"Love and Justice."

Rev. Dr. Morris Hudgins.
March 18, 2001.

Readings

Rise up, oh flame,
By thy light glowing.
Show to us beauty,
Vision, and joy.

O Flaming Chalice,
Symbol of a free faith,
Burn with the holy oil
Of helpfulness and service.
Spread warmth and light and hope;
Warm hearts grown cold with indifference;
Light dark places with justice;
Rekindle hope in despair.

May we bring fuel for thy fire of love.
May the oil of loving-kindness flow from us
To thy leaping flame.
May hands of service shelter thee,
That no winds of hate may extinguish thy brightness.
May thy light and warmth be eternal.
May we be keepers of thy flame. (Richard Gilbert)

Psalm 82; l-8:

God has taken his place in the divine council;
          in the midst of the gods he holds judgment;
How long will you judge unjustly and show partiality to the wicked?
Give justice to the weak and the fatherless;
          maintain the right of the afflicted and the destitute.
Rescue the weak and the needy;
          deliver them from the hand of the wicked.
They have neither knowledge nor understanding,
          they walk about in darkness;
          all the foundations of the earth are shaken.
I say, "You are gods, sons of the Most High, all of you;
          nevertheless, you shall die like men, and fall like any prince."
Arise, O God, judge the earth; for to thee belong all the nations!

Introduction
At a recent UU minister's meeting, I asked the four ministers to take a few minutes to share what inspired them to become UU ministers. My request demanded that I do this myself. As I reflected, I concluded that my decision to go into the ministry could not be separated from the events of the 1960's. I could not help but think of Martin Luther King, Jr. and those who decided to challenge our country's decision to fight in the Vietnam War. It was during this era that my theology and ethics was born. My ministry had to have something to do with justice, peace and love. My sermon title this morning comes out of this struggle between justice and love.

I realize this sermon may be considered an anachronism—a sermon on justice may have been expected in 1971 but in 2001. This is a popular time to talk about spirituality but not about justice and social action. I hear more and more that people come to church to find peace and tranquillity—not to be bothered by complex problems of the world. It is like in the movie, Chocolat, which takes place in a small town in France, where the people of the town, prefer tranquility, no outsiders, no complex problems, no diversity. In this world of tranquility we are all told to march to the same drummer and not to march to a drum of protest.

I have come not to challenge the message of spirituality but to ask you to strike a balance between seeking the peaceful inner life and making the world a more human, loving, compassionate, right and just place to live. I would even contend that one life without the other is incomplete. You cannot spend all of your time trying to make life better without giving consideration to your sources of inner strength and visa versa. As a fellowship we should seek to give attention to both of these important aspects of life.

In this sermon I give special attention to the Jewish religious tradition because the Jews have historically practiced their religious beliefs in the context of history. Religion and history are inter-related and we must never completely try to separate them.

Justice in America
In the Old Testament we find several meanings of the word justice. These several meanings have continued to blur our interpretation of justice today:

1. The strongest definition of justice in the Old Testament is that of making things right. Justice then is a sort of "plumb line." When things get out of hand they are made right again. God, then is a God of justice. Martin Luther King, Jr., believed in this kind of justice. "The world," he said, "bends toward justice." This is the heart of my faith. Justice may not come today but ultimate the world bends toward justice.

The Jews said living a life of justice is even more important than following the right ceremony or ritual. We find this message very strong in the book of Amos which says,

I hate, I despise your feasts, and I take no delight in your solemn assemblies. Even though you offer me your burnt offerings and cereal offerings, I will not accept them, but let justice roll down like waters, and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream.

So according to Amos and the Jews justice is part of God's world—it is a part of life that things will even out. Those who do wrong today will receive their due at a later time. Justice will prevail. The wicked will pay for their wrongdoing; the righteous will be victors in the end; princes are made like the common people by this great equalizer. Justice is part of God's judgment.

We found in the reading this morning this type of justice. The psalmist calls upon God to make things right:

Give justice to the weak and the fatherless; maintain the right of the afflicted and the destitute. Rescue the weak and the needy; deliver them from the hand of the wicked (82:4)

2. A second definition of justice—the one we hear most today is equality, or fairness. Webster defines justice as being impartial or fair. So if life is just it is fair. But as we all know, there are times when life is not fair. Former President Jimmy Carter once said this and I believe it is true. Justice does not always flow like waters. Therefore, in order for justice to occur we need people like Dr. King and others who are fighting for justice, reminding all of us that in order for justice to occur we must make it happen. This is the important message of humanism.

3. Which leads me to a third view of justice in the Old Testament: If there is to be justice, humans must have an important part in it. A sign of our justice is the way we treat others. So according to this view justice is a way of doing. We are to treat others as we would be treated ourselves. The rich are to give to the poor, all are to be treated equally, according to God's justice. So justice is not only God's actions but also human action. In this view justice is fairness, integrity, and honesty. It is the basis of or court of law—that all people shall be treated in a fair manner.

This even applies to criminals. There seems to be a strong sense among many people today that criminals should not be treated the way others are treated. Once they become criminals they give up their rights and any sense of justice. Obviously, a criminal does give up some rights, but not a sense of fairness and integrity in the judicial system. If we are going to continue to be a free and democratic society we must hold firm to this sense of justice. I personally hold to the view that we must not resort to the methods of criminals in order to bring justice. We find in the book of Ezekiel:

Thus says the Lord God: Enough, O prince of Israel! Put away violence and oppression, and execute justice and righteousness; cease your evictions of my people, says the Lord God."(45:9)

According to this view justice is an important part of the religious life—even more important than sacrifice or ritual. But this type of justice does not necessarily mean equality. Rather, it means that each person deserves something but not necessarily the same. There is a quote in the New Testament which reflects this type of justice. It says in Colossians, chapter 4: "Masters, treat your slaves justly and fairly, knowing that you also have a Master in heaven." The author is not challenging slavery here. Instead he is saying that under the conditions of slavery all have their just due. This is quite different from the person who would challenge the institution of slavery itself, or capitalism, or the slum, or high employment. This is another kind of justice.

Justice in America
It is always helpful to turn to the Bible for help in matters of religion, but we should not stop there. With this in mind I would like to present my view of justice in the context of our contemporary world. I will mention other parts of the world but will focus on the crisis of justice in America.

My conclusions are based on a few basic assumptions about justice:

1) First, if justice is going to exist it must be supported by the criminal justice system—both for the victims and for the accused. If a society loses faith in the criminal justice system there can be no justice.

2) Second, if justice is merely retribution it is not true justice.

3) Third, justice must always be tempered by love and visa versa. Justice and love are not opposites but must compliment each other.

4) Fourth, the existence of justice can result in a peaceful society. Peace does not exist without justice.

5) Finally, justice requires freedom and equality, and for these to exist in any society there must be a segment of society who are vigilant in defense of true justice.

Before I expand these views I must admit that the word justice in our culture has become vague and in some ways over-used. Justice in the modern sense is that which is right and equal, a fair distribution of goods, it is peace—all of these things. I believe in justice and I am glad that liberal religion has often been synonymous with justice. However, I believe it is very important to sy what we mean by justice. The following are an explanation of what I mean by justice based on these assumptions I have presented.

l. First, I believe by our commitment to justice we can create a society that is more fair, equal, and respectful of individuals. I believe we must encourage and do what we can to build trust in the judicial system. If that system fails then our society will fail. As one author concludes:

If justice prevails, good faith is found in treaties, truth in transactions, order in government, the earth is at peace, and heaven itself sheds over us its beneficent light and radiates down to us its blessed influence."(J.B. Bousset)

I know what many of you are thinking—this is the standard liberal view of justice and it no longer applies to our world. There is some truth to this statement. There is a very important question that must be asked of us who preach about justice: Can there be justice if criminals are pampered and victims are forgotten? I would say no.

I believe we must do what we can to rebuild faith in the criminal justice system. I fear that in America we have lost this faith. Truth has become less important than making a deal. Too often innocent people are victimized and justice goes by the board. If only a small percentage of criminals are brought to trial then justice does not exist.
If our system is to be truly just we should be concerned about both the rights of the criminal and the victims in our society. Joseph Klausner once wrote: "What room is there in the world for justice if we must extend both cheeks to our assailants and give the thief both coat and cloak?" My answer is: "There is no justice if we always turn the other cheek."

2. Before our Republican members get too excited I must quickly move to my next conclusion. If justice is merely retribution, there is also no justice. Retributive justice, as Aristotle called it, is only partial justice. An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth may have worked in another time and place but not in the modern world. We do sway from extreme to extreme and justice must be found somewhere in between.

3. My third conclusion about justice is that it is not the opposite of love. Justice is the balance to a sentimental love. Paul Tillich saw love and justice as one side of the other. He wrote:

Justice is that side of love which affirms the independent right of persons with the love relation . . . Only love can transform calculating justice into creative justice. Love makes justice just. Justice without love is always injustice.

James Luther Adams, our most noted 20th century Unitarian Universalist scholar, and a student of Paul Tillich, makes this statement:

The two basic values of the prophetic covenant, justice and love, work together. Justice is rendered creative through compassion and care; creative justice is justice motivated by love rather than by a thirst for retribution."(p.6)

I would concur with Adams and say that if we in America forget the balance between love and justice than there will be no justice, even if every criminal is found guilty and every victim receives payment. Why do I say this? Because if punishment is the only criterion for true justice then there will be no peace and tranquillity in our world. Which leads me to my next assumption:

4. Buddhist scriptures of the 5th century B.C. combines a belief in justice and love, peace and commitment to the law. The Dhammapada says:

A person is not just who carries a matter by violence; no, they who distinguish both right and wrong and guide others, not by violence but by the same law, being guardians of the law, are called just.

I would concur and conclude if there is no justice there is no peace, and if there is no peace there is no justice. Peace and justice are companions.

5. Which takes me to the fifth and final conclusion about justice: For justice to exist many people must fight diligently for freedom and equality for all. Justice cannot occur if a portion of society are enslaved and do not have equal opportunity. America was not a just society when we were founded, but some fought diligently for our free and democratic society. America was not a just society when woman could not take part in the democratic society.

I will go one step further. America is not a just society as long as we are a segregated society. Justice will only come when we see all races as equal and all have equal opportunity. America is still a society dominated by white males. We have a long way to go before justice prevails in our midst.

In conclusion and summary, may we always seek to apply our beliefs to our actions. Let us not ignore the rights of criminals or of victims. May our belief in justice be tempered by our compassion and our compassion by our belief in justice. Never shall we seek to punish for punishment's sake. May we never assume that when we are free all are free. May we always be vigilant in seeking freedom, justice and equality for all. I do not pray always for agreement, but I do pray for faith in action, words and deeds. This is the call of justice.

Mother Teresa, the most exemplary prophet of her time, who one day will be St. Teresa if there is any justice in the Roman Catholic Church, says it this way:

Love cannot remain by itself—
          it has no meaning.
Love has to be put into action
          and that action is service.
Whatever form we are,
          able or disabled,
          rich or poor,
It is not how much we do,
          but how much love we put in the doing,
A lifelong sharing of love with others.

Amen.