Have you done daring things in your life? My guess is that you have. Many among us have come to a new country, immigrating to Canada. Sometimes it was a previous generation or even further, but there are people in this congregation who have made the daring move to a new land. That is daring! Some of you have taken amazing journeys to foreign lands, sometimes even travelling solo. That is daring! Others have started a new business (or a second or a third). That is daring! Some of you have written: books, memoirs, poems. You have created art. That is daring! And some of you have dared to fall in love again and entered into a meaningful new relationship later in life. That is daring! Have you done daring things in your life? I think you have!
Our topic this morning is ‘Daring Justice’, the third component of our Centennial Theme. Over the past weeks, we have pondered each of the themes. ‘Deep Spirituality’ as we considered the necessity of building a deep foundation that allows us to be rooted and grounded in Christ’s love. Last week, we considered ‘Bold Discipleship’ as we pondered the actions of living our faith, boldly. And this morning, we come to the end of the journey as we launch into this new year of ministry ahead, and we look at ‘Daring Justice’.
Daring Justice should come with a disclaimer. This is, by far, the hardest part of our faith. Deep spiritual formation requires discipline and attention. But for the person of faith who ‘gets it’, spiritual formation is the beautiful, luxurious part of faith. It is like easing into a wonderful spiritual bath and being further rooted into the love that God has for you. Prayer, meditation, study, worship…these are all beautiful expressions of Deep Spirituality. Bold discipleship starts to push us to action as we live our faith. It requires the person to be evaluating their God-given talents and consider how God is calling them to use them. I would suggest, however, that Daring Justice is the hardest part of the trilogy. Daring justice pushes us in areas where we are uncomfortable; Daring Justice causes us to ponder the voices that are being silenced; Daring Justice challenges us to live a faith that is uncomfortable and unfamiliar. Daring Justice is a counter-cultural style of living that shifts us towards living for other’s needs, rather than living for our own.
The texts that Kathleen read do not mince words when it comes to Daring Justice. I suspect that is why the General Council looked at these texts. With the Amos passage, we find ourselves in the Northern Kingdom of Israel where Amos prophesied during a time of wealth, prosperity and outward religiosity. Yet that wealth and prosperity did not extend to all. There was also corruption, exploitation and a growing inequality. Amos spoke harsh words of prophecy. Speaking against their injustice and warning them of their coming days of judgement. “Even though you offer me your burnt offerings and grain offerings, I will not accept them; and the offerings of well-being of your fatted animals I will not look upon. Take away from me the noise of your songs; I will not listen to the melody of your harps. But let justice roll down like waters, and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream.” Amos called the people to a ‘Daring Justice’ where true faith is not about pious ceremony, but one that dares to confront the powerful and reshapes a society in line with God’s justice. Amos’ vision of this justice was something that would be disruptive, sweeping, and unstoppable. Almost like a flood where “justice would roll down like waters, and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream.”
The Luke passage is a wonderful illustration of Jesus’ manifesto as he sets forth a ministry of ‘Daring Justice’. It occurs immediately following Jesus’ baptism, his temptation in the wilderness for 40 days. And hereafter Jesus sets forth on a mission of ‘Daring Justice’. Like a scholarly Rabbi, he unrolls the scroll of the Prophet Isaiah and reads from the 61st chapter: “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me… to bring good news to the poor… release to the captives… freedom for the oppressed.” And the way that passage touches us all is if we actually hear it. Jesus proclaims: “Today this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.”
Daring Justice takes us, I think, one step beyond Bold Discipleship. Bold Discipleship is the call for us to use our God-given talents, and live them out as a disciple of Jesus. But as challenging as it is, Bold Discipleship always has some form of ‘payback’ to the person offering the action. For the disciple who is gifted with a ministry of hospitality, who greets and smiles and makes friends with the stranger. That is wonderful…that is bold…but we also know that the person receives the wonderful gift of friendship and care in return. Bold Discipleship offers two gifts. The person who receives the gift of their discipleship (in this case hospitality). And the disciple offering the gift of hospitality is also gifted in the wonderful exchange. What makes Daring Justice that much more challenging is that there is usually no inward reward in one’s offering. Daring Justice is about living for another and not receiving any benefit. It is about considering the marginalized and the silenced and creating space for them. It is about living for others at personal cost to ourselves. Where is Daring Justice being lived in our homes and neighbourhoods? Where is Daring Justice being lived out in our world?
I think the ongoing movement of reconciliation with our Indigenous siblings is one such example of Daring Justice. In the infancy of this movement, some might have wondered: Do we need to make a land acknowledgment when we begin worship or Board? Do we need to have “Orange Shirt Sunday” or “The National Day for Truth and Reconciliation”? Some might feel that they have no personal responsibility in the situation we are in today. Their generation didn’t run a Residential School. They are not personally responsible for any of the damage that occurred. What Daring Justice calls us to is the action of liberating the injustices that are in the world today. Daring Justice calls us to recognize the power and position we hold and use them to create space for the marginalized, the oppressed, the voiceless. Jesus proclaimed his ministry to be “release the captives…to give recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free”. Daring Justice is Jesus’ commissioning for us to follow in those daring ways, as we live lives in care of others. And so, we wear an orange shirt today and Tuesday as we engage in the ongoing work of reconciliation. We daringly learn about the history of the land, and the original stewards. We daringly learn about their language and culture that was almost lost. Where is Daring Justice being lived in our homes and neighbourhoods? Where is Daring Justice being lived out in our world?
The unfolding events surrounding the suspension of late-night talk show host Jimmy Kimmel has certainly taken an interesting turn of events. What I found fascinating were the levels of power involved. ABC and Disney made the decision to suspend Kimmel. At that point, most of us assumed that we would not hear from Kimmel again. Many were raising concern over free speech. The most significant unfolding in this drama, I found, were other artists taking daring risks and standing behind Kimmel. They offered their support and took a daring risk because they did not know what fate would result. As you know, the first were fellow late-night show hosts Stephen Colbert, Jon Stewart and Jimmy Fallon. Very quickly others took daring risks. Senators, Hollywood celebrities and podcasters. All taking daring risks over their concern for free speech. The concern for the loss of one’s voice caused others to take daring risks.
Daring justice is the challenging part of faith. Martin Luther King was remembered as quoting Amos in many a sermon when he called for racial justice preaching for a day when justice will roll down like an unstoppable river and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream. May we move outside our comfort zones and live lives of daring justice. A daring justice where those who are enslaved are released; where those who are blinded are given sight; where those who are oppressed may live in freedom. Let us be daring in our justice.
Amen.