Joyful Justice
January 19, 2010
January 17, 2010
Rev. Susan Gilbert Zencka
Frame Memorial Presbyterian Church
Texts: John 2:1-11; Isaiah 62:1-5
The Bible has a lot to say about justice:
Isaiah 30:18 For the Lord is a God of justice; blessed are all those who wait for him.
Jeremiah 9:23-24 Thus says the Lord: Do not let the wise boast in their wisdom, do not let the mighty boast in their might, do not let the wealthy boast in their wealth; but let those who boast boast in this, that they understand and know me, that I am the Lord; I act with steadfast love, justice, and righteousness in the earth, for in these things I delight, says the Lord.
Hosea 12:6 But as for you, return to your God, hold fast to love and justice, and wait continually for your God.
Amos 5:24 But let justice roll down like waters, and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream.
Micah 6:8 He has told you, O mortal, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?
These certainly aren’t the only things said about justice in the Bible, but the prophets do say it well. Of course, the prophets are those who speak of the dreams of God – and overwhelmingly what the Bible has to has about justice is that it’s God’s way, and the hope of God for the world.
Justice isn’t defined in the Bible, but it is often described. The Anchor Bible Dictionary describes biblical justice as “the restoration of a situation or environment which promoted equity and harmony (shalom) in a community.” The Bible’s view of life is that it is justice more than piety that is the mark of a faithful person. And justice was not merely about legal issues, but was to characterize social economic and political relationships.
While it does not seem that God requires perfect economic equality – it is clear that God has a special concern for the poor and vulnerable (particularly widows and orphans, the oppressed and immigrant aliens – those without any power). The Bible calls for home ownership, employment, health care, freedom and fairness. God’s anger is for those who exploit others, who make others lives harder. While we could all argue for a long time about what constitutes fairness, the consistent message of the Bible, Old and New Testaments, is one of concern for the poor and desire that all should be fed.
God’s passion for justice is serious, but in today’s passage from Isaiah, the accomplishment of justice is compared to a wedding. While the struggle for justice is often difficult, those of us who work for justice must resist the temptation to be grim. We are called into the joy of the wedding and to remember that justice is linked to joy.
What God seeks in justice is not a legalistic accounting toward equality but a joyous and generous process of caring for one another, as a bridegroom cares for a bride. Justice springs from love, not from judgment, and those who work for justice are called to experience God’s love, and to experience love in community, and to embody that love in working for justice – God’s love is one that delights in the world and celebrates community in joy even as it bears the sorrows of the world in suffering compassion.
We saw a glimpse of the Kingdom of God this week in the international response to the earthquake in Haiti. Within 2 hours of the quake, China had mobilized its specialized search-and-rescue team and they were headed to Haiti. The first flight to arrive with aid was from Iceland. Country after country, people after people have reached out to ease the suffering of our brothers and sisters in Haiti – the human family setting aside sibling rivalry in favor of sibling solidarity for a time. Would that we could always be thus.
A week ago yesterday, Carl and I made a hurried day trip to and from Chicago for the funeral of his last aunt – Severine was the youngest of 5 sisters, the oldest of whom was Carl’s mom. The cousins, and some of the children of the cousins, gathered to celebrate her life, and the lives of the 5 women who were our mothers, mothers-in-law, aunts, and grandmas. It was a wonderful time of gathering as family – even for such a brief time – and we relished the connections among us, realizing that we only seem to come together for funerals and weddings, and resolving to find a different way to gather.
The human family seems to only gather for funerals, as in Haiti this week, but the words of Isaiah seem to call us to make the work for justice more like a wedding – a way to be together in joy as we deepen our connections and care for one another. I love weddings, not all pastors do, but I love the way families and friends gather in celebration to celebrate love and hope. Even though sometimes we can get on each others’ nerves in wedding preparations, as everyone has their own ideas of what the perfect celebration is, just as Mary sort of annoyed Jesus, the willingness to pitch in together and celebrate is what makes weddings wonderful. Those who have experienced the stress, challenges and joy of mission work know that working for justice can indeed be done in the wedding mode, as a celebration of hope and love in the human family.
Today we mark the life of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., and as some of you may remember, I celebrate each year by quoting at length from some of his work. This year, I’m remembering the speech he gave exactly one year before his death, a speech called “Beyond Vietnam” that he gave before Clergy and Laity Concerned at Riverside Church in New York. Many regard this as one of his greatest speeches – it is one in which he made the connections between injustice and international economic exploitation, between injustice and war, between injustice and poverty. In the last year of his life, Dr. King was working for justice in a number of arenas, and was in Memphis supporting a trade union when he was shot. He understood the work for justice to extend beyond the crisis of race relations.
Rev. Susan Gilbert Zencka
Frame Memorial Presbyterian Church
Texts: John 2:1-11; Isaiah 62:1-5
The Bible has a lot to say about justice:
Isaiah 30:18 For the Lord is a God of justice; blessed are all those who wait for him.
Jeremiah 9:23-24 Thus says the Lord: Do not let the wise boast in their wisdom, do not let the mighty boast in their might, do not let the wealthy boast in their wealth; but let those who boast boast in this, that they understand and know me, that I am the Lord; I act with steadfast love, justice, and righteousness in the earth, for in these things I delight, says the Lord.
Hosea 12:6 But as for you, return to your God, hold fast to love and justice, and wait continually for your God.
Amos 5:24 But let justice roll down like waters, and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream.
Micah 6:8 He has told you, O mortal, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?
These certainly aren’t the only things said about justice in the Bible, but the prophets do say it well. Of course, the prophets are those who speak of the dreams of God – and overwhelmingly what the Bible has to has about justice is that it’s God’s way, and the hope of God for the world.
Justice isn’t defined in the Bible, but it is often described. The Anchor Bible Dictionary describes biblical justice as “the restoration of a situation or environment which promoted equity and harmony (shalom) in a community.” The Bible’s view of life is that it is justice more than piety that is the mark of a faithful person. And justice was not merely about legal issues, but was to characterize social economic and political relationships.
While it does not seem that God requires perfect economic equality – it is clear that God has a special concern for the poor and vulnerable (particularly widows and orphans, the oppressed and immigrant aliens – those without any power). The Bible calls for home ownership, employment, health care, freedom and fairness. God’s anger is for those who exploit others, who make others lives harder. While we could all argue for a long time about what constitutes fairness, the consistent message of the Bible, Old and New Testaments, is one of concern for the poor and desire that all should be fed.
God’s passion for justice is serious, but in today’s passage from Isaiah, the accomplishment of justice is compared to a wedding. While the struggle for justice is often difficult, those of us who work for justice must resist the temptation to be grim. We are called into the joy of the wedding and to remember that justice is linked to joy.
What God seeks in justice is not a legalistic accounting toward equality but a joyous and generous process of caring for one another, as a bridegroom cares for a bride. Justice springs from love, not from judgment, and those who work for justice are called to experience God’s love, and to experience love in community, and to embody that love in working for justice – God’s love is one that delights in the world and celebrates community in joy even as it bears the sorrows of the world in suffering compassion.
We saw a glimpse of the Kingdom of God this week in the international response to the earthquake in Haiti. Within 2 hours of the quake, China had mobilized its specialized search-and-rescue team and they were headed to Haiti. The first flight to arrive with aid was from Iceland. Country after country, people after people have reached out to ease the suffering of our brothers and sisters in Haiti – the human family setting aside sibling rivalry in favor of sibling solidarity for a time. Would that we could always be thus.
A week ago yesterday, Carl and I made a hurried day trip to and from Chicago for the funeral of his last aunt – Severine was the youngest of 5 sisters, the oldest of whom was Carl’s mom. The cousins, and some of the children of the cousins, gathered to celebrate her life, and the lives of the 5 women who were our mothers, mothers-in-law, aunts, and grandmas. It was a wonderful time of gathering as family – even for such a brief time – and we relished the connections among us, realizing that we only seem to come together for funerals and weddings, and resolving to find a different way to gather.
The human family seems to only gather for funerals, as in Haiti this week, but the words of Isaiah seem to call us to make the work for justice more like a wedding – a way to be together in joy as we deepen our connections and care for one another. I love weddings, not all pastors do, but I love the way families and friends gather in celebration to celebrate love and hope. Even though sometimes we can get on each others’ nerves in wedding preparations, as everyone has their own ideas of what the perfect celebration is, just as Mary sort of annoyed Jesus, the willingness to pitch in together and celebrate is what makes weddings wonderful. Those who have experienced the stress, challenges and joy of mission work know that working for justice can indeed be done in the wedding mode, as a celebration of hope and love in the human family.
Today we mark the life of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., and as some of you may remember, I celebrate each year by quoting at length from some of his work. This year, I’m remembering the speech he gave exactly one year before his death, a speech called “Beyond Vietnam” that he gave before Clergy and Laity Concerned at Riverside Church in New York. Many regard this as one of his greatest speeches – it is one in which he made the connections between injustice and international economic exploitation, between injustice and war, between injustice and poverty. In the last year of his life, Dr. King was working for justice in a number of arenas, and was in Memphis supporting a trade union when he was shot. He understood the work for justice to extend beyond the crisis of race relations.
| “I speak as a child of God and brother to the suffering poor of Vietnam. I speak for those whose land is being laid waste, whose homes are being destroyed, whose culture is being subverted. I speak for the poor of America who are paying the double price of smashed hopes at home, and death and corruption in Vietnam. I speak as a citizen of the world, for the world as it stands aghast at the path we have taken. I speak as one who loves America, to the leaders of our own nation: The great initiative in this war is ours; the initiative to stop it must be ours…. “…A true revolution of values will soon cause us to question the fairness and justice of many of our past and present policies. On the one hand we are called to play the Good Samaritan on life’s roadside, but that will be only an initial act. One day we must come to see that the whole Jericho Road must be transformed so that men and women will not be constantly beaten and robbed as they make their journey on life’s highway. True compassion is more than flinging a coin to a beggar. It comes to see that an edifice which produces beggars needs restructuring. [ |