The Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. famously said: "The arc of the moral universe is long but it bends toward justice." He was not the first to use this particular metaphor. In 1857 Unitarian minister Theodore Parker used it in a sermon against slavery. Between Parker and King, other religious referenced the "moral arc." This image endures because because it bears out over time. Over the centuries, as prejudices become less acceptable, more and more people have gained access to freedom and justice .Jesus constantly expanded the circle of justice to include the disenfranchised and despised. As Paul wrote to the Galatians: "There is no longer Jew or Greek, there is no longer slave or free, there is no longer male and female; for all of you are one in Christ Jesus." (Gal 3:28). Distinctions that separate human beings from one another have no meaning in the kingdom of God. Since Paul's time, the moral arc has led the church to remove divisions and champion justice in the form of abolition, civil rights, child labor laws, and other progressive social movements. Like society at large, the church experiences an uneven ebb and flow of progress, but on the whole it moves in the direction of justice. What barriers to justice are eroding right now?
Popular wisdom says that once we get to know individuals or groups, we are more inclined to consider them equal and treat them justly. While this is generally true, and while it is desirable to broaden our understanding of the world by getting to know people, a hard truth remains: we simply don't have time to understand all the people Jesus would have us love. Does Christian love - expressed in mercy and justice - require us to understand its recipients? It does not, and demands to be extended especially toward those who remain alien to us.
Perhaps the only real division is between people we understand and people we don't. Can we rise to the challenge of loving people justly even when our lack of understanding makes us uncomfortable? The road to justice arcs beyond our ability to see, but it is where Christ waits to meet us.
Evening readings: Psalms 100; 63
No comments:
Post a Comment