Sharing Our Stories: A call to act justly, love mercy and walk humbly with God

A Call to Action 
A guest post by Heidi Lewis-Ivey

“They will rebuild the ancient ruins and restore the places long devastated; they will renew the ruined cities that have been devastated for generations.”

– Isaiah 61:4 (NIV)

July 4 is a special day for American citizens because The Declaration of Independence was signed on July 4, 1776. This act resulted in the official separation of the 13 original colonies from Great Britain amid the Revolutionary War.

This is also considered the birth of our nation. It’s interesting to me that at the same time, Black people were enslaved, and Native people had been pushed off land they’d inhabited long before 1492. For me and many others, this Independence Day feels different and I have to ask, “How do we reconcile the history of this nation in our hearts?”

I attended a virtual conference last weekend whose theme scripture was Isaiah 61:4. As I listened to the speakers talk about rebuilding the ancient ruins, restoring places long devastated, and renewing the ruined cities, I began to ask myself, “What does this all mean?”

Hoping to find answers to my question, I did a word search and rediscovered these definitions, according to Merriam-Webster:

Rebuild means “to restore to a previous state” and “to make extensive repairs to.”

Restore means “put back or bring back into a former or original state.”

Renew means “restore to existence” and “to make new spiritually: REGENERATE”

There it was, the word “regenerate” that is the supernatural work of God’s Holy Spirit.

To reconcile racism in the history of America, there needs to be regeneration. The Holy Spirit reminded me that this process begins with repentance. In this case, it is repentance not for our individual sin, but for the sins of the nation.

According to Rev. Melwyn Misquitta, “identification repentance” is first the work of intercession. During this act of intercession, one identifies with a particular corporate sin (national, regional, ethnic, religious, vocational, or family) and represent the perpetrators (or victims) by repenting of that particular sin.

There are several Biblical examples that I will share in a short list below. Note that in these examples, the Bible characters Ezra, Jeremiah and Daniel didn’t commit the sin they confessed. But as representatives, they identified with and confessed the corporate sin.

Read these three Bible verses for the details:

1. Ezra 9:6-16

2. Jeremiah 3:25; Jeremiah 14:7

3. Daniel 9:8-10

Finally, read Micah 6:8 (NIV) for details on what God requires of us. The verse says: “He has shown you, O mortal, 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.”

Closing Thoughts:

1. Speak out for justice in the nation. Read Amos 2:6b-7 (NRSV) for details.

2. Speak out for justice among nations. Read Amos chapter 1 (all of it).

Let’s Pray: Father God, we as a body of believers repent for the sin of our nation. Lord, forgive us for the injustices we have perpetrated against each other. Have mercy on us for the division that exists. Help us to live up to the creed that all men are created equal and that we are one nation under God. Forgive us, oh Lord, because we have not displayed your love for each other. Lord, we have allowed our fears and false beliefs that have been passed down through generations, to turn our hearts. Heal us from the inside out and cause your love to permeate within us. You said in John 13:35 (KJV), “By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another.” This is my desire. In the precious name of Jesus I pray. Amen.

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Author Bio:

Heidi Lewis-Ivey is an ordained elder, a prophetic minister, an internationally acclaimed speaker, and an award-winning and bestselling author.  

She is the author of Can I Rest Awhile? and a co-author in Soulful Prayers Volumes 1 and 2 and Soulful Affirmations.

She has her Master of Business Administration in Organizational Leadership from Norwich University and a Bachelor of Science in Management from Boston University.

Heidi is a member of the Pentimenti Women Writers Group, a mentor with YearUp, a board member for Friends of Young Achievers, and a Diversity Equity and Inclusion Strategist.

She lives in Boston, Massachusetts.

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Connect with Heidi:
LinkedIn: www.LinkedIn.com/in/heidi-lewis-ivey
Instagram: www.instagram.com/iamheidi01

Sharing Our Stories: Reconciling Sins

Reconciling the Sins of Our Ancestors
A guest post by Marie W. Watts

I, like many Caucasian Americans, have ancestors who were slaveholders. Case in point is documentation I have uncovered about my ancestor Francis Dorsett (my great-great-great-great-great grandfather) and his son John Dorsett (my direct descendent).

Francis was born in England in 1740 and migrated to the United States. The family settled in Chatham County, North Carolina. (West of Raleigh). Francis served in the Revolutionary War by furnishing supplies. Upon his death in 1813, he owned 277 acres of land. A complete inventory of possessions is fascinating and includes the following:

• a hymn book and Bible, although he was illiterate, 
• one looking glass, 
• one wagon, 
• blacksmith tools, 
• Livestock: seventeen hogs, three horses, two cattle, four sheep, 
• Kitchenware: two kettles, two pots, one skillet, one tea kettle, one set of teaware (sic), and One Negro Woman, Mime. (Note: Mime was left to Francis’s wife, Rebecca, in his will.

Rebecca was fortunate as he left her one-third of his property until her death. Then, the lands went to his sons. The custom was, at the time, to leave daughters nothing. However, he did leave Mime’s future firstborn child to his daughter as well as Mime, herself, upon Rebecca’s demise.

Slavery is abhorrent to me, and I am not personally responsible for it. Unfortunately, the remnants of slavery—racism—are woven into the fabric of our social and economic systems, leaving persons of color at a disadvantage. This impediment is not in keeping with the Christian tradition of loving your neighbor as yourself.

The question then becomes, are we responsible for the sins of our ancestors?

Dr. Michael Rhodes, in the article “Should We Repent of Our Grandparents’ Racism? Scripture on Intergenerational Sin”, suggests a closer look at Leviticus 26:40–44 for guidance. He states:

"…one reason the present generation needs to repent of the sins of their forebears is that sin causes a rupture that must be repaired. What’s required is not just that the present generation confess their sins and the sins of their ancestors, but also that they “make amends (yirṣû) for their iniquity” (26:41b, 43). If the damage one generation does is not fixed in their own day, that damage does not simply disappear at their death. The wrong must be righted, and the job may well fall on their descendants."

The healing process begins by naming our intergenerational sins and realizing how we, personally, have benefitted from them. For instance, depriving persons of color economically through the lack of good jobs, bank loans, and full participation in the American dream has left the rest of us in a better financial situation.

The second step is to actually make a change, starting within ourselves. Are we perpetuating stereotypes? Do we walk the talk of Christianity?

Until our hearts are clear, we cannot begin to take action in the community to undo the effects of racism. Once self-healing has occurred, we can take action by supporting efforts to create a racially just society. 

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Author Bio:

Marie W. Watts is a former employment discrimination investigator and human resource consultant with over twenty-five years of experience. In pursuit of justice in the workplace, she’s been from jails to corporate boardrooms seeing the good, the bad, and the ugly of humans at work.

Her on-the-job observations came in handy when she co-authored a textbook about how to behave at work, Human Relations 4th ed. Additionally, her work has been published in the Texas Bar Journal and the Houston Business Journal as well as featured on Issues Today syndicated to 119 radio stations, NBC San Antonio, Texas, and TAMU-TV in College Station, Texas.

A popular diversity and employment discrimination trainer, Marie has trained thousands of employees to recognize their own biases and prejudices and avoid discriminating against others in the workplace. She has brought her experiences to life in the trilogy Warriors For Equal Rights about the struggles of ordinary people who work at the little-known federal agency, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC).

She and her husband live on a ranch in central Texas. In her spare time, she supports a historic house and hangs out with her grandsons. For more information about Marie and her stories about life, visit www.mariewatts.com.

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Connect with Marie:
BookBub - https://www.bookbub.com/profile/marie-w-watts
Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/mariewattsbooks
Twitter - https://twitter.com/MarieWattsBooks
Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/mariewattswriter/
LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/marie-w-watts-5b2a2b/