Dear Corban Community,
Lately, I have found myself on my knees. In a nation torn apart by race, injustice, and anger, my heart has been heavy. I’ve struggled to find words to voice my prayers to God.
Recently, I read David’s words in Psalm 69, and the aching he expressed is the closest I can come to describing the ache in my heart for our nation and the injustices in it.
“Save me, O God,
for the waters have come up to my neck.
I sink in the miry depths,
where there is no foothold.
I have come into the deep waters;
The floods engulf me.
I am worn out calling for help;
my throat is parched.
My eyes fail,
looking for my God.
Those who hate me without reason
outnumber the hairs of my head;
many are my enemies without cause,
those who seek to destroy me.
I am forced to restore
what I did not steal.”
If you have felt the bitter pangs of racial injustice, what can I say to express my grief for you? What could my words mean, when I have never experienced your suffering?
As much as I want to help, I believe only Jesus Christ can offer the needed peace and hope. In this Messianic psalm, David’s words express the same suffering Christ would later experience when He was betrayed, tortured, forsaken even by his Father, and killed unjustly.
Before Jesus’ death, His followers longed for Him to become their king and political leader, restoring the Jewish kingdom and bringing justice on earth at last. But this did not happen. The political power they craved did not appear. Instead, a far greater power—the power of the Holy Spirit, promised by Jesus, came down upon them on the day of Pentecost.
This past Sunday, May 31, was the anniversary of this day: Pentecost Sunday.
Why do I share this?
Because I believe change CAN come to our hurting world, but it may not come in the way we so desperately hope.
On my own, I am powerless to make a difference. But the Holy Spirit is not.
Change will come when we as believers, equipped with the power of the Holy Spirit, extend God’s kingdom on earth “like yeast that a woman took and mixed into a large amount of flour until it worked all through the dough” (Matthew 13:33).
Change will come when believers go out to be this yeast, this salt and light.
- Sometimes, being salt and light will mean speaking up against injustice.
- Sometimes it will mean serving and protecting our cities with integrity.
- Sometimes it will mean advocating for change to our justice and legal systems.
- Sometimes it will mean preaching the Good News from a pulpit.
- Sometimes it will mean being on the frontlines of a healthcare crisis.
- Always, it will mean loving our neighbor as ourselves.
This is why Corban exists—to send out men and women who can MAKE A DIFFERENCE IN THE WORLD FOR JESUS CHRIST.
My prayer—for I have finally discovered the words—is that every single student who is learning and studying at Corban access the power of the Holy Spirit to discover where God is calling them to advance His kingdom and bring about an even greater change than the world could imagine: not just in systems, behaviors, and actions, but in our sinful hearts.
Will you join me in praying for our students?
Pray they would have COURAGE in our tumultuous world.
Pray they would have COMPASSION in our hurting world.
Pray they would become EXCELLENT CITIZENS in this world, because they know to whom they belong.
Join me, on your knees, and pray.
To Christ be all Glory,
Sheldon C. Nord, Ph.D.
President