Justice
& Mercy (The Beatitudes) 29th January 2017
On
a warm spring day many years ago I sat with a colleague drinking coffee and
discussing their goals, how to fund them and what the results would be. I was
reminded of that this morning as I listened to the news and tried to square the
ever-growing circle of today’s readings with the reality of the world today.
Our
subject was Nuclear Power, my colleague was an activist (please ask detailed
questions later) and want to ban weapons and power and saw that as an
achievable goal. I pointed out that the Pandora’s box was opened when the bomb
fell on Hiroshima and you couldn’t put it back, that the goal of trying to save
the planet from nuclear destruction was a good one but be aware this is not a
goal you are going to achieve. At this point they turned to me and said, ‘well
then what is the point? If I felt I wasn’t going to succeed I wouldn’t do it!”
Ah,
do you ever feel like that, when you declare your faith i.e. “nothing ever
changes , what is the point?” I think we all do, especially when we see those
professing the name of Christ utter words Of Franklin Graham ( son of Billy)
who has stated that ‘ the ban of Syrian refugees is not a bible issue.
“Jesus' command to love and welcome
the stranger did not mean the US should welcome more refugees.
"It's not a biblical command for
the country to let everyone in who wants to come, that's not a Bible
issue," he said.”
How
ironic then that our readings from Micah and Matthew todays M & M’s should
be so diametrically opposed to that view. And what does the Lord require of
you ‘do justice, love mercy and walk
humbly with your god’ And the beatitudes:
Blessed are the poor in
spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
“Blessed are those who
mourn, for they will be comforted.
“Blessed are the meek, for
they will inherit the earth.
“Blessed are those who
hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.
“Blessed are the merciful,
for they will receive mercy.
“Blessed are the pure in
heart, for they will see God.
“Blessed are the
peacemakers, for they will be called children of God.
“Blessed are those who are
persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
It does render you
speechless doesn’t it that for all the insistence on the Bible on the most
important parts like the passage from Micah, the rights of the aliens in your
land and their treatment, the beatitudes the commandments, love God &
Neighbour, the Lord’s prayer which people parrot out of their mouths every
Sunday it hasn’t changed anything
I spotted a great cartoon
on Facebook this morning ; it goes like this:
Jesus is teaching the
crowd and says ‘Love you enemies, do good to those who hate you’
a shout from the crowd ‘
But Jesus what about if they’re Muslim’
Jesus answers ‘OK, let me
start over from the beginning, let me know where I lost you!’
‘Let me know where I lost
you’ – In the fear of the other perhaps, in the need to take rather than to
give, in the desire for greatness, in the inability to see life as a gift that
all must equally share. And this mind set is infections, I have this postcard on my desk it says in Gaelic & English;
‘One snotty
nose can infect a whole Church'
AKA, one idea can infect the whole be it congregation, community or nation. For once an idea takes root in
a person in a group, in a nation it can spread, it can overturn all in its
path, it can become an infection. This week saw Holocaust Memorial Day a day we remember the 6 million Jews
and others murdered in the Gas Chambers, we also remember the victims of other genocidal acts and it
seems we still do not learn, that ideas good and bad can become infections that spread.
I apologise for being
depressing this morning and I don’t really want to be, because I do believe that even
the smallest act of kindness, or mercy of peacemaking can help to change
things. But it takes action, the action of all who disagree with the teachings
of hate and bigotry and vengeance and I could go on. You will of heard this
quote sometimes attributed to Edmund Burke
“The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is that
good men do nothing.”
So doing nothing is not an
option, keeping silent is not an option, tutting about it quietly and accepting
the status quo is not an option, coming to church on Sunday and declare the
faith of Jesus and the ignoring responsibility for the rest of the week is not
an option.
Such actions or lack of
action leads to an emptiness of hope, of love, of compassion, which in the end
leads to becoming part of the very evil
you despise. If you take nothing else away from this morning remember
not my words but the words of Micah ‘
‘what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to
love kindness,
and to walk humbly with your God?’
and the words of our Lord
Jesus Christ himself, which can help to mitigate evil and emptiness and aid our
troubled world, one of the Beatitudes
“Blessed are those who
hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled” Amen
