May 11, 2003 - Eastertide 4
By Jack Price

This is the season of Easter and we are focusing in worship on particular gifts that are in our lives through the "post-Easter" Jesus, the risen Christ - the gift of transformed life that is "beyond belief," the gift of shalom (God's peace), the gift of justice (today's theme), and the gift of wisdom.   The aim of life is shalom, peace, oneness with Spirit.  If this is true, then justice is the way.  There can be no peace without justice.

The theme of "justice" returns again and again to the prophetic message of the Old Testament.  Their constant message was justice.  They proclaimed God's justice to the nation of Israel, challenged oppressive societies, and supported the rights of the powerless.   God is just.  Justice is an important way of understanding the nature of the Holy.  Our own scripture challenges "success" theologies that understand God as supporting any particular social order, especially when that order perpetuates injustice.  

Psalm 82: 3-4 --

Give justice to the weak and the orphan;

maintain the right of the lowly and the destitute.

⁴ Rescue the weak and the needy;

deliver them from the hand of the wicked."

The words of the 23^rd Psalm promise comfort in times of distress.  They bring a "peaceful, easy feeling" that, no matter what else happens, I have someone to take care of me.  God makes me lie down in green pastures.  God leads me beside still waters.  God restores my soul.  God leads me in paths of righteousness (justice) for [God's] name's sake.  The Lord is my shepherd.  I shall not want.           The first promise of the 23^rd Psalm is -- NO WANT.

            The psalmist continues.  You are with me.  Your rod and staff comfort me.  You prepare me a table in the presence of my enemies.  You anoint my head with oil.   Even though I walk through the darkest valley, I fear no evil.  The second promise is -- NO FEAR.

            Finally, my cup overflows.  Goodness and mercy follow me all my life.  I dwell in the house of the Lord my whole life long.  The third promise is -- NO LIMITS.

            The 23^rd Psalm promises that God wants justice for me and from me. 

Justice promises all will eventually be equitable and fair for me, that goodness and mercy will follow me.  And that is the issue and problem of justice.  So much depends on who the "me" is.  Who is seeking justice has everything to do with what justice means.

            The 23^rd Psalm is attributed to David, but it is fair to ask, "Which David wrote it?  If David, the shepherd boy who gained fame for conquering the giant Goliath wrote the words, they reflect a faith that is simple and powerful, trusting in the providence of God.  If David, the guerilla leader of forces opposing King Saul of Israel, the words reflect a faith that is courageous and concrete, trusting in the Spirit's presence literally in the valley of the shadow of death.  But if David, the powerful and wealthy king of Israel, wrote these words, they may reflect faith that is self-serving, a faith in entrenched power.

            According to scholar Walter Brueggemann, the first challenge facing the church in terms of justice is to embrace a theology of divinity that is passionate with regard to justice.  Our second challenge is to understand just what that means.

            Just like the words of the 23^rd Psalm, our prayers and our faith are affected by our life-situation.  This is particularly true when it comes to our attitudes toward "justice."  For David the shepherd boy, justice was highly idealistic, fearless challenging the forces of evil in defense of "God's army."   For David the guerilla fighter, justice was a painful choice between toppling an oppressive regime and destroying his dearest friend's family.  For David the king, justice became a matter of preserving power, keeping order, and consolidating efficiency.

Micah was one of those Israelite prophets who spoke for justice, a counter-cultural critic, who lived some 250 years after David was king.   He summarizes the prophetic message in Micah 6:8:  "[God] 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?" 

I recently watched a movie about the Black Muslim activist Malcom X.  This man became passionate in the 1950's and '60's about justice.  He challenged white Americans for the systematic mistreatment of blacks.  He challenged black Americans to seek justice, restoration of their dignity and opportunity "by any means necessary."  This for him was "doing justice."  He was killed as a result of a conflict with the Nation of Islam.

What does the Church today have to say to the American political process and its public policy?  In a recent address to the Kansas City chapter of the Fellowship of Christian Athletes, the now former Congressman J.C. Watts of Oklahoma offered a different approach to justice.  Watts is best known as that rare combination, a conservative African American Republican.  He is unapologetic in supporting administration policies on the economy and in foreign policy.  He sees a clear correlation between the President's religious faith and his policies.  This for him is "doing justice."  You may agree.  Many people do.  You may disagree.  Many people do.

God first expected the covenant community of Israel "to do justice."  Walter Brueggemann defines biblical justice this way:  "To sort out what belongs to whom and to return it to them."  This assumes "that there is a right distribution of goods and access to the sources of life."  When, through the ups and downs of history, some people end up controlling what "rightly" belongs to others, and this happens long enough, there is a tendency to think of what we control as right ours.  Micah says there is a right distribution.  Biblical justice assumes there is a "right" distribution of wealth.

The first thing necessary for biblical justice is to see that some of what we assume is ours is really someone else's.  This means naming things by their right names.  There is a story told about a lady who was sitting in a tea shop enjoying a cup of tea, the newspaper, and some cookies she had brought with her.  The shop was very crowded and a gentleman had sat down at her table because there was no place else to sit.  Uncomfortable with the situation, she buried her face more into the newspaper and reached over to take a cookie.  To her dismay, the man also took one.  A few minutes later, the same thing happened.  She was horrified.  The ultimate affront happened a moment later when the man actually broke the final cookie in half and offered her half of her own cookie!  Quite dismayed, the lady finished her tea, glowered at the man, and left the shop.  As she reached into her purse for a tissue, she discovered the pack of cookies she had brought with her.

 Justice to those in power (to us?) means maintaining order and the current. distribution of power and access to the goods of life.  Justice to those without power and access to these goods means a more equitable sharing.  On which side of this question do we find ourselves?  On which side do we want to find ourselves?  On which side do we find God?  The demand for justice always comes from those disenfranchised (from below), from those who are hurting.  The challenge is addressed to those in power.  The problem is systemic and the issues are usually economic. 

            Biblical justice needs an alternative vision.  Micah's vision was one of swords into plowshares, spears into pruning hooks, of no lifting up of swords, and no more war.   He envisioned a world where "they shall sit every [one] under his vine . and none shall make them afraid."  This is a vision of a changed social system and also, according to Bruegemann, a "changed set of social priorities and social appetites."

            In Israel's memory of origin, Moses set out a social order of land ownership and a series of sabbatical laws culminating in a year of Jubilee (50 years) at which time the social order would be reset to its starting place.  All slaves would b freed.  All debts would be cancelled.  All land and wealth would be redistributed to original owners.  We see the destructive potential of disputed land ownership in the world of our own time - in Northern Ireland, between Israel and the Palestinians, with Turkey and Iraq with the Kurds, and between India and Pakistan over Cashmere.  Jubilee is the biblical "alternative" vision for justice

Recall two challenges facing the church:  to embrace a theology of divinity that is passionate with regard to justice, and to understand what biblical justice means.  Our response to these challenges is important, but our response to the third challenge is vital.  We must attend to the "voices of the night," the voices of fear, of hope, and of human perception around us and within us. 

What is the church's role in justice?  It is to affect society's dialogue about justice.  It is to hear, and help others hear, the voices of silent people.  It is to challenge the fears that can lead to a perceived need for more protection, security, vengeance, possessions

How can the church bring those in fear into the process of entitlement?  Those with "more" need to let go of excess so that those without can have what is needed starting with ourselves.  We must challenge the assumption that we consider how much of our abundance to share with God which misses the biblical mandate for justice completely.   We must recognize that injustice and want happens at all socio-economic levels and affects all of us.  Many affluent homes are challenged by injustice through broken relationships, drug and alcohol abuse, physical and sexual abuse, and other forms of injustice.  What we think is ours is not ours at all.  Remember the story of lady in tea café.  This truth applies to the possessions of security, safety, and meaning in life as well as goods and power.

In light of our faith's demand for justice, what do we do?  First, we identify and name our own fears and those of our society, fears such as feeling vulnerable, lacking basic needs, lacking choices, being alone, and being helpless.  When we fear letting go, we hold onto possessions and power as a means of feeling secure.  We can learn to let go of fear and help others to let go of fear so that we are free to embrace an alternative vision.  When fear relates to the lack of life's necessities, we can work to help those in want gain what they need.

The New Testament epistle 1 John 3: 16-18 states:  "We know love by this, that he laid down his life us for-and we ought to lay down our lives for one another.  How does God's love abide in anyone who has the world's good and sees a brother or sister in need and yet refuses help?  Little children, let us love, not in word or speech, but in truth and action."  Jesus has shown us this way.  Others have followed.  Let us follow, too.

            "How does God's love abide in anyone who has the world's goods and sees a brother or sister in need and yet refuses help?"  Divine justice cannot be separated from divine love.  The 23^rd Psalm tells us that God will "lead me in paths of righteousness (justice) for [God's] own name sake."  Pulling away from the invitation of acting justly is, in reality, pulling away from our relationship with God.  Our willingness to do justice, to work for justice, or to abide injustice is a sign to us about the state of our primary relationship.  There is a divine equation:  Justice = Love = God.  In God's justice there is "no want;" there is "no fear," and there is no limit to the goodness and mercy that will follow us our whole life long.  Shalom is our aim.  Justice is the path.  In the Spirit, let us walk this path together.