Here I stand

In the political, social, and cultural context of America these days, not only is our nation in peril, we have forgotten the importance of peace, justice, righteousness and equality that has always defined the greater values that for over 200 years has made America great. With Evangelical Christians who have abandoned the message of the Jesus Christ and whose public voice that is louder than any other religious voice, the people of this nation and our world are hearing  something that is very different from my understanding of the Christian faith. In this post, I am challenged by the voices to respond with a different message of the Christian faith that what is being heard in our public squares today.   I am challenged by Martin Luther to explore my own faith, the scriptures that inform me and what inspires and calls me to action. This posting explores my own beliefs and guides my actions and the choices I make. 

Zarathustra, the founder and religious leader of what we come to know as Zoroastrianism once said, "The world is made up of good and evil. Our task each day is to decide what side we're on." In a nation where the predominant voices in politics and religion have become black and white, either you're with us or you are not, or what is right and wrong, this quote raises the stakes for me. In order to decide what is good or evil, I believe we need to have an idea of what we believe, or as Martin Luther stated so clearly, 'here I stand.' 

"The world is made up of good and evil. Our task each day is to decide what side we're on." Zarathustra, 668-551 BCE

I remember when Dr. Walter Brueggemann said to the first year seminarians, 'Everything that you have learned or think you know about Bible, you can forget. The objective of this class will teach you the Bible.' Yes, this was intimidating, but this was an important moment in my own spiritual development that would facilitate an understanding of scripture that I would need if I were going to serve as pastor and theologian in a local congregation. So began a journey of faith that has strengthened my own resolve and given me a vision of peace and justice that remains with me today. Likewise, the last year of Seminary, I found myself in a Systematic Theology class with Dr. Douglas Meeks. His first words, like Dr. Brueggemann , were meant to strengthen our resolve, to know what we believe and to continue to grow in faith. Dr. Meeks said to us, 'When you complete this class, all that you believe will be broken, it will be criticized, and it will be challenged, but when you walk off this campus for the last time, you will know what you believe and you will have to the words to defend it." Now,  many years past my Seminary years, I find myself challenged and empowered by three scriptures that cry out to me in the streets, in the town squares, on the busiest corners, and at the entrances of our cities.  They are Micah 6:8, Jesus's sermon in Nazareth, and Matthew 25.  

How often haven’t we cried out, ‘What is it that I can do to make you happy?’ The prophet Micah shares such despair, “What, O Lord, can I do that would fix my troubles?” The prophet gives some suggestions. Shall I bring a burn offering? If so, would you be pleased with a young calf, or do you want a thousand rams? On the other hand, would a river of oil be more pleasing? Maybe none of these options are acceptable and you are asking for my first-born. Is that what you want, Holy One? Then the prophet responds to the frustrated mortal. ‘No! O mortal, I have told you what is good and what I require. I am asking you to ‘do justice’, ‘love kindness’, and to ‘walk, humbly, with me’ and that is all. Clearly, the key words for me are ‘do justice’, ‘love kindness,’ and ‘walk humbly with God.’ How then can I not believe in charity? How then can I not believe in justice? How then can I not live my life in a way that is pleasing to God?

A second passage that cries out to me is found in Jesus’ first sermon in which he quotes the Hebrew prophet Isaiah, ‘…the Lord 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 the let the oppressed go free, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.’ Luke 4:18. We learn that this alternative thinking of Jesus did not please the scribes, the religious leaders, or the people of Nazareth. “When they heard this [alternative thinking] they were filled with rage. They got up, drove him out of the town and led him to the brow of the hill …so that they might hurl him off the cliff…” Luke 4:28-30. Here, Jesus is imagining an alternative vision for God’s people. Here, Jesus sees that God, through him, will dismantle the systems that oppress God’s people. Jesus’ vision is that the poor will have access to the same rights and blessings as the privileged and the powerful. God, through him, will free the prisoners incarcerated unjustly and the blind, the sick, and the hurting will have access to same medical resources that are available to those who have the means to access such quality care. Here, the oppressed will be empowered to demand different working conditions and will no longer be enslaved to dishonest masters that abuse, humiliate, or exploit their workers. Using the prophecy of Isaiah, Jesus proclaims a jubilee year in which not only human beings, but also all the earth will experience a time of regeneration and renewal. For this, Jesus nearly lost his life. How then, can I not respond to issues of peace and justice?

The final set of scripture that cries out and grounds my faith comes from Matthew 25. Here Jesus talks about what it will look like when the ‘Son of Man comes in his glory...’ The glory is not the ‘lake of fire’, the desecration of the Temple, or the destruction of the world, the seven trumpets, three beast, the seven bowls, or the little scroll. No, we will know when the Son of Man comes in his glory when the hungry are fed, the thirsty have clean water, the naked are given clothes, the prisoners are visited and strangers are welcome. When all this comes to past, then we will know that the Son of Man has come in his glory. The glory is not the wealth we have accumulated, the privilege we experience, or the power we can access. No, the glory is in our humility, in our acts of kindness, and our insatiable desire for peace and justice. 

Here I stand! This is what I believe and why ‘just peace’ must be an ideal, however imperfect, that I must strive to achieve. No, not even Jesus accomplished ‘just peace’, but I think that is why he gave us the resurrection. He gave us the empty tomb so that we can continue to complete what he had begun. Could it be that ‘just peace’  is a way of living into the resurrection of the one whose alternative thinking gives us the imagination and the courage to do what the prophets of old spoke about and Jesus himself lived? 

What does justice look like for you? How is peace achieved? What are the stories of faith and scripture that ground you and launch you into action? These, I believe, are questions worth asking in a time when alternative thinking and a different voice of Christian sensibility needs to be heard on the streets and in the cities.. May the God of justice and peace touch your heart today, stretch your faith, and grow you in ways you never imagined possible. When we know what it is that we believe and what calls us into action, nothing can stop us. May justice, righteousness and peace be a way of life for all us. Then we will know what is evil and what it is good.