"Whether a congregation takes on justice ministry depends, in part, on its concept of God and God's purpose for the Church and for life itself. I say in part because engaging justice also depends on discerning how popular church culture works against justice orientation, the willingness to ask new justice-based questions, and the courage to initiate a new direction." [p. xv]

"The world will not experience transformation without a vocation of justice addressing systemic injustices on behalf of the common good." [p. xvii]

Appendix A, pp. 145 – 147

"Just as peace in the deepest sense is dependent upon justice, it also is true that justice is more likely under conditions of peace." [p. 145]

"Peacemaking, working hand in hand with justice, constitutes what should be the Magnificent Obsession for Christians." [p. 146]

"Souls and systems inevitably interact with each other for either wellbeing or deformity of life." [p. 150]

"When pastors and laity see the pastoral and the prophetic as a seamless garment of God's dream for all humankind instead of in conflict with each other, the church's ministry takes on a unity and wholeness of purpose not otherwise experienced. [p. 150]

Comment: Sometimes the people who do the prophetic ministry need pastoral care to support what they are trying to do. If people are going to go "one day longer" they are going to need a place to rest, a place to go to the bathroom, meeting space, food and water. These are things churches can provide. [CM]

"We are empowered to stay the course, not because the percentages are usually on our side, but because God keeps calling us to be God's people of love, peace, and justice. Rejoice that your life is embraced in the life of God and that you are forever part of God's dreams for God's Creation." [p. 141]

"Who are your 'communion of justice saints?' Stack your gallery and let them give you strength and guidance...." [p. 142]

Comment: Martin Luther King gave up his life in a struggle for public employees. Cesar Chavez struggled long for farm workers; these two are prominent in my gallery. [CM]

"Some Christians may be offended that persons who claim no religious faith can be more justice oriented than some of us church folk." [p. 2]

Comment: It is more a sense of bewilderment that some church folk do not "get it". [CM]

"I take great comfort in the realization that God is loose in the world, not confined to institutional labels or boundaries. The Holy Spirit blows at will." [ p. 2]

"In his classic Theology of the Old Testament, Walter Brueggemann states Israel's claim:
      "From the outset, Yahweh is known to be a God committed to the establishment of concrete, sociopolitical justice in a world of massive power organized against justice." He goes on to say
      "Israel, everywhere and without exhaustion, is preoccupied with the agenda of justice that is rooted in the character and resolve of Yahweh." [p.3]

• "What determines whether or not a congregation seeks to do justice?"
• "How does your church wrestle with the authority of scripture, tradition, reason, and experience in serving and doing justice." [p. 10]

"In naming the world's current condition the term "human sacrifice" also commends itself to me as a key social and global reality. It denotes destruction done to others by those who wield power and privilege." [p. 12]

"The formula of empire, wherever it manifests itself, is clear and simple: the most vulnerable are the most expendable." [ p. 13]

"The ethic of self-gratification has firmly entrenched itself as the defining feature of the American way of life" [quote from Andrew J. Bacevich, p. 14]

Comment: These sorts of times, when entitlement of the privileged comes to the fore, are the times for prophets to arise. Welcome to a time to re-call us to community, to common good, to communion with steadfast and universal love. Our agenda is clear, our commitment is in question. [WW]

"The prophetic instinct, inspiration, and implementation begin with a 'But,' that is, a sense of discrepancy between what is and what could and should be. ... 'But' is the forerunner of truth telling, resistance, and subversion in God's name." [pp. 16-17]

"The term social justice points to securing the well-being and dignity of every member of the community with concern for the common good and for creation itself." [pp18-19]

"Two very specific form of justice and righteousness often come to the surface, namely, procedural and distributive justice. I find these helpful in assisting some Christian laity to gain a firmer grasp of justice in the biblical sense. Sometimes these are referred to as legal and economic justice." [p. 19]

"...God's justice is more than economic equity or a transparent legal system. At the heart of God's justice is God's loving-kindness (hesed) in the Hebrew bible intended to restore community for the common good. . . . Simply put, God's call to justice is the sign and seal of God's love." [p. 20]

"Reflection on political decision-making is not about political correctness or incorrectness but about theological faithfulness." [p. 23]

"Politics is about how power is organized, controlled, and utilized. The vocation of justice is inevitably connected with political values as they impinge on legal, economic, and environmental matters." [p. 23]

• "What makes working for justice worthwhile?"
• "What do you see as the difference between social justice and social services?" [p. 24]
  

"What does the Good News save people for? How can sermons reflect the social conscience of the Bible in today's congregational life? What is our basic paradigm of preaching from where people are to where the Gospel would lead us? What determines whether the preacher interprets the biblical text only for the perceived individual needs of church members or for larger and global issues as well? How can the pulpit strengthen the church's commitment to justice vocation?" [p. 29]

"Pastoral ministry and prophetic sermons can reinforce each other and strengthen the total ministry of the congregation." [p. 29]

• How could the worship services of your congregation become more supportive of its justice vocation?
• Is the notion of the Eucharist as a sacrament connected with social justice new to you? [ p. 45]

"Injustice, I was to learn, is often accompanied by lack of visibility and virtual absence of transparency in the system." [ p. 54]

"When people who are affected by institutional decisions are not offered the right to influence those decisions or at least be heard, the guaranteed result is resentment and resistance." [ p. 57]

"...power issues ... are inevitably justice related concerns." [ p. 58]

"Over a period of time I have become convinced that scripture does not define our identity by race, gender, class, sexual orientation, or any other human circumstance or vicissitude. These are important features of our lives but they are not determinate of our identity in God. Scripture defines our identity theologically by imago dei, by our being born in the image of God. Scripture begins here (Genesis 1:27). There are no exceptions. Our worth as human beings should not be open to votes cast by either church or society." [p. 62]

"If truth were known, [GLBT Christians] have been practicing ordained ministry in our church and in others since the beginning of ordination. The stumbling block is not in their ability to practice ministry faithfully and effectively, but in the blindness of the heterosexual community to recognize and credit God-given gifts, call, and commitment. 'Don't ask, don't tell' has been the functioning principle of a fearful church. There is no evidence that gays and lesbians are less capable than straights in service, work, sacrament, and order, or in conviction and confidence in God's call to ordained ministry." [p.63]

Comment: I can say with the author: "In the many marches in which I have participated I have sought to be part of the public witness for the cause of justice." [p. 66]
     I was deeply moved on April 4, 2011in Madison, WI to have been a recipient of a show of solidarity by Elmore Nickleberry, who was one of those sanitation workers who was on strike in Memphis in 1968. [CM]

Praying with Our Feet
"I believe marches can serve at least three purposes.

• To strengthen the resolve of those who walk for the intended cause....
• To be in solidarity and support of people yearning for justice....
• To influence public opinion and public policy...." [p.67]

"... victims of systemic oppression, whatever form it may take in a given situation, are more than victims." [p. 69]

"To this day the Santa Marta campesinos' trust in the saving power of Jesus' crucifixion and resurrection remains more memorable and uplifting to me that all the atonement theories espoused by professional or academic theologians, both past and present." [p. 71]

• How is your congregation responding to the biblical mandate "to do justice, love mercy, and walk humble with God" (Micah 6)?
• From whom do we need to learn?

"We must learn to see ourselves as God's people in spite of arbitrary borders. We are on fragile earth, and we must learn to love one another in dignity and peace. I believe that we in the U.S. are a vital part of the history and the future of our Latin American neighbors. Decisions made here can have profound effects there. [pp. 78-79]

Comment: The author elsewhere notes the important effect Latin America has had on her. Without this reminder it is easy to be misunderstood and fall prey to an U.S.-exceptionalism. [WW]

"[A story told] pointed to the paralysis of inaction in a vivid way. Thelma Simms, a member of Clair Memorial, spoke of a shooting outside the daycare center where she worked. She said the clergy came the next day and prayed. but nothing else happened. The primary question with which all of us left the meeting was; 'Would we do something more than pray about it this time?'" [ p. 82]

"Studies have shown that organized ways for neighbors to have one-on-one interaction with each other and to share a sense of power to solve problems will have a positive effect on the level of violence and a sense of pride in their neighborhood. Researchers have shown that neighborhoods with improved quality and depth of relationships ('collective efficacy') were 30% less likely to have experienced violent crime and 40% less likely to have experienced homicide. Many scholars believe that grass-root organizations using relational power are key factors." [p. 85]

"... a devastating truth became apparent: The United States Government refused to recognize these people who were fleeing the massacres and wars as refugees. The reason for this was equally devastating: the U.S. was in political, economic, and military support of the death squads."
     "A Quaker, Jim Corbett, put the ethical question clearly . . . . 'Because the U.S. government takes the position that aiding undocumented Salvadoran and Guatemalan refugees in this country is a felony, we have no middle ground between collaboration and resistance. When the government itself sponsors the crucifixion of entire peoples, and then makes it a felony to shelter those seeking refuge, law abiding protest merely trains us to live with atrocity.'" [p. 95]

"... refugees taught North American Christians how to read the Bible from the experience of the poor and the persecuted – not the experience of the privileged. . . . Sanctuary was no longer an ethical or theological concept; it was a spiritual act of faith in the presence of Jesus." [p. 97]

Apr. 17
Sunday

"In October 2005 two parents, J and Allison Weiss, were looking to buy school uniforms for their children. They knew that many of the clothes out there were made in sweatshops, and they did not want to buy clothes for their children that were made by other children. J worked for a technology company and Allison took care of their kids full-time. They were an ordinary couple who just wondered what role they were playing in the global economy." [pp.108-109]

"[J] pointed out that they were going to be asking the city of Austin to make a values decision in how it purchased goods – and who better to make a case for the values of economic justice and human dignity than the faith community." [p. 109]

"What began with two parents inquiring into their children's clothing galvanized community and faith leaders across the city of Austin and led to a city ordinance. But it did not end there. That same coalition went on to get Travis County, in which Austin resides, to pass a sweatfree policy. People in other Texas cities heard about Austin's success and began their own sweatfree campaigns. Jim Hightower, a prominent Texas activist, posted a story on his national newsletter, and some activists in Arizona were inspired to start a sweatfree campaign there also. And so the sweatfree movement continued to grow." [p. 114]

"People possess the power, the capacity and the desire to solve their own problems, if they are given the resources they need and the opportunities they crave.
     "People don't need help nearly as much as they need a chance.
[ p. 115]

"I received a very clear message from God's heart. The message was in two parts. First, I was told that I was dead wrong about the neighborhood. Even though I thought I knew what it needed, I couldn't possibly know. Second, I had been wrong to look at the community only in terms of need, especially material need as I and others had defined and limited that need. Rather, I should look at the neighborhood in terms of its assets. And, I should realize that there are all kinds of assets besides the material variety." [p. 117]

"Mark it down. If your mission is to grow community and stand with individuals, families and neighborhoods ravaged by the unforgiving, cruel forces of poverty as they engage their own power, then ...

• People cannot be treated as projects.
• People cannot be treated as problems.
• People cannot be treated as if they should be disconnected or disengaged from the primary process at work.
• People must not be seen as clients.
• People must be trusted and valued as they are, for who they are.

You see, transforming truth is quite different. The truth is, people are my neighbors and I am their neighbor. The truth is, people–all people–are powerful. The truth is, people are beautiful, promising, full of wonder, and great, great potential." [p. 118]

[Report of two factors of its success from the Cathedral of Hope, known as the largest predominantly lesbian and gay congregation in the world.]

"First, the groundwork was laid by prophetic preaching that created a shift in the values of a community that can be as selfish and classist as any. We challenged people to recognize Jesus' teaching that if God had any favorites it was the poor. In a culture where the wealthy are held up as heroes, we literally named as saints those who have given their resources and lives to care for 'the least.' Creating this shift in values required us to be direct, relentless and persistent." [p. 122]

"In our tradition, creeds are considered testimonies, not tests of faith, so we have been forced to discover what it uniquely means to be a member of our congregation....
     .... We begin each worship service by welcoming our guests and telling them that the people sitting around them are the ministers of the church. We end each worship hour by reminding them that 'our worship has ended, but NOW our service begins.' We commission them as the Body of Christ to go into the world and serve. In the structure of the church, we have sought to minimize management and maximize ministry. In short, we have tried to create a comprehensive, compelling culture of service to the poor, the excluded, the marginalized and the oppressed." [pp. 122-123]

"...positive experiences in sustaining work for social justice include:

• Choosing projects that relate to studies in theology.
• Choosing projects in which members of your congregation can relate personally.
• Connecting international projects to local concerns for justice.
• Finding allied churches and organizations to provide support and training.
• Involving several groups within the church's structure to expand interest and responsibility.
• Planning ways to address language barriers and safety issues on mission trips.
• Creating symbols and events that remind the congregation of the project.
• Expecting changes that bring new understandings and rejuvenate interest over many years." [p. 132]

• What connection do you see between contemporary efforts on behalf of justice and biblical stories of justice?
• What risks are involved in seeking justice as compared to risks in doing nothing? [p.136]