Tag Archives: Doing Justice

Aha! Moments

Epiphany

January 6, 2023

Scripture Reading: Acts 10:34-43
Then Peter began to speak to them: ‘I truly understand that God shows no partiality, but in every nation anyone who fears him and does what is right is acceptable to him. You know the message he sent to the people of Israel, preaching peace by Jesus Christ—he is Lord of all. That message spread throughout Judea, beginning in Galilee after the baptism that John announced: how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power; how he went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with him. We are witnesses to all that he did both in Judea and in Jerusalem. They put him to death by hanging him on a tree; but God raised him on the third day and allowed him to appear, not to all the people but to us who were chosen by God as witnesses, and who ate and drank with him after he rose from the dead. He commanded us to preach to the people and to testify that he is the one ordained by God as judge of the living and the dead. All the prophets testify about him that everyone who believes in him receives forgiveness of sins through his name.’

The Aha! moments in life are awakenings to what was there all along, but we could not comprehend. I have not a clue what Jesus’s followers saw or heard or understood after his death and resurrection. It was even hard for them to explain. The image of the temple curtain being torn opening the Holy of Holies to everyone at the moment of Jesus’s death is a good example.

Then Jesus cried again with a loud voice and breathed his last. At that moment the curtain of the temple was torn in two, from top to bottom. –Matthew 27: 50-51

Paul’s Aha! Moment came on the road to Damascus. John Newton, the author of Amazing Grace who was active in the slave trading business, had his Aha! Moment in a storm at sea when his death seemed imminent. Most Christ-followers probably do not experience their Aha! Moments in events so dramatic movies are made about them. We have small, but meaningful Aha! Moments when our eyes are opened to injustices, and we finally have the guts to say what we experienced was not right and share our concerns with others correcting the actions in whatever way we could including asking our legislators or members of Congress to make it right.

I was involved in a survey of why people did not vote in Oklahoma. One of the results we received was “My polling place is in a church that does not allow people like me in their worship service. Thus, I do not feel welcomed in their building to vote.” I cried when I read that. My church provides voting space for two precincts and serves refreshments to people particularly when the lines are long. I pray that no one thinks they could not worship with us. My Aha! Moment came realizing I needed to work harder to make sure others know we are a welcoming community of faith but also working to assure that everyone knows they can vote by mail and how important voting by mail is.

Prayer: Thank you Lord, for providing us with those Aha! Moments that open our hearts and minds to serving you more nearly. Amen.

All scriptures are quoted from the New Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicized Edition, copyright 1989, 1995, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights are reserved.

Holier-than-Thou

Lent

March 26, 2022

Scripture Reading:
Luke 15:1-3, 11b-32

Now all the tax-collectors and sinners were coming near to listen to him. And the Pharisees and the scribes were grumbling and saying, ‘This fellow welcomes sinners and eats with them.’ –Luke 15:1-3

who say, ‘Keep to yourself,
   do not come near me, for I am too holy for you.’
These are a smoke in my nostrils,
   a fire that burns all day long. –Isaiah 65:5

Holier-than-thou describes someone who behaves as if he is morally superior, though in fact, he is not. A holier-than-thou person is considered sanctimonious, self-righteous and not of any higher moral qualities than anyone else*.

The phrase holier-than-thou was derived from the Isaiah scripture quoted above. The verses leading up to verse five list the sins of those who were too holy for others. I fear we live in a world where holier-than-thou behavior is practiced.  Our justice system even acknowledges that status, when white color crimes result in finds and stealing food, results in a jail term. In Oklahoma, if you cannot meet bail you go to jail even though no determination of guilt has been made. Often because of the backup in the justice system, a person can sit in jail for weeks, months before they are tried. In such instances, they often lose jobs and may be evicted for failure to pay rent, and may have not been guilty of a crime at all. As people of faith, we are called to do justice ourselves but also to assure that our governments at all levels do justice.

Prayer: Lord, open our eyes to the injustice that is all around us and help us to do justice and support the rights of all to justice. Amen.

*https://grammarist.com/usage/holier-than-thou/

All scriptures are quoted from the New Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicized Edition, copyright 1989, 1995, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights are reserved.

What is Just?

Living in the Spirit

October 4, 2021

Scripture Reading: Amos 5:6-7
Seek the Lord and live,
   or he will break out against the house of Joseph like fire,
   and it will devour Bethel, with no one to quench it.

Wormwood– something bitter, galling, or grievous*

Wormwood as used in the Hebrew Scriptures–From an unused root supposed to mean to curse; wormwood (regarded as poisonous, and therefore accursed) — hemlock, wormwood**

There is an actual Wormwood plant that is very bitter and poisonous. Thus, the word has been culturally adapted to define being cursed. The very graphic picture of justice being turned into something bitter and cursed is startling. One person’s justice is another person’s loss. We are caught in that same struggle in our world today. A male relative of mine indicated that he felt persecuted by what I will call here for general purposes, the women’s movement. He did not accept my explanation that losing privilege is not the same thing as being persecuted.

What is just and right are difficult questions to answer because we each see the issue from our personal or group’s peculiar vantage point. So how do we discern God’s vantage point, and, harder still, how do we build our lives around God’s justice and righteousness in a world where culture is the primary source of determining what is right and wrong?

We turn to the Bible for help and find book after book dealing with this same issue in different times among varied cultures. For example, the first time I read an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth (see Exodus 21:24), I was appalled at such punishment for a crime until I learned that before this rule was established, one might get a death sentence if one poked out another person’s eye or knocked out a tooth. Our ancestors in faith were struggling with defining fairness in a progressively adapting world where change was the primary constant.

During WWII, men were pulled away from all kinds of jobs to fight the war. Women also served in some capacities in the war, but they primarily filled the positions the drafted men had left. Fast forward to 1973, and we find that it was the first year a single-income family could not earn a living wage in the USA. In both instances, the role of women changed out of necessity.

Jesus instructed us that the primary commandments were to love God and love our neighbors as we love ourselves. So we need to start from that point and move forward as we develop a just world.

Prayer: Lord, broaden our vision to see what is happening about us that may require us to reconsider what is just and what is right. Amen.

*https://unabridged.merriam-webster.com/unabridged/wormwood

**https://biblehub.com/hebrew/3939.htm

All scriptures are quoted from the New Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicized Edition, copyright 1989, 1995, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights are reserved.

What is Just?

Living in the Spirit

September 20, 2021

So the King and Haman went in to feast with Queen Esther. On the second day, as they were drinking wine, the King again said to Esther, ‘What is your petition, Queen Esther? It shall be granted you. And what is your request? Even to the half of my kingdom, it shall be fulfilled.’ Then Queen Esther answered, ‘If I have won your favor, O King, and if it pleases the King, let my life be given me—that is my petition—and the lives of my people—that is my request. For we have been sold, I and my people, to be destroyed, to be killed, and to be annihilated. If we had been sold merely as slaves, men and women, I would have held my peace; but no enemy can compensate for this damage to the King.’ Then King Ahasuerus said to Queen Esther, ‘Who is he, and where is he, who has presumed to do this?’ Esther said, ‘A foe and enemy, this wicked Haman!’ Then Haman was terrified before the King and the Queen. Then Harbona, one of the eunuchs in attendance on the King, said, ‘Look, the very gallows that Haman has prepared for Mordecai, whose word saved the king, stands at Haman’s house, fifty cubits high.’ And the King said, ‘Hang him on that.’ So they hanged Haman on the gallows that he had prepared for Mordecai. Then the anger of the King abated. –Esther 7:1-6, 9-10

Where do we draw the line on injustice present in our world today, and what are we willing to do about it? Who decides what is just and right and what is not? I recently listened to a state Attorney General say that his job is to obey the law and that he believes that life begins at conception; thus, that is what he will uphold. The law does not say that. The conversation eventually turned to the death penalty being reinstituted. The Attorney General said his job was to enforce the law. In the case being discussed, the trial was critically bungled. A jury did find the defendant guilty of murder. The issue passed through the full review process, so the defendant must be executed even though massive amounts of information were left out of the trial that strongly discounts the trial results, but that did not matter.

Esther’s family and community were scheduled to be annihilated for no good reason. She had been taken into the King’s home and designated as Queen. Even so, she risks her life to go before him and ask for her people to be spared. It was the right, the just thing to do, and he responded positively to her requests.

How do we as Christ-followers discern what is just and right in God’s eyes? What is life and when does it begin, when should it end? I could make a well-documented Biblically supported argument that life begins with breath and ends with the lack of breadth. That does not mean in the 21st century that we should not render artificial respiration to someone who needs it, nor does it mean that we should keep someone on life-supports after their brain no longer functions. God did not give us willy-nilly the ability to think, reason, and explore all avenues to deal with justice issues. The well-tested proven way to end abortion is to prevent unwanted, unplanned pregnancies, and that requires the availability of quality, affordable health care, ending poverty, and providing quality education.

The death penalty has no good purpose. It does not serve as a deterrent to crime, and it cost far more than keeping someone in prison for life if it has been determined the person is a danger to others.

Prayer: Lord, open our minds to broader ways of discerning true justice and righteousness.  Amen.

All scriptures are quoted from the New Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicized Edition, copyright 1989, 1995, Division of Christian Education of the National to of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights are reserved.

Resurrecting Wholeness

Living in the Spirit

June 4, 2021

Scripture Reading:

2 Corinthians 4:13-5:1

So we do not lose heart. Even though our outer nature is wasting away, our inner nature is being renewed day by day. For this slight momentary affliction is preparing us for an eternal weight of glory beyond all measure, because we look not at what can be seen but at what cannot be seen; for what can be seen is temporary, but what cannot be seen is eternal.

For we know that if the earthly tent we live in is destroyed, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. –2 Corinthians 4:16-5:1

In front of a three-quarters bookcase piece, full of books at the top, and one-quarter storage cabinet at the bottom, I sat on a low stool, searching through that lower area for something that I needed but did not find. I then started to stand up when I realized the only thing available to pull myself up was the bookcase. Although I walk my 10,000 steps six days a week and do restorative yoga every day, I have had artificial knees for 13 and three years, respectfully, and am tentative about movement. Not knowing how much pressure the bookcase could handle if I grabbed it and pulled myself to standing, I was stumped. I finally decided to put my arms out straight and stand up as I would have done doing squats when my knees were healthy, a time I can no longer remember. It worked. God bless orthopedic surgeons and tungsten knees.

That experience and the above scripture made me wonder how tentative I might be about answering God’s call to do justice, practice God’s righteousness. I am alarmed by what I see on the news, read on social media, and glean from newspapers. Today I heard of a twelve-year-old boy and a fourteen-year-old girl stealing guns and having a shoot out with the police. They learned that behavior from watching and listening to the adults in their lives. We pay a heavy price in our society for our hate and self-righteousness.

It is time that we all own responsibility for our societal corruption at all levels. We cannot do it alone, but with God’s help and guidance, we can bring about wholeness in our land.

I may be one of the few people that claim the following scripture literally, but I think it applies not only to the physical limitations of aging but to our spiritual decline as well,

Therefore lift your drooping hands and strengthen your weak knees, and make straight paths for your feet, so that what is lame may not be put out of joint, but rather be healed. (Hebrews 12:12-13)

Prayer: Forgive us, O Lord, for our failure to address the corruption of our society. Guide us to wholeness. Amen.

All scriptures are quoted from the New Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicized Edition, copyright 1989, 1995, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights are reserved.

Answering the Call

Discipleship

January 23, 2021

Scripture Reading: Mark 1:14-20
Now after John was arrested, Jesus came to Galilee, proclaiming the good news of God, and saying, ‘The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God has come near; repent, and believe in the good news.’

As Jesus passed along the Sea of Galilee, he saw Simon and his brother Andrew casting a net into the lake—for they were fishermen. And Jesus said to them, ‘Follow me and I will make you fish for people.’ And immediately they left their nets and followed him. As he went a little farther, he saw James son of Zebedee and his brother John, who were in their boat mending the nets. Immediately he called them; and they left their father Zebedee in the boat with the hired men, and followed him.

Was John’s arrest the impetus for Jesus to open his ministry? Perhaps he had been teaching/preaching in the background within the community of John’s followers, but the time had arrived to proclaim his purpose openly. What a challenging job God chose to do. God allowed humans free will while continuing to walk with them in their freedom, inspiring when invited, forgiving when forgotten or ignored, and never leaving the path.

By accepting Jesus Christ as our Savior, we have taken on that same assignment, fragile and weak as we may be. Born post-Depression and post WWII, I cannot think of another time in my lifespan where we have faced such peril, and the need for God’s disciples to do our jobs has never been needed more. We are the ones called to walk with others who struggle on the paths they have chosen without judgment as we work for justice for all. Such actions require us to move to the forefront of action and be the people God expects us to be. That requires us to seek God’s forgiveness when we have forgotten or ignored God.

The scribes Mark mentions in the above scripture are those identified as being the expert interpreters of scripture. Jesus dared to step forward and suggest a better reading. I have heard it said that one could find a scripture to back any of one’s ideas, which seems to be true. At the least, some scriptures are valued by some more than others. I love the title of Marcus Borg’s book Reading the Bible Again For the First Time: Taking the Bible Seriously But Not Literally (The book is a good read also). Perhaps Paul’s three-year sojourn in the desert following his Damascus road experience was time spent Reading the Bible again for the First Time.

These dark days of winter are a great time to re-evaluate the understanding of our calls and our understanding of God’s vision of Kingdom.

Prayer: Lord, forgive us for burying our heads in the sand while the world around us is being led astray in different ways. Grant us the courage to heed your call to walk with our fellow humans and share the good news of your love. Amen.

All scriptures are quoted from the New Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicized Edition, copyright 1989, 1995, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights are reserved.

Doing the Work of Love

Living in the Spirit

October 14, 2020

Scripture Reading: Psalm 99

The Lord is king; let the peoples tremble!
   He sits enthroned upon the cherubim; let the earth quake!
The Lord is great in Zion;
   he is exalted over all the peoples.
Let them praise your great and awesome name.
   Holy is he!
Mighty King, lover of justice,
   you have established equity;
you have executed justice
   and righteousness in Jacob.
Extol the Lord our God;
   worship at his footstool.
   Holy is he! –Psalm 99:1-5

As he came near and saw the city, he wept over it, saying, ‘If you, even you, had only recognized on this day the things that make for peace! But now they are hidden from your eyes. Indeed, the days will come upon you, when your enemies will set up ramparts around you and surround you, and hem you in on every side. They will crush you to the ground, you and your children within you, and they will not leave within you one stone upon another; because you did not recognize the time of your visitation from God.’—Luke 19:41-44

The vision of Jesus weeping over Jerusalem pops into my head routinely now as I observe the division and chaos going on in the USA. We cannot even agree on what is just and what is not or what is right and what is wrong. Evil has truly worked its magic across our land. The saddest thing is that people on all sides will agree with this statement, but they do not agree on what evil is.

Of one thing I am sure, Jesus loved justice. He saw corruption for what it was, and he was crucified for challenging power. But God is indeed a Might King, a Lover of Justice, and death on the cross was not the last word. We now live in a post-resurrection world. Gifted by grace, we are called to be in partnership with Christ Jesus, Lord of All, to labor in his service. Loving God and loving one another are his commanded action steps toward expanding justice and peace throughout the earth. Hatred and human condemnation have no place in Christ’s job description for us, nor does self-righteousness. We are called to establish equity in all our endeavors. The judgment of our success or failure at doing justice is delegated to Jesus Christ. Thus, Jesus’ ways are our best means of success.

Prayer: God forgive us for we do know what we are doing, and the chaos we are creating we call good.We cannot seem to extract ourselves from the web that enslaves us. Help us to find the path back to you.  Amen.

All scriptures are quoted from the New Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicized Edition, copyright 1989, 1995, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights are reserved.

Systemic Injustice

Living in the Spirit

August 17, 2020

Scripture Reading: Exodus 1:8-2:10

Then Pharaoh commanded all his people, ‘Every boy that is born to the Hebrews you shall throw into the Nile, but you shall let every girl live.’

Now a man from the house of Levi went and married a Levite woman. The woman conceived and bore a son; and when she saw that he was a fine baby, she hid him for three months. When she could hide him no longer she got a papyrus basket for him, and plastered it with bitumen and pitch; she put the child in it and placed it among the reeds on the bank of the river. His sister stood at a distance, to see what would happen to him.

The daughter of Pharaoh came down to bathe at the river, while her attendants walked beside the river. She saw the basket among the reeds and sent her maid to bring it. When she opened it, she saw the child. He was crying, and she took pity on him. ‘This must be one of the Hebrews’ children,’ she said. Then his sister said to Pharaoh’s daughter, ‘Shall I go and get you a nurse from the Hebrew women to nurse the child for you?’ Pharaoh’s daughter said to her, ‘Yes.’ So the girl went and called the child’s mother. Pharaoh’s daughter said to her, ‘Take this child and nurse it for me, and I will give you your wages.’ So the woman took the child and nursed it. When the child grew up, she brought him to Pharaoh’s daughter, and she took him as her son. She named him Moses, ‘because’, she said, ‘I drew him out of the water.’ –Exodus 1:22-2:10

Women held higher status in Egypt in antiquity than was true among most of its neighbors. Six women served as Pharaoh or queen. In some instances, they ruled as regents for minor sons who inherited the throne, but in other cases like Cleopatra, they claimed their rule. Thus, the daughter of Pharaoh probably had the authority to adopt a child from among the slaves. I have always thought that the Pharaoh’s daughter, Moses’s mother, and his sister all knew precisely what was going on as they played out this scene. When the Pharaoh’s daughter saw the child in the basket, she knew he was Hebrew. She probably also knew that Moses’s mother became his wet nurse. The story never mentions whether Pharaoh’s daughter had other children. She had the desire to save one child. I wonder whether she attempted to save the others.

We see this same thing happen in our times. A very sick and appealing child appears on the evening news in need of some expensive health care. The public works diligently to make sure the child gets the attention needed without regard to the thousands of children just like this child who required the same treatment. I am glad the one child received appropriate care. I wish all such children received the justice they deserved. I guess the adult Moses felt the same way as he led the Israelites out of Egypt, out of slavery. Perhaps his Hebrew mother planted the seed of righteousness in his heart. Perhaps his adopted mother enabled him to do what she could not. I guess we will never know.

What we do know is that we are all called to do justice. Oppression of many types awaits our attention throughout our world.

Prayer: Lord, help us see and care for the oppressed one before us, and to end the systemic oppression that caused the problem in the first place. Amen.

All scriptures are quoted from the New Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicized Edition, copyright 1989, 1995, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights are reserved.

Seeing Injustice

Kingdom Building

October 28, 2019

Scripture Reading: Habakkuk 1:1-4; 2:1-4

The oracle that the prophet Habakkuk saw.
O Lord, how long shall I cry for help,
   and you will not listen?
Or cry to you ‘Violence!’
   and you will not save?
Why do you make me see wrongdoing
   and look at trouble?
Destruction and violence are before me;
   strife and contention arise.
So the law becomes slack
   and justice never prevails.
The wicked surround the righteous—
   therefore judgement comes forth perverted. –Habakkuk 1:1-4

Why do you make me see wrongdoing and look at trouble? I have wondered this very question and would add “that others do not see.” I attended college from 1965 to 1969 where I was caught up in the civil rights movement and the Vietnam war. Fast forward some 20 years in a church small group and I was surprise to hear from people my same age who attended college at the same time who truly did not know anything about the civil rights activities and their only concern about the Vietnam war was that their student deferments remained in place. They enjoyed the normal college experiences of football games and staying up all night to finish a paper and meeting a future spouse and beer parties. I must tell you I long for a world where the worst thing that might happen to me or anyone else is that I might not get a paper in on time. Before that world can become reality, we must enact justice throughout the world we live in now.

So, what is justice? If we cannot define justice, it will never prevail. If we cannot see injustice, we can never define justice. Confining our lives to seeing only what is comfortable and safe for us will not lead to justice. I grew up in a small rural homogenous community. May introduction to the outside world was through books and it remains a primary source of learning about the world in which we live. I was also raised by news junkies. My parents watched TV news morning, evening, and night and read the daily paper which always arrived a day late to the farm because it came through the US Mail. I realize keeping up with the news is a challenge in these days of 24/7 reporting and accusations of “fake news” with concerns that indeed foreign countries may be posting unsubstantiated information on the media. Looking at more than one source helps.

Reading books or watching the news is not unlike reading the Bible. If we only listen to the parts that support the beliefs, we already hold we may miss the injustice all around us.

Prayer: Lord, open our eyes to the injustice in our world and our hearts to finding ways to correct it. Amen.

All scriptures are quoted from the New Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicized Edition, copyright 1989, 1995, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights are reserved.

History Repeats Itself

Kingdom Building

July 15, 2019

Scripture Reading: Amos 8:1-12

This is what the Lord God showed me—a basket of summer fruit. He said, ‘Amos, what do you see?’ And I said, ‘A basket of summer fruit.’ Then the Lord said to me,
‘The end has come upon my people Israel;
   I will never again pass them by.
The songs of the temple shall become wailings on that day,’
says the Lord God;
‘the dead bodies shall be many,
   cast out in every place. Be silent!’
Hear this, you that trample on the needy,
   and bring to ruin the poor of the land,
saying, ‘When will the new moon be over
   so that we may sell grain;
and the sabbath,
   so that we may offer wheat for sale?
We will make the ephah small and the shekel great,
   and practice deceit with false balances,
buying the poor for silver
   and the needy for a pair of sandals,
   and selling the sweepings of the wheat.’ –Amos 8:1-6

I find it difficult to read the prophets of the Hebrew Bible these days because reviewing them makes me wonder if we ever learn from history. Greed and lust for power was the undoing of Israel even while prophets like Amos predicted well the consequences of the Israelites behavior.  We have the insight of the finished picture, exile and later the return to their ruined temple and lands, and still we do not take heed of our similar behavior.

We can blame our difficulties on elected officials and there is plenty of blame to go around whether bluster or inertia. The simple truth is we elected them, and they are a mirror image of our greed and desire for power. Of course, many of us do not see the problem in the inequities that grow in our land. Our stock investments are growing well, like summer fruit.  We chose not to see the people working at more them one job to survive on inadequate wages, who may be able to afford rent or medicine but not both. We tsk, tsk about drug companies charging exorbitant prices for medicine like insulin but that is about as far as it goes unless it is us or one of our loved ones who will die without a drug that is basically the same today as it was a hundred years ago. Amos reports that the Israelites of his day were so impatient to make more money they wished for the sabbath to end so they could get back to the important thing in their lives–making money. While our stock market is closed over the weekend in a world economy, we can find some place to wheel and deal at any time or day of the week.

I guess my difficulty in reading the prophets results from feeling so helpless to do anything about what is wrong in our world. Truth is I am helpless, but I love a God who is not. A God who has a proven record dealing with evil, a God who can empower me and you to deal with evil when we are ready to follow God’s lead.

Prayer: Lord, forgive me when greed and lust for power or other forms of idolatry overcome me. Strengthen me to live your love and do your justice on this great planet you created. Amen.

All scriptures are quoted from the New Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicized Edition, copyright 1989, 1995, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights are reserved.