Sermon for August 21st, 2016
Micah 6:6-8
6 With what shall I come before the Lord and bow down before the exalted God? Shall I come before him with burnt offerings, with calves a year old? 7 Will the Lord be pleased with thousands of rams, with ten thousand rivers of olive oil? Shall I offer my firstborn for my transgression, the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul? 8 He has shown you, O mortal, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.
The Confession of Belhar: Reconciliation & Justice
Since today is Back to School Sunday, I'm reminded of the story about Cindy, who refused to get out of bed on the morning of the first day of school. Her poor mother tried everything she could think of, and finally in exasperation said, "Can you even give me three good reasons why you don't want to go to school?" Without hesitating, Cindy said, "Yes. All the students hate me. All the teachers hate me. And everyone is mean to me!" And then, turning things around, Cindy asked her mother, "Can YOU even give me TWO good reasons why I *should* go to school?" Without hesitating, Cindy's mother replied, "Yes. Because you're 51 years old, and you're the principal."
Today we are continuing (and concluding) our short sermon series on the Belhar Confesssion. For those of you who were not with us last week, or who have slept since then, here's a brief recap:
- A Confession is, in this case, not an admission of wrongdoing or guilt, but rather a creed or statement of belief. The Presbyterian Church (USA) has a book of historic confessions that together represent how we have interpreted the scriptures through the years, and what we believe the church is called to be and do in a variety of times, places and situations.
- The Confession of Belhar is the newest addition to our Book of Confessions, adopted by our General Assembly this summer, and by a 2/3rds majority of elected representatives from all the congregations in our denomination.
- The Confession of Belhar was written in the 1980s by South African Reformed Christians who opposed the government and church sanctioned system of racial discrimination known as apartheid. It has since been adopted by reformed Christians in Africa, Europe, and America as a statement of true Christian belief, and as a guiding voice in the church's age-old struggle to promote unity, reconciliation, and justice among all God's children.
Last week we talked about unity; this week we'll focus on reconciliation and justice. I'd like to start by pointing out how all of these themes are intrinsically related. I think we all understand that unity (not uniformity) is a good thing, a worthy goal, in our church, in our community, and in our world. But how do we achieve that goal when we are so hopelessly divided over so many issues, both great and small?
Reconciliation is the act of coming back together again, of laying aside what separates us, or at least of putting our differences in larger perspective, and making them secondary to the principles of unity, peace, and love for all people.
Of course, it's not quite that simple. The writers of the Confession of Belhar understood that where there is an imbalance of power between to people or two groups, reconciliation is impossible.
If someone holds a gun to your head and says, "Let's put aside our disagreements. Can't you see things my way?" You might be inclined to say "Why, yes. I can see things your way!" But how much choice would you really have, and how sincere would that unity be? It would only last as long as the gun is pointed at you, as long as the imbalance of power is strictly maintained.
True unity, true reconciliation between two parties is only possible when there is equality between them. Equality is, essentially, what we mean when we say "Justice." Think of the classic image for justice--a blindfolded woman holding a balanced scale: Both sides of the scale are equal. When a person does wrong to another person, the scale becomes imbalanced. Justice is done when the wrongdoer makes things right, makes restitution, brings things into balance and equality once more.
It is possible to have justice or equality, but still not to have reconciliation or unity. In fact, this happens all the time--a judge hands down a verdict, justice is done, but both parties still go away hating each other. Or an unjust law is repealed, but the former opressor and opressed still harbor resentment toward one another. That's why it's never enough for Christians to simply advocate for justice, or the enforcement of laws, and stop there. We are called to the higher standard of love, which means we must always work for reconciliation and unity.
But while it's possible to have justice without reconciliation, it's not possible to have reconciliation without justice.
In our scripture passage today, the prophet Micah asks a timeless question of God: What do you want from me, God? What do I have to do in order to be right your eyes? Do you want my posessions? My wealth? My family, even? And God says, no. You already know what I want, and it's simple. Act justly, love mercy, and walk humbly with your God.
The Hebrew word for mercy in this passage is חָ֫סֶד (chesed). It means making things right, which is another way of saying reconciliation.
This is an amazing passage, because God is essentially summing up everything that is required of us in this life in three easy steps (and I believe they are in this order for a reason):
- First, pursue justice--not just for yourself, but for all people.
- Second, once justice has been done, pursue reconciliation. Learn to love those who are different from you.
- And finally, when you're doing those things, you'll be walking with me, and those I have chosen to walk with. And if everyone is walking the same direction, in humility...there will be unity in the land.
