“Bread, Bath, and Beyond – Everyday Justice”

“Part I – What Love Looks Like in Public”

First Congregational United Church of Christ

August 7, 2011

The Rev. Sharyl B. Peterson

 

Scripture Readings:  Isaiah 58: 9-12; Jeremiah 9: 23-24; Luke 4: 14-21

 

For the past month, we have been talking about discipleship and about “following Jesus.”  In particular, we’ve considered the fact that following Jesus is about much more than just agreeing that certain beliefs are true about Jesus.  Following Jesus is about a way of living – a way of living that often goes 180 degrees against the current of what our contemporary culture tells us is the way we should live.  Following Jesus is about doing what we can – and there are lots of things we can do – to help bring about what Jesus called “the kingdom of God.”  Today.  Here.  Now.

            It’s been exciting to me that, based on our reflections over these past several weeks, the question that has arisen for many of you (which you have shared with me in conversations or in emails) is “well, I understand why we’re supposed to do it, but what does ‘following Jesus’ really mean?”  “How do we – how do I – follow Jesus right here in GJ, Colorado, in July (or August) of 2011?”

            If I get myself to church at least three Sundays a month, is that following Jesus?  If I volunteer to deliver meals with Gray Gourmet, or serve lunch at the Soup Kitchen, is that following Jesus?  If I treat my significant other, or my BFFs, or my kids or grandkids with love and respect, is that following Jesus? 

            The answer is:  You bet – every one of those is a part of following Jesus.  Every single thing we do to help bring about what Jesus called the “kingdom of God” – to help God’s “will be done on earth as it is in Heaven” – is part of following Jesus.

            This month, we’re going to keep right on walking down this same path, shifting from the why to the how, and consider together how some of the real choices we make each day get us closer to … or perhaps move us farther away from … helping bring about the kingdom of God.  Although we may never have thought about it quite this way, we’re going to consider some of the ways in which our choices about what we eat, what we wear, what we drive, what we throw away – may bring more justice into the world, or may decrease the justice in the world.  Sometimes for us.  Often for others. 

Now, at least a few of you out there may be starting to twitch, or to feel anxious, or uncomfortable about now.  Because – although the Bible has a lot to say about justice and justice-creating – even though we know that Jesus proclaims his own mission as that of increasing justice in the world, and calls us to go and do likewise – justice is not a topic that many, or even most, much less all churches always give a whole lot of attention to. 

            Sure, there are occasional demonstrations of justice-work here and there in faith communities.  For example, last week a dozen ecumenical church-leaders were arrested inside the U.S. Capitol Building, because they were publicly praying for the Administration and Congress not to balance the Federal budget on the backs of the most vulnerable in this country – children, seniors, the poor.  Equitable taxation and distribution of resources is a justice issue.  As another example, a church I know well is hosting a Shrimp Boil and Silent Auction in a couple of weeks to help provide housing for homeless U.S. veterans.  Housing for those who have served our country, and now have no homes, is a justice issue.  As a third example, a congregation will occasionally make the news when its members gather in front of a state prison to protest the pending execution of a person convicted of murder.  The death penalty, and the persons most likely to be affected by it, is a justice issue.

But generally, most churches don’t like to talk too much about “justice.”  “Justice” is one of those theological words that make a lot of people nervous, because it raises a lot of questions for folks:  questions like, what do you mean by “justice” exactly?  justice for whom?  why for “them”?  what makes “us” or “them” think “they” are being treated unjustly?  why do “we” have to do the work?  what about justice for me and mine?  whose “agenda” is on the table here?  Those are all fair questions.  And they’re important questions.  And I hope we’ll struggle with them over these next few weeks.

            Today we’ll begin simply, by trying to get a handle on what “justice” means from a faith-perspective.  That is, Biblically and theologically, what is justice, and why does it (or should it) matter to us as people of faith?

            When many of us hear the word, we think about “justice” in the legal sense – as in making sure “justice is served.”  In that legal sense, justice often has to do with punishment for wrongdoing.  You break into someone’s house and rob them, and justice means you end up in prison, both so you can’t rob anyone else (at least for awhile), and so you’re deterred from ever doing that again.  Justice in the legal sense means you did a bad thing, so the system does a bad thing to you.

            But justice in the biblical sense, in the faith sense, has a much bigger meaning than that.  Justice in the biblical sense also includes healing and restoration.  For example, the community does not punish someone who does a wrong thing simply so they won’t do it again, or simply so they will suffer, but so they can learn and change, and eventually be restored to the community, as a welcomed and accepted member.

            And more broadly still – and more to the point for most of us, who have never been incarcerated, or seriously punished legally – justice is about creating healing and restoration in the wider community.  Justice is grounded in relationships – in our relationships with God, with each other, and with the world.  Because we are in relationship with God, we are called to act like God does.  Because we are made in God’s image, in some sense, we represent God to the world.  And if God’s very essence is love, as we repeatedly affirm it is in our faith tradition, then our responsibility is to be as loving to others as possible.  As Dr. Cornel West, one of the great theologians of our time puts it, “justice is what love looks like in public[1].”  In other words, justice is the way we work out – in the real world – what it means, what it looks like, to love God, to show God’s love to others, and to love others as we love ourselves.

            I’m going to be sharing people’s stories throughout this series, but today I want to share just one person’s story[2] to help us understand, as we begin this journey, why and how it matters that we do this reflecting, and this struggling with something (or some things) that may make us uncomfortable.  Julie Clawson, who describes herself as “mother, writer, church-planter, and former pastor” (of Via Christus Community Church), is also currently an Episcopal seminarian,” and the author of the book Everyday Justice, which is the source that prompted this series.

            Julie says that roughly 10 years ago, in her freshman year at Wheaton College, she went to chapel one day, as was the custom for a lot of students at Wheaton.  And the preacher that day started preaching about the then-raging genocide in Darfur.  The preacher started describing how many men, and women, and children, had been kidnapped – killed– tortured – raped – had their homes burned, their land destroyed – in the previous couple of years (2005-2207).  And then the preacher went on to talk about how several major soft drink companies (in the U.S.) contributed to this genocide, as they sought to protect their trade sources for gum arabic (a major component in soft drinks) above everything else[3]. 

            Clawson said she was shocked to her core, because she had never considered (just like many of us, I would guess) that what she chose to fill her cup with in the college cafeteria had implications for people halfway around the globe.  It was a wake-up call for her, and since then, she has been intentionally exploring some of those intersections between how we live our daily lives, and how other people are affected by our choices, in ways of which we are often unaware.  The big question for her, and for us, is this: given the many broken places in our world (like the 12 million people starving to death right this moment in Somalia), and the many broken places right here in our own nation, (like the hundreds of elderly people in the Midwest literally dying from the heat), and the many broken places right here in our own community, (like the dozens (perhaps hundreds) of homeless teens who have no safe shelter), what issues of justice are at stake, and how might we – as people of faith – act to help bring about greater justice for more people?

            Before we go on, however, I want to emphasize three very important points (mostly, so you’re willing to hang in with me, and keep listening).

            First of all, this series is not going to be about “laying guilt” on anyone.  I feel pretty confident that not a single person sitting here this morning in any way consciously supports slavery, or terrorism, or famine, or exploitation, or any other kind of injustice of which we’re aware.  That said, we may be unconsciously supporting slavery, or terrorism, or famine, or exploitation, because we are unaware.  As Julie Clawson sums it up, “living justly means understanding the impact of our decisions[4].”

Living justly means, in part, taking a careful (and sometimes difficult) look at how our everyday choices affect the lives of other people, the lives of other of God’s beloved children.

Living justly means tweaking – not totally overhauling, but tweaking – the way we live.  Not very many people are willing to completely overhaul their entire lifestyle, decision-making, and consumption patterns, even for God.  But every one of us is capable of making small changes in those things.  “All of us can discern where God is leading us to alter our lives – to change one thing at a time, taking the time to really understand and get behind our actions.  Sometimes insisting that the revolution be slow means it will actually be doable” … Take it at your own pace.  Research issues that strike you; go deeper on those that touch your heart.  Explore more on what the Bible has to say about justice.  Try a new type of food.  Watch a documentary.  Shop at a different store.  Do what you can when you can.  And … don’t panic[5].”

            As one simple example, suppose we are thinking about replacing our nearly worn-out pair of blue-jeans.  We could simply go to our favorite store (in the Mall, downtown, or on-line), pick out the pair we like best (and can afford), and buy them.  Or, we could take a step back first, and consciously think about things like the kind we plan to buy … where they are manufactured … how the workers who make them are treated … how the store that sells these jeans treats their workers … and how our purchase – either from them or from a different vendor – might make the lives of those workers better or worse.  (I’ll come back to this example in a minute.)  Okay, no guilt … just a little willingness to learn and to discern a little more.

            My second disclaimer is that this series is not going to be about promoting any particular “social agenda” or “political agenda.”  It is going to be about all of us – whatever our particular politics may be – considering more deeply God’s agenda – Jesus’ agenda – for our lives, and for the lives of others.

            And you already know what that is.  Many of you have been coming to church (and/or going to Sunday School) your entire lives.  Whether you’ve been part of the United Church of Christ, or some other denomination, you have heard numerous preachers describe for you exactly what God’s agenda is.

            We heard one version of it from the prophet Jeremiah this morning:  “If you brag, brag of this and this only: that you understand and know me.  I am God, and I act in loyal love.  I do what's right and set things right and fair, and I delight in those who do the same things.  These are my trademarks.  (This is) God's Decree.”

Many of us have memorized the more familiar version of it from the prophet Micah:  “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?” (Micah 6:8). 

And just in case we still don’t get it, it is precisely the reason Jesus offers for why God sent Him into the world.  In this morning’s reading from Luke, we are told that Jesus is getting ready to preach in his hometown congregation in Nazareth one morning, and He is given the scroll containing part of the Bible readings for the day.  As Jesus takes the scroll, the storyteller says “he found” – that is, Jesus deliberately looked up – the passage he wanted to point out to those worshippers that day, a passage from the book of Isaiah (61:1-4):   “The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because God has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor.  God has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to set the oppressed free, and to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.”  Jesus is telling them, and He tells us, I have come to help bring freedom and justice for all people, and I invite you to come along with me and do that too.      And so, our series for August is going to focus on God’s agenda, on Jesus’ agenda, and on our agenda, and on how we can consciously choose to integrate those things together in the ways that we live.

            Going back to our blue-jeans example, this does not mean that we never buy another pair of blue-jeans.  This does not mean that we become total non-consumers, who never buy anything.  This does mean that as we consume, we try to do so ethically, we try to do so in a way that God’s “will is done here on earth as it is in Heaven, we try to do so in a way that helps bring about God’s kingdom here and now.

            And finally, my third disclaimer is that this series is not going to assume there are any easy answers for the justice-questions that face us.  We are going to consider, over and over, how very complicated it is to make “just choices” in today’s world.

            Going back to our blue-jeans example, suppose we do a little homework, and we decide that we will not purchase jeans from any company that manufactures jeans in China because we know that working-conditions in many factories there are deplorable.  We know that little girls and women work brutally long days, sometimes without meal- or restroom-breaks.  We know that these little girls and women may be paid as little as five cents a pair for the jeans they sew, jeans that will sell for $50 (or far more) in the U.S.  We know that many of these workers are sexually assaulted by their bosses as a condition for keeping their jobs.

            But here’s where it gets complicated.  If we decide not to buy blue-jeans manufactured in China, does that mean that the little girls and women who work in the factories are now going to be out of work?  Does it mean their families are now going to suffer?  Does it mean they are going to have to turn to some other, even more exploitative and terrible occupation (like prostitution) in order to earn the money they and their families need?  We think, well, maybe we should keep buying jeans made in foreign countries.

            And yet, what about the effects of our decision on U.S. workers?  If we continue to buy products made in countries other than this one, doesn’t that continue to feed the lack of employment here, for our country’s workers?  Doesn’t it increase the suffering and the injustice for them and their families?  So, maybe we shouldn’t buy jeans made in foreign countries.

            And yet, what about our needs in this situation?  Say, we are unemployed, or underemployed, or retired and living on a fixed income, and we are struggling to get by and take care of our family on very little money.  Doesn’t it make sense for us to buy the foreign-made products because they’re so much cheaper?  At least that way, we can afford to keep food on our tables, and roofs over our kids’ heads.  My friends, these issues are complicated.

But we don’t need to panic.  And we don’t need to despair.  Because we are in relationship with a living God, with a still-speaking God who has gifted us in countless ways, so that we can figure things out, and we can make decisions that do create more justice in this world.  Let me close with some words from Julia Clawson: 

“Recognizing the ethical dilemmas of daily life and grappling with these as part of our faith journey is not easy for any of us.  It means we have to make hard decisions on a daily basis, which can be overwhelming.  Often we feel we don’t know where to turn for answers… (and yet) “at the center of our faith is a God who intends to transform and make new all creation.   Our God cares deeply for all the people of the world and challenges us to commit our lives to being a part of that transformation, which means committing ourselves to justice and creation care as a way of life, not just as a theology we salute[6].”

            Over the next few weeks, may we begin to read, and to hear, the news in our local community and in our wider world with new eyes and new ears.  May we intentionally stop and take time to reflect on how our faith could – or should – inform our response to the justice issues we notice.  And may in some way(s), large or small, we begin to take one step at a time toward working for justice in our day-to-day lives, in this world that we all share.  Because justice is, after all, what love looks like in public.  Amen.