Tag Archives: Justice

God’s Design

Living in the Spirit

October 17, 2021               

Scripture Reading: Mark 10:46-52

They came to Jericho. As he and his disciples and a large crowd were leaving Jericho, Bartimaeus son of Timaeus, a blind beggar, was sitting by the roadside. When he heard that it was Jesus of Nazareth, he began to shout out and say, ‘Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!’ Many sternly ordered him to be quiet, but he cried out even more loudly, ‘Son of David, have mercy on me!’ Jesus stood still and said, ‘Call him here.’ And they called the blind man, saying to him, ‘Take heart; get up, he is calling you.’ So throwing off his cloak, he sprang up and came to Jesus. Then Jesus said to him, ‘What do you want me to do for you?’ The blind man said to him, ‘My teacher, let me see again.’ Jesus said to him, ‘Go; your faith has made you well.’ Immediately he regained his sight and followed him on the way.

Mark reports a straightforward request for healing that was granted. Other gospels in telling this story delve into the politics of the day. I was refreshed reading this version, having grown weary of media reports on issues that matter to me where the press only talks about the politics and not the contents of a bill or the problems being addressed. The media no longer seems to care about “we the people.” It is more concerned about we the political party or we the powermongers. The media cares about what gets them better ratings which translates into better profits. Jesus cared about the people.

How do we, as followers of Christ, turn that around? Getting caught up in greed and power brokering historically always ends badly, not only for commoners but especially for the wealthy and the powerful.  God did not create a world that can sustain being constantly pulled out of balance, regarding the earth itself or its people. Instead, God created a masterpiece where all people are indeed created equal. Where we all must make our contributions to making the world work for everyone in it. We were all created with gifts that must be realized and supported by all for all.

Benjamin Franklin said it this way: We must, indeed, all hang together or, most assuredly, we shall all hang separately.

Jesus put it this way: Love God and love your neighbors as you love yourself.

Our country was founded on that premise. The question is, do we have the will to make it work?

Prayer: Lord, forgive us when we care more about worldly wealth and power than we do about one another. Turn us around to see and do your better way. 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.

Paradox

Living in the Spirit

October 15, 2021

Scripture Reading: Hebrews 5:1-10

In the days of his flesh, Jesus offered up prayers and supplications, with loud cries and tears, to the one who was able to save him from death, and he was heard because of his reverent submission. Although he was a Son, he learned obedience through what he suffered; and having been made perfect, he became the source of eternal salvation for all who obey him, having been designated by God a high priest according to the order of Melchizedek. –Hebrews 5:7-10

A paradox is a statement or sentiment that is seemingly contradictory or opposed to common sense and yet perhaps true in fact*. The above scripture opens with a paradox. The phrase In the days of his flesh is a beautiful way to share with people the true humanness Jesus experienced those 30 some years he walked this earth. He prayed to God who could save him with prayers and supplications and was heard because of his reverent submission. He was heard and yet submitted to crucifixion. I cannot imagine how either God or Jesus felt about the situation. Was crucifixion a given? Was there a point at which any leader of the day could say, this is just not right? I think the answer is yes. Caiaphas, the High Priest, could have turned the situation around. Pilate, too, certainly could have said we are not doing this rather than washing his hands of the situation.

What would it take for one of our leaders to see the errors of our ways and say no more? What would it take for we, the people, to say no more? We want justice. We want to do what is right. Neither justice nor righteousness is complicated to understand. Making them happen only gets complicated when we view them through the filters of our worldly vices. Will my doing what is right make me lose the next election? Will seeking justice reduce the support of my strongest backers? Will assuring that all people are treated in a just manner reduce my white privilege?

We have limited opportunities to get things right. So we must take them when they appear.

Prayer: Lord, share your courage fueled by love with us when we can be the conduit of justice and righteousness in our world. Amen.

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

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.

Too Good for God

Living in the Spirit

October 13, 2021

Scripture Reading: Psalm 91:9-16
Because you have made the Lord your refuge,
   the Most High your dwelling-place,
no evil shall befall you,
   no scourge come near your tent.

For he will command his angels concerning you
   to guard you in all your ways.
On their hands they will bear you up,
   so that you will not dash your foot against a stone.
You will tread on the lion and the adder,
   the young lion and the serpent you will trample under foot.

Those who love me, I will deliver;
   I will protect those who know my name.
When they call to me, I will answer them;
   I will be with them in trouble,
   I will rescue them and honor them.
With long life I will satisfy them,
   and show them my salvation.

God is dependable. We who call ourselves Christian have failed to take the message in this Psalm to the ends of the earth. The percentage of people who identify as Christian in the U.S.A. is on a freefall. Many of those who identify as Christian treat it only as a positive item to add to their resume’.  Many of our European counterparts recognize the church as a place for Baptism, Weddings, and Funerals. In the U.S.A., these folks are also identified as Christmas and Easter attenders. The downturn started in the 1960s but has increased at a rapid rate in the 21st Century. Millennials are particularly turned off by what I think they perceive as a lack of substance. When people achieve wealth and power, they no longer feel they need a refuge or a guard or deliverance—they no longer need God. The prophet Amos ungraciously described the women of Israel as the cows of Bashan when he confronted the Israelites about their failure to follow God.

Hear this word, you cows of Bashan
   who are on Mount Samaria,
who oppress the poor, who crush the needy,
   who say to their husbands, ‘Bring something to drink!’ –Amos 4:1

Amos brought his warnings around 800 BC.  Assyrians invaded Israel in 732 BC, and the ten tribes that made up Israel were dispersed across the world.

What I just described is a typical pattern among empires throughout history. We need to ask ourselves if we want to break that cycle and turn back to the inclusive God who loves all and provided in creation enough for all to flourish.

Prayer: Lord, forgive us when we think we have outgrown you or reached a point of development where we attempt to define you in our desired image. Guide us to love like you, practicing your righteousness and justice. 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.

Restore Righteousness

Living in the Spirit

October 12, 2021

Scripture Reading: Isaiah 53:4-12

Yet it was the will of the Lord to crush him with pain.
When you make his life an offering for sin,
   he shall see his offspring, and shall prolong his days;
through him the will of the Lord shall prosper.
   Out of his anguish he shall see light;
he shall find satisfaction through his knowledge.
   The righteous one, my servant, shall make many righteous,
   and he shall bear their iniquities.
Therefore I will allot him a portion with the great,
   and he shall divide the spoil with the strong;
because he poured out himself to death,
   and was numbered with the transgressors;
yet he bore the sin of many,
   and made intercession for the transgressors.  –Isaiah 53:10-12

I just saw a man interviewed on T.V. who has spent 42 years in prison for a crime he did not commit. There is no question in the current prosecuting attorney’s mind from the town he was tried. Clear evidence was presented. The man did not commit the crime. Yet the State Attorney General does not want to overturn the original verdict, for what reason I do not know, and thinks the prisoner should serve out his life without parole sentence. Being tough on crime gets votes. But, justice is the job of any judicial system, and keeping an innocent man in prison is not justice.

The person identified in the above scripture went far being setting a mistaken judgment right. Instead, he made people righteous who were guilty of transgressions. That is restorative justice, which offers people who committed crimes opportunities to turn their lives around and become members of society, making a positive contribution to their communities. Drug courts are an excellent example of restorative justice. Rather than sending someone convicted of drug possession, a restorative plan is developed, including treatment, getting and keeping a job, and not being charged again for similar actions. Once all the requirements are completed, participants return to society with righteousness restored.

A program for people who committed severe crimes sentenced to life without payroll allows them to train service dogs. They will never get out of prison, but they have been restored to righteousness. One observer noted that the dogs’ unconditional love was probably the only unconditional love some prisoners had ever received.

Prayer: Lord, make us all restorers of righteousness, whether in hands-on acts with others in need or through advocacy for restorative justice in all our court systems. 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.

Money Rules

Living in the Spirit

October 10, 2021

Scripture Reading: Mark 10:17-31

Then Jesus looked around and said to his disciples, ‘How hard it will be for those who have wealth to enter the kingdom of God!’ And the disciples were perplexed at these words. But Jesus said to them again, ‘Children, how hard it is to enter the kingdom of God! It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of God.’ They were greatly astounded and said to one another, ‘Then who can be saved?’ Jesus looked at them and said, ‘For mortals it is impossible, but not for God; for God all things are possible.’

Peter began to say to him, ‘Look, we have left everything and followed you.’ Jesus said, ‘Truly I tell you, there is no one who has left house or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or fields, for my sake and for the sake of the good news, who will not receive a hundredfold now in this age—houses, brothers and sisters, mothers and children, and fields, with persecutions—and in the age to come eternal life. But many who are first will be last, and the last will be first.’ –Mark 10:23-31

I was born in tornado alley and lived in it most of my life. Over and over, I hear people who have lost their homes and vehicles say when interviewed by media, everyone in the family survived that is all that is important. We can rebuild. Roll that scene back and consider what was important in our lives before the storm. In the above scripture, Jesus is telling us to get our priorities right in real-time. He states it this way in Matthew 16:26, For what will it profit them if they gain the whole world but forfeit their life? Or what will they give in return for their life?

Individuals being snared by greed grow into a society driven by greed. Every day, I get between 20 or 30 emails asking me for money to support various candidates when we do not have another election until next year. The sad fact is that the person with the most financial backing usually wins. Worse still, raising money is necessary even to get a bill passed in Congress. We the people, no longer have a say in our governance, which now could be described as government of the rich, by the rich, and for the rich. The only way to address this problem is the vote. Every effort is now being made to take that away from us.

Money deciding our elections would not happen if we, the people, did not also worship wealth. Do we envy the rich? What are our priorities? Where does loving God and loving as Jesus fit into our priorities?

Prayer: Lord, cleanse us of lusting after the ways of the world and help us set priorities that lead to a world ruled by 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.

Grace Not Greed

Living in the Spirit

Living in the Spirit

October 9, 2021

Scripture Reading: Mark 10:17-31

As he was setting out on a journey, a man ran up and knelt before him, and asked him, ‘Good Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?’ Jesus said to him, ‘Why do you call me good? No one is good but God alone. You know the commandments: “You shall not murder; You shall not commit adultery; You shall not steal; You shall not bear false witness; You shall not defraud; Honor your father and mother.”‘ He said to him, ‘Teacher, I have kept all these since my youth.’ Jesus, looking at him, loved him and said, ‘You lack one thing; go, sell what you own, and give the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; then come, follow me.’ When he heard this, he was shocked and went away grieving, for he had many possessions. –Mark 10:17-22

The story of greed is what’s in it for me. Jesus recognized greed when he saw it and dealt with it. Life is not driven by love if we follow the rules only to inherit eternal life. I am glad the writer of Mark noted that Jesus loved the man that knelt before him. Jesus was pleased that he obeyed the laws and norms of his culture. Yet, Jesus does not include the first commandments in the list of desired behavior. We halt at stop signs at best to protect our safety, at least to avoid getting a ticket. The Commandments outlined in the above scripture fall mainly in the category of maintaining order.

The primary Commandments Jesus did not list were the first ones, how we respect and relate to God. In summary*, they are

I am the LORD your God you shall

  • Have no other gods before me
  • Have no graven images or likenesses
  • Not take the LORD’s name in vain
  • Remember the sabbath day

Possessions were this young man’s God perhaps exemplified by graven images. Greed spreads in pandemic proportions faster and more profound than COVID. Greed quickly mutates as people begin to rein it in. Christ’s gift of grace elimenates the temptation of greed targeted at winning eternal life. Eternal life with God is ours for the accepting. That gift opens our lives to the fullness of loving God and loving like Jesus as we work to build the world Jesus died to actualize.

Prayer: Lord, we love you and worship you and thank you for the gift of grace, help us use it wisely. Amen.

*See Exodus 20 for the complete listing.

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.

Wise Hearts

Living in the Spirit

October 6, 2021

Scripture Reading: Psalm 90:12-17

So teach us to count our days
   that we may gain a wise heart.

Turn, O Lord! How long?
   Have compassion on your servants!
Satisfy us in the morning with your steadfast love,
   so that we may rejoice and be glad all our days.
Make us glad for as many days as you have afflicted us,
   and for as many years as we have seen evil.
Let your work be manifest to your servants,
   and your glorious power to their children.
Let the favor of the Lord our God be upon us,
   and prosper for us the work of our hands—
   O prosper the work of our hands!

I have never thought about a heart having the quality of wisdom. We view the heart as an essential pump that pushes blood throughout our system. The Hebrew word used here, lebab, translated as heart, means inner man, mind, will, heart*, which was the perception of that day and remains with us today. So, what is a wise heart?

The rest of the poem outlines what would be gained by having a wiser heart. God giving us compassion surely means we are to share kindness with others. God’s love for us brings us joy, our love for others should be a source of pleasure. I do not perceive that God afflicts us unless we count the gift of free will as the source of our troubles. A wiser heart would guide us toward better decisions. We must also deal with the wrong decision made by others that our poet describes as evil. Addressing the injustices we see in our world calls us to let God’s work manifest in us as we strive to carry out God’s vision of a world ruled by love.

Prayer: Lord, give us wise hearts to serve you more nearly. Amen.

*https://biblehub.com/hebrew/3824.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.

Out of Balance

Living in the Spirit

October 5, 2021

Scripture Reading: Amos 5:10-15

They hate the one who reproves in the gate,
   and they abhor the one who speaks the truth.
Therefore, because you trample on the poor
   and take from them levies of grain,
you have built houses of hewn stone,
   but you shall not live in them;
you have planted pleasant vineyards,
   but you shall not drink their wine.
For I know how many are your transgressions,
   and how great are your sins—
you who afflict the righteous, who take a bribe,
   and push aside the needy in the gate.
Therefore the prudent will keep silent in such a time;
   for it is an evil time.

Seek good and not evil,
   that you may live;
and so the Lord, the God of hosts, will be with you,
   just as you have said.
Hate evil and love good,
   and establish justice in the gate;
it may be that the Lord, the God of hosts,
   will be gracious to the remnant of Joseph.

The economy in the USA is out of balance. It has been for some time, and the tax cut of 2017 made it much worse. The poverty rate is meaningless in today’s economy. It was designed in the late fifties based on multiplying the cost of food by three. The federal minimum wage is just as outdated, and correcting it would cause significant challenges to the economy. I would throw them out and use the living wage as a marker of families having enough to live on and thrive. MIT and others have addressed the idea of the actual cost of having enough income. You can see its living wage calculator at https://livingwage.mit.edu.

Even amid a pandemic, the unemployment rate in August 2021 was 5.2% in the USA, 3.2% in Oklahoma. People are working. These are conservative figures based on people seeking jobs. More difficult to count are those who are not working and not looking for work.  Non-disabled non-elderly adults who receive SNAP (food stamps) must prove they seek employment to qualify for the help. Childcare subsidies are directly tied to work.  The Poor Peoples Campaign estimate that 140 million people in the USA live in poverty or are one high health care cost away from bankruptcy, which is the case among many having been treated for COVID or having lost a loved one to COVID.

Bringing our economy into balance will take time and a solid commitment to making it happen. It can be done, but we must work past special interests and greed while not trampling on the poor to succeed.

Prayer: Lord, help us find our way out of discord and balance so that every family can attain a living wage.  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.

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.

Keep It Simple

Living in the Spirit

September 24, 2021

Scripture Reading: James 5:13-20

Are any among you suffering? They should pray. Are any cheerful? They should sing songs of praise. Are any among you sick? They should call for the elders of the church and have them pray over them, anointing them with oil in the name of the Lord. The prayer of faith will save the sick, and the Lord will raise them up; and anyone who has committed sins will be forgiven. Therefore confess your sins to one another, and pray for one another, so that you may be healed. The prayer of the righteous is powerful and effective. Elijah was a human being like us, and he prayed fervently that it might not rain, and for three years and six months it did not rain on the earth. Then he prayed again, and the heaven gave rain and the earth yielded its harvest.

My brothers and sisters, if anyone among you wanders from the truth and is brought back by another, you should know that whoever brings back a sinner from wandering will save the sinner’s soul from death and will cover a multitude of sins.

Evil distracts keeping us agitated about things that often do not impact us directly, pulling us away from really making a difference for good in this world. Evil’s impact is heightened by “gotcha” media that is more interested in making money than informing. We are caught in a maze that keeps us lost and has no way out.

God’s answers to our challenges are direct and straightforward, using Love as a guiding principle in everything we do. James, the author of the above Scripture, was a real champion of keeping it simple stupid. Wearing masks and socially distancing to reduce virus contagion may be the best example of that. If the fossil fuel industry had invested as much money in finding ways to reduce carbon emissions as it did in buying lawmakers, it might have solved its pollution problem by now. The same may be said for the industrial war machine, who, with a bit of ingenuity, could build machines that would help address other problems like global warming. People who are adamant about passing laws to make abortion a crime, rarely support legislation that would provide affordable, accessible health care, quality education, and lifting families out of poverty. All together are proven methods for ending abortions by addressing unwanted, unplanned pregnancies. Now that voters are catching on to their actions, these distractors try to stop people from the vote.

Rather than getting caught in a maze, we might want to walk a labyrinth, an intricate, sometimes symbolic pattern that has a path that leads into a center. I was taught one way of walking a labyrinth as one enters; they meditate/contemplate identifying anything separating them from God. When they arrive at the center, laying those shortfalls before God, they seek forgiveness. As they return via the labyrinth to the entrance, they rejoice in the forgiveness and Love of God and leave better prepared to face the distractions of life.

Prayer: God of Mercy and Justice, forgive us of our foolish ways, and empower our ability to love like Jesus. 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.