Cliff Loesch November 4, 2007 Micah 6:8 Deep Justice "Each year Americans spend $20 billion dollars on ice cream. Mint Chocolate Chip, Strawberry, Jamoca Almond Fudge, Rainbow Sherbet, just plain Vanilla, and all other ice cream flavors: $20 billion. Compare that with figures recently released by the United Nations. Providing clean water and basic sanitation for the entire world would cost $7 billion a year for the next ten years. An additional $4 billion a year for the next ten years could finance basic health care that would prevent the deaths of 3 million infants each year. [So] for $11 billion a year for the next decade-just over half of what Americans spend on ice cream-we could give the world clean water and basic sanitation and prevent the deaths of millions of babies. But since there is no Give-Up-Ice-Cream-for-World-Health movement, odds are good that we'll keep eating mint chocolate chip while much of the world lacks water and basic health care. Does that sound like justice?" This illustration comes from an article in the current issue of Theology, News, and Notes-a journal that's published three times a year by Fuller Seminary that they send to all their graduates. This particular issue focuses on ministry to youth and I was particularly drawn to an article called Mobilizing Youth for Deep Justice. As I read the article it reminded me that the issue of justice is important not just for youth but for all of us. The authors, Chapman Clark and Kara Powell, go on to point out that on September 11, 2001, 2,792 lives were taken in terrorist attacks in the United States. At the time, we were as a nation completely focused on that evil event-as well we should have been. But Clark and Powell point out that "on the same day nearly three times as many people were killed by HIV/AIDS worldwide. And that same number of people died from HIV/AIDS on September 12, 2001. And on September 13. And that many people have died because of AIDS every day since then." And I might add that these are statistics we aren't really comfortable hearing. The authors continue, "Yet as AIDS rips apart children, families, villages, and entire nations, the world remains disengaged. Tragically, so do our churches…. Does that sound like justice?" I hope you are familiar with Micah 6:8-which says, "God has told you, O mortal, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?" This is a very straightforward presentation of what God asks of us. Three things: do justice, love kindness, and walk humbly with God. Now I know there are other things. As you search the scriptures you find many concerns and many different emphases. But it's interesting the way this prophet packaged the message-and justice is listed as one of the top things. But the prophet, Micah, is not alone with this emphasis. There is another verse-in the New Testament, in James-that also claims to give a simple explanation of what God expects of us. James 1:27 tells us about religion that is pure and undefiled before God. And what does it say? It says, "Religion that is pure and undefiled before God, the Father, is this: to care for orphans and widows in their distress, and to keep oneself unstained by the world." That's the whole list: to care for orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself unstained by the world. In reality, I think most people would say our faith in God consists of a great many more things. But it's interesting that two verses-one from the Old Testament and one from the New-when they distill our faith down to only one or two things, that justice and caring for the needy rise to the top of the list. And the themes of creating a just society and of caring for the needy are really important in scripture-important enough that we would do well to remind ourselves of these things from time to time (and possibly much more often than we do). And today is a good day to think about this for several reasons-partly because of the article I mentioned that I've been reading this week that stood out to me and because today we are collecting items for Operation Holiday, and also later this week we will help sponsor the Alternative Christmas Market which reaches out to needy people around the world not only with simple assistance but with empowerment and skills to help people make their own lives better. We need to remember that being involved in creating more just societies and that reaching out to our neighbors in need is at the very heart of who God is. I really don't need to offer texts from the Bible simply as "proof texts" to help make my point. But I want to share a few of them anyway. Psalm 140:12 says, "I know that the Lord secures justice for the poor and upholds the cause of the needy." Psalm 106:3 says, "Blessed are they who maintain justice, who constantly do what is right." And Deuteronomy 15:11 says, "There will always be poor people in the land. Therefore I command you to be openhanded toward your brothers and toward the poor and needy in your land." In Matthew 26, Jesus said, "The poor you will always have with you." When he said that, he was actually defending someone who was accused of wasting money that could have been given to the poor. Jesus gave his ok to the woman's lavish gift-but at the same time said, "The poor you will always have with you," not to say the poor are not important-in fact, just the opposite: the poor, I believe Jesus was saying, should be part of our regular, ongoing concern. And on the thought of what the scriptures say, I simply encourage you sometime to grab a concordance or go to biblegateway.com and just type in different keywords: justice, orphan, alien, widow, poor. Your screen literally fills up with verses that reveal God's concern-concerns that should also claim our regular attention and action. I have already alluded to two different kinds of service: caring for the needy and working to create a more just society. And to some extent University Friends is already involved in both kinds. Operation Holiday offers basic assistance to others. Through Operation Holiday we give to others and help meet their basic needs. And Operation Holiday is a tremendous program. But it does not go to the next level and address the causes of poverty. It doesn't offer any kind of empowerment. It simply meets some needs of the moment-and that's a good thing. It's important to be involved in both giving assistance to those in need and also helping to create a better world. And I would like to point out that through our participation in the Alternative Christmas Market we often find ourselves working to create a more just society (whether we realize it or not). Take, for instance, the project we're sponsoring to help a refugee community in Mozambique. Through the project, people will be donating cows which can be used to pull plows for farming, and to pull carts for transportation, and as the cows reproduce their milk can be used for food or sold for cash, and there's the potential for meat down the road as well. This project is much more than providing a few meals to tide them over. It raises the quality of their lives to a whole new level. It will help them become much more self-sufficient and less dependent on aid from others. The article I mentioned earlier makes the point that when we hear of the world's brokenness, we feel bad about it-and then very often our first response is to offer Band-Aids: turkeys, clothes. Clark and Powell say, "The turkey and the clothes fix what's broken, but often only for a few hours. …Ministries engaged in deep justice take a different approach. Like their shallower counterparts, they see the breakdown, feel bad, and send turkeys and T-shirts; yet they also investigate deeper: How did these wrongs come to exist in the first place? How can we help the poor and marginalized fix their own problems? What does God want us to do that will make a difference beyond today?" Clark and Powell list several differences between service and justice and I'd like to share some of them: "Service is something we do for others. Justice is something we do with others. Service is an event. Justice is a lifestyle. Service expects results immediately. Justice hopes for results some time soon but recognizes that systemic change takes time. The goal of service is to help others. The goal of justice is to remove obstacles so others can help themselves." So what should be the next step? Should we start by feeling guilty about eating ice cream? I don't think feeling guilty is necessarily all that helpful. You certainly have my blessing to enjoy some ice cream. But if hearing about the contrast: $20 billion dollars for ice cream compared to all the good that just over half that much could do for the rest of the planet-if that gets us started thinking and asking questions, then that is a good thing. A place to begin for us to become more involved in deep justice might include these things: ---asking questions that help us begin to see what needs to be done, ---recognizing how important justice is to God ---looking for some possible adjustments to our own lifestyles that might help make a difference ---becoming more sensitized to the needs of the world (that is, not being oblivious to the problems of the world) ---and with God's help choosing opportunities both for service and for justice. Reference: Chapman R. Clark, Kara E. Powell, Mobilizing Youth for Deep Justice, Theology News & Notes, Fuller Theological Seminary, Vol. 54 No. 3, Fall, 2007, 9-12. |