emphasis on the poor and the powerless.
In the Protestant tradition, we have shifted the emphasis from righteousness being something we do, to something we receive. We come to God in humble recognition that we are sinners and cannot earn the salvation offerd to us through Jesus Christ. We are truely poor and powerless. Yet God in His great love and grace, freely gives us salvation. Jesus takes our spiritual rags and exchanges them for His own, rich clothes of righteousness. His act of righteousness restores us to full relationship with the Father. This grace, or righteousness that we have received is not the end of the story, but the beginning of a new one.
The clear expectation is that we now go in His name and do the same to the poor and the powerless. James, the brother of Jesus said; "If one of you says to them, “Go in peace; keep warm and well fed,” but does nothing about their physical needs, what good is it? In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead."
Therefore, let the kingdom of God and His righteousness flow through you to others. This is at the heart of the gospel, to see people restored to God and flourishing in community.
Prayer Points for Housing
The City of Ottawa will meet the target of 100,000 new residences in the next 10 years.
All levels of government will take steps to support affordable housing so that everyone has a place to call home.
Governments will streamline the approval process so more houses and apartments can be built.
Christians will encourage their elected representatives at all levels to deal with the housing crisis.
Housing will not come at the cost of losing prime agricultural land that sustains our lives, nor the loss of green space that enriches our lives, nor degrades the character of our communities, but enhances them for our flourishing.
Christian missions in Ottawa will receive sufficient funds to provide shelter for homeless people currently living on city streets.
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