Tag Archives: Justice

Mental Health

Lent

April 6, 2022

Scripture Reading: Psalm 31:9-16

Be gracious to me, O Lord, for I am in distress;
   my eye wastes away from grief,
   my soul and body also.
For my life is spent with sorrow,
   and my years with sighing;
my strength fails because of my misery,
   and my bones waste away.

I am the scorn of all my adversaries,
   a horror to my neighbors,
an object of dread to my acquaintances;
   those who see me in the street flee from me.
I have passed out of mind like one who is dead;
   I have become like a broken vessel.
For I hear the whispering of many—
   terror all around!—
as they scheme together against me,
   as they plot to take my life.

But I trust in you, O Lord;
   I say, ‘You are my God.’
My times are in your hand;
   deliver me from the hand of my enemies and persecutors.
Let your face shine upon your servant;
   save me in your steadfast love.

The homeless on our streets came to my mind when I read this. Some years back my church participated in a feeding program for the homeless providing a meal in rotation with other churches. When one of the so-called homeless women saw the name of our church on our T-shirts her eyes twinkled and she said, “I got married in your church in 1952.” As some of our members got better acquainted with her, we learned she was a retired schoolteacher, who received Social Security and teacher retirement. She said she had an apartment a few blocks from the library where we served the meal. One of the couples who volunteered asked if she would like a ride home and she did. They watched her enter the building and as they drove away, they saw her exit the building from the back pushing her grocery cart that carried all her possessions. She did not trust the demons in the building. I suppose we took special notice of her because she was one like us, but all the homeless are ones like us. I dabble in genealogy, and in many of my families, I have recorded the comment about someone in a family that just left, and we never heard from them again. And those people still exist today.

Our health care system is not what it needs to be, but the mental health care system is even worse. As we try to meet the basic needs on the street, let us not forget to advocate for better systems of care.

Prayer: Lord, help us to see the homeless as children created in your image that need our care and our advocacy. 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.

Common Good

Lent

April 5, 2022

Scripture Reading: Isaiah 50:4-9a

The Lord God has given me
   the tongue of a teacher,
that I may know how to sustain
   the weary with a word.
Morning by morning he wakens—
   wakens my ear
   to listen as those who are taught.
The Lord God has opened my ear,
   and I was not rebellious,
   I did not turn backwards.
I gave my back to those who struck me,
   and my cheeks to those who pulled out the beard;
I did not hide my face
   from insult and spitting. –Isaiah 50:4-6

I do not know if I have the tongue of a teacher, but I do enjoy facilitating good discussion and I usually work with adults. I grew from experiences in various employment. I did almost every job except fry cook at one of the chain restaurants on an interstate, cleaned houses, babysat children, and worked as a nursing assistant at two different nursing homes when I was in high school and college. I grew from each of these experiences, and I think those experiences helped me move into my career as a better prepared social worker and later as a pastor. In Bible studies, I learn from small business owners about the challenges of the business world, from welders and plumbers to accountants and lawyers. As a child welfare worker, I grew to appreciate sheriffs, deputies, and other law enforcement officials.

I have a sense that we are trying to build a world where everyone thinks alike and sees the world from a single perspective. God created a world requiring people with many diverse skills and talents to maintain it. Such work would, of necessity, require us to share our experiences as we work together for the common good. Perhaps the problem is that we do not care about the common good.

Prayer: Lord, thank you for providing other people in my life who give me a better understanding of this world 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.

God Help Us

Lent

April 4, 2022

Scripture Reading: Isaiah 50:4-9a

The Lord God helps me;
   therefore I have not been disgraced;
therefore I have set my face like flint,
   and I know that I shall not be put to shame;
   he who vindicates me is near.
Who will contend with me?
   Let us stand up together.
Who are my adversaries?
   Let them confront me.
It is the Lord God who helps me;
   who will declare me guilty?
All of them will wear out like a garment;
   the moth will eat them up. –Isaiah 50:7-9

How do followers of Christ see the world so differently? How do we speak truth to righteousness when we cannot agree on what is just, what is of God? The prophets whose messages are recorded in the Hebrew Bible faced those same questions, about different issues but they dealt with the same blindness to the reality that was so clear to those prophets but not to the people.  History tells us that the prophets were right. How do we free ourselves from seeing what we want to see and hearing what we want to hear?

Isaiah’s message in the above scripture is that in the face of such diversity, being in sync with God becomes of even greater importance. The problem was that the people Isaiah was trying to reach thought they were following God and Isaiah was the one off-course. He concludes that only time will tell. That was too late for the Israelites, and they landed in exile. Is that our future?

Prayer: Lord, create in us clean hearts so that we might commune meaningfully with 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.

Greed

Lent

April 3, 2022

Scripture Reading: John 12:1-8

Six days before the Passover Jesus came to Bethany, the home of Lazarus, whom he had raised from the dead. There they gave a dinner for him. Martha served, and Lazarus was one of those at the table with him. Mary took a pound of costly perfume made of pure nard, anointed Jesus’ feet, and wiped them with her hair. The house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume. But Judas Iscariot, one of his disciples (the one who was about to betray him), said, ‘Why was this perfume not sold for three hundred denarii and the money given to the poor?’ (He said this not because he cared about the poor, but because he was a thief; he kept the common purse and used to steal what was put into it.) Jesus said, ‘Leave her alone. She bought it so that she might keep it for the day of my burial. You always have the poor with you, but you do not always have me.’

For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil, and in their eagerness to be rich some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many pains. –1 Timothy 6:10

Greed is our world’s idol of choice. It is an addiction, harder to vanquish than any drug or alcohol or smoking. Greed alters the values by which we live. All aspects of life are impacted by the worship of wealth. People project the measure of their worth onto the ability to acquire whatever it is that they lust after. I am beginning to understand better the word endemic.  Endemic means belonging or native to a particular people or country: not introduced or naturalized*.  Those who study viruses are now saying COVID in its various forms has now become endemic in our world and in our country. We must learn to live with it. Those characteristics are true regarding greed. We all have a touch of greed. The difference is that greed cannot be treated by vaccines. To conquer greed, we must learn to recognize it and faithfully decide to avoid it. We humans have proved that we do not like being responsible for our well-being. However, that is exactly what Christ calls us to do. Love one another, care for one another and own the well-being of all.

Christ through the work of the Holy Spirit can and will enable us to love like Jesus if we choose to change.

Prayer: Lord, help us to see where greed is ruling our lives and actions. Grant us the courage to let greed go and be made anew through your love. Amen.

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

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.

Ending Poverty

Lent

April 2, 2022

Scripture Reading: John 12:1-8

Six days before the Passover Jesus came to Bethany, the home of Lazarus, whom he had raised from the dead. There they gave a dinner for him. Martha served, and Lazarus was one of those at the table with him. Mary took a pound of costly perfume made of pure nard, anointed Jesus’ feet, and wiped them with her hair. The house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume. But Judas Iscariot, one of his disciples (the one who was about to betray him), said, ‘Why was this perfume not sold for three hundred denarii and the money given to the poor?’ (He said this not because he cared about the poor, but because he was a thief; he kept the common purse and used to steal what was put into it.) Jesus said, ‘Leave her alone. She bought it so that she might keep it for the day of my burial. You always have the poor with you, but you do not always have me.’

Some people interpret Jesus’s statement You always have the poor with you, but you do not always have me, as there is nothing, we can do about the poor. I think he was saying we need to use our time wisely. Poverty does, indeed, strike individuals and families and in Matthew 25 Jesus tells us we are to incorporate the alleviation of lack of food, appropriate clothing, and health care into our service to God.  The statement you will always have the poor with you, however, recognizes that poverty is a systemic problem that not only requires attention to meeting needs but also changing societal norms that support poverty’s existence.

About 97 million more people are living on less than $1.90 a day because of the pandemic, increasing the global poverty rate from 7.8 to 9.1 percent; 163 million more are living on less than $5.50 a day. Globally, three to four years of progress toward ending extreme poverty are estimated to have been lost*.

U.S. Billionaires Got 62 percent Richer During Pandemic. They’re Now Up $1.8 Trillion **. Global Billionaires See $5.5 Trillion Pandemic Wealth Surge ***.

There is something very wrong with this picture.

While poverty increased during the pandemic it was running amok before the pandemic. Food stamps, childcare subsidies, and Medicaid provided for low-wage families are essentially the benefits not being provided by large corporations. Middle-class taxes are largely paying for these benefits. Small businesses suffer too because they cannot compete with the mass producers. Small farms are dying all over the country. It is a complex and difficult problem to solve and in the final analysis, because we have ignored it for some time, we will all be impacted by the necessary changes. History tells us that when the rich just keep getting richer and the poor poorer the foundation of the economy is destroyed and so goes the empires. The USA is flirting with that reality now. Greed eventually eats itself.

Jesus teaches a simple story, that loving our neighbors as we love ourselves lets us have an abundant life. John 10:10b, I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.” Abundance is not measured in money it is the fullness of life found in spirit, soul, and body.

Prayer: Lord, show us the way to your abundance for all. Amen.

*https://blogs.worldbank.org/developmenttalk/covid-19-leaves-legacy-rising-poverty-and-widening-inequality#:~:text=About%2097%20million%20more%20people,estimated%20to%20have%20been%20lost.

**https://ips-dc.org/u-s-billionaires-62-percent-richer-during-pandemic/

***https://ips-dc.org/global-billionaires-see-5-5-trillion-pandemic-wealth-surge/

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.

Reconciled to and through God

Lent

March 24, 2022

Scripture Reading:

2 Corinthians 5:16-21

From now on, therefore, we regard no one from a human point of view; even though we once knew Christ from a human point of view, we know him no longer in that way. So if anyone is in Christ, there is a new creation: everything old has passed away; see, everything has become new! All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ, and has given us the ministry of reconciliation; that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting the message of reconciliation to us. So we are ambassadors for Christ, since God is making his appeal through us; we entreat you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.

Reconciliation always requires change whether we are reconciling ourselves to God or one another. We reconcile to God when we commit to coming in line with God’s loving ways of being where God accepts us as we are and as we grow into being all that we can be. Reconciliation with one another involves every day coming into sync with people as we traverse the routines of our lives making the effort to bring our lives into alignment with others. Reconciliation also must occur to correct the fault lines, we may have inherited, but remain a danger to justice for all people. The lack of reconciliation among people is at the heart of most of our problems in this world today and is often the result of being out of sync with God’s justice as we withdraw from being reconciled to God in search of the gods of the world.

The peculiar thing about reconciliation is the issues needing to be reconciled are not the heart of the matter they are merely outcomes. We will never solve those negative outcomes until we address the fundamental problem of failing to love like God at some time in some place recently or historically and change our hearts as well as our behavior.

Prayer: Create in us clean hearts and right spirits as we work for reconciliation. 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.

Repentance

Lent

March 19, 2022

Scripture Reading: Luke 13:1-9

At that very time there were some present who told him about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mingled with their sacrifices. He asked them, ‘Do you think that because these Galileans suffered in this way they were worse sinners than all other Galileans? No, I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all perish as they did. Or those eighteen who were killed when the tower of Siloam fell on them—do you think that they were worse offenders than all the others living in Jerusalem? No, I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all perish just as they did.’–Luke 13:1-5

Years ago, a woman I worked with was treated very badly by the male executives in the agency. She was clearly the best person for a job that she did not get. It was awarded to a young man with little or no experience and who had less education. He became her supervisor. She, of course, ended up doing the work for which he was paid. I stopped by her office and told her how sorry I was, and she said, “that’s OK, the executives will get theirs in the end.” Something similar to Karma is easy to find in most cultures.

Jesus is telling us that God’s justice is not an accidental coincidence. God has commanded us to love one another with no exceptions. Jesus modeled that love in his life, death, and resurrection. We are judged by that scale. We all fall short of perfection in our love and thus, we need to come before God and confess our shortcomings and seek God’s better way. Psalm 51:1-2 might be a good scripture to apply to our lives. It is ascribed to David as his repentance over his relationship with Bathsheba. Here are the first two verses.

Prayer:
Have mercy on me, O God,
   according to your steadfast love;
according to your abundant mercy
   blot out my transgressions.
Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity,
   and cleanse me from my sin. 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.

Assuring that all have enough

Lent

March 14, 2022

Scripture Reading: Isaiah 55:1-9

Ho, everyone who thirsts,
   come to the waters;
and you that have no money,
   come, buy and eat!
Come, buy wine and milk
   without money and without price.
Why do you spend your money for that which is not bread,
   and your labor for that which does not satisfy?
Listen carefully to me, and eat what is good,
   and delight yourselves in rich food.
Incline your ear, and come to me;
   listen, so that you may live.
I will make with you an everlasting covenant,
   my steadfast, sure love for David.
See, I made him a witness to the peoples,
   a leader and commander for the peoples.
See, you shall call nations that you do not know,
   and nations that do not know you shall run to you,
because of the Lord your God, the Holy One of Israel,
   for he has glorified you. –Isaiah 55:1-5

Enough is a simple word that sets the boundaries on wholeness which can only happen when supported by oneness and justice. I have spent most of my life addressing issues related to poverty. Poverty is the end result of never having enough of the necessities of life. I once heard a speaker say that the difference between being poor and living in poverty is that the latter live without hope.

The poverty ratio in the USA for four people is $25,701* per year or an annual salary of $12.35 per hour working 52 weeks, 40 hours per week. Sixteen percent of children live in poverty*.

God’s desire is for everyone to have enough. That does not mean everyone must have the same resources but it does mean that all should have the necessities of life written about in the above scripture. We are called to bring hope to the hopeless.

Prayer: Lord, help us assure that others, all others have enough. Amen.

*https://www.povertyusa.org/facts

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.

The Common Good

Lent

March 12, 2022

Scripture Reading:

Luke 13:31-35

At that very hour some Pharisees came and said to him, ‘Get away from here, for Herod wants to kill you.’ He said to them, ‘Go and tell that fox for me, “Listen, I am casting out demons and performing cures today and tomorrow, and on the third day I finish my work. Yet today, tomorrow, and the next day I must be on my way, because it is impossible for a prophet to be killed away from Jerusalem.” Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to it! How often have I desired to gather your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you were not willing! See, your house is left to you. And I tell you, you will not see me until the time comes when you say, “Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord.”’

I wonder what Jesus would say if he looked down upon our nation and our state today. I feel confident his words would be the same as those he spoke looking down on Jerusalem. Oklahoma is a state fighting against its own best interests. It ranks 47th in life expectancy* and 42nd in poverty**. The percentages vary among the different measures used to determine the standing of our ability to address these issues, but the numbers are only slightly different. We rank in the bottom 10 among all states in health care and health outcomes, education, and criminal justice. The one common denominator among these three ways of solving these problems is our leader’s desire to spread our tax dollars among for-profit providers rather than tackle the issues without greasing the skids of greed.

Jesus showed us the way in his life and his teachings. In Matthew 25 he says he will judge the nations in whether they fed the hungry, gave water to the thirsty, welcomed the stranger, clothed the naked, cared for the sick, and restored those in prison. In recent times we have turned inward only caring about our personal rights not the wellbeing of all. Jesus teaches us that there is room in God’s kingdom for all to have enough to thrive and we are each individually and collectively responsible for striving for that common good.

Prayer: Lord, forgive us for not fulfilling your plan for your world. Amen.

*https://www.worldlifeexpectancy.com/usa/oklahoma-life-expectancy

**https://www.news9.com/story/5e3498fe527dcf49dad814d4/oklahoma-ranks-among-the-poorest-states-in-the-us#:~:text=And%20Oklahoma%20wound%20up%20in,median%20household%20income%20at%20%2449%2C176.

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.