| Progressive and Christian: Justice As the Social Expression of Love |
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Progressive and Christian: Justice As the Social Expression of Love
Douglas S. Long
Umstead Park United Church of Christ
October 28, 2007
Okay… so it’s Sunday number four in the Christian and
Progressive Series.
We’re trying to be honest about what we believe …what we
see, what we feel, what we know deep within ourselves.
One of my very favorite stories about Mark Twain is when
someone approached him and asked if he believed in infant, baptism… the hot
topic of some of the religious folk of his day.
“Do you believe in infant baptism?”
Hard to catch off guard, Twain is said to have responded,
“Believe it?! Hell, I’ve seen it!”
There's also a story about a grandfather walking with his 4
year old granddaughter one Saturday afternoon… The grandfather came from a
rigid Pentecostal background, and every time something came up in the
conversation that he didn't agree with, he said to the little girl,
"We don't believe in that, do we?"
She said something about playing cards and he said, "We
don't believe in that, do we?"
She mentioned her friends dancing and his response was "We
don't believe in that, do we?"
She said something about planting flowers in the garden the
next day, on Sunday. "We don't believe in work on Sundays, do we?"
In their walk on this beautiful afternoon, they came to the
farm pond where they saw that a mother duck had hatched her eggs and the fuzzy
little ducklings were scurrying on the ground. The little girl sat in their
midst, enchanted by what she saw. She picked one up, as tenderly as a 4 year
old can and then, in a moment shocked moment of self-consciousness inquired to
her grandfather, "Granddaddy, do we beweeve in ducks?"
We’re asking questions. We're trying to be honest about what
we believe. What we’ve seen … what we
feel… not just what we know not to be
true, but what we know to be true as
well.
So in this October worship series we’re focusing on some key
elements, as we understand them, of a grass roots movement in the wider Church
called Progressive Christianity. A couple of things in this regard- There are
some who bristle at the term 'progressive' as it implies at least some other forms of Christianity are
something other than that… something other than progressive. Well, in an
attempt to be clear and honest, while at the same time not meaning to come off
as being overly judgmental… yes, that's exactly what the term implies. Many
articulations of the Christian life and practice are anything but progressive.
That doesn't make them, in my view, necessarily wrong… It does make them wrong for me.
If my choice were to be in a church that was stuck in a
literal understanding of the Bible, an exclusive practice of membership
and an arrogant belief that it was their
way or no way…
If my choice was to be in such a church or no church at all…
Frankly, I'd choose no church.
…and, unfortunately, there are all too many who think that
those are the only two choices… a rigid fundamentalism or non-belief.
What I know, and many others know as well, is that there is
a clear alternative that affirms that you can bring all your intellect, all
your questions and doubt and struggle… and lay it at the feet of God (that's a
metaphor, of course) …
and lay it on the altar as an act of worship.
I had a friend in another town who became quite regular in a
"Oh, I don't believe any of that stuff,” he said matter
of factly. "I just go because I like the people there.”
Classic Christian fundamentalism generally lists some
version of 5 points:
-The Inerrancy (Infallibility) of
the Scriptures
-The Virgin Birth of Jesus
-That God required the death of
Jesus as a blood sacrifice for our sins (substitutionary Atonement)
-The bodily resurrection of Jesus
-The pre-millennial second coming
of Jesus
Let me quote my friend, Fred…. “I don't believe any of that
stuff.”
So… for the month of October we've been talking about some
things we DO believe in… as major tenets of progressive Christianity:
Sunday One I spoke on “Jesus As Our Window.” With all my
heart I believe, I know, Jesus to be a way to God, my way and the way of many
others, an authentic way, but with all my head
I know Jesus cannot be the only way. Curious? The rest of that message is
online.
Sunday Two we addressed progressive Christianity and the
environment… that earth is our home and the Creation is understood as a logical
extension of the Creator... so that how we treat the creation is part and
parcel to how we love the Creator.
Last week I spoke on “All Are Welcome!” …and all are welcome
here, all… with the caveat that you
do no harm to those you disagree with. UPUCC.org carries the full text.
And today, we’ll be looking at a phrase from our Covenant,
the whole of which can be found on the back of today’s bulletin, by the way: “Justice
As the Social Expression of Love.”
Justice as the social expression of love…. which is to say
that our true love for humanity is expressed as we enact and embody justice.
Talking about love is cheap. If you love your fellow man and woman, if you love
humanity, you show it by making sure
they have all the rights and riches, all the power and privileges that any
other human does. Love and Justice are joined at the hip.
Is this a new way of thinking… tying our religious
orientation to justice? Hardly!
The Hebrew prophet Amos, voices these words as from the very
lips of God…
I hate, I despise your festivals,
and I take no delight in your solemn assemblies. Even though you offer me your burnt
offerings and grain offerings, I will not accept them; and the offerings of
well-being of your fatted animals I will not look upon. Take away from me the noise of your
songs; I will not listen to the melody of your harps. But let justice roll down like waters,
and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream. (Amos 5:21-24)
Now, just in case you miss the meaning in the translation,
let me offer the same passage in a bit clearer language. This is God, the
prophet says, talking to the so-called religious folk on earth who say they
love God, who say they love humanity, but do….. nothing… (From The Message)
"I can't stand your religious
meetings. I'm fed up with your conferences and conventions. I want nothing to
do with your religion projects, your pretentious slogans and goals. I'm sick of
your fund-raising schemes, your public relations and image making. I've had all
I can take of your noisy ego-music. When was the last time you sang to me? Do
you know what I want? I want justice - oceans of it. I want fairness - rivers
of it. That's what I want. That's all I want.”
Holy Justice!
I
received an email message this week, perhaps some of you received it as well,
and this message was attempting to mobilize people of peace to join together
and speak up to the new saber rattling being heard in our land. It went on to
lament that the main strategy for preventing new wars in the
And then
came the writer’s punch line: “To paraphrase my ninth-grade sex-ed teacher,
[the writer said] "Hope is not a method." [We need to do
something.]
Last week I was channel flipping and I came across Larry
King, Larry King Live, where Larry King was interviewing Joel Osteen and Joel's
wife, Victoria. Some of you may not know who Joel and Victoria Osteen are. Do
you?
Joel is the 44 year old pastor of
… and what does he say?
Have hope. You can be better than you think you can be.
It’s a positive, upbeat, happy message. It’s a message
people need to hear …and no doubt, people are responding.
I want to like the likable preacher…. and he’s charming… but
as successful as he is, Osteen’s preaching is missing something crucial, for me
at least…
I felt it most clearly in this portion of the interview with
Larry King:
KING: Do you ever take a political
stand? Do you ever discuss
OSTEEN: I never do. Not -- not in
that sense.
We discuss it in the fact that we pray. Many of our members have family members that are over there and family members that they've lost. So, in that sense, we just do our best to support our president, whether we agree or not. I mean, we don't agree with anybody 100 percent, but we get behind them. We believe God puts the leadership there. And -- but we don't -- I don't take positions like that.
KING: Because?
OSTEEN: Well, I think a lot of
times it's going to divide the people that I'm trying to reach. Because not
everybody, you know --
in a church like ours, with all of the diversity, you
have got Democrats, Republicans, people that are for the war, people that can't stand the war. And I'm not there to solve all those issues. I'm here to give
them hope and keep them pointed toward Christ.
…and I say, then point them toward
the Christ that said, "You have heard that it was said, 'Love your neighbor
and hate your enemy.' But I tell you: Love your enemies and pray for those who
persecute you…”
Don’t portray an anemic Christ who is so neutral that he stands
for nothing.
Point them toward the Book of Revelation for God’s sake,
literally, and its warning to the
“I know
your works, you are neither cold nor hot. I wish that you were cold or
hot. So because you are lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I am about to
spit you out of my mouth.”
************
But what if our stands for justice divide?
In John Thomas’s words, John is the President of the UCC, in
his address to the Wisconsin Conference Annual Meeting last year:
“A divided church, a church enduring conflict because it stands for something is better
than
a united church that stands for nothing.”
Or in Archbishop Desmond Tutu’s words:
"If you are neutral in
situations of injustice, you have chosen the side of the oppressor. If an
elephant has his foot on the tail of a mouse and you say that you are neutral,
the mouse will not appreciate your neutrality."
In today’s world, American’s are elephants. I’d say, more
specifically in
Listen again to Desmond’s Tutu’s words:
“If an elephant has his foot on the
tail of a mouse and you say that you are neutral, the mouse will not appreciate
your neutrality.”
Listen again to the prophet Amos’s words… words attributed
to God:
"I can't stand your religious
meetings. I'm fed up with your conferences and conventions. I want nothing to
do with your religion projects, your pretentious slogans and goals. I'm sick of
your fund-raising schemes, your public relations and image making. I've had all
I can take of your noisy ego-music. When was the last time you sang to me? Do
you know what I want? I want justice - oceans of it. I want fairness - rivers
of it. That's what I want. That's all I want.”
Listen to those words and you’ll understand why we cannot be
silent on issues of injustice… not if we truly love our neighbors, we cannot.
We cannot be silent when poor children, or children from
economically challenged families, are denied health care here in
We cannot be silent when the money is kept from our
paychecks each week to finance a nightmare for our brothers and sisters in
Just this past week… the nonpartisan
Congressional Budget Office announced that the wars in
According to a CNN report-
This assumes that the current
number of troops is reduced by 2/3’s toward the end of that time. It does not
include the Pentagon's normal spending, which in 2007 is estimated to be about
$450 billion. The estimated $2.4 trillion works out to about… $21,500
per American household.
Admittedly, there is speculation in such numbers, but it is
a report from a non-partisan group. Let’s assume, just to chew on it a little
bit and bring it closer home, that they have overestimated they figure by 100%.
Let’s say that the wars will only cost 1.2 trillion dollars. That still works
out to over $10,000 per American household. The very families in our congregation would,
under that extremely conservative projection, only be responsible for a little
over…
…One million dollars
of the cost of these wars.
What?!!
We are financing the death of innocent persons in other
countries? We are sending our sons and daughters to die, almost 4,000 of them
now, and paying one million dollars
plus from this congregation for
these wars?
And we have nothing
to say about that?!
But we DO have
something to say… and we have justice to seek.
That is why John Thomas, again, the President of The United
Church of Christ stood at the gate of the White House earlier this month with
the Petition for Peace that many of us and over 63,000 other UCC folk had
signed calling “for the humility and courage to acknowledge failure and error,
to accept the futility of our current path, and [crying] out for the creativity
to seek new paths of peacemaking in the Middle East, through regional
engagement and true multinational policing.”
Let other churches stay neutral if they may… if they choose…
but Jesus wasn’t executed by the State because he always played it safe… We
understand Jesus to be about justice.
We believe that true love means equality is extended,
sisterhood is sought and brotherhood bestowed, that inequities be addressed,
power be shared, laborers be paid fair wages and their work conditions be
humane.
Love’s
bounds do not stop at the walls of this building.
Justice…
is the social expression of love…. and to stop short of seeking justice for all
is to turn the church into a social club intended only for its own members.
After
this worship we will gather for fellowship and a time of decision. We will
consider our budget for next year. As
tight as things are moving into this space and building our infrastructure, we
are proposing that we not cut our ministries to those beyond us.
Why?
Because
we cannot be a Church modeling our actions on the servant of all and only serve
ourselves.
Because
we want our love to be more than talk
Because
we know there are inequities to be addressed and justice to be extended and we
do not choose to be lukewarm about it.
Justice
as the social expression of love.
It is not
all we stand for
It does
not encompass all of our work… but it is undeniably a major part of what we attempt
to accomplish… for the realm of God to be enfleshed here on earth even as it is
beyond.
Amen.
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