Our confidence is in the Righteous One who has considered the voiceless
A Thought
Janani Luwum was born in 1922 at Mucwini in East Acholi in Uganda. His father was a convert to Christianity. As a boy Janani spent his time herding the family’s cattle, goats and sheep. His father could not afford for him to go to school until he was 10 but then Janani worked hard and went on to Gulu High School and then on to Boroboro Teacher Training. Janani taught in a primary school before he was converted in 1948. He became very active in the East African revival movement. First he studied to be a lay reader, and then a deacon. He was priested in 1956. In 1974, Janani Luwum he became Archbishop of Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi and Boga-Zaire. Three years previously Colonel Idi Amin had overthrown the Government of Uganda and established a military dictatorship. Amin’s regime became infamous around the world. Thousands of people were arrested, beaten, imprisoned without trial and killed. Archbishop Luwum often went personally to the office of the dreaded State Research Bureau to help secure the release of prisoners.
On 5 February 1977 the Archbishop’s house was raided by soldiers who said they had been ordered to look for arms. On 8 February the Archbishop and nearly all the Ugandan bishops met and drafted a letter of protest to the President and asked to see him. A week later, on 16 February, the Archbishop and six bishops were publicly arraigned in a show trial and were accused of smuggling arms. Archbishop Luwum was not allowed to reply, but shook his head in denial. The President concluded by asking the crowd:”What shall we do with these traitors?” The soldiers replied “Kill him now”.The Archbishop was separated from his bishops. As he was taken away Archbishop Luwum turned to his brother bishops and said:”Do not be afraid. I see God’s hand in this.” The next morning it was announced that Archbishop Luwum had been killed in a car crash. The truth was that he had been shot because he had stood up to President Amin and his Government.
The psalmist states in Psalm 52 in the opening line a stunning reflection in light of the saint and martyr remembered this day…. Why do you boast of evil, O mighty man? The steadfast love of God endures all the day. Certainly The Lord’s steadfast love “endures all the day” and Archbishop Janani was utterly confident in that and it was the light of he and his people in the wake of such darkness. They indeed face a mighty man whose only boast was darkness but it was the Lord’s steadfast love which made the archbishop and his fellow clergy strong in the face of such evil They knew well the Lord would plant them in the paradise of His saints by His blood on the tree of the Cross.
While our sole confidence can never be in our righteous acts – such as our consideration of the voiceless; our confidence is in the Righteous One who has considered the voiceless compels us through Word and Sacrament to be an outward sign of His grace. This Lent we are called to journey with the One who did rise again, and that gracious God provides for the healing of our souls and the granting of true righteousness by faith.
A Prayer
O God, by whose providence the blood of the martyrs is the seed Of the Church: Grant that we who remember before you blessed servant Janani, Archbishop and Martyr in Uganda, may, like him, be steadfast in our faith in Jesus Christ, to whom he gave obedience, even to death, and by his sacrifice brought forth a plentiful harvest; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen
Music
You raise me up
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TGK5ZYjZ6oY