We All Have Our Own Ferguson

The events of Ferguson over the past few months have shown us all we need a savior.  We have all witnessed, right here in our city of St. Louis, the problems of humanity. Visible to our eyes and audible to our ears have been the cries of injustice and the hurts of racial inequality. Accusations are leveled at officials and the judicial system, while angry protestors demonstrate by looting and burning businesses and destroying property. All the while, law enforcement stands helpless at a distance and watches the destruction. Those who protest and those who destroy property seem far from vindication. Law enforcement seems to lose more respect every day from those they are supposed to protect.

The media have given us endless hours of pundit babble of what needs to be done to fix the problem. The contrasting views leave everyone more confused.  We realize that the solutions are as distant as the difference between the protestors and the police. There is no consensus and no easy way to find one.

There is, however, a fix for Ferguson, and it is Jesus Christ. Ferguson is a picture of humanity—the same hurting, sinful humanity Jesus came to save. We all have our own Ferguson—each of us. It is our own sin, and we are incapable to removing it. There is one who can save us, and the prophet Isaiah told us about him thousands of years ago. Isaiah described him as a polished arrow:

Isa 49:2-3

2 He made my mouth like a sharpened sword,

in the shadow of his hand he hid me;

he made me into a polished arrow

and concealed me in his quiver.

3 He said to me, "You are my servant,

Israel, in whom I will display my splendor."

Our deliverer is Jesus Christ, who was hidden in God’s quiver, but at just the right moment God sent him like a precision arrow to touch our planet. There has never been a deliverer like him. He came with no material weapons, no intimidation and no pomp. We have never seen a deliverer like this one. Though he commanded power, he never made his appearance on the stage of human attention, but in a lowly manager as a helpless babe. The one weapon he wielded was done so with impeccable accuracy, which was his word. Everything Jesus said and did displayed the splendor of the one who sent him.

As God did for ancient Israel, so Jesus does for us today. He comes to us in our captivity and leads us out. He says to the captives, 'Come out,' and to those in darkness, 'Be free!' (Isaiah 49:9). What every person longs for is freedom—freedom for their spirit and soul. No human being can give us this freedom because it only comes through Jesus Christ. Jesus himself said, "I am the light of the world” (John 8:12). The darkness of Ferguson in each of our own lives can only be dispelled by the light that is found in Christ.