Posts Tagged ‘inequity’

The price of following Jesus

September 6, 2025

Pentecost 13 – 2025

Luke 14:25-35

Marian Free

In the name of God, who stands with the poor, the vulnerable and the oppressed and who asks that we do the same. Amen.

Decades ago, I read Dietrich Bonhoeffer’s Letters and Papers from Prison. At the time I was struck by his courage and by his clarity of vision. He has remained for me a hero of faith and an example of Christian witness in difficult times.

Bonhoeffer was in his twenties when Hitler was installed as Chancellor of Germany, yet despite his relative youth he perceived the danger of the cult of the Fuhrer and publicly warned that the leader might become the ‘misleader’. He was among many church people who resisted the incorporation of Nazi ideology into the church’s theology (a compromise many churches were willing to make in order to keep peace). Bonhoeffer consistently critiqued both the government and the church and was part of a break-away movement which formed the Confessing Church – a coalition of those who refused to accept the Nazi influence in matters of faith.

Bonhoeffer’s willingness to criticize the government led to his being forbidden to speak in public and having to report regularly to the Nazis but, ironically perhaps, through the influence of his brother-in-law he became a member of the Abwehr (the German military-intelligence agency). It was through his connections there that he became part of a group who plotted to kill Hitler. He said of this decision: “If I sit next to a madman as he drives a car into a group of innocent bystanders, I can’t, as a Christian, simply wait for the catastrophe, then comfort the wounded and bury the dead. I must try to wrestle the steering wheel out of the hands of the driver.” 

His involvement in this plot led to his arrest and imprisonment.  He was sent to Tegel Prison for 11/2 years. Then, as the Allies advanced and defeat became inevitable, the Germans moved Bonhoeffer and others east to Buchenwald and then to Flossenberg concentration camp. He was executed there on April 9, 1945. He was only 39 years old. It is reported that as he was led away to the place of execution he declared: “This is the end—but for me it is the beginning of Life!”[41]

Many of Bonhoeffer’s overseas colleagues understood the dangers he was facing by remaining Germany and offered him sanctuary in both Britain and the USA, but he refused both offers believing that he: “should live through this difficult time with the German people.” To fail to do so, he believed, would prevent his having any part in the rebuilding of that nation.

Bonhoeffer, along with Oscar Romero, Martin Luther King and the many martyrs of our age understood clearly that following Jesus and living by gospel values sometimes comes at a cost. Speaking truth to power, resisting Empire, standing with the poor and the vulnerable, seeking justice for the oppressed, confronting corruption and exploitation is not always welcomed by those who do not wish to rock the boat, or by those who want to maintain their power, protect or build their wealth, or to shield themselves from suffering.

Today’s gospel is a stark reminder that following Jesus is not just about accepting God’s love, but means living by gospel principles and, if necessary, dying for them. At this point in the gospel story Jesus is being followed by large crowds who may be caught up in the excitement of the Jesus’ movement, who may be hoping to witness a miracle or to be cured of an infirmity or disease. Jesus needs to let them know that discipleship is much more than comradeship and miracles. Discipleship demands that followers are true to the principles of justice, integrity and compassion – no matter how uncomfortable that may make the society around them. 

Jesus wants to know who among the crowd has the sort of commitment that will see them to the end.  “Whoever comes to me and does not hate life itself cannot be my disciple.”   Or what king, going out to wage war against another king, will not sit down first and consider whether he is able with ten thousand to oppose the one who comes against him with twenty thousand?” In other words: “How many of you have truly considered the price of following me and asked yourselves whether or not you have the capacity to meet the cost?”

Ever since Constantine made Christianity the faith of the Empire, the church has been entwined with the state and the establishment. As a consequence, except for brief occasions it has often been difficult to distinguish Christian values from cultural values. Times are changing, the community in which we live is becoming increasingly fractured and the disparity between rich and poor continues to grow. Homelessness is on the rise and those who can afford homes cannot find homes to buy, food insecurity is a very real issue for too many families, and too many young people are finding themselves on the wrong side of the law. 

It is time to reclaim our role as a voice for the voiceless, a supporter of the weak and protector of the vulnerable. It may be that we will be called to critique the power that would exploit the vulnerable, take advantage of the weak and enrich itself at the expense of the poor. 

It is time to remember Bonhoeffer’s words of caution:  “Christianity stands or falls with its revolutionary protest against violence, arbitrariness and pride of power and with its plea for the weak. Christians are doing too little to make these points clear rather than too much. Christendom adjusts itself far too easily to the worship of power. Christians should give more offence, shock the world far more, than they are doing now. Christians should take a stronger stand in favour of the weak rather than considering first the possible right of the strong.” 

We must remember and teach those who come after us that following Jesus is not a crutch but a cross, not only a comfort in times of difficulty, but a challenge to act when to act is costly and it is not a defence against harm but is sometimes a call to put oneself in the path of danger.

“Whoever comes to me and does not hate life itself cannot be my disciple.” 

Do we, with all our privileges and advantages really understand the cost of discipleship and, if we do, are we willing, if called upon, to pay the price?

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Blessed are. .

February 17, 2025

Epiphany 6 – 2025

Luke 6:17-26

Marian Free

In the name of God who promises joy to the grieving, hope to the despairing and life to the dying. Amen.

The last thing we need when we are feeling low or when everything seems to be going against us is glib, pious words. When you are grieving: “He/she is in a better place.” (What was wrong with where they were?) “God wanted another angel.” (Couldn’t God get another angel without taking my child.)  “She died doing what she loved.”  “There’s another star in heaven.” “It’s all part of God’s plan.” Or when you’ve lost your home to flood or fire: “What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger.” “Every cloud has a silver lining.”

Such trite, albeit well- meaning comments only exacerbate a person’s pain and leave them feeling unsupported and misunderstood. What many people want when they are overwhelmed with grief or struggling with their life circumstances is for someone to sit with them through the pain, to acknowledge that life can be unfair, and that tragedy is random and usually undeserved.

All of which makes me wonder about the blessings pronounced by Jesus in this morning’s gospel. Are they just superficial platitudes to help his followers (mostly the poor), to more fully embrace their situation? Is Jesus just patting the poor and hungry on the shoulder and saying that it is OK to be poor and hungry because they are blessed?  Is he encouraging the sorrowful to swallow their grief and move on? Surely not.

Those of us who have lived through straightened times know that there is nothing blessed about being poor.  It is hard to find a blessing in worrying about how to feed your children or in sending them off to school without the proper uniform or books. There is nothing blessed about relying on charity to pay your bills or worrying about where to live or knowing that you will never get ahead – that life will be one long struggle. Likewise, it is difficult to find a positive side to hunger or sorrow and, unless one has a martyr complex, it is hard to imagine that it is blessed to be hated, excluded reviled and defamed. “Rejoice and jump for joy!” who would have the energy to dance and if you did. wouldn’t such a reaction only inflame the negativity already directed at you?

Perhaps for the poor, the hungry and the grieving, there is more comfort to be found in the “woes” – that is if one takes comfort in the suffering or punishment of others, or if one delights in other people being “brought down to size.”

We are most familiar with the Beatitudes as they occur in Matthew 5.  Matthew has eight blessings compared to Luke’s four and Matthew has spiritualised Jesus’ words thus removing them from the realm of everyday experience, and in some way diminishing the pain of real poverty, sorrow and hunger and the accountability of the rich, the fed and the grieving. 

It is of course impossible at this distance to determine Jesus’ actual words, but Luke’s record is consistent with Luke’s agenda, in particular his attitude to the the rich and the comfortable and his emphasis on God’s preference for the poor, the marginalised and the excluded[1]. 

Luke’s version of the beatitudes is firmly grounded in earthly reality. His beatitudes could be said to be a timely message for our times. Times in which the gap between rich and poor is increasing and in which the rich use their wealth to influence the decisions of our policymakers and the reporting by our media. Times in which wealthier nations continue with life as usual while poorer nations are paying the price of a changing climate with famines, natural disasters and rising sea levels. Those for whom this present life offers little will find comfort in Jesus’ words that they will be blessed – not now, but when the kingdom comes. Those who are comfortable in this life, and more especially those whose comfort, security and wealth are a consequence of exploitation, self-centredness and an insatiable need for more would do well to heed Jesus’ warning that there will be consequences for their actions.

It is easy to believe that we, Jesus’ disciples are off the hook. After all I don’t imagine that there are any among us who could count ourselves among the very rich and that none of us has tried to enrich themselves at the expense of others. I imagine that we all try to be generous in our support of organisations that feed, clothe and house the poor. All of us will have had reason to grieve and many of us will have tried to make a stand for what is right (though probably not to the extent of being excluded defamed or reviled).  

We cannot dismiss the fact that the woes might be addressed to us. After all, we. who are. comfortable are in some way complicit in the current state of the world. Whether it is our need for security, comfort and safety that has caused to put ourselves first (without realizing how that impacts on others).  At the same time, many of our choices directly contribute to inequities in our own nation and in nations beyond our borders. (Do we know who makes our clothes, how our coffee is sourced, whether our suppliers are adequately compensated for the time, cost and effort it costs to. put food on our. supermarket shelves?)

In pronouncing the blessings and woes Jesus is inverting the usual norms of our society. Worse, he is upending the social structure. Blessing the marginalised and overlooked and, condemning those who create and sustain inequities between people, who preside over unjust structures who enrich themselves at the expense of others and who turn a blind eye to the suffering that is everywhere.

Blessed  are those who see the world as it is and who try to address the inequities such that all are blessed.

[1] All of which is particularly interesting if, as we think, the person to whom he is writing is a person of means.

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Defeating evil, by submitting to evil

April 4, 2015

Easter – 2015

Marian Free

In the name of God who turns darkness into light, despair into hope and tragedy into victory. Amen.

I don’t think that anyone would dispute that we live in a world that is full of inequity, injustice, oppression and cruelty. By accident of birth, most of us have escaped the horrors that abound in nations too many to name. In this country we have a democratically elected government and sufficient wealth that our children do not die of hunger or of preventable disease. Few of us have had to flee our homes because we are terrified by relentless bombing or the approach of an enemy that is known for its cruelty. Our children are not at risk of being killed or kidnapped simply because we choose to educate them. It is very unlikely that we will be sent to prison (or worse, ‘disappeared’) because we challenge government policies or laws or expose corruption or injustice. Our labour laws ensure that the vulnerable cannot be exploited and our poor are not so desperate that they risk life and limb eking out a living from rubbish dumps nor would they sell their daughters into prostitution or their children into slavery.

The awful reality now, as in every previous generation, is that all over the world innocent people suffer and die in ways that we cannot even begin to imagine. Impossible as it is for most of us to imagine, an over-riding desire for wealth, status and power drives some people (even groups of people) to exploit, oppress or silence others.

These are not easy issues to contend with. When we think about the unspeakable suffering that is inflicted on some people in order to gratify the needs of others, it is easy to become overwhelmed by the enormity of the situation. We can’t even begin to grasp the horror that is the daily existence of millions of people throughout the world and we feel both impotent and ill-equipped to do anything to change things. We are frozen by indecision and do little or nothing.

One of the things that is different about Jesus is that he faced evil head on, he determined that evil would not have the final word, that violence, injustice and oppression could be both confronted and defeated. Jesus refused to play by the rules of his enemies. He understood that it is impossible to defeat evil with evil and that violence only leads to violence. By refusing to resist arrest, by accepting the false accusations, by submitting to the taunting, by enduring the flogging and by accepting the cross, Jesus proved that in the final analysis, violence and evil are powerless to destroy goodness and life. For good triumphs over evil not through violence or war, not through oppression or force, not by resistance or compulsion.

Jesus defeats evil by submitting to the power of evil. By freely accepting his fate, Jesus made it clear that the powers of this world in fact had no power over him. By choosing to relinquish his right to defend himself, Jesus demonstrated how ineffectual his opponents really were. By refusing to fight for his life, Jesus made it clear that those who sought his death had not power over him. Throughout his trial and even on the cross, Jesus remains in control – his enemies might take his life, but they cannot destroy him.

The resurrection is proof positive that by submitting to death, Jesus has frustrated the powers of this world and shown how impotent they are. Injustice and cruelty do not have the final word, their victory is limited, temporary. Jesus refused to be bound by worldly values that give success, influence and possessions priority. He was prepared to lose everything, even life itself rather than lose his integrity and play the game the way his enemies played.

It is all too obvious, that Jesus’ victory over evil and death was not the final solution. As we have seen for millions of innocent people the world continues to be a place of horror and suffering. That said the resurrection is a powerful demonstration that while evil might persist in the world, it does not ultimately have the power to enslave us.

We have a choice. We can choose to resist evil. We can make the decision not to be governed by the forces that control this world. We can resolve to live by kingdom values – seeking above all the well-being of others and our own self-aggrandisement. We can play by different rules and in so doing expose the failings and the evils of the rules that govern behaviours that result in exploitation, injustice and oppression. We can cling on to power, possessions and status, or we can give it all away for the ultimate goal of life for all in the present, and life eternal in the future. Jesus’ victory is our victory, if only we chose to share it.

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