When thinking about justice – a word association game can be very revealing. I asked my co-workers to name as many synonyms for justice that they could in 30 seconds. The list they came up with wasn’t surprising and, in short, reflected the particular litigiousness of our western culture. They came up with words like: law, legality, cop, judge, compensation, and fairness. None of these words are bad in and of themselves but they can reflect a much too narrow vision of how we should enact the gospel in the world. Is the kingdom of God only a court of law? I don’t think so. In fact, I think a corrective for many of us is to realize the significance of beauty in relationship to God’s kingdom work.
When I was in seminary I did a brief internship at the Los Angeles Catholic Worker who, among other things, staffs a community kitchen in the downtown area. Prior to this, I always thought that I understood what a “concrete jungle” looked like but nothing could truly prepare me for what I witnessed. There simply was not a tree or blade of grass in sight - nothing but gleaming and burning broken concrete and blacktop which in the sun resembled a bleached, decaying skeleton. As I entered the serving line to take my place I was utterly dumbstruck by what I saw after I moved through the mass of people. When I exited the line I entered a courtyard which could only be described as colorful, lush, cool and vibrant – beautiful. Here – many of those who were homeless sat and ate among fragrant flowers and much needed shade from fecund fruit trees and I realized that my view of justice was too small, too cold, maybe even a bit lifeless. My experience at the Catholic Worker taught me that justice isn’t about meeting people’s needs with a cold and calculated rubric of necessity sprinkled with “just enough.” The Catholic Worker reminded me that giving my “leftovers,” whether food I normally wouldn’t eat or clothes that I would no longer wear, is not an accurate reflection of God’s giving. God gives better than that and has called me to give in the same way. Jesus’ reminder to “consider the lilies of the field” (Matt. 6:28) remains more than a promise but also serves as an indictment on my giving and challenges what I often believe justice for the poor should look like. God’s justice is not simply the provision of need or bare minimum giving but the offering of beautiful gifts to the marginalized and oppressed - God’s kingdom work is nothing less than beautiful and extravagant. To link beauty with justice is to recognize that what we give matters as much as how we give. I’m not arguing that we be wasteful or that the amount spent somehow makes a gift more acceptable but that beauty should be one of the words that encompasses what we do as givers of God’s stuff – “even Solomon in all his glory was not clothed like one of these.”
How does this bear out practically? Well – two things strike me as particularly pertinent at this point in the life of our church. First, as we seek to care for those in our community, particularly those who have suffered great losses due to fire – give good stuff. Jesus didn’t say, “consider the scrub brush of the field.” Simply put, don’t give away anything that you wouldn’t accept yourself – the base, the battered or the broken. As you give, be mindful of the One who creates beauty all around us and made us both appreciators and creators of beauty as well. To think and act this way is to move closer to God’s vision of justice. Second, our church has a wonderful opportunity to offer such beauty to our city by engaging in the Spring Clean-Up hosted by the city on May 30th, 2009 at Eastside Park from 9 am-12 pm. The event will include tree planting, graffiti removal, electronic waste collection, etc. Since 2003 Santa Barbara churches like ours have provided 1,700 volunteers amounting to 5,100 hours of service. What a beautiful vision of God’s kingdom and His salvation which encompasses not just human beings but all of creation! Believe the gospel and bring the extravant good news that is nothing short of beautiful.
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