Like many of you, I’ve been overwhelmed by the news of yet another mass shooting - this one, at an elementary school in Udalve, Texas, where a young man with an AR-15 rifle entered a fourth-grade classroom and killed 19 students and two teachers.
And I don’t really know that I can start my sermon today without acknowledging this - yet another sign of brokenness and sorrow and sin in our world.
And I am angry at politicians who have done nothing to control and regulate guns in America. Regulation won’t prevent all mass shootings, but it will prevent most of them, and many innocent lives would be saved.
Instead, we’re left to mourn, yet again, another tragic loss of life.
This is not just. This is not right. Now, more than ever, we need to imagine a world with more justice.
Because there is no justice when innocent children are paying the price for our nation’s addiction to guns, and politicians’ addiction to the money the gun industry gives them.
Primary responsibility for these acts of gun violence belongs to the shooters. But those who make it easy for shooters to acquire weapons - even assault weapons - without any sort of regulations or background checks are also guilty of committing violence against the innocent.
My original plan this morning was to talk about poverty, and the lack of justice for those who are poor. And in fact, that issue is related to the issue of gun violence.
Allowing gun violence to persist, and allowing poverty to persist, are both acts of violence committed against those who are innocent and vulnerable.
The high level of gun violence, and the high level of poverty, in our country, are not inevitable.
The high level of gun violence, and the high level of poverty, are the result of policy decisions.
The high level of gun violence, and the high level of poverty, are both offensive to God. And anyone who worships God, but who does not act to prevent such acts of violence, fails to offer to God a worship that is acceptable.
That is precisely the point of today’s scripture reading.
In today’s reading, the prophet Isaiah has in mind those who go to worship, and who say all the right things, those who offer their thoughts and prayers… but who fail to do what is right.
Many of them are in positions of leadership. They’re the ones Jesus said like to pray on street corners with a loud voice, so that everyone can see how holy they are. And when they fast, or make any
sort of religious sacrifice, they make a big show of it.
God loves worship, but worship must be tied to justice.
Without justice, without action, all our words, and all our acts of worship, are not only meaningless; they’re offensive to God.
In the book of Amos, God says: “I hate, I despise your [religious] festivals, and I take no delight in your solemn assemblies. 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.”
Emily Ewing, a pastor on twitter, paraphrased Amos like this:
"I hate, I despise your vigils, and I take no delight in your school shooter drills. Even though you offer me your thoughts and prayers, I will not accept them; and the offerings of well-being of your collection plates I will not look upon. Take away from me the noise of your lament; I will not listen to the melody of your tears. But let justice roll down like waters, and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream."
When you pray to God, those prayers are
offensive to God if you do not work for justice in the world. When you give money to the church, that act of giving is offensive to God if you do not work for justice in the world. When the church uses the money that has been given, that use of money is offensive to God if the church is not working for justice in the world.
Both gun violence and poverty are acts of violence committed against the innocent. In order for our acts of worship to be acceptable to God, we must work to create a society where people are free from gun violence and free from the devastating effects of poverty.
The other day, I was listening to a story on NPR, about a company in Illinois called CHI that manufactures overhead garage doors. As reported by Allison Aubrey, what makes the company unique is that every employee has equity, a small ownership stake. And one day a few weeks ago, managers called all 800 employees into a meeting, where they were told that, thanks to their productivity, they were each getting a check. The exact amount varied based on seniority and salary, but all the checks had six figures, and the average was almost 200,000 dollars.
According to the report, part of the reason productivity was high was because seven years ago, the company invited employees to have a say in how to make the company better. Employees made suggestions, and each year they voted on the suggestions, and the company spent one million dollars each year implementing their suggestions.
Based on these suggestions, they’ve built an onsite cafeteria which sells affordable, healthy food, and they’ve added an onsite health clinic. The workers are healthier, happier, and productivity is up - and now they’re being rewarded for that.
And that is justice. Someone took the time to imagine a company with more justice, and this is the result.
And it really did require a lot of imagination, because this is not how most companies are. Most companies do not treat their employees well, do not value their employees opinions, and do not share profits with their employees. In most companies, the profits go to people who don’t even contribute to the company’s productivity - the shareholders. And so many workers - especially those supporting families - live in poverty, or are one emergency away from bankruptcy.
And as I thought about it, that model - where shareholders get rewarded instead of employees - is not a justice-oriented model. One group of people does all the work, but another group of people reaps the rewards.
And it’s not very biblical. In the vision of a just world that the Bible presents, workers and laborers enjoy the fruit of their own labor.
In the book of Micah, and 1 Kings, and Zechariah, the vision of people sitting under their own vines and their own fig trees is presented. And in Psalm 128, it talks about how, in a world of justice, people will eat the fruit of the labor of their hands, and shall be happy.
Because the biblical prophets knew that to deny workers a just and living wage is an act of violence against them, as devastating to a just society as the proliferation of gun violence.
Yet in almost every big company today, the goal is to pay workers as little as possible, to maximize profits and reward the shareholders. The “fruit of the labor of their hands” is going to someone else.
Can we imagine a world with more justice?
The Poor People’s Campaign, that you may have heard about, is helping people imagine a world with more justice. Led by William Barber and Liz Theoharis, the Poor People’s Campaign is a revival of the original Poor People’s Campaign organized by Martin Luther King, Jr.
In a few weeks, on June 18th, the Poor People’s Campaign will welcome people from all across the country in Washington, D.C. for a “Moral March on Washington.”
According to the Poor People’s Campaign website, they’re gathering “because any nation that ignores nearly half of its citizens is in a moral, economic and political crisis. There were 140 million people who were poor or one emergency away from economic ruin before the pandemic. Since March 2020 - while hundreds of thousands of people have died, millions are on the edge of hunger and eviction, and still without health care or living wages - billionaire wealth has grown by over $2 trillion.”
This is immoral and sinful.
Among those who will be marching will be our own General Minister and President, Terri Hord Owens, as well as many other leaders from our Disciples denomination. And they are encouraging all Disciples to attend the March on June 18.
Now, that’s a long way to go, and a short time to get there. If any one of you here today can go - great! For most of us, that’s not feasible.
But we can educate ourselves about the injustices of our world, especially where the poor and vulnerable are concerned. We can support companies that really do help create a world of justice. We can vote for politicians that also work for justice, especially as far as the poor are concerned.
And we can imagine - really imagine - a world with more justice. A world free of gun violence. A world where the poor are treated with justice. A world where life is cherished and valued.
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