Working for a Just and Loving World

There are many reasons we might work for a just and loving world — but I believe that gratitude is at the heart of the United Church of Christ’s commitment to justice and peace.

 What Matters: Part Five –We Thank God by Working for a Just and Loving World

Micah 6:6-8; James 1:22-25 

Before UCC bumper stickers said “God Is Still Speaking,” they said “To Believe Is to Care; to Care Is to Do.” [I think Liz and Jerry Hankins still have one of these on their car!] There’s a lot to be said for that slogan,

because UCC folks are the “poster children” for that passage from James: “…be doers of the word, and not merely hearers …” [James 1:22]

Members of many churches and faith communities are active in helping others and in building a better world, but members of the UCC are notably in the forefront of those activities, often leading the way in working to change the world.

So it is not surprising that our friends on the Congregational Vitality Team of the UCC brought that idea into this fifth statement of What Matters to us: “We thank God by working for a just and loving world.” But I can’t help wishing that I could have sat in with their group when they debated the best wording for this statement of faith. There are, after all, several others very good choices they might have made.

They might have written, “We worship God by working for a just and loving world.” The prophet Micah would have been pleased. He brought from God the message that God is not very interested in traditional worship, at least of the kind that was practiced by our ancient ancestors. God does not treasure our gestures of faith, especially when they become empty rituals, as the burnt offerings seem to have become. Instead, God treasures what we do as faithful people: “to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God.” [Micah 6:8] It would not be an error to say that we worship God in our working for justice and love in the world.

Or they might have written, “We serve God by working for a just and loving world.” That reminds us of the times that Jesus called upon his followers to care for the sick, feed the hungry, and visit those in prison. “Truly I tell you, just as you did it to one of the least of these who are members of my family, you did it to me.” [Matthew 25:40] The UCC Statement of Faith puts it this way: “You call us into your church … to be your servants in the service of others ..” And when James and John asked Jesus if they could have the places of honor on his right and left, he taught them that “…whoever wishes to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wishes to be first among you must be slave of all.” [Mark 10:43-44] It would not be an error to say that we serve God by working for love and justice.

In the same way, the Congregational Vitality team might have chosen to say “We obey God by working for a just and loving world.” Think back to the time Jesus told the story of the traveler on the road to Jericho, the one who was attacked and left for dead by the side of the road. It was, you remember, the Samaritan and not the priest or the Levite, who offered aid to him. Jesus was using the story to answer the question, “who is my neighbor,” and he ended that story by saying, “Go and do likewise.” When we work to end suffering and aid healing, we are obeying that instruction. It would not be an error to say that we obey God by working for love and justice.

And they might have written, “We please God by working for a just and loving world.” I do believe that God looks upon our working for peace and justice with appreciation, but I am not sure that our actions are designed just to please God. We are accustomed to doing things to please our human friends and family members because we want them to think well of us and to appreciate our efforts. We want recognition and praise. I do not think that is what we are after when we work to end suffering and build communities of compassion. I think we are hoping for much more than just pleasing God. It may not be an error to say that we “we please God,” but it does not get to the heart of the matter.

Instead of any of these words, our colleagues in Cleveland chose to say, “We thank God ..” It is an evocative choice, and it reminds us of all the virtues that are part of gratitude. When we are grateful, we have stepped out of our own shoes and into the shoes of another; we have shifted our focus from ourselves to the one who is our benefactor. When we say “thank you,” we are acknowledging our connection with other people, and our dependence upon them. Our words of thanks are a confession that we have received something that we could not have managed on our own.

When we are thankful, we interrupt our tendency to dwell on problems and to worry about the future. Thankfulness is akin to hopefulness, and when we give thanks, we are also making an investment in what the future may bring. A posture of thanksgiving moves us into a space that is marked by abundance, not by scarcity. The fact that there was enough – enough care and concern, enough food, enough space – the fact that there was enough testifies to the power and generosity of God.

And so it is from thankfulness, from gratitude, that we move out into the world to do the work that we are called to do: justice, kindness, and faithfulness. This is not easy work; it often pits us against the powers and principalities of our times. We find ourselves at odds with the capitalistic economic system and its accompany capitalistic culture. We find ourselves called to be prophets: to see what is hidden in plain sight about how the world really works, as compared to how we want it work, or even how it is supposed to work. We find ourselves called to be priests: to enact the daily rituals that strengthen our faith and give us spiritual stamina for the tasks we are called to do. And we find ourselves called to be pastors: to care tenderly for one another in the midst of a world that is anything but tender.

We have been prepared for this vocation of discipleship, though. We stand in the shadow of our ancestors – both ancient and modern – who have blazed the way into service. We stand as the offspring of the Congregationalists who defended the Africans who had been brought to America as slaves on the shop Amistad; we stand as the offspring of the Evangelical Deaconesses who brought health care to the poor; we stand as the offspring of the congregation in South Butler New York that ordained the first woman and the congregation in Berkeley California that ordained the first openly gay man. We stand as the descendents of volunteers who watched hours of television to document the racist policies of television stations in the south that would not air stories about the civil rights movement, and of lobbyists who made sure that the deregulation of the telephone companies would not leave low-income families without service. We are part of a family that has demonstrated at the School of the Americas and boycotted restaurants that treat their employees unfairly. We are part of a community that has proclaimed and mourned that “the body of Christ has AIDS.” We are part of a faith tradition that founded schools for freed slaves and hospitals for immigrants, that trained teachers and nurses and built homes for orphans and elders.

And this great heritage we share grows out of just this: We thank God by working … We thank God by insisting on moving towards the world of peace and justice that are God’s shalom, and by resisting all of the powers that would postpone it or water it down. We thank God by infusing our simplest tasks with grace and gratitude, and by treating every person as though she/he were Jesus. We thank God by being people who do, not only people who hear and talk. We thank God by remembering that service, justice, and love matters – they matter to us, and to all the world around us.

Amen.

Prayer for October 18, 2009

Almighty and everlasting God, creator of all things seen and unseen, hear now our silent prayers, as we open our hearts to you in the sacred quietness.

God of faith and hope, we bring before you our prayers for those we have named this morning – we especially remember … Bring to each of them the gifts of mercy and grace that are most needed, according to your wisdom and love.

God of all times and places, we pray this morning for the spiritual gifts of patience and persistence. We find it so easy to make plans and set goals, and so difficult to follow through all the way to completion. Our lives seem to bring interruptions and distractions that we cannot escape, and which sap our energies and divert our attention. Our good intentions are somehow not robust enough to overcome the barriers that come in our way.

We ask your forgiveness, God of Grace, for all the ways our impatience and lack of persistence may have disappointed others and interrupted the building of your kingdom.

We bring our prayers this morning, Holy One, for the capacity to stay with our dreams and our visions, to follow them through to their completion. Help us to find the deeper commitment that remains steady in the face of outer upsets, the more profound devotion that holds our hearts with firmness and love. Free us from the impatience that insists on quick results, and help us to develop the endurance of spirit that will carry us through disappointments and delays. Teach us the gift of waiting – of waiting for others, of waiting for the perfect moment, of waiting for your invitations, of waiting for your challenges.

We also pray to remain stubbornly impatient when our action will truly serve others, when we can reduce suffering, or advance healing, or promote peace.

To do all of this, Source of our being, we must include prayers for wisdom and sensitivity in discerning your will and way. Open our eyes and hearts to all of the manners in which you might speak to us: through the voices of people in our lives, through the events of the world, through our talents and skills, through the coincidences of our days. We need your help to develop the art of being deeply silent, of quieting our inner lives, so that your voice will not be lost in the din of obligations, expectations, habits, and exhaustion.

All these things we pray in the name of the one who heard you clearly in both action and contemplation, even Jesus the Christ, and we pray together in the words that he taught us …

November 7, 2004