St. Paul’s Church in
Bergen & Church of the Incarnation, Jersey City NJ
February 25, 2018
Year B: The Second
Sunday in Lent
Genesis 17:1-7, 15-16
Psalm 22:22-30
Romans 4:13-25
Mark 8:31-38
Let Justice Roll Down Like A River…
Let justice roll down like a river, let
justice flow down to the sea...
This past Thursday marked the seventy-fifth anniversary of the execution of a small group of young Germans who, unlike nearly all of their fellow countrymen, had dared to openly challenge the evil Nazi regime.
This
small group started at the University of Munich and included idealistic and
non-violent students along with a Philosophy professor.
The
group was founded by a young man named Hans Scholl and included his sister,
Sophie.
They
called themselves the White Rose.
The
White Rose resisted the Nazis by illegally printing and distributing leaflets –
six different leaflets, about 15,000 copies in all.
In
these leaflets they called on their fellow Germans to acknowledge the grotesque
crimes being committed by their government.
In
their first leaflet they asked, “Isn’t it true that every honest German is
ashamed of his government these days? Who among us has any conception of the
dimensions of shame that will befall us and our children when one day the veil
has fallen from our eyes and the most horrible of crimes – crimes that
infinitely outdistance every human measure – reach the light of day?”
In
their second leaflet they condemned the murder of the Jews and declared their
German countrymen guilty of looking away from this terrible atrocity being done
in their name.
They
wrote, “Here we see the most frightful crime against human dignity, a crime
that is unparalleled in the whole of history. For Jews, too, are human beings.”
It
was amazing that the White Rose got away with it for as long as they did, but
their good fortune ran out on February 18, 1943.
As
they had in the past, Hans and Sophie Scholl distributed leaflets at the
university. This time, though, before they left, Sophie noticed that there were
still a few leaflets left in their suitcase and she dropped them down a
stairwell. Unfortunately, a pro-Nazi maintenance man saw her and quickly
summoned the authorities.
Hans
and Sophie Scholl and one other member of the White Rose were immediately arrested
and, after a show trial, were executed by the guillotine.
Before
he placed his head in the guillotine, twenty-five year-old Hans cried out,
“Long live freedom!”
For
her part, his sister, twenty-one year-old Sophie, who, like her brother, had
been deeply influenced by Christian thinkers, said this just before her
execution:
“How
can we expect righteousness to prevail when there is hardly anyone willing to
give himself up individually to a righteous cause? Such a fine, sunny day, and
I have to go, but what does my death matter, if through us, thousands of people
are awakened and stirred to action?”
Let justice roll down like a river, let
justice flow down to the sea...
I remember exactly
where I was on December 14, 2012. I was in the hospital room of an elderly
parishioner who was just days away from death. I was there sitting with some of
his family.
That afternoon we
watched the TV in horror as the news reports kept adding details to the story
of the massacre at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut.
A twenty-year old
shooter had killed twenty children, between six and seven years old, plus he
killed six adult staff members. Eventually we learned that earlier in the day he
had killed his mother.
Later that day,
President Obama addressed the country and said, “We’re going to have to come
together and take meaningful action to prevent more tragedies like this,
regardless of the politics.”
Like many people,
I thought the enormity of this loss, the vastness of the suffering and grief,
would lead our country to reflect on our relationship with guns, and to repent
of our love affair with violence.
But, of course,
that’s not what happened.
Instead, weapons
sales skyrocketed.
And, in a country now
awash with even more weapons of mass destruction, from time to time they
inevitably fall into the hands of those who should never have them, leading to
massacre after massacre, in schools and in malls and in churches, at a concert
in Las Vegas, and then on Valentine’s Day, on Ash Wednesday, at Stoneman
Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida – where, as you know, 14 students and
three adults were killed in yet another bloody rampage.
More than five
years after Sandy Hook, like lots of people, I was saddened but, honestly, I wasn’t
really shocked by this latest bloodbath, and I certainly didn’t bother to hope
that somehow this massacre would somehow make a difference.
But, I’m starting
to dare to think that this time just might be different.
By now, you’ve
probably all seen these remarkably articulate and poised kids, these survivors,
who have turned their grief into outrage, turned their sorrow into courageous
and insistent calls for us to change our ways.
You probably saw
at least clips of the Florida town hall, where these kids had a United States
Senator on the ropes, struggling to defend the indefensible – though deserving
credit for actually showing up
You probably saw
clips of the White House listening session where the President was uncharacteristically
quiet and subdued, wisely choosing to listen to these stories of suffering and
grief and not trying to defend the indefensible.
And, in the last
few days, the mighty National Rifle Association, perhaps the most powerful
special interest group in our country, is on the defensive, losing corporate
supporters, and beginning, just beginning, to be seen as an agent of death,
like Big Tobacco.
And, politicians
and others who’ve benefited over the years from piles of NRA money are reeling
– some making outlandish accusations about the students (They’re actors!) –
while some others astutely see which way the wind is blowing and are quickly
changing their views on things like how old you must be to buy a gun.
And, so it seems a
new movement has been born, a movement led by young people that will gather for
the “March for Our Lives” in Washington on Saturday, March 24, demanding that
our leaders do everything they can to put an end to school shootings. The
Jersey City Episcopal churches have rented a bus and I hope you’ll join us and
make our voices heard.
You know, watching
the kids from Stoneman Douglas take on the powers that be reminded me of those
last words of young Sophie Scholl:
“How can we expect
righteousness to prevail when there is hardly anyone willing to give himself up
individually to a righteous cause?”
Well, it sure
looks like righteousness is at last, at long last, beginning to prevail.
Let justice roll down like a river, let
justice flow down to the sea...
In today’s lesson
from the Gospel of Mark, Jesus offers his first prediction of his own suffering,
death, and resurrection.
The Apostle Peter
seems to have not heard or understood that last part about rising from the
dead, because he gets understandably upset at the thought of his Lord suffering
and dying – so upset that he “rebukes” Jesus – a strong word, that “rebuke.”
And, maybe because
he is actually tempted to turn away from his mission, from his fate, Jesus
responds with his own harsh rebuke of Peter – and then offers a hard teaching
to his disciples and also to the crowd:
Jesus says, “If
any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their
cross and follow me. For those who want to save their life will lose it, and
those who lose their life for my sake, and for the sake of the gospel, will
save it.”
Jesus is “all in” –
and calls us to be “all in,” too.
The refrain that’s
been repeated a few times during today’s sermon is a loose translation of the
Prophet Amos, 5:24. The full text is:
“But let justice
roll down like waters, and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream.”
It sounds like
something a prophet would and should say, but in the text it’s actually not the
voice of Amos. It’s the voice of God speaking through Amos.
It’s God’s command
– God’s everlasting hope and dream – that the whole world will be bathed in
justice and righteousness.
And, God has
chosen to include us, to in some sense depend on us, to make it happen - to let justice roll down
like a river, to let justice flow down to the sea.
God requires us to
be “all in.”
Jesus of Nazareth
offers us the supreme example of being “all in” – but there’s also Hans and
Sophie Scholl who were “all in” when they risked everything against an evil
regime – and, now in our own time, there are these brave kids who are “all in”
as they take on some of the most powerful people in our country.
So, by now, you
know where this is going:
How about us?
Are we –
are we Christians – “all in” for justice?
Are we “all in”
for righteousness?
Are we “all in”
for peace?
Sophie Scholl’s haunting question echoes down
to us today:
“How can we expect
righteousness to prevail when there is hardly anyone willing to give himself up
individually to a righteous cause?”
Let justice roll down like a river, let
justice flow down to the sea...
Amen.
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