OWL Scripture Reflection – Fall 2022

Change for Good
By Rev. Amy Johnson
Minister for Sexuality Education and Justice
9/14/2022

“Don’t be overcome by evil; but overcome evil by doing good.” ~Romans 12:21 The Inclusive Bible

Evil is a strong word to use; however, we live in a time when our trans siblings are being targeted and informed they don’t have the right to exist. We are living in a time when reproductive justice is being undermined with shame, stigma, faulty theology and legislative precision. LGB beloved are understandably frightened their right to be married will be taken away. People who live in the margins of society continue to be the most impacted, while politicians and religious leaders create dramatic narratives that demand our attention and move us further and further away from justice for God’s people.

Every time we say the Lord’s prayer, we pray “deliver us from evil.” And yet, we cannot sit idly by and wait to be delivered. We are each part of the delivery system, whether we are taking an active or passive role. To change for good, we, as people of faith, must take on the uncomfortable work of deconstructing what we have been fed as truth, expose the lies within, and reclaim a gospel of liberation for every single body. And we must be relentless.

I hope you continue to advocate strongly for the use of Our Whole Lives/Sexuality and Our Faith in your congregations. I hope you engage in other justice work– reproductive justice work, racial justice work, economic justice work, and work that exposes the intersections of patriarchy, racism, and economic disparity with sexuality. This is work—good work. It takes time. It takes energy. It takes commitment and persistence. And, when we do this work for good, we participate in delivering ourselves from evil, and build the kin-dom of God among us, in all its power and glory forever. Amen.