Establishing Justice in the Earth
Preacher: Rt Hon Lord Wallace of Tankerness
Readings: Isaiah 42:1-7; Matthew 25:31-46
May the words of my mouth
and the meditation of our hearts
be pleasing in your sight,
O Lord, our Rock and Redeemer. Amen.
It is a real pleasure to have been asked to address you this morning, in this historic and magnificent chapel, on the occasion of the St Andrew’s University Founders and Benefactors service. And it is my privilege to bring to you congratulations and good wishes on behalf of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland.
I must confess that over the years, my visits to St Andrew’s have more often been to view or play golf (but never on the Old Course) than to visit the University. However, during the time when I had ministerial responsibility for higher education, I did value engagement with the then Principal and recall a particularly stimulating visit to the Sea Mammal Research Unit, which had a particular interest for me as an islands’ constituency MSP. So in no way do I feel a stranger here.
So today is a day for commemoration, celebration, and thanksgiving for the imaginative foresight of Bishop Henry Wardlaw and his successful petitioning of Avignon Pope Benedict XIII; and to recognise too with thanks and appreciation, all who, down the centuries, have been benefactors or have contributed through resources or academic endeavour to make this renowned seat of learning what it is today.
But this morning, we are only too conscious that as we commemorate, there are women, men and children in Ukraine living in fear and anxiety as they see their homeland invaded by hostile armed forces. And there are students and staff at this University with family in this so troubled area. We lament with them.
At times like this, there can be a tendency to feel helpless. But, as followers of Jesus, our response must be rooted in prayer, not least that those who suffer and are in fear might know they are not forgotten and most certainly not forgotten by God, whose ways are the paths of peace.
And it is appropriate this morning to recall words from Martin Luther King in a speech in 1957,
“I come not to bring this old peace which is merely the absence of tension; I come to bring a positive peace which is the presence of justice and the Kingdom of God.”
And in the passage from Isaiah which we read, we are told that God’s servant, “will not grow faint or be crushed until he has established justice in the earth.”
A commitment to prayer and to justice is a fitting individual response to today’s turmoil. Moreover, I believe such a commitment would have chimed well with the values of those founded this university over six centuries ago.
Those values and the vision of Bishop Wardlaw and others, passed down over the ages, have ensured that today’s academics and students enjoy the benefits of what has gone before. Contemplating the efforts of those founders to petition the Pope and to realise their dreams, the words of the prophet Joel, echoed by Peter on the day of Pentecost, came to mind, “your old men shall dream dreams and your young men shall see visions.”
Perhaps it can be said that academic institutions embody much of the benefit of inter-generational synergies. In his book, ‘Let Us Dream’, Pope Francis reflects that the future is born from the conjunction of the young and the old, and quotes an Argentinian poet, Francisco Luis Bernardes,
“At the end of it all I’ve understood
That what on the tree flowers
Lives from what is buried”
Ancient institutions of learning, such as this university, have often rightly set store by the learning and teaching of senior academic figures.
Here, the accrued wisdom of the old can be shared and built upon by the young.
Last year, moving house in Orkney, I had to sort out papers accumulated over 37 years – many of them kept because they might come in handy one day. I certainly didn’t have preaching at the St Andrew’s Founders and Benefactors service in mind when I downloaded a printout of a BBC Radio 4 service from the Vatican Observatory on Epiphany 2008 – but it has come in handy! The preacher was the Observatory Director, Bro. Guy Consolmagno. In his homily he said this,
“Science prepares us to be surprised. Only by understanding the ordinary, can we appreciate the extraordinary. But we only see the extraordinary if we believe it is there to be seen, and if we take the time to look. Sometimes an enormous amount of time.”
His talk was in the context of the star seen by the magi, but the scientific discipline and application which he describes can be a guide or encouragement for us on our journey of faith. Remember Simeon in the Temple, waiting long and looking for the promised Messiah and seeing the extraordinary – a baby in the arms of an ordinary poor couple.
Here in St Andrew’s, in February 2022, are our spiritual antennae tuned in to discover to what and to where the Spirit is guiding us? Against the background of turmoil and conflict on our continent, brought home all to readily in a world of 24/7 rolling news as well as the all too hectic pace of modern life, are we able to see the extraordinary amongst the ordinary – to experience that spiritual insight in our reading, our prayer, our worship, in our encounters with others, however unlikely or extraordinary?
As we approach and prepare for the period of Lent, maybe now is as good a time as any to reflect on how we might become more attentive to discern that still, small, prompting voice.
And is it possible that there may be a voice calling us to stand up for justice in a world crying out for justice. The call for justice permeates both Old and New Testaments. In today’s reading from the prophet Isaiah, justice is mentioned three times in the first four verses:
he will bring forth justice to the nations;
he will faithfully bring forth justice;
he will not grow faint or be crushed until he has established justice in the earth.
Learning and discovery, advancing scientific boundaries are to be lauded, but they cannot be the whole story. What we do – or do not do – with discoveries must surely be a faith issue and an issue of justice.
Consider for a moment the world response to the covid pandemic, and in particular, the distribution of vaccines.
I am in the fortunate position of having had two vaccines plus a booster, but we all here are very conscious that for a large swathe of the world’s population, even one vaccination has not materialised.
The international scientific cooperation to develop a vaccine to combat covid was remarkable and a great testament to what can be done. That the availability of a vaccine is scientifically possible makes it a moral issue when, for billions it is not actually available; when it is literally a matter of life and death.
Or take the issue of climate change. The COP has moved on, but the pressing issues associated with climate change and its consequences have not. Whilst world leaders may negotiate agreements and communiques, the science of climate change is unequivocal. The science is not susceptible to negotiation. What matters is how, in faith, we respond to the reality of the science.
Our faith approach to climate change and the concerns it gives rise to is, I believe, rooted in both our love for God, our Creator and for our neighbours. The awesome wonder of God’s creation is captured so fully and beautifully in several Psalms. Psalm 104, for example, resounds with the interdependence of the created world. Our inter-dependence with each other, and our dependence on God. Millennia before the word ‘biodiversity’ entered our vocabulary, the Psalmist more than captured the idea. And the implications of interdependence are that if we damage creation, we must surely damage ourselves.
It was at a Christian Aid briefing shortly before COP 26, when I heard a presentation by Kenyan pastor, Bob Kikuyu. He graphically described the devastation brought about by drought and crop failures, and the further devastation then wreaked by torrential rain and flash flooding; both of which had resulted in death, and which had made even more difficult an already fragile rural community.
And the Biblical allusion which he so powerfully made was to the prodigal son. He said that the global community – and particularly those of us in the world’s rich countries -had acted like the prodigal son and squandered our inheritance. And now we must return and confess to our Creator that we have sinned and must commit ourselves to return to what God intended in our relationship with creation.
Both these examples – vaccine equity and climate justice – are illustrative of how scientific research and discovery having taken the global community a long way forward, but how we still require positive action to secure global justice.
If justice is what love looks like in the public square, we must surely use resources and learning to help people realise the promise of Jesus that we not only should have life but have life in all its fullness, and in that way, celebrate those whose vision established this University.
The ways in which we are called upon to love our neighbours and the sense of cherished worth and dignity of each individual are brought home to us in today’s Gospel reading.
“37 Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when was it that we saw you hungry and gave you food, or thirsty and gave you something to drink? 38 And when was it that we saw you a stranger and welcomed you, or naked and gave you clothing? 39 And when was it that we saw you sick or in prison and visited you?’ 40 And the king will answer them, ‘Truly I tell you, just as you did it to one of the least of these who are members of my family, you did it to me.’”
These actions are how Love manifests itself. But pause and consider just how momentous these words are. It does not say that we do these actions ‘for Jesus’, or ‘because of Jesus’, but we do it “to Jesus”. And the opposite is also true. When we walk by on the other side, it is Jesus whom we are ignoring.
For in telling the parable of the Good Samaritan, Jesus reveals to us not only the loving depth of God’s justice, but that it is a justice which is boundless and a justice which doesn’t recognise boundaries.
That is also the message in the verses from Isaiah which we read.
The Servant to whom Isaiah refers is the one who has been given as a light to the nations – a light to open the eyes that are blind and bring from the prison those who sit in darkness.
This is echoed in the great hymn of the Church, the Nunc Dimittis when Simeon describes Jesus “a light for revelation to the Gentiles” “and for glory to your people Israel”
At that time, the Gentiles were people who did not belong to the people of God. But Jesus breaks down that boundary. His message is one which reaches out with the loving embrace of belonging. And yet, as we all too readily know, our world is full of people who, for whatever reason, don’t think that they belong. Or people who are treated as if they do not belong, or are declared that they no longer belong, have had to escape oppression, and flee from their homes to walk the long road of the refugee.
And in a cruel twist, may we uphold in prayer those in Ukraine who through force of arms may be being made to belong to an entity to which they do not wish to belong, and are faced with the dilemma as to whether to stay or flee.
Let us also recall that in the eyes of the political and religious establishment of the day, Jesus himself did not belong. And he endured the violence of hostile humanity and was crucified – outside the city wall.
So, the call not to be daunted or be crushed until justice has been established in the earth passes down to us.
As followers of the One who was and is a light to those who do not think they belong, or who are made to feel alien, let us be advocates and workers for their justice.
END.