THEME: ACT
Meditation
Ponder this quote from Rosa Parks –
“I would like to be known as a person who is concerned about freedom and equality and justice and prosperity for all people.”
Sara Jewell has written this about Justice (I invite you to sue the pauses to ponder what God is saying);
We normally think of justice as
“punishment for the wrongdoer” –
underlined with plenty of righteousness and judgement and holier-than-them.
But let’s consider justice in the context of our faith.
Justice is a way of “being right in the world” –
this doesn’t mean “I’m right and you’re wrong” but rather,
to be in right relationship.
It means to live – to act and think and speak – in the way God wants us to live…
Shalom is all the blessings of peace, harmony, wholeness, prosperity, well-being, and tranquility.
Can I get an amen for shalom?
Justice is defined as “fair treatment” and that’s the foundation of “right relationship”:
peace, harmony, wholeness, prosperity, well-being, and tranquility –
for everyone…
As a young Jewish boy, this is what Jesus learned at synagogue. He would have known all about shalom.
Long before he started his ministry as an adult,
he was listening and learning about justice from the prophets.
And from the “Song of Hannah,” from 1 Samuel 2, which doesn’t use the word “justice” in it, but does include verses like these: “The bows of the mighty are broken, but the feeble gird on strength. Those who were full have hired themselves out for bread, but those who were hungry are fat with spoil … [The Lord] raises up the poor from the dust; he lifts the needy from the ash heap, to make them sit with princes …” (4–5, 8a, NRSV).
Sound familiar?
“He has brought down the powerful from their thrones but has lifted up the lowly; he has filled the hungry with good things but has sent the rich away empty” (Luke 1:52–53, NRSV).
That’s a verse from another song, Mary’s “Magnificat,” recorded in the gospel of Luke.
We usually hear it on the first Sunday of Advent.
So shalom – justice and fair treatment –
is the early influence of Jesus –
it’s what he heard throughout his childhood and his studies at the temple.
Shalom is the reason he grew up to believe he had to try to free Israel,
and the people of God,
from the oppression and occupation of the Romans.
To bring about peace, harmony, wholeness, prosperity, well-being, and tranquility
through the new way he envisioned.
Peace through love, not violence –
through arms that reach out to help, not arms that kill.
What an example he sets for the 21st century,
when it seems we are held captive
by the same kind of empire,
one that is just as oppressive, violent, and greedy,
just as hierarchical, patriarchal, and racist,
just as deeply rooted and resistant to change.
We tend to focus on how Jesus’ ministry ends:
with his trial and death –
after all, his crucifixion and resurrection are two of the pillars of our Christian faith –
but we can’t underestimate the load-bearing beam that is his ministry,
especially when it comes to justice.
The gospel of Luke also gives us the beginning of Jesus’ ministry when he stands up in the synagogue in his hometown of Nazareth and unrolls a scroll to quote the prophet Isaiah: “…because he has anointed me to bring good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind,
to let the oppressed go free” (Luke 4:18, NRSV).
Holy Hannah!
This moment is Jesus clearly stating the work he has come to do.
The work of justice.
Bringing good news to the poor.
Releasing those who are captive.
Giving sight to those who cannot see.
Freeing the oppressed.
The work of justice.
For everyone.
(From “J is for Justice” in Alphabet of Faith by Sara Jewell. Copyright © 2021 Sara Jewell, Wood Lake Publishing Inc. Used by permission by ‘Seasons of the Spirit’, Mediacom)
BUT what actions can we actually do in the face of so much injustice?
Rev Stephanie Wells