"When I heard their outcry and these charges, I was very angry. I pondered them in my mind and then accused the nobles and officials."
This weekend marked the 50th anniversary of one of the most iconic events in Civil Rights/American history. On March 7th, nearly 600 demonstrators, emboldened by a desire to seek justice and voting rights for Blacks in Selma, Alabama began a march on a cool Sunday morning with the hopes that march would carry them the fifty miles from Selma to Montgomery. Under intense threat, these marchers displayed immense courage as men, women, and children peacefully walked across the bridge in hopes of securing a better future. No one could have predicted what would come next. As they crested the hill of the bridge, waiting for them was a mass of police officers and state troopers who'd been issued the order to prevent them from finishing their march. Quickly, this cool Sunday Morning would become infamously known at "Bloody Sunday." The unarmed, peaceful demonstrators were brutally attacked by those with power, covering the bridge with the blood of the innocent. A few weeks ago, I was given the opportunity to walk across the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma. I wasn't there as a tourist or a sight-seer. I was there as one deeply curious as to what compels some to risk so much for the cause of justice in this world. As I walked across that bridge, I asked myself if I would have had the courage to cross that bridge knowing the violence and hate that awaited me on the other side, in hopes of securing a better tomorrow. Honestly, I don't know.
A consistent theme we are met with throughout the Scriptures is God's passion for justice. God speaks through the mouth of Amos and says, "But let justice roll on like a river, righteousness like a never-failing stream!"(5:24) In a world corrupted by sin, those with power have the capacity to utilize that power in perverted, selfish, exploitive, violent, horrific, and ultimately destructive ways. It can be the large scale economic or political practices that marginalize certain groups of people based on some arbitrary measurement of worth. It can be the smaller scale practices of bullying, alienation, or hate crime. Regardless, justice is called into question anytime the powers of this world, our towns, or communities misuse power to the detriment of the vulnerable. Such misuse of power breaks the heart of God and arouses Him to anger.
In a Bible Study a couple of years back, an attendee once asked me, "Jeff you speak a lot about the grace and love of God, about a love that knows no limits. Does God ever get mad." I thought for a moment and responded quickly, "Yes, when we are unjust." Unfortunately, God's anger is lost on us as we live indifferent to the suffering and struggle of those around us. Indifference is the safe guard that allows us to ignore those issues that don't immediately affect us. We are able to go about our daily affairs with our heads in the sand about the plight of the most vulnerable in our communities. Indifference is the safe guard that keeps us on the safe side of the bridge, paralyzed by the fear of what a pursuit of justice might entail.
Our indifference is the means through which evil in this world continues to prevail.
Justice-making is a courageous act. It is the means through which those that have some form of individual or collective power or creative potential stand with and on behalf of those that do not have that power. Justice-making is the courageous Kingdom act that calls the "powers-that-be" into account for their action and offers creative counter-acts through which the marginalized can find freedom, hope, and a future.
Nehemiah was committed to the work of justice-making. Having returned to Jerusalem from Babylon to rebuild the wall surrounding their community, Nehemiah was embroiled in the lives of his vulnerable people. They faced threats daily from those outside their ranks. However, the intensity hit a new level when he discovered the injustice within his own ranks. Several of the financial leaders within the community were taking advantage of the poor farmers who had little to secure their lives and families. The powerful were taking advantage of the vulnerable and calling it "good business." When Nehemiah was informed, he was angry and responded. This was a courageous act that would have made him unpopular with the power brokers in his community. The responsibility of justice-making will make you unpopular with both those that prefer safe, non-boat-rocking indifference and those with much to lose if their power is challenged.
For those of participating in the journey of Lent, the call to reorienting ourselves to God's purposes lands front and center. We are met with the holy responsibility to be justice-makers in the establishment of God's peaceful Kingdom in this world. We are called to courage. We are called to recognize the responsibility to use whatever resources we have at our disposal to stand on behalf of those that can't stand for themselves. This might be writing your congressman/women in defense of those that need political support and voices. It may be joining a movement that takes seriously the suffering of those victimized by human trafficking, racism/bigotry, or financial marginalization. It may be as simple as signing a petition to stay an execution. Or, it could be as simple as befriending the person in your community that no one makes space for, involving yourself in an English as a Second Language tutoring course for adults, or supporting a Pregnancy Advocacy Program. Justice-making is a creative act that compels us into our communities to stand alongside those who are regularly forgotten and neglected.
This week I heard of a member of our congregation who had been volunteering at a school for children who were facing their final chance in the system. They are quickly moving toward becoming a statistic. However, she intercedes. She stands with those children and alongside of them to make a difference. Justice-making is a courageous act that says, "I will give myself away on your behalf to ensure that you get a chance for a better future." She lives that out in a very real way.
That's the courage to cross the bridge.
Reflection
1.) Do I opt for safety and indifference or does God's passion for justice-making burden my heart?
2.) What is some area in my community that I might involve myself for the purposes of making justice?
3.) Who is someone or some group that I can engage courageously attempting to join God in the making of a better future?
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