JOYFUL ARE THOSE WHO HUNGER AND THIRST FOR JUSTICE –
INCLUDING JUSTICE FOR THE EARTH
Matthew 5:6; Psalm 148:1-13
Rev. Paul Wrightman 7/17/22
WE’RE IN A NEW SERMON SERIES
LOOKING AT JESUS’ SERMON ON THE MOUNT.
IN OUR SERMONS THE PAST FEW WEEKS I’VE BEEN MAKING
AN IMPORTANT DISTINCTION BETWEEN LITERAL TRANSLATIONS
OF SCRIPTURE, WHICH RENDER THE TEXT WORD FOR WORD,
AND SENSE TRANSLATIONS OF SCRIPTURE, WHICH ATTEMPT
TO CAPTURE THE AUTHENTIC MEANING OF THE TEXT,
OFTEN BY USING WORDS NOT FOUND IN THE ORIGINAL.
TODAY’S TEXT IS DIFFERENT.
IT’S NOT A MATTER OF PREFERRING A SENSE OVER A LITERAL
TRANSLATION, BUT A MATTER OF BLATANT MISTRANSLATION.
IN THIS MORBNING’S BEATITUDE, THE MISTRANSLATED WORD
IS THE WORD “RIGHTEOUSNESS,” WHICH IN BOTH HEBREW
AND GREEK IS SIMPLY A SYNONYM FOR THE PRIMARY WORD “JUSTICE.”
AND SINCE IN ENGLISH THE WORD “JUSTICE” IS MOST OFTEN USED
IN THE CONTEXT OF CRIME AND PUNISHMENT, WHICH IS NOT TRUE
TO THE BIBLICAL MEANING OF THE WORD,
I OFTEN ADD THE WORD “RESTORATIVE” TO THE WORD “JUSTICE”
TO BRING OUT ITS ORIGINAL MEANING
IN BOTH THE OLD AND NEW TESTAMENTS.
“RESTORATIVE” COMES FROM THE SAME ROOT AS THE WORD
“RESTITUTION,” WHICH MANY PEOPLE ARE FAMILIAR WITH
FROM VARIOUS TWELVE-STEP PROGRAMS.
IN THE TWELVE STEP MOVEMENT, TO MAKE “RESTITUTION”
MEANS TO GIVE BACK, OR TO RESTORE, SOMETHING THAT ONE
HAS TAKEN WHICH IS NOT ONE’S TO TAKE.
TO MAKE “RESTITUTION,” WHICH IS SEEN AS THE KEY ACTION
OF STEPS 8 AND 9, IS SEEN AS AN ESSENTIAL COMPONENT
TO RESTORING ONESELF TO HEALTH AND WHOLENESS.
THE SAME HOLDS TRUE FOR THE BIBLICAL UNDERSTANDING
OF RESTORATIVE JUSTICE.
ACCORDING TO BOTH TESTAMENTS OF THE BIBLE,
UNLESS AND UNTIL RESTORATIVE JUSTICE IS PRACTICED
BETWEEN INDIVIDUALS, BY SOCIETY AS A WHOLE, AND BY
HUMAN BEINGS IN RELATION TO GOD’S GOOD CREATION,
HEALTH AND WHOLENESS BETWEEN PERSON AND PERSON,
AND BETWEEN HUMANITY AND CREATION IS SIMPLY NOT POSSIBLE.
THERE ALMOST SEEMS TO BE A CONSPIRACY AMONG TRANSLATORS
OF THE BIBLE INTO ENGLISH TO AVOID THE SOCIAL AND POLITICAL
IMPLICATIONS OF THE BIBLICAL WORD “JUSTICE”
BY MISTRANSLATING IT AS “RIGHTEOUSNESS.”
“RIGHTEOUSNESS” EFFECTIVELY TAKES US OFF THE HOOK IN TERMS
OF SOCIAL AND POLITICAL ACTION, BOTH OF WHICH JESUS
ENGAGED IN,
AND IN WHICH HE EXPECTS HIS FOLLOWERS TO ENGAGE IN AS WELL.
TO TRANSLATE “JUSTICE” AS “RIGHTEOUSNESS” IS TO SPIRITUALIZE
THE MEANING OF “JUSTICE” TO THE POINT WHERE ALL IT MEANS
FOR MOST PEOPLE IS “BEING NICE.”
JESUS’ POINT IN THIS BEATITUDE IS THAT THOSE ARE BLESSED
WHO ARE DESPERATE TO SEE REAL JUSTICE RESTORED IN THE WORLD,
JUSTICE RESTORED TO THE POINT WHERE THERE ARE NO MORE
PERSONS WHO ARE HUNGRY OR POOR OR WITHOUT SHELTER
OR DIGNITY,
JUSTICE RESTORED TO THE POINT WHERE HUMAN BEINGS
AND HUMANITY AS A WHOLE SEES ITSELF AS CALLED TO BE
THE GOOD STEWARD OF GOD’S GOOD CREATION.
THE WORD “RIGHTEOUSNESS” IS NOT THE ONLY WORD
THAT IS USED TO WATER DOWN THE CHALLENGING MEANING
OF THE BIBLICAL ORIGINAL.
“POLITICAL CORRECTNESS” IS OFTEN SEEN AS A PHENOMENON
LIMITED TO THOSE LEFT-OF-CENTER POLITICALLY.
BUT IT IS A REALITY THAT IS EQUALLY AT HOME IN A SPATE
OF RECENT BIBLICAL TRANSLATIONS MADE BY THOSE
RIGHT-OF-CENTER.
PERHAPS THE MOST EGREGIOUS EXAMPLE IS CHANGING
THE ORIGINAL WORD “SLAVE” TO ITS MUCH WEAKER COUSIN
“SERVANT.”
WHY? BECAUSE MANY EVANGELICAL CHRISTIANS SIMPLY
CAN’T FACE THE FACT THAT THE UNITED STATES ACTIVELY
ENGAGED IN THE PRACTICE OF SLAVERY
FOR MUCH OF ITS HISTORY.
A POWERFUL EXAMPLE OF RESTORATIVE JUSTICE IN ACTION
IS THE STORY OF CLARENCE JORDAN AND KOINONIA FARMS.
CLARENCE JORDAN WAS A BRILLIANT NEW TESTAMENT SCHOLAR
BEST KNOWN FOR HIS “COTTON PATCH” RENDERING
OF THE NEW TESTAMENT,
IN WHICH GALILEE BECOMES HIS NATIVE SOUTH GEORGIA,
JERUSALEM BECOMES ATLANTA, AND THE LANGUAGE IS HOME-SPUN.
JORDAN WAS DEEPLY CONCERNED ABOUT THE RAMPANT
RACIAL PREJUDICE, SEGREGATION, AND DISCRIMINATION THERE.
HIS UNDERGRADUATE DEGREE WAS IN AGRICULTURE,
AND HE BELIEVED HE COULD MAKE A DIFFERENCE
TEACHING POOR WHITE AND BLACK FARMERS
HOW TO MAKE A SIGNIFICANTLY BETTER LIVING.
SO INSTEAD OF TEACHING NEW TESTAMENT IN A COMFORTABLE
COLLEGE OR SEMINARY, HE BECAME AN AGRICULTURAL MISSIONARY.
HE BEGAN A COOPERATIVE FARM NEAR AMERICUS AND PLAINS,
GEORGIA, AND ENLISTED WHITES AND BLACKS TOGETHER TO SHARE
IN EXPERIMENTING WITH CROPS AND FARMING METHODS,
DEVELOPING A SUCCESSFUL PECAN-GROWING BUSINESS.
THOSE WHO FARMED BECAME CO-OWNERS, SHARING WORK
AND PROCEEDS AS THE EARLIEST CHRISTIANS HAD
AS RECORDED IN THE BOOK OF THE ACTS OF THE APOSTLES.
THEY NAMED THE FARM “KOINONIA,” THE NEW TESTAMENT GREEK
WORK FOR COMMUNITY, SHARING, AND FELLOWSHIP.
THEY BEGAN SHARING THE GOSPEL OF JESUS CHRIST,
IN WHICH THERE IS REPENTANCE FOR RACISM,
HEALING FOR THE HISTORY OF SLAVERY AND DISCRIMINATION,
AND LOVE FOR ALL NEIGHBORS.
THIS WAS IN 1942, TWELVE YEARS BEFORE THE
“BROWN VS. BOARD OF EDUCATION” SUPREME COURT DECISION
THAT DECLARED SCHOOL SEGREGATION ILLEGAL,
AND TWENTY YEARS BEFORE THE HIGH POINT
OF THE CIVIL RIGHTS MOVEMENT.
IT WAS ASTOUNDING AND ASTONISHING TO LEAD THIS EFFORT
IN THE MOST RESISTANT PART OF GEORGIA –
COTTON PLANTATION COUNTRY.
BUT JORDAN BELIEVED IN THE GOSPEL.
HE BELIEVED IN FOLLOWING JESUS.
THE COMMUNITY AT KOINONIA WAS BOYCOTTED
BY THE LOCAL SEED AND FEED STORES AND HAD TO DEVELOP
ITS OWN MARKETING NETWORKS.
THEY WERE SHOT AT BY DRIVE-BY RACISTS.
THEY WERE EXPELLED BY THE LOCAL SOUTHERN BAPTIST CHURCH.
BUT THEY SURVIVED AND THRIVED.
THEIR WITNESS SPREAD FAR AND WIDE.
THEY ARE HEROES FOR THOSE SOUTHERN BAPTISTS
WHO ARE COMMITTED TO THE FULL GOSPEL OF JESUS CHRIST.
KOINONIA FARMS STILL EXISTS AND STILL SELLS PECANS.
IT HAS GIVEN BIRTH TO HABITAT FOR HUMANITY,
WHICH COOPERATIVELY BUILDS HOMES AND MAKES
HOME OWNERSHIP POSSIBLE FOR POOR FAMILIES WORLDWIDE.
WHILE THE UNITED STATES HAS MADE SIGNIFICANT PROGRESS
AGAINST RACISM, AT LEAST UNTIL THE LAST FIVE YEARS OR SO,
LARGELY THROUGH THE LEADERSHIP OF FEARLESS CHRISTIANS
SUCH AS MARTIN LUTHER KING AND CLARENCE JORDAN,
THERE ARE SIGNIFICANT AREAS OF RESTORATIVE JUSTICE
WHICH REMAIN TO BE ADDRESSED IN A SUBSTANTIVE WAY,
AREAS SUCH AS HUNGER, POVERTY, IMMIGRATION,
AND EQUAL RIGHTS.
THERE IS ONE CRITICAL AREA OF RESTORATIVE JUSTICE, HOWEVER, WHICH CHRISTIANS HAVE LARGELY OVERLOOKED.
IT REMINDS ME OF AN EXPERIENCE I HAD RECENTLY.
IN LOOKING THROUGH AN OVER-SIZED BOOK OF PHOTOGRAPHS
OF AMERICA’S MOST BEAUTIFUL PLACES, I FAILED TO NOTICE
THE FOLD IN ONE OF THE PICTURES,
AND AS A RESULT FAILED TO SEE A PARTICULAR PICTURE –
IN THIS CASE, ONE FROM CANYONLANDS NATIONAL PARK,
TO ITS FULL EXTENT.
FOR ME, THIS FAILURE TO SEE SOMETHING RIGHT IN FRONT
OF MY EYES, SERVES AS A METAPHOR FOR THE LARGEST
“MISSING PIECE” IN CONTEMPORARY CHRISTIAN ETHICS –
THE FAILURE OF CHRISTIANS TO APPLY JESUS’ CHALLENGE
OF RESTORATIVE JUSTICE TO THE ENVIRONMENT,
TO GOD’S GOOD CREATION IN WHICH WE LIVE.
THINKING ABOUT GOD’S GOOD EARTH BROUGHT ME BACK
TO MY COLLEGE DAYS, WHERE ONE OF THE REQUIRED BOOKS
FOR THE CLASS I TOOK IN “MASTERPIECES OF ENGLISH LITERATURE”
WAS ALAN PATON’S “CRY THE BELOVED COUNTRY.”
PATON WROTE FROM SOUTH AFRICA IN THE 1950’S,
DURING THE DAYS OF APARTHEID.
SINCE THEN, APARTHEID HAS FORTUNATELY BROKEN DOWN.
BUT PATON’S DESCRIPTION OF THE DEVASTATION OF THE
BACK COUNTRY OF SOUTH AFRICA REMAINS TRUE, AND CAN STAND
AS A METAPHOR FOR WHAT IS CURRENTLY HAPPENING
TO OUR PLANET AS A WHOLE.
PATON BEGINS WITH A POWERFUL DESCRIPTION
OF HOW IT USED TO BE:
“THERE IS A LOVELY ROAD THAT RUNS FROM IXOPO INTO THE HILLS.
THESE HILLS ARE GRASS-COVERED AND ROLLING,
AND THEY ARE LOVELY BEYOND THE SINGING OF IT.
THE ROAD CLIMBS INTO THEM, TO CARISBROOKE;
AND FROM THERE, IF THERE IS NO MIST, YOU LOOK DOWN
ON ONE OF THE FAIREST VALLEYS OF AFRICA.
ABOUT YOU THERE IS GRASS AND BRACKEN AND YOU MAY HEAR
THE FORLORN CRYING OF THE TITIHOYA,
ONE OF THE BIRDS OF THE VELD.
BELOW YOU IS THE VALLEY OF THE UMZIMKULU,
ON ITS JOURNEY FROM THE DRAKENSBERG TO THE SEA;
AND BEYOND AND BEHIND THE RIVER,
GREAT HILL AFTER GREAT HILL;
AND BEYOND AND BEHIND THEM, THE MOUNTAINS OF THE INGELI.
THE GRASS IS RICH AND MATTE; YOU CANNOT SEE THE SOIL.
IT HOLDS THE RAIN AND THE MIST, AND THEY SEEP
INTO THE GROUND, FEEDING THE STREAMS IN EVERY KLOOF.
IT IS WELL-TENDED, AND NOT TOO MANY CATTLE FEED UPON IT;
NOT TOO MANY FIRES BURN IT, LAYING BARE THE SOIL.
STAND UNSHOD UPON IT, FOR THE GROUND IS HOLY,
BEING EVEN AS IT CAME FROM THE CREATOR.”
THAT IS PATON’S DESCRIPTION OF HOW THINGS WERE BEFORE;
BEFORE GREEDY HUMAN BEINGS PUSHED THE LAND
WAY BEYOND ITS LIMITS.
HERE IS PATON’S DESCRIPTION OF HOW THINGS ARE NOW,
NOT JUST IN SOUTH AFRICA, BUT IN THE VAST MAJORITY
OF PLACES ON OUR WEARY AND BRUTALIZED PLANET:
“THE RICH GREEN HILLS BREAK DOWN.
THEY FALL TO THE VALLEY BELOW,
AND FALLING, CHANGE THEIR NATURE.
FOR THEY GROW RED AND BARE;
THEY CANNOT HOLD THE RAIN AND THE MIST,
AND THE STREAMS ARE DRY IN THE KLOOFS.
TOO MANY CATTLE FEED UPON THE GRASS,
AND TOO MANY FIRES HAVE BURNED IT.
STAND SHOD UPON IT, FOR IT IS COARSE AND SHARP,
AND THE STONES CUT UNDER THE FEET.
BECAUSE IT IS NOT KEPT, OR GUARDED, OR CARED FOR,
THE LAND CAN NO LONGER KEEP PEOPLE,
GUARD PEOPLE, CARE FOR PEOPLE.
THE TITIHOYA DOES NOT CRY HERE ANYMORE.
THE GREAT RED HILLS STAND DESOLATE,
AND THE EARTH HAS TORN AWAY LIKE FLESH.
THE LIGHTNING FLASHES OVER THEM,
THE CLOUDS POUR DOWN UPON THEM,
THE DEAD STREAMS COME TO LIFE,
FULL OF THE RED BLOOD OF THE EARTH.
DOWN IN THE VALLEYS WOMEN SCRATCH THE SOIL THAT IS LEFT,
AND THE MAIZE HARDLY REACHES THE HEIGHT OF A CHILD.
THEY ARE VALLEYS OF OLD MEN AND OLD WOMEN,
OF MOTHERS AND CHILDREN.
THE MEN ARE AWAY, THE YOUNG MEN AND THE GIRLS ARE AWAY.
THE SOIL CANNOT KEEP THEM ANYMORE.”
AS I STATED EARLIER, PATON’S DESCRIPTION OF A SOUTH AFRICA
WHICH HAS BEEN DEVASTATED BY HUMAN GREED AND OVERUSE
CAN STAND AS A METAPHOR FOR OUR ENTIRE DEVASTATED PLANET.
WHAT IS SURPRISING – AND SHOCKING – IS THAT CHRISTIANS
HAVEN’T DONE MORE TO PROTECT AND TO RENEW OUR PLANET.
MAYBE IT’S NOT SO SURPRISING GIVEN MISTRANSLATIONS
OF SCRIPTURE SUCH AS SUBSTITUTIG THE WORD “SERVANT”
FOR “SLAVE” AND THE WORD “RIGHTEOUSNESS”
FOR “RESTORATIVE JUSTICE,”
WHEN RESTORATIVE JUSTICE WAS CLEARLY JESUS’ ORIGINAL INTENT.
BILL McKIBBEN, A CHRISTIAN ETHICIST HEAVILY INTO
THE ENVIRONMENTAL MOVEMENT, AND AUTHOR OF THE BOOK
“THE END OF NATURE,” RECENTLY WROTE A SHOCKING ARTICLE
FOR THE MAGAZINE “THE CHRISTIAN CENTURY.”
I CALL HIS ARTICLE “SHOCKING” BECAUSE IN IT HE STATES THAT
THE DEVASTATION OF OUR PLANET IS PROCEEDING
AT SUCH AN ALARMING RATE AND THERE IS SO LITTLE
BEING DONE TO COUNTERACT IT,
THAT THE ONLY OPTION LEFT FOR CHRISTIANS
WHO CARE ABOUT THE PLANET – AND THAT, OF COURSE,
SHOULD BE ALL CHRISTIANS –
IS TO ENGAGE IN ACTS OF CIVIL DISOBEDIENCE
ON BEHALF OF THE PLANET.
IN OTHER WORDS, TO START AN ENVIRONMENTAL RIGHTS
MOVEMENT SIMILAR TO THE CIVIL RIGHTS MOVEMENT.
HE FEELS THAT THE ONLY THING THAT WILL BREAK
THE STRANGLEHOLD OF THE LOBBYISTS IN WASHINGTON
IS FOR MILLIONS OF CHRISTIANS AND OTHER PEOPLE
OF GOOD WILL TO GET ARRESTED IN NON-VIOLENT
DEMONSTRATIONS ON BEHALF OF OUR BELEAGURED PLANET.
McKIBBEN, HIMSELF IN HIS SIXTIES, WRITES:
“I DON’T THINK COLLEGE KIDS SHOULD BE THE CANNON FODDER
THIS TIME AROUND.
FOR ONE THING, IT’S NOT REALLY THEIR FAULT, NOT YET;
IT’S THOSE OF US WHO HAVE SPENT DECADES
POURING CARBON INTO THE ATMOSPHERE
WHO REALLY NEED TO SHOW OUR REMORSE.
IN AN EVER-TOUGHER ECONOMY, IT’S NOT FAIR TO IMPOSE
AN ARREST RECORD ON SOMEONE WHO HASN’T EVEN LANDED
HIS OR HER FIRST JOB;
THOSE OF US WITH A LITTLE MORE SECURITY
NEED TO LEAD THE WAY.
SO IF I’M GOING TO BE INVOLVED IN THIS KIND OF BATTLE,
I KNOW WHO I WANT BY MY SIDE, AT LEAST AT FIRST:
THOSE OF US BORN IN, SAY, THE EISENHOWER ADMINISTRATION
OR BEFORE.
MANY OF US PARTICIPATED OR WATCHED AS THE CIVIL RIGHTS
MOVEMENT PIONEERED THE TACTICS OF CREATIVE NON-VIOLENCE
AND UNDERSTAND THAT THEIR POWER DERIVES IN NO
SMALL MEASURE FROM THE DIGNITY THAT MARKED THOSE EVENTS.
I DON’T WEAR A NECKTIE VERY OFTEN, BUT IF I’M GOING
TO GET ARRESTED, I’M GOING TO HAVE MINE NEATLY KNOTTED.
THE LESSON WE NEED ABOVE ALL TO COMMUNICATE IS THIS:
PEOPLE ASKING FOR ACTION ON CLIMATE CHANGE
ARE NOT RADICALS.
JUST THE OPPOSITE – THEY’RE IN SOME SENSE DEEP CONSERVATIVES.
WHAT’S RADICAL IS TO DOUBLE THE AMOUNT OF CARBON
IN THE ATMOSPHERE AND JUST SEE WHAT HAPPENS.”
WHAT WOULD JESUS DO?
I’M PRETTY SURE THAT IF JESUS WERE LIVING TODAY
HE WOULD PUT ON HIS NECKTIE AND JOIN McKIBBEN.
AND, OF COURSE, AS FOLLOWERS OF JESUS,
WE BELIEVE THAT INDEED HE IS LIVING TODAY,
AND THAT HIS SPIRIT IS INSPIRING THOSE WHO CLAIM HIS NAME
TO TAKE ACTION ON BEHALF OF GOD’S CREATION.
AMEN.