A Sermon by Our Deacon Jennifer Sandberg
My dictionary defines the word “justice” as moral rightness; equity. If you want to put it in even simpler terms it means the “right thing to do”. Jesus told us what is the right thing to do in our New Testament reading this morning. Just because someone is a stranger doesn’t mean we should walk on by when they are in need of help. The Old Testament has many references to justice, particularly God’s justice. Deuteronomy 10 verses 18 & 19: who executes justice for the orphan and the widow and who loves the strangers, providing them food and clothing. You shall ... love the stranger, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt.
Equally loved should be strangers who are our neighbors. Leviticus 19 verse 18 You shall not take vengeance or bear a grudge against any of your people, but you shall love your neighbor as yourself:…”
Perhaps the members of the Prince William County Council in Virginia should review that particular passage of the Bible. They have tried very hard to eradicate Hispanic members of their community and been quite successful.
However, there have been unintended consequences. Their jails are overflowing with incarcerated alleged illegal immigrants. The Immigration and Customs Enforcement Administration doesn’t come by to pick them up very often, because their facilities are brimming. Now, businesses in the county are complaining that their clientele have disappeared. Anyone with a Hispanic surname has moved from Prince William, whether they are legal immigrants or not to avoid being targeted by police.
Just last week, the county council voted to scrap buying police car video cameras, so that the officers wouldn’t be accused of profiling. That’s because the county has found that money is a problem to finance their injustice. Now the police can’t arrest someone on suspicion of being an illegal, they have to have actually done something criminally to be arrested and then their status is checked.
I believe that true justice is not political. You know it when you see or feel injustice and you know it when you see or feel justice. Sometimes doing the right thing may seem to be out of our comfort zone. Sometimes doing the right thing may alienate us from family or community, at least temporarily. But that still, small voice inside us tells us that what we are doing is the right thing.
A year ago, as a Prince William County teacher, I was accused of child abuse. It was untrue and unsubstantiated and eventually the charges were dropped. Going through that nightmare has given me a passion for justice that I have not felt for a very long time.
When I was growing up, I saw Bull Conner and his goons in Birmingham, Alabama, when they unleashed the police dogs and used fire hoses on civil rights demonstrators. I was appalled. As many of you know, I grew up in rural Minnesota. It was not exactly a place where I encountered many people of color on a daily basis. But what I recognized when I saw those images on the nightly news was that these are human beings who are being attacked. This was unjustified. The demonstrators were only asking to be treated in their everyday lives as human beings. Simply that.
Twenty-six years ago, just after Clint McCully and I were married, I was a federal employee in the Office of Personnel Management. A call went out for government paid volunteers from the agency to be poll watchers for an election in Mississippi. I promptly signed up. In September, I flew to Jackson, Mississippi. Those who had volunteered were briefed by Department of Justice lawyers as to what we were to do. Basically, it was to stand around and make sure that voters (particularly African American ones) weren’t harassed as they voted or were unduly influenced by others on whom to vote for.
We were housed in a motel in Jackson, for our safety we were told, then very early the next morning drove in convoy to the county where the election was taking place. I was on my feet all day. I had a short break midmorning, one for lunch then another short break in the afternoon. When the polls closed at 7 o’clock p.m. our job was done and we flew home. It was the best day I had as a Federal Employee and I felt that I had contributed to racial justice in our country.
Justice does not apply only to our own species. Genesis chapter 9 verse 16. Whenever the rainbow appears in the clouds, I will see it and remember the everlasting covenant between God and all living creatures of every kind on the earth.' “all living creatures” Let’s concentrate on those words This comes at the end of what is called the Noahic Covenant. It starts out with God promising not to get mad at us anymore and sending water to cover us all up. It talks about everything on Earth and includes other creatures besides us humans. That would be the animals that live with us. In those times, it was likely to mean cows or oxen, sheep, goats, etc. Today it might mean not only those animals commonly found on a farm, but also those that we keep in our houses – our pets.
My family sometimes makes fun of my TV viewing habits. I’m either watching the news or programs about animals. I particularly have an affinity for a series on Animal Planet called “Animal Cops” located in cities such as Houston, Texas; Miami, Florida; Detroit, Michigan or “Animal Precinct” in New York City. These are the Humane Society officers who rescue abandoned and neglected animals, get them medical care and prosecute those who have harmed them.
It's just amazing what humans can do to torture cats, dogs, horses and even alligators without feeling any remorse. When justice finally comes to those individuals indicted on animal cruelty laws, they “Can’t believe you’d do this to me. It’s just a dog (or a cat or whatever animal)”. Sometimes they say, “This is the worst day of my life!” Well, yes maybe it is. But how do you think the animal felt when you burned it, or abandoned it, or hit it, or refused to feed it?
The trouble that football star Michael Vick got into when it was discovered that he and a few of his friends had a dog-fighting operation going on has highlighted an element of the dark underbelly of society. This is not an uncommon business in our inner cities and rural areas of many states. I’m going to read some excerpts from the indictment of Mr. Vick and his co-conspirators: ...
Mr. Vick has been judged by society and is serving time in prison for breaking both federal and state law. However, according to this Bible verse, he will be facing one more judge ultimately: God. “I will remember my covenant between me and you and all living creatures of every kind.”
I know that some of you have a hard time with “just retribution for sin” as we used to say in our old Declaration of Faith. But we don’t know how God will treat Mr. Vick once they meet. I happen to believe that justice will prevail. Amos 5:24 "But let judgment run down as waters, and righteousness as a mighty stream." Best quote in the Bible!
Genesis 1 verse 26: "And God said, Let us make humans in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over ... every ... thing that creepeth upon the earth.
Some of us stumble over the word “dominion” in that passage. It means in this instance, control or the exercise of control. Now, "the exercise of control" does not mean that we are to strip the Earth of all its bounty, but that we are to control our use of it. Exercising control means that we are controlling ourselves, so that natural resources are used judiciously and not used up.
Control also means conserving. If we don’t conserve what we have on earth then we won’t be able to live as God has asked us. Have you seen the commercial with the Rev. Al Sharpton & Rev. Pat Robertson? They are sitting on a couch with the ocean in the background. They talk about conserving our Earth and The Rev. Robertson ends it by saying, “It’s the right thing to do.”
This is justice for our planet.
In the book, What Can One Person Do? Faith to Heal a Broken World, it states, “We cannot escape the need for judgment if we are to proclaim a gospel of justice. Justice cannot be administered without judgment – of others and of ourselves.” It goes on to say,” We could view judgment not only as something that will take place in the future, but also as an ongoing process that guides us away from greed and indifference, toward joy and grace.”
Joy and grace are an important part of the New Testament and are certainly an aspect of Jesus’ teaching. As Christians, and liberal Christians at that, we are called to do something about the many injustices in our world. We don’t have to go far at all. This neighborhood has plenty of opportunities for us to show that we take justice seriously.
A couple weeks ago you heard Deacon Perry King preach about Revelation and the New Jerusalem. This New Jerusalem is what Jesus is asking us to bring about. God call us to implement the New Jerusalem by loving and doing. Justice will then come about.
In the book I just mentioned, What Can One Person Do?, the authors talk about the United Nation’s Millennium Development Goals of which there are eight.
1. is eradicate extreme poverty and hunger.
2. is Achieve universal primary education.
3. Promote gender equality and empower women.
4. Reduce child mortality.
5. Improve maternal health.
6. Combat HIV/AIDS, malaria & other diseases.
7. Ensure environmental sustainability.
8. Develop a global partnership for development.
These are all matters of justice, too.
Archbishop Oscar Romero, from El Salvador, who was gunned down in his church just as he finished a sermon said: “The liberation that Christianity preaches is a liberation from something that enslaves for something that ennobles us….The church struggles against earth’s enslavements, against oppression, against misery, against hunger. All that’s true – but for what? For something. St. Paul uses a beautiful expression: to be free for love. To be free for something positive, that is what Christ means when he says, 'Follow me.'”
As Christians and Universalists what can we do about injustice to our neighbors far and near, human and animal? How will justice be served to those who need it? The way has been pointed out to us.
Establish the New Jerusalem, the Realm of God in our own time, by asking God to help us mere mortals to create it. By loving God and our neighbor, whether that neighbor is next door or across the world, we can do it. But are their concrete things we can do besides just loving God?
The word love as Jesus used it is not passive but is an action word? Here is where we can do something. Let me give you a very short list:
- pray for justice,
- write a letter,
- financially support a group who works for justice,
- encourage our church to get involved in groups such as the Micah Challenge or Bread for the World.
There are many more organizations and things that can be done, but know this: there is much work to do.
Let me leave you with one more reading from the New Testament: 1 Peter 4, verses 8-10 "Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins. Offer hospitality to another without grumbling. Each of you should use whatever gift you have received to serve others, as faithful stewards of God’s grace in its various forms."
Posted by UNMC Office at May 4, 2008 06:48 PM