funeral for justice

First off, congrats to the New Orleans Saints for winning the Super Bowl!  I totally called it.  I find tonight's post relevant in honor of NO, a place with deep poverty, injustice, and damage.  I had the opportunity to travel down there a few months after Katrina with some college friends.  It was very disheartening to see a vacated city and to have to gut people's houses.  Even more disheartening is the poverty that led to the hurricane being so much more disastrous.  There are parallels with Haiti, a place that has suffered from poverty and oppression.

In this light, I offer you guys to check out THIS article.

This article speaks of a budget cut to PA's state budget that was only recently realized.  In an effort to balance a state budget, they decided to cut SSI, the income reserved for the poorest of the poor.  People that only make $500-600 a month were made to suffer even more from budget cuts.

I know this has happened in many states across the US in this economy.  Many would argue that in dire circumstances, ALL must face the negative effects of the economy.  This is a difficult situation and often calls to examine everything relatively.  However, the premise of balancing the budget at expense of the poor is simply unacceptable.  Being in relationship with MANY people on SSI this year has made this decision very real to me.

They sell the righteous for silver,
and the needy for a pair of sandals.
They trample on the heads of the poor
as upon the dust of the ground
and deny justice to the oppressed. (Amos 2:6-7)

Despite the complexity of budget issues, we MUST believe in a better way.



We are called to examine these situations theologically, and as a community of faith, BSM came to realize that this injustice against the poor is NOT what God intends for humanity.

In response, BSM and many friends throughout the city showed up for a demonstration.  As Amos spoke up to the ruling authorities of his time, so did BSM speak up for the poor of the city.  I invite you to CHECK out the pictures.

I know there are many that read my blog who would be disgusted that a church would make such a statement to the state, or engage in something so "disorderly" or "unruly." However, OT prophets were known for speaking the truth of God to the state.  Christ made a few political statements himself ; )

I was unfortunately unable to attend this event due to the seminary roadtrip...however, we are talking about taking this demonstration on to the capital of PA to continue to speak the truth about the plight of the poor.  Do we expect something out of this?  We are not politicians.  We do not control policy.  However, we are people of faith who believe that children of God deserve justice and equality.  We are people of faith who believe that the poor and helpless deserve to be honored.  BSM is not afraid to speak these messages to those in power, much like the OT prophets and Christ himself did.

May we continue to be observant to injustice and become voices that speak on behalf of God's children around the world.

money!

Ok, no one seems to talk on my blogs!  I know I'm somewhat of a hypocrite here...I'm pretty bad about commenting on other people's blogs!  Why are we this way?  Is it just one more thing to have to do?  Regardless, I will continue to try to promote discussion!

We interns have been discussing quite the interesting article!  It's about money, that wonderful topic we like to avoid in church discussions!

Read it HERE.

I offer you all the questions I submitted for my intern supervision group:

1. Money is rarely talked about enough in our church. We face some
radical statements such as: "sell all you have to the poor." We also
realize the importance of making a living. How do we navigate this
tension between having enough and giving away? How does toleration of
inequality fit into this model at all?! Where is the servanthood in
this if you are the rich one completely void from suffering?

2. The role of the state versus the church in addressing economic
inequality is an interesting issue. Many are of the mindset that the state, not
the church, should not focus on ensuring economic welfare. However,
this is confusing charity with justice. Scripture is quite clear, in
both testaments, that the latter is what is to be strived for. In
Israelite society and religious law, ALL people were to ensure welfare
and practice radical hospitality. I don't need to go down the road of expressing how this is present in the NT either!  How can we reconcile these ideas of justice with our
current culture?

3. To this earlier point, the church is very convinced that it must be
about "charity," which is fine in and of itself. However, the church
is rarely found pursuing justice or being prophetic about inequality.
Especially if they have guys like this speaking in their church! How
can the church maintain a posture of justice-seeking and being
prophetic without crossing sacred bounds of the delicate church-state
relationship?

If you are at all confused about why a Christian should be passionate about such things, I urge you to see what the wise Walter Bruggemann has to say about it!

That would be FANTASTIC if you could talk about this in the comment section!  Otherwise, I hope it's something to think about.