It’s a Long Way to Our Genesis Home
a sermon on the occasion of our Peace and Justice Fair
by the Rev. John A. Ekman, Saratoga Springs, New York
based on James 3: 13-18
I. If I believed in God’s immediate, detailed and intrusive involvement in daily life, this occasion would be a re-affirmation. We are having our first annual Peace Fair with some 40 venders today and lo and behold the lectionary reading, which was drawn up years ago, offers the letter of James with a particular peace emphasis.
II. I am content with affirming coincidence! Martin Luther called James “An epistle of straw.” Of course Luther was rebelling against the Roman Catholic idea that one could do good works, i.e. buy indulgences, and get right with God. He landed on justification by faith. So given his new found faith in faith it is easy to see why James, where deeds of action meet faith profession, could run a bit counter to Luther’s new awareness.
The fact is that I am not constipated like Luther, nor do I plan to put my 95 thesis on the door of St. Peter’s church. I will say that Christianity is BOTH faith and action. They go together like a horse and carriage. And James is right, “You show me your faith apart from action and by my actions I will show you my faith.” OR “Faith without works is dead, irrelevant and a study in self serving aggrandizement.”
Today, because of Elizabeth’s vision…then Linda’s support and finally Anne and the Social Concerns Committee efforts we have our first ever Peace and Justice Fair. I hope that you’ll “…stroll the grounds…” as Simon and Garfunkel sang in Mrs. Robinson.
III. When I think about peace/justice I think about Genesis story. The Garden of Eden is not a real place; but to people of faith it is a hope and a vision that inspires and propels. In the darkest times there is the hope that the Garden {could} be there. Eden tells of an essential harmony between and among all of God’s creation. Even the animals were vegetarians…this before speculation that plants had feelings! Eden speaks of God’s grand goal: life together lived in harmony, mutual up building and true community survival.
Today it seems a long trip to our Genesis home! I said in the sermon this summer entitled “What happened?” that human relationships are resilient and fragile. We can only marvel at the resiliency and we need to be cautious because of the fragility. American political leaders and raging TV pundits need be circumspect and less concerned about ratings!
IV. It is easy to claim, “The sky is falling…the sky is falling…” On the other hand if you put a frog in cold water and put the pot on the stove with the heat on, the frog will comfortably and placidly die in an environment that slowly becomes too hot to support life.
I would hunch that if you read some statistics on American society but were fooled into thinking that these stats are really being applied to Red China or North Korea or Iran, you’d quickly conclude that these countries are dangerous places to live. What country (according some rankings) stands 8th in the world behind Columbia and Mexico in terms of murders – more than 16,000 in 2008? What city already has 426 murders this year? And what section of the country has 36% of the population but 43% of the murders? The answers: The U.S., Chicago, and the South. We’re not talking “the axis of evil.” This is US! There is a violent streak in American society that we need be aware of…and cautious.
However most of this violence is happening in our neighbor’s back yard and not so much in Saratoga. We get used to it, we can ignore it, or we just don’t keep up on the news. Like the frog we become comfortable, complacent and dulled to an environment that is heating up with too much anger and potential destruction.
V. Obama inherited a plethora of major problems any two of which combined would be hard to overcome. I am not making excuses for him. For America’s peace, security and justice we need to deal smartly and seriously with a host of major problems and growing crises that could gravely injure society as we know it.
VI. This brings me to James and his thirst for Peace—to which we add Justice. Both terms: PEACE & JUSTICE are open to lots of interpretations and corruptions. Years ago it was said, “The Russians want peace…. a piece of Poland…a piece of Czechoslovakia…” And JUSTICE…well in our comfort that can be defined as JUST US.
VII. I want to be upbeat today, because a good thing is happening. I also need to talk about what I think is realism. So I apologize if I am a bit of a downer.
Sam Stephens just had hip surgery. I saw him Wednesday morning before he went in. Sam was a jet fighter pilot in the Korean War. We have been friends for years and I can tell you that he is closer to the Republicans than the Weathermen! Before they gave him any “doping meds” he commented on the loss of civility in our public discourse. He attributed that loss to the fact that country clubs no longer require sport coats. I attributed the loss to the tolerance we have for grown men and boys wearing their baseball caps into nice restraints, classrooms and even houses!
VIII. I grant that there are “wing nuts and loose cannons” on both sides of the political spectrum. I am sure that people have questioned my moorings—given some of the stands I have taken. Standing out in front of the post office in the cold of January/February protesting Israel’s ethnic cleansing in Gaza earned me some new Jewish enemies and some Jewish friends!
IX. As Christians our first fidelity must be to God’s love for all people. We must not substitute our allegiance to the man from Nazareth and his vision for humanity with the coarse ideology of either the right or the left.
Today I am not talking about the 60’s and the left. [See note below] It must be said that RIGHT NOW there are forces on the RIGHT that have moved far beyond thoughtful and energetic expressions of philosophical differences to what can only be termed FREE FLOATING RAGE. Some bring loaded guns to Presidential events, some believe “Moslems are taking over our country,” others demand., “I want my country back…”, and one group’s web site says, “Buy a gun---you’ll need it.” This is not healthy.
In years past when wing nuts like the John Birch society rose from the intellectual swamp, William F. Buckley, who brought a thoughtful voice to the conservative cause or a Nelson Rockefeller (a highly respected Republican) publicly dampened the hysteria and put the breaks on the crazies.
To their credit, George Bush Sr., Laura Bush and George Will have made (some) attempt to dampen the vitriol, but too few leading Republicans either see the danger or are afraid to expose themselves to the ire of their factious base. That reticence is then fanned by the likes of Glen Beck, Sarah Palin, and Dick Army...taking us down a dangerous road that no frog would want to travel.
X. James wisely talks about greed, jealousy and self-serving ambition. Along with decreasing civility, this brings me to a second issue. In spite of the wonderful Peace and Justice Fair and all the hard work that made it possible, I am not sure how many of us really want the peace that true justice would make possible.
We live in a world of finite resources and growing population. The U.S. has something like 5% of the world’s population but we use 35% of its resources. That means simply that North Americans as a minority are taking from the majority poor and frankly not adequately compensating them. We use their resources to make our living comfortable and secure. If the Middle East had only sand and camels and NO OIL do you think we’d be fighting wars there? And if we are so bent to establish democracy and ending the rule of brutal dictators, why haven’t we attacked Burma?
XI. The bottom line is that I like my life. In fact, I like the life we ALL live together. I am comfortable and secure. Judy and I have plenty of food, I can afford propane to heat my house, and I have Middle East or Venezuelan gas for my car. Judy and I can travel to see our kids. We went to France for three weeks. It’s a damn good life!! Do I really want to let go of some of what we have {in a significant way}…so that others can simply live? That’s peace with justice!
Do we really want what we wish for? Do we really want what this fair is about? To be truthful, I am haunted by those questions. I am not sure that I’d welcome significant change in my lifestyle…which would take a downward trajectory.
PEACE and JUSTICE. “Peace makers, when they work for peace,” James says, “sew the seeds of the Lord’s bidding.” I’d agree. Even when we like our own comfort, peace with justice, EDEN must be a goal we never give up on. YET when I look at our world today and the material security we Americans enjoy or the life Judy and I have, it seems our Genesis home is a long ways off. AMEN
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Note: During the Vietnam War I was a resistor. I turned in my draft card in l967 and was the first theological student in the country called for induction. In all of my protests, I reminded those around me to “Be careful in what we said or did.” I said that in the coming years those you today “despise or spit on might become your best friends.” And so it is today that Vietnam era vets are among my closest and dearest friends.