Living Word of God grant us the eyes and the ears and the heart to understand the truth and power of your word among your prophets past and present.
For the last year and more there has been an increasing unrest within our nation and dissatisfaction with the political condition of our nation. Globally, we have watched the events of the Arab Spring in places like Eqypt, Syria, Iran, Libya and more as the citizenry of numerous places in the Middle East rose up to demand justice and fairness and the removal of governments dominated by dictators and power regimes. Some were successful and some less so. We now live in a period of uncertainty as to what comes next in places where newly emergent governments struggle to gain the confidence of the people.
We, too, are a nation deeply divided across numerous issues, social barriers, and political positions. We have seen groups rise like the Tea Party and other new ones arise like Occupy Wall St. Suddenly, in our country the Occupy movement seemed be gathering real momentum under the theme of, “We Are the 99%,” but now has cooled. Why is all this ferment and political action happening. One explanation that makes sense to me is that people around the world and within our country are feeling disenfranchisement from the powers, political and economic, that impact our lives. We watch, continually, as the economy moves in fits and starts and the market up and down and recognize that we seemingly have little ability to impact anything of consequence. We feel cut off. I believe that many people watching the courage of the public in places without democracy led the people to ask why not here and why are we not making ourselves heard.
Scripture points us towards a belief that in the fall in the Garden of Eden and with disobedience and the emergence of sin we became similarly cut off from God. Sin resulted in a separation between us and God who in divine perfection would not or could not tolerate the presence of sin. A humanity that had been created to be in constant relationship with God, as creature and creator, turned towards self-worship. The whole story of the Bible is the relationship of God and humanity across this separation. Ultimately, the separation is only bridged when God takes the action to become “God with us” in the person of Jesus.
Knowing the story of scripture we know and confess the followings things.
1) God created all things to be good and in relationship to God as creator.
2) Humanity turned toward self and self interests in disobedience and away from God.
3) God sought numerous ways to turn people away from their sin and back towards God and God’s will including the law and the prophets.
4) God showed the world the path away from sin and self interest in the person of Jesus who saw even his own life as something to be given for others.
5) Jesus taught us that there are two great commandments and that all of the law and the preaching (of the prophets) are based on these commandments.
6) These commandments are: Love the Lord your God with all your being and love your neighbor like yourself.
7) God’s answer to the experience of human disenfranchisement is to turn us away from self interest and back towards God in and through Christ’s Spirit and towards our neighbor overcoming disenfranchisement and separation.
The Christian prophetic voice of proclamation has a great deal to say to the present unrest in our country. What is has to say speaks of community and coming together instead of dividing and separating. The prophets called the community of faith away from self interest to insure impartial justice and care for the poor and the outsider. We proclaim that God calls us to turn each from his or her own path and towards God’s ways. God calls us to love God above everything including power, control, money, and more and to love our neighbor as our self. The calling means turning away from of self interests to love our neighbor and economic justice for all; to speak out for equitable opportunity and a fair share in the market place and justice and hope for the 99 and to bring the 1 and the 99 back into community with each other.
The Roman Catholic Pastoral letter "Economic Justice for All" from 1986 says the following:
28. The basis for all that the Church believes about the moral dimensions of economic life is its vision of the transcendent worth—the sacredness—of human beings.
"The dignity of the human person, realized in community with others, is the criterion against which all aspects of economic life must be measured. All human beings, therefore, are ends to be served by the institutions that make up the economy, not means to be exploited for more narrowly defined goals. Human personhood must be respected with a reverence that is religious. When we deal with each other, we should do so with the sense of awe that arises in the presence of something holy and sacred. For that is what human beings are: we are created in the image of God (Gn 1:27). Similarly, all economic institutions must support the bonds of community and solidarity that are essential to the dignity of persons. Wherever our economic arrangements fail to conform to the demands of human dignity lived in community, they must be questioned and transformed. These convictions have a biblical basis."
Faithfulness to God's Word is not just about what is good for me and my family. It transforms our vision of how we use our time, talents and treasure and how we use them to minister in our daily lives andbuild our relationships and our community.
For the last year and more there has been an increasing unrest within our nation and dissatisfaction with the political condition of our nation. Globally, we have watched the events of the Arab Spring in places like Eqypt, Syria, Iran, Libya and more as the citizenry of numerous places in the Middle East rose up to demand justice and fairness and the removal of governments dominated by dictators and power regimes. Some were successful and some less so. We now live in a period of uncertainty as to what comes next in places where newly emergent governments struggle to gain the confidence of the people.
We, too, are a nation deeply divided across numerous issues, social barriers, and political positions. We have seen groups rise like the Tea Party and other new ones arise like Occupy Wall St. Suddenly, in our country the Occupy movement seemed be gathering real momentum under the theme of, “We Are the 99%,” but now has cooled. Why is all this ferment and political action happening. One explanation that makes sense to me is that people around the world and within our country are feeling disenfranchisement from the powers, political and economic, that impact our lives. We watch, continually, as the economy moves in fits and starts and the market up and down and recognize that we seemingly have little ability to impact anything of consequence. We feel cut off. I believe that many people watching the courage of the public in places without democracy led the people to ask why not here and why are we not making ourselves heard.
Scripture points us towards a belief that in the fall in the Garden of Eden and with disobedience and the emergence of sin we became similarly cut off from God. Sin resulted in a separation between us and God who in divine perfection would not or could not tolerate the presence of sin. A humanity that had been created to be in constant relationship with God, as creature and creator, turned towards self-worship. The whole story of the Bible is the relationship of God and humanity across this separation. Ultimately, the separation is only bridged when God takes the action to become “God with us” in the person of Jesus.
Knowing the story of scripture we know and confess the followings things.
1) God created all things to be good and in relationship to God as creator.
2) Humanity turned toward self and self interests in disobedience and away from God.
3) God sought numerous ways to turn people away from their sin and back towards God and God’s will including the law and the prophets.
4) God showed the world the path away from sin and self interest in the person of Jesus who saw even his own life as something to be given for others.
5) Jesus taught us that there are two great commandments and that all of the law and the preaching (of the prophets) are based on these commandments.
6) These commandments are: Love the Lord your God with all your being and love your neighbor like yourself.
7) God’s answer to the experience of human disenfranchisement is to turn us away from self interest and back towards God in and through Christ’s Spirit and towards our neighbor overcoming disenfranchisement and separation.
The Christian prophetic voice of proclamation has a great deal to say to the present unrest in our country. What is has to say speaks of community and coming together instead of dividing and separating. The prophets called the community of faith away from self interest to insure impartial justice and care for the poor and the outsider. We proclaim that God calls us to turn each from his or her own path and towards God’s ways. God calls us to love God above everything including power, control, money, and more and to love our neighbor as our self. The calling means turning away from of self interests to love our neighbor and economic justice for all; to speak out for equitable opportunity and a fair share in the market place and justice and hope for the 99 and to bring the 1 and the 99 back into community with each other.
The Roman Catholic Pastoral letter "Economic Justice for All" from 1986 says the following:
28. The basis for all that the Church believes about the moral dimensions of economic life is its vision of the transcendent worth—the sacredness—of human beings.
"The dignity of the human person, realized in community with others, is the criterion against which all aspects of economic life must be measured. All human beings, therefore, are ends to be served by the institutions that make up the economy, not means to be exploited for more narrowly defined goals. Human personhood must be respected with a reverence that is religious. When we deal with each other, we should do so with the sense of awe that arises in the presence of something holy and sacred. For that is what human beings are: we are created in the image of God (Gn 1:27). Similarly, all economic institutions must support the bonds of community and solidarity that are essential to the dignity of persons. Wherever our economic arrangements fail to conform to the demands of human dignity lived in community, they must be questioned and transformed. These convictions have a biblical basis."
Faithfulness to God's Word is not just about what is good for me and my family. It transforms our vision of how we use our time, talents and treasure and how we use them to minister in our daily lives andbuild our relationships and our community.
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