Some thoughts on Justice

 

What is Justice?

The devotion I read this morning was based on Amos 5 which has some pretty strong accusations against a culture that is both successful and religious, a culture which sounds a bit like ours with its flourishing economy, recreational life-style and nods to public religiosity. Lately, I have been playing with the idea of God’s justice and what it means to be righteous, so several passages in this and surrounding chapters jumped out at me.

    “Ah, you that turn justice to wormwood, and bring righteousness to the ground!”

     “...who afflict the righteous, take bribes and push aside the needy in the gate” 

    “Seek good and not evil,...establish justice in the gate.”

    “...,I despise your festivals,...the offerings of well-being of your fatted animals I will not look upon.”

    “But let justice roll down like waters, and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream.” 

    “But you have turned justice into poison and the fruit of righteousness into wormwood”

It seems to me that we often expect (want?) God to mete out justice on the “unrighteous”, assuming that we are the righteous and others are the ones who deserve God’s justice, the ones who have sinned in ways that we find to be particularly egregious. But, as I read scripture, I find two ways of seeing God’s justice. One is a reference to judgement, but the other and possibly the one that pops up more is something quite different. In this second way of seeing justice, God’s people (and creation?) get what is needed, protection, shelter, necessitates of life, and it appears that God expects those who have been blessed with greater abundance to carry it out- make sure that it happens. Is this, then, a glimpse of what it means to be righteous, to be just; applying our blessings to the welfare of others, not taking advantage of the weak, rather helping the weak, caring about the marginalized?

In Amos, the writer charges the people with turning this idea of justice on its head. Those who had power seem to have considered it justice to take advantage of those not as well off, and to mock those who would act righteously. Are they presenting their wealth and power as evidence of their righteousness? (And possibly the others lack of it as their just desert?) The writer declares that God doesn’t want these “offerings of well-being” Rather, God wants people to live justly with each other as their worship - their sacrifice.

“Let justice roll down like water and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream.”

Shout Above the Din, Matthew 20:29-34

 Matthew 20: 29-34

Shouting Above the Din

This is the account of Jesus healing the two blind men who were along the roadside near Jericho. Our initial attention is drawn to the miracle or to the faith for healing displayed by the two men. Something else, or in addition, drew my attention this morning. It must have been fairly loud for the men to have had to shout out to Jesus, and then they were possibly drowned out by the stern warning of others who wanted Jesus’ attention. They shouted even louder though in order to be able to "see". Jesus responded to them and then they acted as well. They followed him.

We too are surrounded by shouting, and often we are among those adding to the din, but are our shouts calls to Jesus to enable us to “see”? Do we, as the blind men did, shout over the other concerns and worries to call on Jesus to give us sight, or understanding? When I am granted that sight, do I respond and recommit to God’s way as these men did, or do I respond by thinking, well, that’s just too hard for me, or that’s not the way I want life to be? 

Most of us are not physically blind, but we all at times are spiritually blind, and that blindness always has its beginnings in ourselves. Do we really want to “see”?  we willing to shout over the din and the warnings of others to be quiet in order to see what God’s way is really about? And, when we do persist and hear the answer to our shouts, are we ready to daily follow Jesus?

Luther advises us to daily remember out baptism, to drown the old Adam so that each day a new man comes forth. Sometimes the cares, worries, and anger surrounding us mean that we have to shout above the din or our own making as those blind men did to see how that new man can walk (follow) in Jesus way. 

Psalm 146

 Psalm 146

Praise God who loves the marginalized; one of which is me!

The psalm appointed for this coming Sunday is very straight forward. 

Praise God who:

-executes justice for the oppressed

-gives food to the hungry

-sets prisoners free

-opens the eyes of the blind

-lifts those who are bowed down

-loves the righteous

-watches over strangers

-upholds the widow and the orphan

I have been blessed in such a way that I haven’t found myself in many of the above categories, at least not physically. But from a spiritual aspect, I find myself often in a number of them. God deals with us on both levels. 

In Matthew 22, Jesus said that the law of God boils down to two things; love God + love others. When God loves others, this psalm shows us what that looks like. What does it look like when I (you) love the other, the marginalized, the hard to love? 

All In, Additional Thoughts

 All In, 2

Mark12: 41-44

“…they contributed out of their abundance.”

“…she put in everything she had” 

I have been thinking about stewardship lately as I am preparing some thoughts to share at church about stewardship and education. When I came across this text for this morning’s devotion, I couldn’t help but see some implications. Earlier this year I ran across this account in Luke so I’m drawing on some of what I wrote at that time. When we think about stewardship, we think about giving, especially in terms of money, but also in terms of time and talent, It is so easy to sit down, with all good intentions, and look at our budgets, our calendars, take talent and interest inventories…. However, I think we all know that it begins with our hearts. Some might call it a mind set, but I think that it’s deeper than that. I also think that many, at least this is true for me, assume that since we are looking at ways to improve our stewardship, then our hearts are “in the right place”. But, what about stewardship of my heart, of my relationship to God and God’s community? How can I develop that more completely.

And here we have the example of the poor widow; she had developed stewardship of her heart of her very being. Notice in the account that Jesus doesn’t necessarily look down on those who had given larger sums of money. Rather, he points out a difference in motivation, maybe self-perception of where one stands in that individual’s relationship with God and God’s community. And it begs the question, with how much of my self-interest am I willing to trust God? Jesus said, “love God; love others” intimating that the rest will take care of itself. 

In my earlier thoughts on this account, I had written that the poor widow was “all in” in her understanding, her perception of her relationship with God. Her contribution was not an act of religious obligation she had planned and was now fulfilling. It was a natural extension of who she was, a natural response to being in a relationship. There were no boxes to tick off for her; tithed, check; went to church so many times, check; participated in x number of service events, check…

So, try beginning to think about stewardship with this question. With how much of my self-interest am I ready to trust God? The answer to that could leave us feeling rather low. But the good news is that God in Christ meets us, self-interest and all, where we are, and God’s Spirit guides us to growth. Jesus did not look down on the contributions of the more wealthy, yet he directed us to the attitude of the poor widow that prompted her contribution. Let’s strive to be “all in” in our relationship with God and God’s community and the rest will flow. 

Two Gems

 Today, I was reminded of two gems that my church has given me, actually to all.  One, is the use of the Lectionary, coordinated weekly and daily readings from Scripture, and two, Dr. Luther's teachings on baptism. Boring stuff right? But not necessarily, and how do they go together? 

The devotion I read this morning was based on Luke 18:18-39 chosen to go with last Sunday's assigned lesson from Luke 14. The title is "Riches Reimagined" The recent Sunday lessons have shown us a Sabbath attitude, honoring God by honoring, loving our neighbor, as how our lives look when we are committed to Christ - to the community of God. Then in this past Sunday's lesson Jesus talked about the cost of being committed. You might think he would talk about how others will treat his committed followers, but here he says something quite different. He said I should give up my self-interest, the attitude of possessing; owning/controlling people, things, ideas... But he also talked about benefits and I like the way the writer of this devotion put it,

"He wasn't promising worldly riches, but the boundless wealth of true community in the kingdom of God. Finding that depth of community can entirely rewrite our priorities."

But, daily, I sin and fall back into my self-interests; me, me, me... Enter Dr. Luther who encourages us to daily call on the grace of our baptism. "... that (daily) the Old Adam... be drowned and die ... and that a new man should daily emerge and arise..."

I don't know that I would have stumbled on these readings as a continued thought without the help of the lectionary, and when I acknowledge that I daily fall into living for self, I have Dr. Luther's reminder to daily call on God's grace in my baptism. 

Encouragement In A Time Of Tension

 Thoughts on the week’s readings 8/16/22

It is Friday, and it has been another week of heightened tensions fueled by our ever-present narrow self-interest. Reading this morning’s devotion, 1Peter 4: 7 - 11, I thought back over several of the readings that I have encountered this week and I was both chastised and heartened. The tensions we experience in our world and in our personal lives never are generated from God. Think about it; at some level they are all connected to people, including ourselves,  thinking about themselves, their prestige, power, position in society, wants, perceived needs, money, time, fairness, the list can go on. We disagree, we get ugly, we fight over how we think our self-interests should be met or protected. At best, it gets tiring and at worst, it gets destructive. 

And all the time, there is God willing us to be at peace to be in harmony within the very existence of God. Jesus put it so simply, “love God; love others”. So here is some encouragement and a little chastisement that I gleaned out of several of my readings this week, paraphrased just a bit in places.

Proverbs 25: 6-7

Don’t think more highly of yourself than you should.

Psalm 112;

Happy are those who honor the Lord… they are like a light, they are generous, merciful,…they deal generously… they have distributed freely.

BUT

The wicked watch this and are angered by their actions.

Hebrews 13:1-8, 15,16

Let mutual love continue…show hospitality to strangers…keep free from the love of money…share what you have. This way of living is what God intends for us.

Luke 14: 1, 8-14

Take the lowest, most humble place among others…don’t give special notice to those who can repay you or from whom you will benefit. Instead, pay attention to the marginalized in society. 

1 Peter 4: 7-11

Maintain constant love for others…be hospitable without complaining,…serve one another with whatever gift you have been given

SO THAT

God, in Jesus, is glorified in all things.

The chastisement? It’s not about me!

The good news? It’s not about me, it’s about God 

All In!

Based on Luke 21:1-4 (and following verses)

The Widow’s offering

I somehow picked the wrong readings for the week from the lectionary, I’ll blame it on bifocals. But I went with them and I got a new, at least for me, insight on a well known account of Jesus. In this account, all kinds of people were at the temple to give their offerings, yet Jesus points out this woman who had just a small gift. He then compares her giving to that of the others who,  “… gave out of their abundance, but she gave out of her poverty”. And, we get the lesson that we should respond to God out of gratitude, or some form of that. At least that is the lesson I have been exposed to in past readings. 

I got thinking about this story through the lens of God-interest/other-interest as opposed to self-interest. The story isn’t really about making an offering, maybe not even about responding to God, rather it’s about who I am. By standards of wealth, the widow had nothing, and the amount that she gave was insignificant in terms of helping raise funds. She gave because it was a reflection of who she was, a participant in God’s community; I have, so I give to others, to God. It didn’t seem to be a question. She was, all in, her life in harmony with God. She didn’t keep a ledger of how much she should do or keep for herself. She gave all.

The others gave as well, and given that Jesus follows this illustration with comments about the temple, the physical representation of the church at that time, the institution, all of the ceremonies and rules, I would assume that they were tithing. The “rules” would have indicated that in order to be a good follower of God, you were required to give, so much, or perform this act… I would guess that they believed they were doing what was expected some, I’m sure, with grateful hearts. 

I don’t think that Jesus was trying to denigrate their offerings. Rather, could he have been directing us to think about practicing a religion in which we institutionalize God, putting God in a manageable box so we can tick off our requirements of God-interest while reserving other areas for self-interest, versus living within the realm of God where God-interest and other-interest (the two tables of the Law) permeate our entire lives? Maybe this account is not about giving or attitudes about giving, but rather about how we live in relationship with God. 

The others “practiced” their religion following what they accepted as the required acts, possibly with sincerity. The widow, on the other hand, was “all in” living in harmony with God within the existence that is God. What a world it could be if we all were all in within the realm of God.