\nI
\nbelieve that God loves all people unconditionally, completely, and
\nuniquely. \u00a0It might make sense, even, to say that I think God loves
\nall people unfathomably \u2013 that it is more love than any of us could
\never even begin to comprehend. \u00a0A few times in my life I’ve had a
\nsense that scales have been lifted from my eyes so that I can catch a
\ntiny glimpse of how much God loves God’s people, and it has blown me
\naway.<\/p>\n
\n<\/p>\n
\nMy
\nfriend the Rev. Dr. Barbara Thorington Green has theorized that
\nJesus’s healings were simply this: that Jesus was able to see people
\nand love people as a reflection of God’s knowing and seeing them and
\nbeing loved like that healed. \u00a0I still haven’t decided if I agree
\nwith her, but I think she makes an excellent point. \u00a0God’s love is
\nthat big, that powerful, and that wonderful.<\/p>\n
\n<\/p>\n
\nThis
\nis the starting point for everything I believe about God. \u00a0Is is the
\nthing I am most sure of, and everything else is secondary. \u00a0However,
\nthose secondary things flow pretty readily from the first. \u00a0If God
\nloves all of us this much, then God wants us to live good, full,
\nabundant lives \u2013 with meaningful contributions, full of beauty, and
\ndefined by deep connections. \u00a0Then it means that God has a lot of
\nbalancing to do between various people and peoples with various needs
\nat any given time, and that means that the particular work needing to
\nbe done is wide, varied, and not all parts are equally obvious to all
\nof us. \u00a0A final secondary point before we move on to tertiary ones \ud83d\ude09
\n – I believe that God’s PRIMARY way of working in the world is
\nthrough people who are aligned with God’s vision. \u00a0That isn’t meant
\nto limit God or God’s actions, just that it is the primary way God
\nacts.<\/p>\n
\n<\/p>\n
\nFor
\nme, this moves quickly to another set of conclusions: then there are
\nthings getting in the way of what God wants for God’s beloved people
\n(*everyone). \u00a0Clearly God doesn’t want any of God’s people starving,
\nso anything that results in starvation is against God’s desires. \u00a0I
\ncan draw similar conclusions about slavery, about abuse, about rape
\nand murder, about war, and the list starts getting pretty long. \u00a0\n<\/p>\n
\n<\/p>\n
\nOne
\nword that I know that seems to encompass the way I think God wants
\nthe world to be so that all of God’s people can be thriving with
\ngood, full, abundant lives is: justice. \u00a0Or, at least, that’s what I
\nmean when I say justice. Justice is working toward good, full,
\nabundant lives for all of God’s people. <\/i> It sometimes means
\nsupporting great things that are happening; it sometimes means
\nlearning about complicated realities in order to understand them; it
\nsometimes means slowing down and making sure we’re living those good,
\nfull, abundant lives so that we are signs of hope and centered in God
\nto make a difference; it sometimes means slowing down to connect with
\nGod or each other or beauty; and it sometimes means naming what isn’t
\nfair or right in the world so as to work towards what is fair and
\nright. \u00a0\n<\/p>\n
\n<\/p>\n
\nNevertheless,
\nthe work of justice is the work of living God’s love for God’s
\npeople. \u00a0Often, it involves trying to support and empower the most
\nvulnerable people. \u00a0God’s energy seems like it is often focused on
\ntransforming the lives most desperately in need of change.<\/p>\n
\n<\/p>\n
\nNow,
\nthis all fits in with today’s passage, which clearly states that God
\ncares about vulnerable people and that God expects those of us who
\nare in relationship with the Divine to care about vulnerable people
\ntoo. \u00a0When this was first proposed though, it was radical rather than
\nobvious.<\/p>\n
\n<\/p>\n
\nThe
\nneighboring traditions of ancient Israel thought that the gods cared
\nabout \u2026 well, themselves: about being sacrificed to, praised, and
\ncajoled. \u00a0Moses really may have been the first one to figure out that
\nGod cared about how we treat each other. \u00a0\n<\/p>\n
\n<\/p>\n
\nDuring \n<\/p>\n \nThis \n<\/p>\n \nWalter \n<\/p>\n \nGod \n<\/p>\n \nBrueggemann \n<\/p>\n \nHe \n<\/p>\n \nThis \n<\/p>\n \nThe \n<\/p>\n \nAnd \n<\/p>\n \nAll \n<\/p>\n \n1 \n<\/p>\n \nHowever, \n<\/p>\n \nIt \n<\/p>\n \nIn 1<\/a>Walter 2<\/a>Brueggemann, 3<\/a>Brueggemann, 4<\/a>Brueggemann, <\/p>\n Rev. Sara E. Baron\u00a0<\/p>\n First United Methodist Church of Schenectady<\/p>\n \u00a0603 State St. Schenectady, NY 12305\u00a0<\/p>\n Pronouns: she\/her\/hers<\/p>\n \u00a0 http:\/\/fumcschenectady.org\/<\/a><\/p>\n
\nLent we are examining God’s vision for justice, how we see it in the
\nBible, how we can feel its urgings now, and what that means for our
\nlives. \u00a0Last week we examined Genesis 1, the priestly creation story,
\nand heard within it faith statements of the priests. They believed
\nthey served the God of Sabbath, who built into creation itself a
\nrhythm of rest and justice. \u00a0They articulated that God’s rest on the
\n7th<\/sup>
\nday of creation was meant to create a rhythm of rest for all of
\ncreation, in particular rest for Israelites and those who served
\nthem. The equal access to rest is the beginning of God’s intention of
\ndistributive justice, and those priests thought it was built into
\ncreation itself.<\/p>\n
\nweek we are examining the Torah’s vision for a just society in a
\npassage Walter Brueggemann subtitles \u201cImitations of a Caring God.\u201d
\n It starts with a question familiar to us from Micah, but this one
\nasks in the communal, the plural: \u00a0what does God require of US? \u00a0The
\nanswer is pretty similar to the know we know too. \u00a0Micah answers, \u201cto
\ndo justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?\u201d
\n(Micah 6:8b NRSV). \u00a0Deuteronomy answers, \u201cto stand in awe<\/i>
\nof YHWH; that you walk<\/i>
\nin God’s ways, that you love
\nand serve<\/i>
\nGod…\u201d and then goes on to say that it also involves keeping the
\ncommandments. \u00a0Those commandments are the ones that envision a just
\nsociety where all are cared for, thus they’re also about \u201cdoing
\njustice\u201d and \u201cloving kindness.\u201d \u00a0Deuteronomy also reminds the
\npeople that the commandments and decrees are \u201cfor your own
\nwell-being.\u201d \u00a0This God that they were serving was one who wanted
\ngood for them, all of them.<\/i>
\n God’s dream was for a society
\nthat could show the world how to live together so all could thrive. \u00a0<\/i>\n<\/p>\n
\nBrueggemann summarizes this passage as \u201cis a summons<\/i>
\nto be fully Torah people of YHWH, supported by a series of
\nmotivations<\/i>.\u201d1<\/sup><\/a>
\n The motivations are ALL descriptions of God, and the commandments
\nseem to be to follow in God’s ways. \u00a0God is the God of heaven and
\nearth, the text says, but God chose to specially love you and work
\nwith you!! \u00a0Because of this, you can trust God and follow God’s ways.<\/p>\n
\nis a God of power, might, and fairness! \u00a0God doesn’t take bribes.
\nGod \u201cexecutes justice\u201d for the orphan and widow, and loves the
\nstranger by providing food and clothing. \u00a0Because of this, and
\nbecause God took care of you when you were strangers in Egypt, YOU
\nshould LOVE the stranger! \u00a0\n<\/p>\n
\nputs it this way, \u201cYHWH cares about the specificities of justice
\nand the victims of injustice. \u00a0This is a God who cannot be bribed by
\nthe wealthy and powerful but who attends to the needs and wishes of
\norphans and strangers, who cares about the concrete implementation of
\njustice that has to do with the elemental requirements of food and
\nclothing.\u201d2<\/sup><\/a>
\n This moves onto a commandment for Israel, the one to love the
\nstranger. \u00a0This, too, might sound obvious, but really isn’t. \u00a0\n<\/p>\n
\nsays, \u201cIsrael
\nis not permitted to become a homogeneous, ethnic community turned in
\non itself, but is mandated, as a part of its most elemental
\nresponsibility, to reach beyond itself to those who do not quite
\nbelong, who are unlike Israel, but who are committed to life in a
\ncommunity of obedience.<\/i>\u201d3<\/sup><\/a>
\nHe also notices that we usually hear about the Israelites being
\nSLAVES in Egypt, but this talks about strangers. \u00a0He has an
\nexplanation for it, \u201cWe are accustomed to think of Israelites as
\nslaves. \u00a0It is important, however, to remember that their status as
\nslaves was an economic development from the vulnerable status as
\naliens and outsiders, because unprotected sojourners are almost
\ncertain to become economic slaves.\u201d4<\/sup><\/a>
\n(131) \u00a0So, God took care of them and thus, \u201cIsrael’s distinctive
\ncovenantal work, in response, is the economic practice of hospitality
\nand justice that will prevent other vulnerable outsiders from sliding
\ninto the wretchedness of slavery through indebtedness.\u201d (132)<\/p>\n
\nis a huge deal, although it might not appear to be at first. \u00a0In most
\nsocieties, or tribes, or groups of people, there is a stronger
\nrequirement to care for insiders than for outsiders. Strangers and
\noutsiders are allowed to be vulnerable, while the insiders say \u201cwe
\nhave to take care of ourselves first.\u201d Perhaps this is best seen by
\nlooking at the concept of nations themselves, and how they treat
\ntheir own citizens vs. people who aren’t their citizens (at home or
\nabroad). \u00a0This moral code in the Torah though, doesn’t allow for it.
\nThis moral code requires that the people who follow this God of the
\nStranger find ways to protect OUTSIDERS. \u00a0They don’t get to do \u201cus
\nfirst\u201d policies. \u00a0Their God, who is the God of all people, may have
\nspecial work for them to do, but that doesn’t mean that God allows
\nthem to ignore the needs of others. They have to find the ways to
\ncare for themselves and others at the same time, no matter how hard
\nit is.<\/i> \u00a0They don’t get to take advantage of anyone, because their
\nGod isn’t a God who takes advantage.<\/p>\n
\nwidows and orphans are \u201cbrought justice\u201d by God as well. \u00a0Widows
\nand orphans were \u201cinsiders\u201d but ones without resources or
\nrecourse. \u00a0They didn’t have an adult male with full status in society
\nto care for them, but according to this passage, God’s own self steps
\nin to execute the justice they need. \u00a0God serves as the one who is
\nmissing for them \u2013 but in reality, this is also what God is asking
\nof the people in the society they create:
\nmay even those without an advocate have enough.<\/i><\/p>\n
\nmay that be true because of who your God is, and what your God has
\ndone.<\/p>\n
\nof this talk of who God is, and what God is working toward, seems to
\nme to raise some questions about our work. \u00a0We know that we are about
\nbuilding the kindom of God, or alternative language options: about
\nsharing God’s love in the world, or about taking care of God’s
\nvulnerable people, or about creating justice for God in the world.
\n(All the same thing, as far as I know.) \u00a0But I wonder what our
\nparticular part in it is.<\/p>\n
\nCorinthians 12 draws a wonderful metaphor about the work of
\nindividuals in the Body of Christ: that we are to do our part, and do
\nit well, and trust other parts to do their work also, without
\nassuming any part is more important than any other. \u00a0It might also be
\na way of saying: work to your strengths, and trust that God spread
\nthe strengths around well. \u00a0\ud83d\ude09 It works within this Body of Christ.<\/p>\n
\nI think the metaphor applies more broadly. \u00a0If The United Methodist
\nChurch, OR the Church Universal are all working together as The Body
\nof Christ \u00a0towards building the kindom, what is this church
\ncommunity’s role in it? \u00a0(Btw, I could easily expand further to
\nmention people of other faith traditions, as I think we’re working
\ntogether there too, but I don’t want to force Body of Christ imagery
\non them.) \u00a0\n<\/p>\n
\nseems to me there could be a lot of possible answers. \u00a0We might be
\nthe head \u2013 we’re good at thinking deeply. \u00a0We might be the
\nconscious, we’re good at seeing what is right and calling for it. \u00a0We
\nmight be the feet, we’re good at showing up where we are needed. \u00a0We
\nmight be the hands, we work well at sharing God’s love by handing
\npeople tangible gifts. \u00a0My best guess (and I offer this with humility
\nas I’m really not certain) is that we might be the heart \u2013 filled
\nboth with expansive love for God’s people AND broken by the ways
\nGod’s people are harmed. \u00a0(Just not the cheesy kind of heart, we’d
\nhate being the cheesy kind.)<\/p>\n
\nany case, \u00a0I wonder if it is time for us to work together to what our
\nrole is. \u00a0It is my suspicion that being as clear as it is possible to
\nbe about what God calls us to together will help us do it more
\neffectively! \u00a0(First step in this is to fill out the survey that was
\nemailed out and will be handed out later…) \u00a0What is our role in
\nsharing God’s love and caring for God’s people? \u00a0May God help us
\nlisten well, and find clarity in our shared answer, so we can do it
\nand do it well! \u00a0Amen\n<\/p>\n
\n\tBrueggemann, Deuteronomy<\/i>
\n\t(Nashville: Abingdon Press, 2001), p. 129.<\/p>\n
\n\t130-131.<\/p>\n
\n\t131.<\/p>\n
\n\t131.<\/p>\n