God's Justice: The Winning Side
Sermon preached by the Rev. Lowell E. Grisham, Rector
St. Paul's Episcopal Church, Fayetteville, Arkansas
February 6, 2011; 5 Epiphany, Year A
Episcopal Revised Common Lectionary
(Matthew 5:13-20) B Jesus said, "You are the salt of the earth; but if salt has lost its taste, how can its saltiness be restored? It is no longer good for anything, but is thrown out and trampled under foot.
"You are the light of the world. A city built on a hill cannot be hid. No one after lighting a lamp puts it under the bushel basket, but on the lampstand, and it gives light to all in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father in heaven.
"Do not think that I have come to abolish the law or the prophets; I have come not to abolish but to fulfill. For truly I tell you, until heaven and earth pass away, not one letter, not one stroke of a letter, will pass from the law until all is accomplished. Therefore, whoever breaks one of the least of these commandments, and teaches others to do the same, will be called least in the kingdom of heaven; but whoever does them and teaches them will be called great in the kingdom of heaven. For I tell you, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven."
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There’s a word that pops up a lot in our scriptures, and it’s not a word that we naturally use in the same way that the Bible usually uses it. The word is “righteous.” Maybe you remember the Righteous Brothers. “You’ve lost that lovin’ feeling…” They got their name because someone used some slang lingo about their music. It was good music. It was righteous. Righteous is good.
And that’s how we usually use the word “righteous,” as a synonym for good. Often it’s not a complement, however. In ordinary conversation, righteous often means self-righteous.
Sometimes in the scripture, righteous is a word to describe someone who is a good person, someone who is living by the ethics and precepts of God. But that’s not the usual meaning of the word.
Usually the word righteous is a synonym for justice. It is usually an economic term, or a term about the right use of power. Righteousness is God’s expectation for a nation and a people, that everyone’s basic needs are met, especially the most vulnerable. A righteous nation is one that exercises justice, which includes honest and fair dealing with all, but also includes special care for those whom God seems to have a special interest in – the vulnerable. We hear the scriptures speak of them as the poor, the widow, the orphan and the alien. One of the major themes of scripture is that God expects a righteous people to practice justice toward the vulnerable.
In today’s passage from Isaiah, the prophet tells the people that their proper and pious acts of worship and their disciplined offerings of prayer and fasting do not impress God, not as long as they are acting unjustly, failing to practice righteousness.
Isaiah speaks in God’s name, saying, “Day after day they seek me and delight to know my ways, as if they were a nation that practiced righteousness.” They pray as if they are a nation that practiced righteousness, he says. But they act as a nation that practices unrighteousness, injustice.
“Look, you serve your own interest on your fast day, and oppress all your workers… Is not this the fast that I choose: to loose the bonds of injustice, to undo the thongs of the yoke, to let the oppressed go free, and to break every yoke? Is it not to share your bread with the hungry, and bring the homeless poor into your house; when you see the naked, to cover them, and not to hide yourself from your own kin?”
You can pray all you want, says Isaiah. You can look as good and pious as you can, but unless you are practicing righteousness, justice – taking care of the poor and vulnerable – God will not hear your prayer. You are not on God’s side.
Nobody preaches the prophets’ message better than our own Desmond Tutu. American evangelical Jim Wallis tells this story about hearing Bishop Tutu during the unrighteous days of apartheid in South Africa.
I remember the difficult times when Nelson Mandela was still in prison and the only voices left standing were the church leaders. And I remember when they issued a call for help and I went over there. I was snuck into the country to support church leaders like Archbishop Desmond Tutu. I’ll never forget my first day at St. George’s Cathedral in Cape Town, South Africa. A political rally had been called and canceled by the government, so Archbishop Tutu said, "Okay, we’re just going to have church then." And church he had. They gathered together in that Cathedral and the police were massing by the hundreds on the outside and they were there to intimidate, to threaten, to try and frighten all the worshipers. I will testify, being on the inside, that I was scared. You could feel the tension in that place. The police were so bold and arrogant they even came into that Cathedral and stood along the walls. They were writing down and tape recording everything that Archbishop Tutu said. But he stood there to preach. And he stood up, a little man with long, flowing robes, and he said, "This system of apartheid cannot endure because it is evil." That’s a wonderful thing to say, but very few people on the planet believed that statement at that point in time. But I could tell that he believed it. Then he pointed his finger at those police standing along the walls of his sanctuary and said, "You are powerful. You are very powerful, but you are not gods and I serve a God who cannot be mocked." Then he flashed that wonderful Desmond Tutu smile and said, "So, since you’ve already lost, since you’ve already lost, I invite you today to come and join the winning side!" And at that the congregation erupted. They began dancing in the church. They danced out into the streets and the police moved back because they didn’t expect dancing worshipers.[1]
God intends that justice and righteousness shall prevail. God’s justice and righteousness shall prevail. God’s side is the winning side. We are invited to join the dance of justice.
In the middle of our own nation’s version of apartheid, in the middle of the segregated South, Dr. Martin Luther King said, “The arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice.” And he inspired a generation to take action to dismantle the institutions and laws of injustice in our society. Dr. King understood the prophets’ call.
We’ve watched the drama of the rise of democratic hopes among the people of Egypt this week, and we hear its rumblings elsewhere. The yearning for justice is deep in the hearts of all God’s people.
Some in our congregation and community have been working for justice this week on behalf of a young man who has occasionally sung in our choir. Jonathan Chavez was brought to this country by his family when he was 14 years old. His parents had a tourist visa, and they thought they could get jobs and earn workers’ visas. They didn’t know how hard that process is in our nation. They eventually gained legal status, but they didn’t apply for a permanent resident’s visa for Jonathan in time for it to be processed before he reached age 18. Immigration officials are now working on the applications filed in 2003. The paperwork is about seven years behind. So Jonathan became very vulnerable as an adult, illegal alien on his 18th birthday. Under the radar, he graduated from Rogers High with a four-point and has a 3.8 in the Honors College at the University. One of our parishioners Carolyn Ford taught him voice, and says he has potential for a career in opera.
During the Christmas break, Jonathan rode the bus to visit his mother in Florida. As he got off the bus, INS agents asked everyone who looked Hispanic to show their identification papers. Jonathan was arrested. He stayed in jail until Thursday, when he was granted bail, thanks in large measure to an outpouring of love and support from this community, especially his Christian friends who know of his leadership and devout faith.
His prospects for staying in this country are still pretty tenuous. Our immigration system is not something that Isaiah would call righteous. But so many people who hear the prophet’s call on behalf of the alien and the sojourner are working toward reform. Like apartheid and segregation, discriminatory immigration policies will also be overcome.
Jesus summarized the law with the great commandment that we love our neighbor as ourselves. We usually think of that as personal ethics. Justice is the corporate version of that commandment. A just and righteous society creates laws and policies grounded in love of neighbor.
Jesus calls us to be salt and light. We are to be those who bring flavor and vision on behalf of righteousness and justice for our time and place. It can be slow and frustrating work; it can be confusing and conflictive. Sometimes we disagree about how love can be best expressed. But we can all live with great confidence, for God’s justice will prevail. We will all eventually join the winning side.
Jim Wallis says that he “had the blessing of being at the inauguration of Nelson Mandela some years later and Archbishop Tutu was there. [Wallis] said, "Bishop Tutu, do you remember that day at St. George’s? Do you remember what you said?" And [the bishop] smiled and he said, "I remember." [Jim Wallis] said, "Bishop, today they’ve all joined the winning side. They’ve all joined the winning side."[2]
Eventually we will all be on the winning side, because God’s righteousness and justice will prevail. Why not start dancing now?
posted by Lowell @ 2/08/2011 05:35:00 AM
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