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Week 9

Brad Close, campus minister,  Dalhousie University, Halifax Nova Scotia

9.1 Remembrance Day, Canada

Matthew 5.21-26, 38-48

In the United States they have Memorial Day.  November 11th in Canada is Remembrance Day.  It is a day in which we remember the victims of war, and all those who have died to help bring freedom and to help make the world a better place to live in.

For the Christian, Remembrance Day also presents a unique opportunity to look to Jesus, the Prince of Peace.  In the life and teachings of Jesus we see that God establishes peace in his world in an unconventional way.  Jesus does not enter into physical battle in order to defeat the enemies of God.  He chooses the way of non-violence.  Jesus lays down his life and dies at the hand of God’s enemies in order to defeat evil, and Jesus rises from the dead in the victory over sin and death.

In the life of Jesus we see the perfect example of humble obedience and sacrificial love.  So on this day of “remembrance” let us seize the opportunity and prayerfully take to heart the radical message of Jesus.

Let us confess the evil and hate in our own hearts and receive God’s healing.  Let us fast and pray for non-violent resolutions to conflicts and wars around the world.  Let us raise our prophetic voices and call on all nations to lay down their weapons, and to work for a ban on the development and use of nuclear weaponry.  Let us think deeply about how, in the power of the Holy Spirit, we can build a better world – a world that embraces the peace and justice of God in Jesus Christ.

Let us humble ourselves before God and follow the Jesus way of reconciling love!

Prayer:  God of peace,
May our world’s leaders be agents of mercy and justice.
Help us to work for peace as ardently and seriously as those who prepare for war.
Give us the mind of Christ,
And by the power of your Spirit
Make us a people who embody your reconciling love in the world.
Amen.

Quote:  “Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that. Hate multiplies hate, violence multiplies violence, and toughness multiplies toughness in a descending spiral of destruction....The chain reaction of evil - hate begetting hate, wars producing more wars - must be broken, or we shall be plunged into the dark abyss of annihilation.” - Martin Luther King Jr.

 

9-2 A Biblical Portrait of Justice

Colossians 1.15-20; 2.13-15

We talk about justice, and the cry for “justice to be done” wells up from our hearts and echoes throughout the Story of Scripture.  But what is justice and how is it to be achieved? 

In the modern Western world justice is often understood in terms of fairness, equitable distribution of resources, or adequate punishment for wrongdoing.  Biblical justice involves much more than this.

According to the Bible, justice has its origin in Yahweh, the covenant God of Israel (Deut. 32.4).  Justice establishes and upholds the kingdom of David (Is. 9.7).  Justice involves care for the poor, food for the hungry, cancellation of debts, freedom for slaves, rest from work, and rest for land (Lev. 25).  And most importantly, God’s justice is fully revealed in the person and work of the Messiah Jesus.  God has unveiled His justice in Jesus!

On the cross Jesus took evil (personal, societal, political, ect.) upon himself and triumphed over it.  On the cross Jesus triumphed over all rulers and authorities, and reconciled all things to God.  Indeed, the redemption Jesus accomplished on the cross and in his resurrection both inaugurated the new age of God’s rule, and foreshadows God’s fully restored kingdom of peace and justice.

Therefore, if we truly desire to “do justice” our primary responsibility is to trust in the faithfulness of Jesus, and to walk in the Holy Spirit.  The humble act of trusting Jesus and walking in the Spirit is the first and the last step to facing injustice in our world, to practicing true justice, and to living in a right relationship with God and neighbor.  When we who live by faith in Christ live out and proclaim the truth of the gospel, we set up signposts of the justice of God, which will be fully realized in God’s new creation.

Prayer:  Loving Father,
You have redeemed us in Christ.
Sanctify us by your Spirit.
Help us to make justice our aim.
And let today be a day rich in good works.

Quote:  “On the cross the living God took the fury and violence of the world onto himself, suffering massive injustice…and yet refusing to lash out with treats or curses.  Part of what Christians have called ‘atonement theology’ is the belief that in some sense or other Jesus exhausted the underlying power of evil when he died under its weight, refusing to pass it on or keep it in circulation.  Jesus’ resurrection is the beginning of a world in which a new type of justice is possible.”          N.T. Wright, Simply Christian

 

9.3  Walking Justly

Micah 6.6-8

With what shall we come before the Lord?  How shall we offer worship to our exalted God?  Shall we come before God with burnt offerings, with thousands of rams?  How about the most expensive oil or even a person’s firstborn?  Can we appease God with excessive giving and costly gifts?  For the prophet Micah the answer to these questions is a resounding “NO!”

What God requires is that his people love him with all their heart; that they fear and obey him; that they maintain steadfast covenant loyalty; and that they protect the foreigner, the poor, the slave, the orphan, and the widow.  This is what it means to act justly, to love mercy, and to worship God.

The idea of justice in the book of Micah is rooted in the biblical notion of shalom (peace, wholeness, wellbeing, all rightness), and it emphasizes our responsibility to live in right relationship with God and each other.  God’s requirement for us to “do justice” must always be understood in light of God’s intention for us to live in state of shalom.

Justice is done when our interpersonal, social and political relationships are restored and made whole.  What this looks like will inevitably change with our context.  Sometimes God will call us to engage in the hard work of intercessory prayer, or to heal broken relationships.  While at other times, God will call us to political action, or to support programs of restorative justice within the criminal justice system. 

The most important thing is that we are led and empowered by the Spirit of Christ in all we do.  Through the power of the Holy Spirit we must work toward the goal of seeing things become the way God wants them to be – whole, well and good.  May God bless and keep us as we travel that road together.

Prayer:  Gracious God,
Forgive us for not always acting justly and loving mercy.
Through the presence and power of your Spirit
Teach us to serve the needs of others,
And to be like Christ,
Who came to serve, not to be served.
Amen.

Quote:  “Who besides the Almighty can do justice to the world…the Lord of the universe has placed all creatures except one under the care of that single exception.  The Creator gives humans responsibility for one another and for all other creatures…God does justice to the world, in part, by commissioning human beings to exercise justice in the world.  God gives human beings their proper due – their proper respect and honor – by making room for them to exercise a responsibility that might seem to belong only to God.” James Skillen, A Covenant to Keep

9.4  God’s Chosen Fast

Isaiah 58.1-11

Isaiah describes a people who seek righteousness while oppressing their workers and neglecting those who are hungry and poor.  “Day after day” the children of Israel seek God and “delight to draw near to God.”  They fast but the fast they perform is not the kind that God desires.  God does not notice them, for they fast to serve their own economic interests while oppressing all their workers. Fasting is supposed to be an act of self-denial.  But the powerful landowners in Israel denied the ordinary people in the community the basic necessities of life.  They put heavy burdens on people, which led many to poverty.

So God intervened on behalf of the poor and oppressed: “You call this a fast, a day acceptable to the Lord?  Hypocrisy!  You seek to honor me through your religiosity,” says the Lord, “but you fail to honor me in your social and economic practices.  Repent and turn from your wicked ways.  Pour yourself out for the hungry.  Satisfy the desire of the afflicted.  Only then will you experience my healing.”

God’s chosen fast is for us “to loose the bonds of injustice, to undo the thongs of the yoke, to set the oppressed free, and to break every yoke” (a yoke is an instrument that is put on an ox to harness its power for plowing).  When we participate in the God-like fast of feeding the hungry, giving shelter to the poor, and clothing the naked we release people from the yoke of oppression.

Mercy and justice for all people is at the heart of God’s rule over his creation.  And God demands that his covenant people behave in merciful and compassionate ways.  God is calling us to come alongside the most vulnerable in our society and invite them into our fellowship, so they can experience God’s love and acceptance.  God is shaping us to be a Christ-centered, Spirit-led people that is marked out by a spirituality of generosity and a commitment to the needy in our society and the larger world. 

Prayer:  God of mercy,
Help us to welcome the outcast,
To care for the poor,
And show forth your love in the world.
Amen.

Quote:  “The God of Judaism is not a God who likes to be flattered in a more or less passive routine of worship; this God is out working the neighborhood and wants all adherents doing the same.”  Walter Brueggemann, Isaiah

 

9.5  Seek Good and Not Evil

Matthew 23.23-24
Amos 2.6-8; 5.12-15; 8.4-10

The prophet Amos is relentless in his condemnation of those who mistreat and oppress the weaker members of society.  For Amos, acts of oppression include “selling the righteous for money and the needy for a pair of sandals” “turning aside the poor” “trampling on the needy” and “doing away with the poor of the land.”

Israel’s Law commanded people to share freely with those in need, to leave gleanings after the harvest for the poor and the sojourner, and to help the poor regain their self-respect (Ex. 22.21-27; Lev. 19.9-10; Deut. 24.17-21).  But in the days of Amos, the economically powerful in Israel were exploiting the week and powerless.  Although these people looked and acted religious, they performed shady business deals, they cheated people with dishonest scales, and they did not share their wealth with the poor.  This, of course, led many to ruin.  So the prophet condemns the oppressors and calls them to repent, lest they experience God’s fiery judgment.

In all of this we see God calling us to be a people that deals honestly with others, shows compassion for the needy, and shares with the poor.  This is who God wants us to be as Christians.

God has inaugurated his kingdom of justice and peace through Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit.  In light of this reality it is mandatory for all Spirit-led Christ-followers to be steadfast in our love for all people, and to speak out against cruelty and oppression.  But most importantly, we must enter into solidarity with the marginalized, and journey with the weakest and most powerless among us.  This is how we embody the justice of God in a world full of cruelty and oppression.

 

Prayer:  God of justice,
Forgive us our sins,
As we forgive those who sin against us.
Show us how to be truly human.
Spur us to obedience,
And help us reflect Christ’s peace in the world.
Holy Spirit, help us to walk justly,
And enable us to hate evil and love good.
Amen.

Quote:  “We receive the gift of peace from those who are marginalized and crushed by society, from the powerless and the vulnerable.  They reflect the peace of Christ.  They teach us how to be peacemakers because they themselves are the true peacemakers.” Henry Nouwen  The Path to Peace,

 

9.6 The Year of Jubilee

Leviticus 25
Luke 4.16-21

The celebration of Jubilee goes back to Leviticus 25.  In ancient Israel, every 15th year was a Jubilee year in which liberty was proclaimed for the poor and enslaved.  During the Jubilee year any land in Israel that was sold in the previous 49 years was to be returned to its original family of ownership.  All debts were to be written off and forgotten for good.  When this celebration was observed Yahweh was acknowledged as the “owner” of the land.  Those who owned land in human terms did so as tenants and stewards.

In a context of Jubilee a subversive social ethic is put into practice.  And the outcome is that slaves are released, land is returned, cultural life is renewed, and peace is restored on earth.

Fast forward about a thousand years.  At the beginning of Jesus public ministry he applies the words of Isaiah the prophet to himself: “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me!  He has anointed me to preach good news to the poor…release to the captives…freedom from oppression.”  Jesus proclaims the year of the Lord's favor, the Jubilee year, the era of freedom and grace.

So, in our world where many people look at a piece of land and only see economic possibilities, God is calling our Christian communities to employ a principle of Jubilee by giving and sharing land with the homeless poor.  All in the name of Jesus, the Giver of Life!

In our world that has made debt a way of life, God is calling our Christian communities to employ a principle of Jubilee by helping to lift the burden of debt off the shoulders of the disadvantaged and unemployed.  All in the name of Jesus, the Prince of Peace!

 

Prayer:  Lord,
Anoint us to proclaim the era of grace,
To meet the needs of the poor,
To free the oppressed,
And bring forth justice.
Amen.

Quote:  “…what Jesus imparted to his disciples was that they must strive for true justice on earth as in heaven, as their righteous service to God; that they must honor God…by lifting up ‘the least of these’ on the altar of God's justice and mercy; that they must set into motion a revolution of love and holistic spirituality that demonstrates love for God by treating the needs of even the least of God's children as holy.” Obery M. Hendericks, The Politics of Jesus

 

9.7  The Way of Peace

Luke 9.23-26
John 14.26-27
Ephesians 2.13-18; 4.1-3

In a world where humans try to settle their differences by fighting, and where humans try to establish peace by making war, God sends his Son to die under the weight of sin and to rise in newness of life.

Paradoxically, it is through the violence of the cross that God triumphed over the power of evil and reconciled creation to himself.  In Jesus, God shares the suffering of humanity.  In Jesus, God brings resurrection life to those who believe.  And in Jesus, God establishes peace in the world.  “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you” says Jesus.

Therefore, it is our responsibility as Christ-followers to “make every effort to live in peace with everyone and to be holy” (Heb. 12.14).  There is a cost to following Jesus!  As difficult as it may sound, God is calling us to choose love over power, the cross over control, and peace over revolt.

The Christian’s call to advocate and pursue God’s justice is a call to bear a cross.  It is a call to live and proclaim the message of the cross, and thus embody a spirituality of death and resurrection.  It is a call to die with Christ and to be raised to new life in the Spirit.  “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me.”  This is the only way that true and lasting peace will be realized on earth as it is in heaven.

Quote:  “Out of the depths of our being, we cry to God for peace.  Out of that fearful place where we have to confess that we too are part of the destruction against which we are protesting.  Out of that center where we discover that we too are so high up in the air that we have become numb and no longer see, feel, and hear the agony of thousands…Out of that empty spot of silence where we feel helpless, embarrassed, and powerless, where we suffer from our own impotence to stop the reign of death in our world…we cry to the Lord and say: ‘Lord have mercy.’” Henri Nouwen, The Road to Peace

Prayer:  Lord Jesus,
Your death has opened a path for us.
Help us to deny ourselves and carry our cross.
And may the Holy Spirit guide us into the land of justice.
Amen.