Salvation Includes Social Justice
Jeremiah 23:1-8
Jeremiah conducted his ministry in Judah, the Southern Kingdom of the Hebrews ruled by David’s heirs and centered in Jerusalem. The nation had long been in decline. The Babylonian Empire had its sights on the kingdom.
The King of Judah and other leaders of the nation were functioning ineffectively in the eyes of Jeremiah. In response the Prophet predicted, in God’s Name, that a new leader would be raised up. That new leader, the Righteous Branch of David, would be the Messiah. Christians believe that this is a prophesy of the Coming of Christ.
Jeremiah proceeds to proclaim what the Messiah would do, what salvation would be like. There are some surprises at this point. He does not refer to Messiah’s role in saving souls. it seems that in Jeremiah’s view of the coming Messiah would have all sorts of political implications.
Although God’s people are scattered, God promises to bring those who become exiles back home and to give them prosperity. Fear will no longer be a way of life for these once-oppressed people. In fact, none of them will be lost. Jeremiah says, this Righteous Branch of David, the Messiah, “shall execute justice and righteousness in the land.”
When the Messiah reigns, the oppressed and marginalized are restored. Justice is executed in the land. Why has the Church so often overlooked this message? Could it be that we have been hung up on the wrong kind of spirituality?
The eminent American Christian social commentator, Reinhold Niebuhr, a man of significant influence on American politics from the 1930s through the ’60s, noted this problem. In one of his sermons he wrote: “Much of Christian teaching down the ages has been in terms of serving or saving the soul, but not the body. What we do in the body affects the attitudes of the soul.”
You cannot have a genuine Christian spirituality, you cannot have salvation, apart from the body. And you are not concerned about the body if you are not also concerned about its welfare. Are the bodies around us receiving justice and equality? Are our resources distributed fairly to all, so that none are unfairly deprived? This brings us back to Jeremiah’s claim that the Messiah will establish justice. Obviously, justice is the Christian’s business. Ultimately it is God’s business.
How about the separation of church and state? From a Christian standpoint, the separation of church and state has nothing to do with where God rules. It is about how God rules, using the Church to nurture our spirituality and the state to care for our physical-social well-being. How does God want the state to function? The answer is found in Jeremiah. The ideal state over which the Messiah will preside will be one in which justice and righteousness prevail.
Perhaps you wonder about the relevance of this Messianic vision for our time and place. Well, Jeremiah was looking into the future, but Christ has come! The Messiah is among us. Christ already reigns. Consequently, we Christians believe that these prophecies of the future, of the full revelation of the Kingdom of God, have not been realized, or at least their fulfillment is on the horizon. Again, Reinhold Niebuhr made an excellent point. He wrote: “The ultimate principles of the Kingdom of God are never irrelevant to any problem of justice, and they hover over every social situation as an ideal possibility.” The Bible’s vision of salvation includes justice.
What is justice? In the best traditions of both the Bible and Constitution, Niebuhr defines justice as the “balance of power.” This commitment entails that a preference should be shown for those with little power, notably for the poor, oppressed and marginalized. They deserve a preference to equalize their power with other groups in society.
Certainly, this idea that Christians are to give special attention to the plight of the poor, oppressed and marginalized is all over the Bible, even if the Church has not always noticed it. “The Church’s love for the poor and those who are oppressed and marginalized … is a part of her constant tradition.” This concern for these individuals was embodied in Jesus’ ministry.
Do you get the point? Christians are always to show a preference for those who have been dehumanized. That means that caring for them is not just a matter of charity. Of course, our congregation does that. We are often approached by people down on their luck or who are oppressed by a system that tells them they are less than, and we respond. But the idea of a preference means putting their needs ahead of our own.
If we are going to show a preference for those who have been dehumanized by our society, so that they can have power that means not just giving handouts but working actively on their behalf in society. Can we have salvation, can Christ be said to reign, unless there is justice, a justice for the dehumanized or second-class citizens?
Religious traditions like Christianity teach that how you get there is as important as where you going. In essence, our faith teaches that it does not mean much if you have acquired wealth or fame by oppressing people. When the Messiah rules in your life, Jeremiah says, you will want to do all that you can to ensure that this nation’s wealth is not at the expense of the poor and dehumanized citizens.
That is not the way it is in the United States today. This is a society in which the gap between rich and poor, the oppressed and the marginalized, is ever widening. We are a nation that has turned to bashing the less fortunate. We blame them for their own problems. We blame them for our nation’s problems.
Few of us seem willing to concede that this might have to do with injustice, to an imbalance of power that rigs the system against the less fortunate and those who are seen as different.
Our celebration today reminds us that all the efforts to forget the poor, oppressed and marginalized, that our efforts to get wealthier even if it is at their expense and at the expense of justice, will not prevail. Christ reigns and Jeremiah reminds us that under Christ reign justice will prevail! No longer can the Church stay out of politics and remain silent about the plight of those who experience injustice in our nation.
When will justice be achieved and inequality end? In a sense Jeremiah said that was in the future. In another sense with Christ that future has now come. Justice, the end of inequality, will not come tomorrow.
Do not give in to inequality, the dream of justice remains alive. Overwhelmed we may be by the majestic love of God, awed by the reign of Christ, there is only one response that we can possibly make. Martin Luther believed that joy and love for our neighbors would inevitably flow out of us, like an overflowing cup. This will be a love that does not distinguish between friend and enemy, between rich and poor, between straight individuals and LGBTQ+ individuals. When you know that God loves you, then you will desire and work for justice in this land without anyone being lost and deprived. That day has come and is coming, my friends. Will you, as the body of Christ, be Christ’s instrument by working for this justice? Amos 5:24 says that someday justice will “roll down like waters.” Salvation always includes social justice, because the freedom of Christians includes everyone’s freedom!