God will not bless those who destroy God’s good creation.

Last week, I was catching up with a friend I hadn’t seen for over a year. Of course, our conversation quickly veered toward the pandemic, the plagues and the pestilence. We both agreed that it has been an unusual and difficult year. My friend predicted that the year 2020 would be used in the future as an adjective that will mean “horrific, dreadful, the worst imaginable. “

Actually, anywhere the word “Hell” could be used, we can now appropriately substitute “2020”.

He also suggested it should be an expletive, like what you might say when you smash your finger. “2020!” or “What the 2020?”

Yes. 2020 has been dreadful and horrific – worthy of an expletive. It feels like the earth is rejecting us. As you probably know, we ran out of names for tropical storms for the first time in 15 years. And the Hurricane season doesn’t end until November. If you’ve watched the news, you are aware that there have been more wildfires this year than ever before. We have watched the fires in California and Oregon destroy whole communities. But this year, there were wildfires in unusual places. Fires burned above the arctic circle in Siberia, Alaska and Greenland. In Siberia, the fires were fed by record setting temperatures. On June 20, it was more than 100 degrees in a small Russian town located on the Arctic Circle. Back in the US, it was 130 degrees in Death Valley on August 16, making it very likely the hottest temperature ever recorded anywhere on planet earth. Despite the shutdown of factories and the quarantine of COVID, the levels of Carbon Dioxide in the atmosphere have actually continued to rise—a major factor in global warming. In May, it measured 417 parts per million (ppm), the highest levels ever recorded.

As temperatures rise, so do the earth’s oceans, impacting human and animal habitats. As temperatures rise, so does water temperature, causing more extreme weather conditions and the death of ocean wildlife. As temperatures rise, the ecological balance shifts, resulting in disruption of growing seasons, leading to famine. The earth is suffering. And when the earth suffers, we all suffer. And those who are poor suffer most.

There is no question that human activity has contributed to and accelerated climate change as we burn through fossil fuels – oil, gas, and coal. Five years ago, leaders of 200 nations recognized the human factor and signed the Paris climate accord—a collective effort to address climate change through a reduction of greenhouse gases. The US signed the accord, but in 2017 our current president announced his intention to pull the US out of the accord. On November 4, 2019, he followed through on that promise. Since then, he has consistently acted to roll back environmental regulations to benefit fossil fuel industries. Clean air, clean water and even National Parks and National Forests are at risk. On November 4, 2020 – the day after the election – the withdrawal from the Paris Climate Accord will be complete. You think it’s bad now? Get ready, it may get a lot worse.

Scripture says, “The earth is the Lord’s and everything in it.” But what happens when nations act as if the earth and everything in it belongs to them and they fail to protect it and care for it as God commanded? What happens when we fail to acknowledge God’s claim as creator of heaven and earth, and we steal the earth of its resources and pollute the air, and muddy the waters without any concern for the damage we do for future generations? When the earth thrives, we all thrive; but when we destroy the earth, we are destroyed. In the words of Hosea the prophet, when there is no acknowledgement of God in the land, “the earth itself becomes sick, and all who live on it grow weak; together with the wild animals and the birds in the sky, even the fish of the sea are dying.” (Hosea 4:3 CEB)

The earth is sick, and time is running out.

I just realized that this sermon has been nothing but bad news! Is there any good news to be found? Only one place. God, the maker of heaven and earth, is in the words of theologian N. T. Wright, “A loving God who wants to redeem a broken world, and has called us to make things new.” God loved the cosmos so much that God sent the Word, through whom all things were made, to announce the beginning of God’s new day. God defeated the powers of death and decay at the empty tomb, raising Christ from the dead, and seating him high above all rule and authority and reconciling ALL things in all of creation to God. And God has redeemed us to be the body of Christ, raised up in resurrected life to continue what Christ began. We are the children of God raised up in these days to make things new through advocacy for just environmental policy, through our votes, by changing our lifestyles and priorities.

God told the people of Israel, “See, I set before you life and death; blessings and curses. Choose life so that you and your children may live.” (Deuteronomy 30:19 NIV). Today, life and death are set before us again. Will we be a nation of stewards that care for God’s good earth and everything in it or a nation of tyrants that plunder it for our own interests? Will we be a people who protect the planet and preserve the beauty and bounty of the earth for our children’s children’s children?

Our choices will lead to life or death. Choose life. Choose stewardship. Be the children of God, working by the Spirit of God to create and make all things new. Amen.

What happens when leaders listen to the wrong voices?

Every year for a century, Kimball Avenue church held an annual Thanksgiving dinner and fund raiser called “Harvest Home.” An offering was received at the meal in a wooden box with a hole in the top. It was referred to as the “Joash Box.” Some of you remember it. It still exists, stored in the parsonage basement, but it is falling apart.

It is called the “Joash Box” because according to 2 Kings 12:9ff, Joash, the King of Judah, set up a box with a hole in the top at the temple entrance to collect funds for the restoration of the Temple in Jerusalem that had been neglected for decades. Joash took the funds that were placed in the box to pay for the materials and labor to repair the building.

When I hear about King Joash, I always think about the Joash Box and his commitment to the temple—not only to the building, but also to reviving the temple worship of YHWH. For years, God blessed the nation of Judah with peace and prosperity under the leadership of Joash. But what started out so well ended in the disaster we read about today in 2 Chronicles 24, when Joash ordered the murder of Zechariah by stoning. Zechariah was killed inside the Temple that Joash dedicated to the worship of God.

How did Joash go from a God-worshiper to state-protected murderer? It’s a story about leadership and who leaders listen to. Proverbs 11:14 says, “A nation falls where there is no wise leading, but it is safe where there are many wise men who know what to do.”

Joash became King of Judah at age 7. I don’t know any 7-year-old who is ready to lead a nation, but Joash was fortunate to have a wise advisor and mentor, Jehoiada, the high priest. With Jehoiada’s counsel and help, Joash was a good king and the nation was blessed. But after Jehoiada died, everything changed. A group of local leaders offered to advise Joash, and they counseled him to abandon the Temple and pursue idolatry. Idolatry always leads to injustice and oppression—acts God rejects. Despite warnings from God’s prophets, Joash refused to renounce the policy. The nation suffered. Finally Zechariah—the son of Joash’s childhood advisor, Jehoiada—was led by the Spirit to confront Joash and his advisors for abandoning God’s heart and God’s law. He announced God’s judgement on Joash and the nation. Zechariah spoke truth to power.

Because Zechariah spoke a truth that Joash had no interest in hearing, Joash took steps to silence God’s messenger. The leaders plotted to kill Zechariah, and Joash gave the kill order.

That’s not the end of the story. Sadly, after Zechariah was killed, the nation of Judah declined. The peace and prosperity it had enjoyed disappeared. The nation was plunged into costly wars, economic collapse and political ruin. God abandoned Joash and the nation was thrown into chaos. And in the end Joash was assassinated.

What does God want us to hear from the story of Joash and Zechariah? The Apostle Paul wrote that the things that were written in the past, were written for our instruction (Romans 15:4). This story is a warning. When leaders listen to the voices of justice and righteousness, there is peace. Everyone thrives. However, when they listen to wrong voices, all hell breaks loose. When leaders surround themselves with people who tell them what they want to hear and use their power to silence opposing voices—especially those voices that call the leader to account and to doing what is just and right, the wicked are empowered to strut about. When leaders harden their hearts and close their ears and their eyes, the people suffer.

There are consequences to political arrogance and spiritual obstinance. Refusal to listen to the calls for justice and righteousness leads to destruction. God will not prosper the leaders that ignore the commands of God. God will abandon the leaders that refuse to seek God’s justice. God will bring judgment on the leaders whose hearts are hardened and who refuse to open their eyes and ears to the truth of God’s heart for the oppressed and afflicted. And ultimately, God will rise up and will depose the wicked and the proud and the arrogant who do whatever they please. It happened to Egypt and Pharaoh. It happened to Israel and Judah. It can happen now.

Like Judah, nations regularly come to a fork in the road – a moment of decision about what kind of nation we will be. Our nation is in a moment like that. There are voices that are advocating radically different futures for our nation. There are voices that advocate the revival of a glorious past that was built upon genocide, enslavement, oppression, militarism, racism, and unbridled greed. And there are prophetic voices calling for the establishment of a society built upon justice, equity, love of neighbor and morality. We can choose which voices we will listen to. We can also choose which future we will speak for.

The story of King Joash has a hero. His name is Zechariah – a man who boldly and publicly rebuked King Joash for abandoning his spiritual and moral responsibilities and leading his nation down a path of destruction. Though he lost his life for his boldness, his name is held up in honor. Jesus honored Zechariah as a hero and defender of God’s truth.

Our time has heroes too. Some names are familiar to us like Martin Luther King, Jr, who – like Zechariah – was silenced through murder, and John Lewis who survived attacks and refused to be silent. In the midst of a pandemic, we have heroes like Dr. Anthony Fouci who speak the truth while leaders lie and distort and deceive. In the midst of state-sponsored police violence, we have heroes like Bryan Stevenson and Black Lives Matter who speak justice while leaders use “law and order” rhetoric to maintain the status quo. In the midst of environmental destruction, we have heroes like LaDonna Brave Bull Allard, protecting the water. In the midst of economic greed, we have heroes like Rev. Billy and the Stop Shopping Choir dancing on Wall Street. In the midst of political corruption, we have heroes like George Blakemore in City Hall, daily speaking truth to power.

Our nation is going to hell. But God is sending the prophets. God is calling the church to stand up, speak up and get in good trouble. Maybe yet, God will have mercy and deliver us from evil. If we will only listen.

Whoever has ears to hear, let them hear what the spirit is saying to the churches.

God’s Solidarity With Workers

In 2016, former First Lady Michelle Obama, delivered a powerful speech at the Democratic National Convention in which she made the memorable statement: “I wake up every morning in a house that was built by slaves.” Immediately, there were people who challenged her statement about slave labor, and fact-checkers rushed to get to the truth. It turned out to be true. The White House Historical Association released a statement affirming that slave labor was indeed involved in every aspect of the construction of the Executive Mansion, beginning in 1792.

Using slave labor to build an executive mansion is not a new thing. As you can see from the reading from the prophet, Jeremiah (Jeremiah 22:14-17), God condemned Judah’s King Jehoiakim for using forced labor to build his palace. Jeremiah added that refusing to pay his “neighbors” for their work was the equivalent of literally building injustice into the walls. Jeremiah makes it clear how God feels about withholding wages from those who do the work.

But lest we think that this issue of slave labor and God’s condemnation and things of the Biblical past or early American history, we need to consider that our nation is still using forced labor to build wealth.

But you may object and say, “But we don’t have slaves anymore! We abolished slavery and involuntary servitude with the 13th Amendment.” While it is true that the 13th Amendment ended slavery officially in 1865, there is a significant exception that was written into the amendment. Let me read it for you, “Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted.“

As director Ana DuVernay has shown in her documentary, “13th”, this exception was immediately utilized after the amendment was ratified. In 1866, Southern states passed laws known as “Black Codes” that were designed to criminalize freed slaves. These laws made everything from talking loudly in the company of white women to walking besides railroad tracks to not having a job a crime, and acts that were formerly misdemeanors were turned into felonies with prison sentences. According to historian Khalil Muhammed, the “Black Codes” resulted in an explosion of the prison population. In Alabama, for instance, the prison population shifted almost overnight from 99% white convicts to 85% black convicts. And because of the 13th Amendment exception, convicted freed slaves could be forced to work through “convict leasing.” Convicted freed slaves were leased back to their former owners to work the plantation fields—without pay.

We no longer have “Black Codes,” but convict leasing and convict labor is still big business. Every state except Alaska has “prison industries” or a convict leasing program. Convicted prisoners do everything from building church furniture in Iowa to making Victoria’s Secret underwear in South Carolina to putting eggs in cartons in Arizona to making Honda car parts in Ohio. The average wage nationally for convicts is $.87 an hour. But four states–Texas, Alabama, Georgia and Arkansas—pay convicts nothing. No wonder author Douglas Blackmon has called convict leasing “Slavery By Another Name.”

Convict leasing is just one way that workers are denied wages. Undocumented workers are often exploited with low pay and wage theft. Workers are routinely misclassified as “contract workers” so that employers don’t have to pay benefits. And during the COVID pandemic, essential workers have had to strike for hazard pay and proper protection, and unemployed workers have watched their income evaporate especially since the federal unemployment extension expired (and has failed to be renewed). In some states, unemployment benefits are less than minimum wage.

Low-wage workers are suffering during the pandemic, but the richest people in America have gotten richer—amassing an additional $685 billion since the middle of March.

This Labor Day is literally a matter of life and death. In 1931, union activist Florence Reece wrote a song, “Which side are you on?” God has chosen a side. And we must too. God’s law is clear, “You shall not withhold the wages of poor and needy laborers, whether other Israelites or aliens who reside in your land in one of your towns.” (Deuteronomy 24:14) James wrote to wealthy employers, “The wages you failed to pay the workers who mowed your fields are crying out against you. The cries of the harvesters have reached the ears of the Lord Almighty” (James 5:4-5) God doesn’t tolerate exploitation.

God always stands on the side of fullness of life. God stands with workers. And so must we. Just as God could not bless King Jehoiakim because of his exploitation of workers, God will not bless the nation that is built upon and maintained through worker exploitation and oppression. However, as Jeremiah reminded Jehoiakim that God blessed his father, King Josiah, because he gave justice to the poor and needy, there is hope that God will bless the nation that ensures that all workers the dignity and justice and the living wages they deserve, because workers should always be given what they need (See Matthew 10:10)

So, on this Labor Day as people of God, do something to stand on the side of worker rights and worker protection. Here are some suggestions:

“The Kids are NOT alright”

The story of the 16-year reign of Ahaz in Judah (2 Chronicles 28) is a cautionary tale. In a list of Judah’s kings, Ahaz would be listed as one of the worst – if not THE worst – king in Judah’s history. It is the story of a leader who chooses to worship pagan gods and the consequences of his actions on the nation.

Under his leadership, Judah was led into the worship of the Canaanite deity named Molech. Worship of Molech included the sacrifice of children as a way of gaining the favor of Molech so that Molech would provide economic prosperity and more children. This sacrifice, known as “passing children through the fire,” was specifically forbidden by the God’s Law. In Leviticus 18:21, we read, “Do not permit any of your children to be offered as a sacrifice to Molech, for you must not bring shame on the name of your God. I am the Lord.” However, despite the law, the Israelites began to practice Molech worship first under the influence of King Solomon, who built an altar to Molech on a high place in Jerusalem to accommodate worship by his foreign wives. (see 1 Kings 11:4-8). The altar remained in place until Solomon’s great-grandson, Asa, tore down the high places and restored the worship of God. However, within 2 generations, worship at the high places resumed and under the leadership of Ahaz, an altar to Baal and Molech was built in the Valley of Ben Hinnom just south of Jerusalem. There, Ahaz offered his own sons in the fire and led the people of Judah to do the same thing. In Jesus’ day, the valley was known as Gehenna. We know it as Hell.

What was God’s response to the sacrifice of children to Molech? The nation of Judah suffered. Over the reign of Ahaz, the nation of Judah became weaker, losing territory to foreign invaders and influence. Aram attacked Judah and took citizens to Damascus as exiles. The northern kingdom of Israel attacked Judah and took citizens to Samaria as slaves. By the end of Ahaz’s rule, he had shuttered the temple and the nation was in ruins. God’s prophets, Micah and Hosea, had spoken God’s words of warning, but Ahaz refused to change his ways. Ahaz died at age 36 completely powerless and dishonored. In the end, God ultimately abandoned Ahaz and Judah.

Be sure of this: God will judge nations on the basis of their treatment of their children—the most vulnerable among us. Nelson Mandela said it. “There can be no keener revelation of a society’s soul than the way in which it treats its children.” And the late Vice President Hubert Humphrey said it. “The moral test of government is how that government treats those who are in the dawn of life, the children.” I believe the truth of these statements. How we treat our children reveals whether our values and morals are in alignment with God.

Our nation’s current treatment of children and our nation’s currently willingness to sacrifice the well-being of children for the sake of economic revival and profit reveals fundamentally that our nation is morally bankrupt despite all of the talk about being pro-life and the commitment of many religious folk to protect the lives of the unborn.

Many people of faith read the story of Ahaz’s sacrifice of his children and extrapolate that the practice of abortion is the equivalent sacrifice of our children to Molech. However, those same people who will use every means possible to shut down Planned Parenthood will be strangely silent when children are murdered in their classrooms or when children as young as 3 months are taken from their parents at our southern border or when leaders cut funds for children’s health insurance. As Sister Joan Chittister reminds us: “I do not believe that just because you are opposed to abortion, that that makes you pro-life. In fact, I think in many cases, your morality is deeply lacking if all you want is a child born but not a child fed, a child educated, a child housed. And why would I think that you don’t? Because you don’t want any tax money to go there. That’s not pro-life. That’s pro-birth.”

Government policy to separate children from their parents at the border is nothing less than child sacrifice. The threat to withhold funding from schools that do not reopen in the midst of a pandemic is nothing less than child sacrifice. The threat to reduce SNAP benefits for families, the refusal to extend benefits to unemployed parents and protect them from eviction and foreclosure is nothing less than child sacrifice. One in 3 black children and 1 in 4 brown children live in poverty, and there are over 16,000 children in Chicago Public Schools that do not have a permanent home. Our tolerance for such conditions is nothing less than child sacrifice. Shifting the weight of taxation from the wealthy to low-wage families is nothing less than child sacrifice. The desecration of the environment for profit that future generations will pay for is nothing less than child sacrifice. It is no different than Ahaz passing his children through the fire in order to secure the economic provision of Molech.

God cannot and will not bless the nation that rationalizes away the hunger and poverty of the little ones who are most vulnerable. God will remove God’s hand from the nation whose leaders treat children as if they are expendable and disposable. In the words of Jesus to those who would cause one of these little ones to stumble, “It would be better for that person to have a large millstone tied around his neck and drowned in the depths of the sea.” (Matthew 18:6)

But God can and will bless the nation that treats its children as precious gifts from God – worthy of protection and provision, worthy of the fullness of life, worthy of our investment and worthy of dignity. And if God so values the life of children, then we must also value them and sacrifice FOR them—including holding our leaders accountable for the well-being of the littlest among us. God will leave no child behind. Neither can we.

In less than 3 months, we will choose our leaders. Before November 3, open your ears and your eyes; listen and see through the lens of God’s commitment to the protection and preservation of children – not just those in the womb, but those who are being sacrificed in life. And then, like the prophets of Ahaz’s time, sound the warnings and call for justice and righteousness. Maybe yet, God will bless this nation.

Leaders Matter

There is a long history of using songs to make political statements. The Civil Rights movement of the 1950s and 1960s had its own soundtrack. The war in Viet Nam was accompanied by Bob Dylan, Joan Baez and Peter, Paul and Mary.  But with the current state of affairs in our nation, there has been a resurgence of political protests songs, laments and calls to action including “March” by the Chicks (formerly known as the ‘Dixie Chicks’), “I Cry” by Usher and many others.  Even Neil Young has updated his “Lookin’ for a Leader” for 2020.

Long before Dylan and even Woody Guthrie, there was another songwriter named Asaph that wrote a stinging protest song. We know the song as “Psalm 82.” We read the lyrics today. Let me “sing” it for you.

It takes place in a courtroom.  Hear ye, hear ye, this court is now in session, the Honorable Almighty God presiding. The case before the court today: God vs. “the gods.”

Who are the defendants? The word translated “gods” or “heavenly beings” is “Elohim”, a name or title used almost exclusively in the Bible for Yahweh God. But several times in the book of Exodus, the word “elohim” is used as a designation for the rulers or judges of the people of Israel. These judges were responsible for carrying out the intention of the law. Most scholars believe that Asaph is using the word “Elohim” to referring to these human rulers–the judges, the policy makers, the kings and their advisors, the teachers of the Law without naming names.

God lists the charges against these “gods”

Count #1: Showing favoritism to the powerful.
Count #2: Perversion of justice.
Count #3: Failure to uphold the cause of the poor.
Count #4: Failure to defend the weak.
Count #5: Failure to rescue the needy.
Count #6: Failure to deliver justice to the oppressed.

The rulers have failed to do what God expects and what God demands. This song makes it clear that leaders matter. Political leaders are supposed to defend the weak and the fatherless, uphold the cause of the poor and the oppressed, rescue the weak and the needy, deliver them from the hand of the wicked. The evidence is in. The rulers and their governments have been weighed on the scales and have been found lacking. Case closed.

The Verdict? The “gods” are guilty on all counts. The rulers have failed. Their governments have failed.  What was true in Asaph’s day was true in the time of the prophet Jeremiah, when the Lord announced judgement on the politicians of Judah. Like those described by Asaph, the leaders of Judah had failed to provide for God’s people and lead them to safety. Leaders who fail to do what is right will be declared “guilty” and will be sentenced. And the sentence is harsh.

Asaph declares, “You will fall like every other ruler and you will die.”

Here were are more than three thousand years after Asaph, and his song feels like it was written for our times. The “gods” of our day are also failing to do what God expects and what God demands. One need only look at the growing wealth inequality in the world and the blatant disregard for those who are most vulnerable to see the evidence. And it is not a partisan judgment. It is not just Republicans that have failed. Democrats are guilty too. Corruption and using power for self-interest comes in all flavors.

Asaph ends his song with a prayer: “Rise up, O God, and judge the earth.” We have seen the evidence. Our leaders fail and disappoint. Our prayer is that God will intervene and enact justice for the oppressed—and indeed, sometimes God does. The plagues of Egypt were in direct response to Pharaoh’s arrogance and hardness of heart. King Herod’s death (Acts 12) is attributed to God—a response Herod’s arrogance and belief in his own superiority and deity.

But let’s remember that God didn’t write this politically charged anti-government song. Asaph did. God didn’t speak from heaven to confront the oppression of Judah’s rulers. Jeremiah did. And throughout the ages, God’s people have arisen to give a message to the “gods”—the “titans of industry” the “oligarchs” the “oppressor class.” Today, more than ever, it is imperative that God’s people rise up to declare God’s legislative agenda, hold our leaders accountable, use our voice and our vote to elect those who will stand in solidarity with those who are to receive God’s justice, and remind them that they will be judged by Almighty God for what they do with their power.

Let us arise and sing. Let us lift up the voices of those who are so frequently silenced. Let us use our voices to declare God’s will for justice and love and call out the leaders who fail.

Hear the new Asaphs like Argentinian “Latingrass” band, Che Apalache, who call us to “sing about a better world, where new paths will soon unfurl. Of a land where freedom rings.” (From “The Wall”)

Listen and pray.  Listen, then sing. Listen, then stand up for leaders God can bless.

“The Wall” Lyrics by John Lawless of “Che Apalache”

Come friends, come friends. Come gather ‘round
For to sing, oh sing we joyfully!
Let us sing about a better world
Where different paths have been unfurled
Of a land where freedom rings

From way up high on a mountain side
One can see the wide world over
From way up there it’s plain to see
Regardless of one’s race or creed
In our hearts we’re all the same

Come sisters, brothers gather near
For we’ve come to share our worries
We fear what some folks have been saying
About Latin Americans
The truth’s been misconstrued

There’s all kinds of talk ‘bout building a wall
Down along the Southern border
‘bout building a wall between me and you
Lord, and if such nonsense should come true
Then we’ll have to knock it down

‘Cause that idea won’t fly so high
As a wingless bird in a rock hard sky
So, no siree, we won’t comply
We’re going to stand our ground

To love thy neighbor as thyself
Is a righteous law to live by
But leaders sing a different song
They break us up so they stay strong
And ignorantly we’re strung along
Until we meet our doom

Yes, our leaders are so ripe with sin
They feed us chants to rope us in
But someday soon we’ll find, my friends
That we’re penned against The Wall

Come friends, come friends. Come gather ‘round
For to sing, oh sing we joyfully!
Let us sing about a better world
Where different paths will soon unfurl
Where no man’s blood shall stain the soil
Of a land where freedom rings