Doors to Justice
Matthew 5:38-48
Bill Barney
Peace with Justice=
Sunday
June 7, 2009
First United Metho=
dist,
Schenectady
“No more
tit-for-tat. Live generously…I’m telling you to love your enemi=
es.
Let them bring out the best in you, not the worst. Matthew 5: 42 & 44
Peace with
Justice Sunday is here! As I
mentioned earlier it not only calls for us to give to a special offering th=
at
supports a wonderful cross section of justice projects, locally in Troy
Conference and around the world, but is also calls on us to consider
“peace with justice” as a life issue. This may not be what we spend a lo=
t of
time thinking about, but even a brief look at Jesus’ life, as we know=
it
through the writing of the Go=
spel
writers, tells us that Jesus thought about it moment by moment.
When Jesus
announced that the Kin’dom of love is here, it was a “just̶=
1;
kin’dom that he was envisioning. And, only a just kin’dom can be
the “peaceable kin’dom.”=
“No Justice(that is, N-O, No Peace” as the bumper sticke=
rs
remind us. Another says=
, Know Justice(this is K-N-O-W). Know
Peace. These two prime values=
in a
life of wholeness are inextricably braided together.
The diffi=
culty
with justice is that the world in which we live practices justice in an alm=
ost
complete opposite to what Jesus teaches.&n=
bsp;
The leaders of our country and others, for the most part have promot=
ed
justice as revenge. How many times have we seen a leader, with great bravad=
o,
appear on TV after some horrific incident, tell us that the perpetrators wi=
ll
“be brought to justice”?
It is most often done with a definite air that they mean,” we =
will
get back at them!” Reve=
nge is
called for by politicians everywhere.
Not “just punishment”, but revenge.
By the wa=
y, no
dictionary even mentions “revenge” as a synonym for “just=
ice’.
Then come=
s Jesus,
the one we profess to follow. Then comes Jesus, who’s movement we sig=
ned
on to be members of in our confirmation. From today’s scripture consi=
der
these statements from Jesus’ so-called Sermon on the Mount ( I say
so-called because in Luke it’s called The Sermon on the Plain.) The interpretation here is The Message translation in modern
English vernacular:
“Do=
n’t
hit back at all”.
“No=
more
“tit-for-tat stuff. Live
generously.”
“I&=
#8217;m
telling you to love your enemies.”
“If= all you do is love the lovable, do you expect a bonus? Anybody can do that!”<= o:p>
“Yo=
u are
kin’dom subjects (that is, the Kin’dom of Love). Now live like =
it.
And, thes=
e are
just some of what we find in the Sermon.
So, let&#=
8217;s
stop right here. Is this what you signed up for? If anyone wants to withdraw
from membership in the movement of this peasant prophet of Nazareth –
forms will be available after the service.
So, what =
does
this Jesus’ justice and peace with justice mean to us today. We could
site examples of all the isms – racism, sexism, heterosexism, ageism,
barbarianism and so on. We don’t have time today to do that.
Let me gi=
ve you
one example that may make you rethink a very serious incident in our recent
history. Remember when Vermon=
ter,
Captain Richard Phillips was taken hostage by so-called Somali pirates on t=
he
open sea. For days the pirates were condemned, quite justifiably, by leaders
and followers everywhere for their violent acts.
After a f=
ew days
three of the pirates were shot and killed and one, teenager Abduwali Muse w=
as
captured and returned to the U.S. to be “brought to justice”.
Rather th=
an
feeling like a prisoner of the United States, young Mr. Muse responded to h=
is
capture with happiness. Now, for the first time in his life he will get a s=
afe
place to sleep and three meals a day.
Jail for him will be like living in luxury. You may remember the smi=
le
on his face in captivity.
We haven&=
#8217;t
heard much about Abduwali since he first appeared in court. Here’s the
rub. Jesus’ would clearly call us to do something about the condition=
s in
Somalia that drove those four young men to piracy to feed their families. T=
he
cause of modern piracy is not hatred and evil, but hunger and poverty. Yes, punishment, but yes to offeri=
ng
ourselves to the cause of international poverty, so that the younger brothe=
rs
of Abduwali will not be forced to choose between hunger and piracy. Jesus’ justice makes us thin=
k in
ways we usually would not. Jesus’ justice is messy and turns the ways=
of
our divided world upside down.
This is j=
ust one
hard to figure example of what Jesus’ calls us to when he is reported=
to
say, “love your enemies”.
Poverty makes strange bed fellows and even stranger enemies. Somalia is not our enemy, the enem=
y is
poverty.
I remind =
you of
these words from Pastor Steve’s message last week:
“Be
SOULFUL(and mindful)..of others: Most of the world’s population lives=
in
poverty, on dollars a day….It would be a huge benefit to us all, to f=
ind
someone in crisis and do something for them, even if you yourself are in pa=
in.
“
That̵=
7;s
right. Justice calls for action. It’s the only way we can get to peac=
e.
And peace, as the song says, “begins with me”. And, my peace be=
gins
in my heart; your peace begins in your heart. You cannot feel peace within
unless you feel a Jesus kind of justice in your heart first. Jesus justice is very hard!
Our Peace=
with
Justice Sunday theme is “Doors to Justice”. Today we have to ask the question
– are the doors in that graphic on the front of your bulletin today,
“Doors to Justice”? Are
they doors to Jesus’ justice or are they doors to revenge that the wo=
rld
so often calls for – locally and globally?
Let us un=
derstand
that the doors to justice must swing both ways. People must feel safe when =
they
enter this place, that here they can trust that Jesus’ justice will be
practiced. And, we must all t=
ake
Jesus’ justice into the street, the marketplace and our neighborhoods=
as
our church doors swing out. C=
heck
the hinges on your love, in your heart. Do the doors to your heart swing bo=
th ways? Would Jesus trade his heart for
yours? The goal of Peace with
Justice Sunday, the spirit being with us and within us, is for each of us a=
nd
the church to be a door to Jesus’ justice. Amen.
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