Ezekiel is tired of prophesying doom and ready to quit. God says, "If you don't tell the wicked to change their ways, and they keep doing what they are doing, they'll die, and you will be to blame. If you tell them to change and they don't listen, they'll still die, but no blame on you. Of course, I really don't want anyone to die, I want them all to repent and be saved."
In Matthew, Jesus says, "If another Christian does something that is hurtful, you owe it to them to let them know (and repair the damage between you, by implication). If they won't listen, try again with a couple of witnesses. If they persist in being hurtful, take your concern to the community. If the person refuses the guidance of the church, they may need to be removed from the center of the community." [My interpretive adaptation!]
The first of these passages has nothing to do with one on one interaction. The prophet is standing up before the whole of the society to chastise the powers to turn to the values of kindness, generosity, honesty and faithfulness. Many of the people who founded our nation were people of faith who wanted to create a new society based on their interpretation of scripture. By the time of the constitution, there were many different beliefs represented, and a secular philosophy based in broadly Christian principles was the way to unite the colonies and allow for the diversity. We have moved away from and returned to variations of those high principles over our history.
In recent decades, we have moved away from some aspects of them that would call us to think first of others and work for the common good. We have moved away from personal restraint or moderation to extreme sports and speech and dress and sound on a large scale. (I think we always need an experimental fringe who test out the edges of art and behavior, but am not sure it is good for so much of society to embrace it.) We have moved from a sense of history to believe now is everything.
I think there is a need for the church to take on the role of Ezekiel or Isaiah, calling our society to account. Since we are not a theocracy ruled by priests of one unified faith, we need to use the terms of faith with caution. But we have the language of the constitution and philosophy to help us talk about the common good, about justice and fairness and the rights and responsibilities of the whole instead of just the individual.
If we do not speak out against the evils we see in society, can we escape responsibility for the lives destroyed? God hopes and calls for repentance, for society to turn away from harmful ways and toward peace and justice for all. What would I hold up as harmful? The widespread practice of gambling, and the promotion of it by governments as a fund raising tool. The greed of corporations who care more about shareholder wealth than products or customers or users or workers, and the outrageous disparities between executive salaries and "golden parachutes" and worker wages and stolen pensions. The devaluing of labor and the skills of workers that is evident when companies dump long term employees and locations for cheap labor abroad or that pays wages so low only illegal immigrants are willing to take the jobs, because government support for "free" trade has allowed the destruction of local economies in favor of global service to American consumerism. The creation of demand for more and more stuff at cheaper and cheaper prices that means only the very wealthy can buy goods that actually can be repaired and maintained and kept for many years. The poorer the person, the more life is filled with the disposable and worthless. Good furniture from ordinary households of the past is now valuable antiques. New furniture is hardly worth giving to the Salvation Army.
Enough of my rant. But I would love to have you rant back. Where do you find evil in our world? What should we stand up against? And what for?
From the relatively far distance of my planning day, I had decided to preach on this and on Matthew, with the tempering wisdom of Romans to guide all. This week the events of worship and an inspired reading of Exodus dictates something different.
Moving on toward Sunday,
Marlea
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