“God’s Vision for Good Government”

Anton DeWet

Isaiah 32:1-8, 15-20 – FAST Sunday

The case of religion versus politics is an old one. One can trace it back to the Old Testament when the kings were often in conflict with the prophets who criticized their decisions and who at times had to flee for their lives.

Jesus pays the ultimate price because of his radical ministry of attacking the socio economic and thus the political system of his time. On the one hand was the bloody occupation of the Romans who bled the people dry with their oppressive taxes and on the other hand the elders of Israel worked in collaboration with these occupiers by providing the religious and political stability for this injustice.

Too often religion is asked to focus on the spiritual aspects of the human experience and to keep its nose out of politics or economics or anything outside of a sort of personalized religious spirituality.

I remember at the height of Apartheid the government was always deeply irritated by the voices of the churches criticizing its abuses of human rights. Somehow it was thought that the church was a place you went to sing hymns and pray for your personal soul and how the strong men and women of state governed was none of the church’s business.

The Dutch Reformed Church of SA was a great example of a church dedicated to preaching God’s love with a driving necessity for people to become “born-again” so they could skip the Hell that awaits all who does not come to make this commitment—while totally ignoring the reality of the Hell being created around them by a state apparatus out of control. The one or two voices in a church the size of our United Church of Christ ended up in a South African prison or under years of house arrest with the church totally silent about these clergy people’s persecution.

Our Judaist forebears were colorful figures with tremendous courage as they confronted injustice. Jesus understood oppression and saw how the poor, especially in the Galilee where he worked, suffered as a result of the unequal distribution of the wealth of that nation. How dare we not be prophetic voices calling for a fair and just society. There is always enough for all of God’s people to live in peace and dignity, enjoying the common wealth of a nation such as ours locally—but also globally.

Can a modern-day Christian, even for a moment, forget that over 3 billion people—more than half of the world’s population, live on less than $2 per day and not stand up and protest this sinful mis-distribution of goods and wealth?

I suggest we all consider the facts and ask ourselves how it is that we are not more actively involved demanding a more just and equitable local and global society? How is it possible not to be in the forefront of the fight for all of God’s people to have a decent life?

Poor and marginalized people have a peculiar problem. Not only do they suffer from their circumstances, but they also somehow raise the wrath of those who did make it in life, especially those who have done very well for themselves. There is this strange anger one encounters against those who are poor and desperate as though they “deserve their poverty and suffering.” And sure enough, some people who suffer made bad enough choices in life and they are sometimes responsible for their own plight. But let’s be honest, did all of us who did well in life reach those positions of relative affluence simply because we were so good or deserving? Do we ever consider what would have happened if we did not have the kind of intellect we have? Do we ever wonder what would have happened had we been born into a different family? What about if you born into a dominantly white world with a black skin? Listen to the stories of minorities and you will understand how hard it is to make it to the top where you are deemed an outsider.

I remember a particularly arrogant professor I had in seminary who despised anyone who could not master ancient Hebrew at a certain level. You felt the scorn he had for strugglers in class. A few years later while he was being investigated for allegedly having an affair with one of the staff members at the seminary he committed suicide in front of the seminary. His intellectual prowess left him arrogant and judgmental but his own crisis showed up his weakness.

The same is true of those of us who believe we are so great just because we could achieve success at a certain level and then look down on those who did not. We have seen these trends among our personal friends and if we are truthful, perhaps we have even thought these thoughts ourselves.

It is so easy for the pot to scorn the lid as we say in Afrikaans. I want to suggest that the Biblical quest for justice is a simple call by God to create a fair world. These past months have seen the worst crisis in the world economy since the Great Depression. What has been exposed is a system that really favors those in the know—those with the contacts—those with specific tools to access great capital and see them building fortunes far in excess of their contributions in terms of knowledge or sweat equity. “They work so hard”, some will say. “They deserve what they get.” Is the mantra of our times. Have you ever seen how hard a carpenter works on a building site? Have you ever thought what happens to a plumber when he develops arthritis in his hands? Does he walk away with a golden parachute?

We have seen the collapse of a system that was driven into the ground by people who walked away from this crisis with millions in bonuses. $? Billion was paid out in bonuses to corporate captains and kings as companies collapsed and even after they collapsed while ordinary people saw their savings and investments shrink with up to 50%? Is this not what the ancient prophets had in mind when they railed against those who controlled the system who lived in luxury while others could work their bodies to a point of collapse and still not make anything significant?

And when we do see the poor and the dispossessed being offered help we despise them for their misfortune!—not the captains and kings living in their mansions and vacation homes. What has become of us?

The dreams of the prophets and the sages were not of some code-speak for a heavenly afterlife when they spoke of a restored earth or as in Revelations, when John dreams of a new Jerusalem where the lion and lamb will lie down together. It’s a sacred dream where the lions—the powerful will meet the meek and vulnerable—the lambs, and will find a way to coexist alongside of one another. They were talking about a transformed—a changed humanity where there would be fairness, or justice.

This church has a justice team. A group of people who lead and inform us of issues that come up from time to time where we can participate and actually do something in stead of just listening.

In our community there are many issues that point out how our own political system continues to distort life for those without political clout, namely the poor. There are issues of education, of racial profiling that continues to be a scourge in our society. There is the issue of where the people who are the poorest are supposed to live. We love to have them live outside of our sight. But where must these people find affordable housing and how can they keep working when daycare costs up to 70% of what they earn?

An individual can do very little to advocate for any cause unless you are Jesus and willing to die on a cross. It takes a crowd to catch the attention of those in power. Today’s currency for politics is voices. Together our voice becomes strong enough to be heard. FAST is an organization the churches in Pinellas county created to become such a voice. They may not be the perfect voice and they may make mistakes, but they warrant our support for they are becoming a voice the powerful are beginning to listen to.

Our elected officials have great power that we give them. We need to remind these people that they are not elected to serve the upper class alone. That they need to share the wealth of the community equitably. Perhaps that means that the gentrification of our downtown needs to be kept on hold while affordable housing is being built for those who clean our garbage, clean our bodies when we lie helplessly in nursing homes; serve us in restaurants and bars where we hang out and have fun.

Tomorrow we need to add our voices to the FAST choir when we meet with those who govern to express our wishes for our community and we hope you will be there to add your voice to this choir for justice. Make the time if you can in any way. This is an opportunity for us to do something tangible in stead of just talking about these issues. Come join people of all faiths and persuasions as we ask for justice in our community. We want all of our citizens to have access to basic services and more.

Pam MacAllister writes in The Progressive Christian (p9, March, 2009) “Bodies need tending; so do souls. We actually need caresses and kind words, learning and laughter. We need books, gardens, and art. We need music, stories, theater. Jesus understood that to thrive we must satisfy our spiritual hunger and thirst. We all need roses too.”

The “we” includes the poor. For many a “decent life” means giving the poor the basics. After all, they don’t deserve more. I am reminded of the 1912 women textile workers strike in Massachusetts when the women carried banners saying: “We want bread and roses too!”

“A king will rule in the right way, and his leaders will carry out justice.
Each one will stand as a shelter from high winds, will provide safe cover in stormy weather.

Each will be cool running water in parched land, a huge granite outcrop giving shade in the desert. Anyone who looks will see, … anyone who listens will hear. The impulsive will make sound decisions, the tongue-tied will speak with eloquence.

No more will fools become celebrities, nor crooks be rewarded with fame. For fools are fools and that’s that, thinking up new ways to do mischief. They leave a wake of wrecked lives and lies about God,
Turning their backs on the homeless hungry, ignoring those dying of thirst in the streets. And the crooks? Underhanded sneaks they are, inventive in sin and scandal, exploiting the poor with scams and lies, unmoved by the victimized poor. But those who are noble make noble plans, and stand for what is noble.

The prophet Isaiah leaves us with this eloquent and powerful testimony. I have no idea what God’s government will look like other than it will not tolerate CEO’s who receive millions of dollars for driving companies bankrupt and destroying people’s life-savings while their workers languish.

It will not allow its citizens to live in their cars because the have lost their jobs. It will not sit still while citizens do not have access to healthcare. It will not spend millions to gentrify its city while the poor languish.

In the words of God’s prophet Isaiah, “My people will live in a peaceful neighborhood in safe houses, in quiet gardens. The forest of your pride will be clear-cut, the city showing off your power leveled.
But you will enjoy a blessed life, planting well-watered fields and gardens, with your farm animals grazing freely.

In other words, there will be a fair and just society where people can be who God intended for them to be. Tomorrow evening we gather to demand of those in power, not to be fools in God’s eyes, but to become instruments of God’s love and compassion for all. Come lend your voice to this event. You might be surprised by what you experience. Amen.

Isaiah 32:1-8, 15-20 (The Message alt)
But look!…
A king will rule in the right way,
and his leaders will carry out justice.
Each one will stand as a shelter from high winds,
will provide safe cover in stormy weather.
Each will be cool running water in parched land,
a huge granite outcrop giving shade in the desert.
Anyone who looks will see, … anyone who listens will hear.
The impulsive will make sound decisions,
the tongue-tied will speak with eloquence.
No more will fools become celebrities,
nor crooks be rewarded with fame.
For fools are fools and that’s that, thinking up new ways to do mischief.
They leave a wake of wrecked lives and lies about God,
Turning their backs on the homeless hungry,
ignoring those dying of thirst in the streets.
And the crooks? Underhanded sneaks they are, inventive in sin and scandal,
Exploiting the poor with scams and lies, unmoved by the victimized poor.
But those who are noble make noble plans, and stand for what is noble.

Yes, weep and grieve until the Spirit is poured down on us from above
And the badlands desert grows crops and the fertile fields become forests.
Justice will move into the badlands desert.
Right will build a home in the fertile field.
And where there’s Right, there’ll be Peace
and the children of Right: calm lives and endless trust.
My people will live in a peaceful neighborhood in safe houses, in quiet gardens.
The forest of your pride will be clear-cut,
the city showing off your power leveled.
But you will enjoy a blessed life,
planting well-watered fields and gardens,
with your farm animals grazing freely.