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Oaks of Righteousness

We don’t shy away from tough conversations at Oak Tree. We lean into the pain and give space for all of the hard emotions that come, then we walk towards healing together. We don’t come with all of the answers, adequate words or a quick fix, we know healing is a process and the journey takes time. 

Right now our city, our nation, and our world is hurting. It is difficult to grasp the amount of suffering that has taken place in just a few short months, much less for centuries. The divide is becoming more and more clear. Anger is on every side. People are confused, and maybe for the first time, no longer able to ignore the stories of injustice flooding their news cycle. 

We hope that in this moment we can help bridge the growing divide for any who are willing to come to the table with humility and a desire to learn together.

The Treehouse is a special place, if you’ve been here you can’t deny it. As people from different races, socio-economic status, and denominations come together God is at work. He begins to reveal our implicit biases, our blind spots and show us false narratives that we have always believed. Something happens when you know the name and story of someone different than you. Racism dehumanizes our brothers and sisters, but when you become neighbors, you learn complex stories and your simple categorization of people no longer works. The boxes we place people in and stereotypes are no longer sufficient.

As a ministry, we want to be clear, the only reason we exist is because of injustice. We are here because things are broken, we should not be needed in our community, yet the needs are more than any of us can comprehend. God has called us to do justice.

When we say that we are a trauma-informed ministry, this is not limited to the trauma of the present. We must include the trauma of our past. It is much easier to skip the work of becoming educated on how we got to this point, but we will always be dealing with the symptoms rather than the disease if we don’t take a closer look. We must acknowledge that this trauma has been passed down through our history and has impacted all of us. 

You see, Marks Village was originally created for white families, in fact, my own family lived there. I have heard the conversations that begin, “East Lake used to be such a nice place.” So what happened? The underlying message is clear, the blame is placed on black families moving in. What I don’t hear mentioned is the racial terrorism that took place across our city, the struggle of desegregation, the white flight to the suburbs draining the city of resources, the complex war on drugs, and how red-lining prevented black families from choosing where they wanted to live.

Friends, sin left unchecked only grows. True confession and repentance have never taken place in our city. We must acknowledge this, and so much more, if we are going to understand where we are today, and why we are still largely segregated. 

Oak Tree’s name comes from Isaiah 61. This passage is the foundation of who we are as a ministry and what we go back to to remind us why we exist and what we are called to do. 

1 The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is on me,

    because the Lord has anointed me

    to proclaim good news to the poor.

He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted,

    to proclaim freedom for the captives

    and release from darkness for the prisoners,

2 to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor

    and the day of vengeance of our God,

to comfort all who mourn,

3  and provide for those who grieve in Zion—

to bestow on them a crown of beauty

    instead of ashes,

the oil of joy

    instead of mourning,

and a garment of praise

    instead of a spirit of despair.

They will be called oaks of righteousness,

    a planting of the Lord

    for the display of his splendor.

It’s a beautiful passage, isn’t it? Jesus preached this passage in a synagogue in Luke 4:16-30 announcing that He had come to finally fulfill this long awaited prophecy. The Scripture says the people were all amazed at His teaching. They loved the message! So how did things change so quickly from high praise for an excellent sermon to trying to throw Him off a cliff? Well, He highlighted their prejudices. He pointed out that God was for all people, that the Jews weren’t the only beneficiaries of His grace and, in fact, they were going to reject Him just as they had in the past. 

I can’t help but see the similarity in the reactions all across our nation at this moment. We love to read parts of Isaiah, but not necessarily the entire book. Let’s continue reading a few more verses,

4 They will rebuild the ancient ruins

    and restore the places long devastated;

they will renew the ruined cities

    that have been devastated for generations.

8  “For I, the Lord, love justice;

    I hate robbery and wrongdoing.

In my faithfulness I will reward my people

    and make an everlasting covenant with them.

Friends of Oak Tree, just like the people of Israel then, we are responsible for restoring the devastations of previous generations now. Not only are we responsible, but we are invited to take part in God’s redemptive plan. 

Things only get more uncomfortable when you begin to make the connection from Isaiah 1. God doesn’t sugar coat His message.

13 Stop bringing meaningless offerings!

    Your incense is detestable to me.

New Moons, Sabbaths and convocations—

    I cannot bear your worthless assemblies.

14 Your New Moon feasts and your appointed festivals

    I hate with all my being.

They have become a burden to me;

    I am weary of bearing them.

15 When you spread out your hands in prayer,

    I hide my eyes from you;

even when you offer many prayers,

    I am not listening.

Your hands are full of blood!

16 Wash and make yourselves clean.

    Take your evil deeds out of my sight;

    stop doing wrong.

17 Learn to do right; seek justice.

    Defend the oppressed.

Take up the cause of the fatherless;

    plead the case of the widow.

18 “Come now, let us settle the matter,”

    says the Lord.

“Though your sins are like scarlet,

    they shall be as white as snow;

though they are red as crimson,

    they shall be like wool.

19 If you are willing and obedient,

    you will eat the good things of the land;

20 but if you resist and rebel,

    you will be devoured by the sword.”

For the mouth of the Lord has spoken.

29 “You will be ashamed because of the sacred oaks

    in which you have delighted;

you will be disgraced because of the gardens

 that you have chosen.

30 You will be like an oak with fading leaves,

    like a garden without water.

Do you see the extreme contrast? In Isaiah 1 God’s people are looking out for their own self-interests, disobeying God’s command to do justice compared to when His Spirit leads the work in chapter 61. 

What sacred oaks are we delighting in? What are we unwilling to be challenged on? What are we trying to hold tightly to in one hand while lifting the other hand in praise to our God? Friends, it seems we are currently in a dying forest of our own idols. God is not pleased with our empty social media posts and our rush back to big worship gatherings if we are not willing to defend the oppressed in every area of our lives.

We cannot talk about cycles of poverty without talking about cycles of systemic racism that have perpetuated inequality since the founding of America. It is not by chance that 90% of our donors are white while 90% of the families we serve are black. Something is wrong. We must learn to listen and we must learn to fight for change together. 

Praise the Lord He does not leave us where we are! In the midst of clear judgement God reminds us of His grace. What a humbling and sobering picture. He tells us Isaiah 61 will come to pass and He will make us oaks of righteousness for His glory. But friends, don’t miss it. He holds His people accountable for whether or not they do justice as we wait on His final judgement. 

If we continue to ignore, or worse, silence, the cries of the oppressed, we cannot expect to be on God’s side of justice. If we only want to pass out food, but not have the discussion of why some of us have an abundance of food while others go hungry, we are bringing meaningless offerings. If we are not willing to recognize that we might have a limited perspective and need to learn from the voices of others, we cannot believe that we would have listened to the voice of Christ when He walked this earth. 

What we are facing in America is much more than a black/white issue, but it is not less than that. The protests are about much more than George Floyd, Ahmaud Arbery and Breonna Taylor, but they are not less than that. The riots are about much more than police reform, but they are not less than that. We must not try to simplify this situation in order for us to have easy explanations. 

We cannot only talk about the murders of people of color and skip examining the reasons behind the disproportionate number of their deaths from COVID-19. We cannot talk about the sin of riots and looting without also talking about protestors with assault weapons. We cannot talk about being pro-life while demanding our right to choose not to wear a mask. If we are going to be concerned with protecting the vulnerable, we must be consistent. Christ calls us to lay down our lives and pick up our cross. Are we declaring our rights for our own comfort or for the good of the “least of these?” Are we judging the spec in our brother’s eye while ignoring our plank? 

As a ministry we want to be clear, we are committed to justice. We are committed to listening and learning. We lament where we are and where we have been. We will work to dismantle the white savior mentality that plagues our world. We will not be complacent and remain where we are. We will leverage our privilege and resources for the good of our neighbors. We are seeking the Kingdom of God above all else. We know that we do not wrestle against flesh and blood. The enemy is deceitful and strategic, we will not defeat him divided. We will not sit by and watch the world have this conversation and allow the Church to remain silent. 

To our black brothers and sisters, we see you, we are listening, we are with you, we are sorry, we will fight for you. To our white brothers and sisters, we welcome you and your questions, we need you at the table.

Perfect love drives out fear. We cannot be afraid of this conversation or of each other. We need each other and all of our differences. We will labor together until we see Christ’s prayer for unity in John 17 become a reality. 

We don’t know where this quote originated from, but we say it often around here, “You can’t solve a problem you don’t understand and you can’t understand from a distance.” So, let’s dive in, get close, and try to understand. Below are some resources to help you begin. 

Next Steps