Robbing Peter to Pay Paul - A Labor Day Sermon on Faith and Works Sea Raven, D.Min. September 3, 2006 Good morning. Before I get into the discussion, I want to remind you - or introduce to you - the text for this sermon and for the class I will be leading starting September 26. The text is "In search of Paul - How Jesus's Apostle Opposed Rome's Empire with God's Kingdom," and the author is the most influential scholar on the Planet of the historical Jesus, John Dominic Crosson. Crosson talks about "the normalcy of civilization," which leads inevitably to Empire through the sequence of piety, war, victory, and peace. And Empire is diametrically opposed to God's Kingdom, where all beings participate in justice/compassion, which brings peace automatically. Whether one comes down on the side of justification by faith (Paul) or works (Peter) depends on what is needed in the community. Paul teaches faith in Christ (grace) to save humanity from the imperial rule of what John Dominic Crosson calls "the normalcy of civilization"; i.e., justice/compassion/ (grace) versus war/victory/empire (works). Peter (and the orthodox church) teach justification by works - following the words and deeds of Jesus precisely (fundamentalism). "Faith" in that perspective means belief in the divinity of Jesus as God, proven by the results of one's life. The Orthodox view of justification by works led to the alliance of Christianity with the prevailing political powers. It is easy for a king, emperor, landlord, business owner to justify his life through good works. The "works" of the king/emperor/business owner may result in justice for subjects/workers, specifically through political or economic victory over competitors. So-called "terrorist" organizations such as Hammas and Hezbollah (to name non-Christian entities) have turned to social programs and political involvement, as has Sinn Fein in Northern Ireland. "Works" then contribute to the "good will" with which such organizations are viewed. They are "justified" - made just - through their good works. Eventually, as Martin Luther found to his horror, money becomes a substitute for actual works, to the extent that "dispensation" from the consequences of sin may be purchased for whatever the ecclesiastical or political market will bear. Wal-Mart, for example, is a major contributor to local charities, while continuing to pay its workers minimum wage, and refusing to provide healthcare or other benefits. Charitable contributions and other socially responsible works may offset perceived negative consequences of the policies or purposes of organizations. For example, oil companies such as Shell and BP sponsor development of alternative resources. The conventional wisdom that "the left hand doesn't know what the right hand is doing" comes to mind. The Protestant reformation was eventually hijacked by the continuing need to control society. Luther's call to return to Paul's justification by faith became faith in a God (Jesus) who would save humanity from the consequences of earthly sin and injustice, and guarantee eternal life. Rather than hope for justice in this life, believers look for reward in the afterlife. This is the faith of the oppressed and desperate. Justification by works is the sell-out position. It sells out to the prevailing wisdom that there is no justice without victory over political enemies or commercial competitors. It sells out to fear and abandons love. The ultimate work is the suicide bomber. It's possible that the early organizers of the Christian church did not understand Paul's argument for justification by faith. Paul's words taken literally and out of the context in which he wrote them approach meaninglessness. But once we understand, as John Dominic Crosson writes, that Paul's Jesus was a direct challenge to the imperial rule of Rome, then Paul's letters begin to come into focus as calls to liberation, justice/compassion, and the overthrow of the inevitable imperial nature of organized society. Paul speaks of the Grace of God bestowed on all of humanity, and of Jesus as the Christ, the Anointed One, Lord of the Kingdom of God. Don't let these words just slide by or set off fundamentalist red alerts. The Lord of the Kingdom of God is direct, in-your-face opposition to the Lord of the Roman Empire - or any Empire. In the story about Jesus' telling the Pharisee to "render to Cesar what belongs to Cesar, and to God what belongs to God," he was reminding the collaborators with Rome that Cesar owns nothing but the coin on which his likeness is engraved. God's Kingdom includes the earth and all that is therein. Here lies revolution. Paul carries the metaphor to the Pagan/Gentile world and teaches that God's grace means that humanity does not need to do anything to gain entrance and citizenship in God's Kingdom. Paul teaches the Lordship of the Christ, NOT the lordship of the earthly emperor/ president/ king/entrepreneur. Faith in this context means the certainty that nothing can separate us from the Kingdom of God - and for Christians, that means the love of God as illustrated in the life and death of Jesus. In Christian theological terms, Jesus is the Christ, the Lord of the Kingdom of God, not the Empire of Cesar. This kind of faith can get you killed. To be made just (justified) because of faith in one's birthright as an unalienable creature of God's Kingdom, is to be grounded in love, not fear. Compassion for all of God's Kingdom is the result. When enemies are viewed with compassion as part of the Kingdom, injustice and violence become impossible. There is no real conflict between "faith" and "works" when "faith" means living in justice/compassion because such living leads inevitably to sustainable works, whether political, social, or commercial. Fundamentalists who insist upon slavish adherence to orthodox belief systems and rules about what constitutes good or appropriate work rather than faith in the ultimate condition of justice/compassion may never see the promised land because it is always beyond them, out of reach, attainable only after death. Living in justice/compassion means hope for this life, not the next. So what does all this mean? In the words of the feminist movement of the 1960s and 70s, "the personal is political." Society insists that we are only justified by the work we do. Justification in society does not mean "to make just." It means to qualify, or to legitimize an individual's existence. If we have no work, we are deemed to have no usefulness to society. And what is work? Without launching into a whole separate sermon, work in modern society only qualifies as legitimate if it is paid for, and the higher the pay, the greater the justification. - sort of like indulgences. So the janitor is worth less than the CEO because the janitor only contributes a minimum wage. Women's work - raising children, cooking, cleaning, providing a safe home environment for a family - is worth nothing economically. Therefore, in the eyes of those who justify our existence through looking at our work, women and girls are worthless, illegitimate, and a drag on the economy unless they leave the home and land a job. But the CEO contributes more than the janitor or the child care worker because the CEO runs the corporation, which pays huge taxes to the government, contributes huge sums to charity, and to political action committees, which work to elect politicians who have the best interests of society in mind. And after all, a rising tide raises all boats. So the more the CEOs make, the more everyone makes, and the better society becomes for all - even those at the bottom who are doing the least valuable work: child care, trash collection, cleaning, retail clerks, etc. For 25 years, I worked as a legal secretary for some of the largest, most profitable, and best known law firms in Washington, D.C. Most of them make huge contributions to non-profits like the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, the Nature Conservancy, local food banks - they even have programs for their associates to do volunteer legal work at homeless shelters, and take on other pro-bono cases - meaning hardship cases where the person can't afford to pay the going rate for a big-firm lawyer. And I was very well paid. I was able to buy a house on Capitol Hill, and a late-model mini-van, and I could take trips to Nicaragua and El Salvador and learn about liberation theology, and I could take vacations to Ireland and Scotland. I was definitely contributing to society. Not as much as the partners at the law firms that sponsor the pro-bono legal teams, and certainly not as much as the CEO of Marriott Corporation, but I was legitimate. Society also rewards music, literature, and art, so long as it meets the criteria for successful sales. Music, literature, and art that does not meet the criteria for block-buster financial returns is - like the other work that makes no economic contribution - worthless. If you can't make it financially as an artist, musician, or writer, you can't justify staying in the field. And if you aren't making money with your art, your art - your work - is not justified. Where does faith fit into all this? Paul taught that the meaning of Jesus' life and teachings was that one need do nothing to participate in God's Kingdom. Grace. All people - Greeks, Jews, Slaves, Free, Male, Female - all are members of God's Kingdom. No one is left out. Our existence is justified, legitimate, vindicated, made whole, and we participate in God's justice simply by being. We can give to Cesar whatever has his name on it - the coin of the empire. But to God belongs all the rest. I no longer work for lawyers, as some of you know. I have been unemployed (or under-employed, given my age, experience, and education level) for over a year now. I recently began working as a cashier and service desk employee for one of the biggest food suppliers on the planet: Ahold Corporation, which owns Giant Food and the Martins Food Market chain in the Washington, D.C., Virginia, West Virginia, and Maryland region as well as Pennsylvania, and the Topps chain in New York State. My contribution to society is far lower now than it was when I worked for law firms. I make $8 an hour, and I choose to work 30 hours per week. As far as the economy is concerned, I contribute less than a minimum-wage full-time janitor at Wal-Mart. So is my existence justified? Not in terms of how society measures work and worth. For the moment I can choose a low-wage, part-time job because of the contribution I made earlier in the world of high wages and retirement benefits. Why would I choose to do this? Because I know that my life is justified - made just - contributes to justice-compassion, makes a difference on the Planet. Thirty years ago, I took the est training - as some of you have also done. It was a self-help, weekend seminar training program that was designed to jolt people out of their usual paradigm and into a mind-set that resulted in personal transformation. Now we can spend some time denigrating the fate and motives of the founder of est and the other self-help, personal transformation movements and organizations. My point is that I learned three things from that training experience that transformed the way I live my life. Some of this transformation came from a kind of advanced boot-camp I did called Break Through Weekend - specifically designed to train what was called "Guest Seminar Leaders," and future est trainer. Anyway, what I learned from that secular, 1970s program is three-fold: The Truth, when it is believed - i.e. when the truth becomes solidified into social norm - the truth believed is a lie. Faith means knowing that you make a difference, despite the fact that there is no evidence. At the end of the GSLP Break through weekend, I walked out of the training room at the end of the final exercise totally exhausted and my mind completely empty, except for one Christian hymn that floated through my mind: "O Jesus, I have promised to serve you to the end." The words are typical conservative Christian, but the meaning is that I have promised to participate in God's Kingdom movement, not a Jesus movement. I have promised to participate in the realm of justice/compassion , to be a follower, not a worshipper of Jesus. The Apostle Paul had it right, taking the story of Jesus to the Gentiles and foreigners outside the realm of the Jewish religion. It all comes down to Romans 8:12: Nothing can separate us from the love of God ... nothing. Nothing can separate us. All major religions and spiritualities realize this, but organized, politicized religion excludes people who are not part of the tribe: Muslims exclude non-Muslims; Christians exclude non-Christians. But all spiritual paths teach that seamless wholeness of creation, that we are all one. Our existence is justified because it is. When we experience that wholeness, that oneness, then we can live in justice-compassion. Then our lives are priceless, not worthless. Sea Raven, D.Min. Writer, Singer, Harper, Liturgist