"Membership in the family of God is neither inconsequential or something to be casually ignored. The church is God's agenda for the world. Jesus said, "I will build my church, and all the powers of hell will not conquer it." The church is indestructable and will exist for eternity. It will outlive this universe, and so will your role in it."
- Rick Warren
Wednesday, September 15, 2010
At church on Sunday my friend Dan put Sarah Vowell's humorous history of the Puritans The Wordy Shipmates into my hands and told me he thought I'd like it. I started it Monday afternoon and couldn't put it down until late. One of my favorite passages so far is this:
When John Cotton's grandson, Cotton Mather, wrote his Ecclesiastical History of New England in 1702, he told a story about [John] Winthrop that I would like to believe is true. In the middle of winter, Boston was low on fuel and a man came to the governor complaining that a "needy person" was stealing from his woodpile. Winthrop mustered the appropriate outrage and requested that the thief come see him, presumably for punishment. According to Mather, Winthrop tells the man,I loved that. And it was fresh on my mind when my daily reading found me at Proverbs 22:8: "Whoever sows injustice will reap calamity, and the rod of his fury will fail.""Friend, it is a severe winter, and I doubt you are but meanly provided for wood; wherefore I would have you supply yourself at my woodpile till this cold season be over." And Winthrop then merrily asked his friends whether he had not effectually cured this man of stealing his wood.
I think the reverse can be true as well. "Doing unto others" is most certainly a way to sow justice. Winthrop here did not fail the measure of justice. Perhaps the thief deserved punishment, but Winthrop put a stop to his thievery by freely giving from himself what the thief was taking from another. In doing so, he doesn't just put a stop to the thievery but he puts a stop to the need.
Isn't this what God has done for us in Christ on the cross? He satisfies his desire for justice and simultaneously satisfies our need. That he does it in an unexpected way, offering the Treasure of his own storehouse, is part of the power of the gospel that bears fruit and grows. Let us enact living parables of Christ's kingdom and Christ as King -- which is what I think Winthrop did there -- let us sow this justice, for whoever does so will reap a eucatastrophe.
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Comments on "Sowing Justice":
2. Dave
- 09/16/2010 11:07 am CDT
It's Les Miserables with a nicer ending. The person was needy, not greedy. I think there was a lot of wisdom in this post. I wish I had that kind of wisdom more often.
3. Jared
- 09/16/2010 11:28 am CDT
Shrode, I'm thinking interpersonally, not societally. The state does not have the right (usually) to forgive someone. If they are guilty, they are meted justice to some degree.
But on a personal level, if we think of justice not as "someone getting what they deserve," but as Christians "as Jesus taking what is deserved," we have the power to forgive others in such a way that is not merely passing over sin but restorative, perhaps replacing the space an idol has filled with an act of grace in Christ.
So that's why I say justice was done (personally, if not legally) in the Winthrop story: he stopped the guy from theft. But it was Christian justice in that he made provision for the man's need.
That just reminds me of the cross. Forgiveness that is also a provision.
The Passover event became a recurring feast, after all.
4. Bill
- 09/16/2010 1:26 pm CDT
This conversation speaks to an ongoing confusion I've had. For instance, I've N.T. Wright (and others) talks about forgiving 3rd world debt as an act of "justice". Without debating the merits therein, and also admitting my own ignorance as to the causes of third world debt, the first thing that pops in my head is this:
"Isn't that better described as an act of mercy?"
I think my notions of justice versus mercy have been clouded, somehow. I see justice as something strict, legalistic (not meant in a bad way) and mercy being something that goes beyond justice.
Thoughts?
5. Jared
- 09/16/2010 1:56 pm CDT
Won't speak to the 3rd world debt thing except that it might make good political/security sense, if not good theological sense.
But I think the kernel in that notion is that biblical justice is about "setting things to right." I agree with that. In that sense, an act of mercy *is* an act of justice b/c it takes mercy to set back to right what went wrong (in the Fall).
I think seeing justice and mercy as somewhat synonymous is a cloudy concept except if we can think of it through the lens of the cross.
6. Dave
- 09/16/2010 2:35 pm CDT
The kindness was a just action (giving to the poor), it brought about a just action (taking wood that has been offered to you as a kindness) and helped to eliminate an unjust action (stealing). The act brought justice (right action) into the world and removed injustice from the world.
8. salguod
- 09/17/2010 9:38 pm CDT
I just read a modern day example from Taiwan.
Man is caught stealing a bike for his teenager, to save her a 5 mile walk, and police buy him a bike rather than jail time.
9. Dave
- 09/18/2010 1:18 pm CDT
Yeah, it's not really the ending of the overall story that I meant, I suppose. It's more the end of the similar situations and how they were handled differently. In Les Mis the guy goes to prison, etc. for stealing to survive in poverty, as opposed to the guy with the wood, who was shown kindness and mercy.
10. Andy
- 10/02/2010 3:55 pm CDT
You know I read this post and I think about the 1 Corinthians 13 passage. The chapter is talking about Gods love, it never fails. To me this means that when a person is trusting God his love will give the other person what he/she needs in order to be drawn closer to a relationship with Christ. If that person needs discipline then discipline is what you give. If that person needs love and a problem solved then that too is what is done.
Leave a Comment:
This is a good story Jared. Thank you for sharing it. I also like this quote.
I like this a lot...I'm still chewing on it though and will chew on it for days...
I wonder if we could also put it this way, "Doing unto others" is most certainly a way to sow mercy."
I suppose in a way, Winthrop here in a single act, dished out both justice and mercy, which may be your point?
And that's certainly what Christ did for us on the cross. At the cross, justice and mercy meet...and even kiss.
On the other hand, I think that the Jim Wallis, Sojourner, Christian liberal types might love what you said here, even members of the congressional black caucus campaigning from church pulpits on Sunday morning would love this idea:In doing so, he doesn't just put a stop to the thievery but he puts a stop to the need. . "Yeah", they'd say. The Republicans/Conservatives/Right Wing are wrong to only try to put a stop to _______________ (e.g.abortion/crime/illegal immigration/drug use etc... )by simply applying legal penalties. They should be putting stop to the needs people have that force them to do these things.
Please don't get frustrated with me. I'm not trying to go all political on you. But as I chew on this, I am wondering how this principle should apply on a macro/societal level. Should public policy apply this principle as well?
I mean "Christ is Lord over all or he's not Lord at all." right?
Or perhaps you were simply making a spiritual point, you weren't saying we should actually do stuff like this....
Only you did say that we should enact this as a living parable.
So perhaps you'd say that the individual Christian in a place of authority should apply this principle (Sowing justice through the Golden Rule.) (And I'd argue that every Christian has some kind of authority over something, whether as a judge, as a parent or as a boss.)
I like that a lot.
No argument here...I'm just processing and seeking to learn and grow...