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Jesus in the City
The 2nd UK Urban Mission Congress
"Community Conflict and Celebration"
Belfast, 26-30 September 1998
Address by Maryanne Ure
When speaking to a group, I always begin with the song of Miriam, the poor, pregnant, unmarried 15-year-old Jewish girl as she describes her God to her cousin Elizabeth in the first chapter of Luke.
Miriam, or Mary as we know her, certainly did not live in a just society. Yet, even as a sheltered, very young woman, she recognized the infinite, compassionate power of her God whom she describes with great passion.
My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord
and my spirit exults in God my Saviour.
Because He has looked upon His lowly Handmaid.
Yes, from this day forward, all generations shall call me blessed.
For the Almighty has done a great thing for me.
Holy is His name.
And His mercy reaches from age to age for those who fear Him.
He has shown the power of his arm.
He has frustrated the plans of the proud who maintain their
privileges at the expense of the poor;
He has struck down the powerful from their arrogant
thrones maintained by crushing the people;
He has sent the rich away empty handed; they who got
rich at the expense of the poor who daily get poorer.
He has come to the help of Israel his servant,
mindful of His mercy according to the promise he made to our ancestors -
of his mercy -to Abraham and His descendants forever.
If you have never heard the Magnificent prayed this way before, it is because it is a translation of the prayer as said by the landless people of the northeast of Brasil. They don't fool around with words! And they recognise the relevance of these biblical words in their lives of suffering and exclusion. All of us need to recognise that relevance in our lives and in our work.
This weekend has, I think, been a powerful experience for us all. We have come from all parts of the country, some of us perhaps in slight trepidation because this kind of meeting is new to us. We have prayed together, laughed together, and listened to one another's stories, experiences and faith journeys that have led us to where we are today. We have met some extraordinary people on our visits around this wonderful city. And we have shared our joys and our heartbreaks, our successes and our failures in our work.
Sometimes, the heartbreaks and failures can overwhelm us and leave us feeling alone in a brutal world. During these past days, I hope you have discovered, as I certainly have, that we are not alone in our work to bring into being the kingdom of God. The knowledge that others are 'out there' living the Gospel message as we are trying to do, should give us the strength we need to continue our work. What we've learned from our workshops and site visits should give a boost to our work.
I have been asked to speak about models of a just society and for me, that's a tough assignment because in my more weary moments, I can become cynical and almost lose sight of any sign of justice or peace in our world. Even if I were able to patent a model of a just society, I'm sure I would be laughed at and derided just as Christ was. I am also constantly aware of a warning given in the Vatican document, 'Justice in the World', "You cannot preach about justice unless you are just in other people's eyes". That is quite a frightening challenge to all of us because none of us is just in everything we do.
So what was Christ's command for a just society? It was deceptively easy, as expressed in Luke, chapter 10. Jesus simply asked the young lawyer to read the law, which said, "You must love the Lord your God with your whole heart, with your whole soul, with all your strength and with all your mind, and your neighbour as yourself." It sounds so obvious but it is probably the most difficult thing ever asked of us as Christ's followers. He also told us to love one another as he had loved us. Now, that's scary because He loved us to death - death on a cross. How willing are we to follow that command? Not very, I imagine.
Many people will explain away these commands by saying that Christ didn't really expect us to die for love of each other. But he did - and there are thousands of people who have done just that - not just the martyrs we read about in books but those who have lived and continue to live in grossly unjust societies - those who, terrified of the consequences, still have the courage to stand up and demand justice for their persecuted sisters and brothers.
What do we mean when we talk about an unjust world? We just have to pick up a newspaper to understand what injustices pervade our small planet - famine in the Sudan (there is enough food in that country to feed every citizen, but war prevents its distribution to the starving people of the south). Parts of Bangladesh are still under water. 23 million people have lost their homes in the floods - 23 million - nearly half the population of Britain!
Why? Originally, because over the past century and a half, countries like Britain have raped the forests which were a natural barrier to floods in this low lying country.
There's Indonesia - not just in East Timor are people suffering discrimination and violence. In cities like Jakarta, many hundreds of people, mostly Chinese, have been beaten and murdered, many hundreds of Chinese women and children raped and burned to death, in the name of freedom. Having lived in the Indonesian jungle for several years, I can assure you that Chinese people in that country live in constant fear of violence. This latest episode has merely confirmed those fears.
The effects of the international debt crisis on the world's poorest people has been much in the news thanks to the work of the Jubilee 2000 campaign and its efforts to convince the World Bank, the IME and countries like Britain and the US to cancel the debts owed by the poorest countries which impose hunger, unemployment and slave wages on the world's most vulnerable people.
But it is all too easy to point the finger at others and cry 'unjust'. We are all good at shouting about what is being done, or not done, OUT THERE. But, as with justice, injustice begins with you and me.
We are unjust when we refuse to listen to people in our own families- when we are judgmental and have all the answers. We are unjust when we become so involved with our own concerns that we ignore the needs and concerns of others, especially those we may not think 'deserving' of help.
We are unjust when we dismiss people who don't believe what we believe. We condemn international debt but blame the consequences on dictators, on lazy people, on multinationals instead of on our lifestyles and ourselves.
We say we are not prejudiced while wholeheartedly supporting, usually by our silence, racist government policies, which deny sanctuary to asylum seekers and refugees.
Strange as it may seem, I myself experienced racism at the hands of immigration officials upon my arrival in London for my very first visit to Britain. Extremely tanned, with long dark hair, immigration officials pulled me away from the queue and most un-gently pushed me into a chair along with several Asian people, including a ten or eleven year old girl in traditional Muslim dress
We had all disembarked from a Pakistan International Airlines plane from Singapore and Ceylon as it was then.
After a while, I was bodily lifted from my seat by two men and pushed into a room to face two additional 'officials'. I had no idea what was going on. The man in charge kept shouting at me, demanding to know why I was trying to enter the UK. I innocently said I was engaged and had come to meet my fiancée's family in Glasgow. They all laughed. Being engaged was the usual excuse for immigrants trying to gain entry.
Eventually, he asked for my passport and was astonished to see it was a special US passport, issued to Peace Corps Volunteers (I had been a teacher in North Borneo for more than two years). How did you get this, he shouted. I'm an American. Where were you born? In the Bronx. What were you doing on that plane? I am on my way home to NY from Borneo and stopped off with my fiancée to meet my future in-laws. What were you doing in Borneo? I told him. But they're all black, he said. No, I said (still innocently), the people are black, white, brown and yellow.
The men looked at each other, then in a dramatically different tone, the interviewer stamped and handed back the passport, and said, well, then, welcome to Britain - and I was ushered out with great decorum right through immigration. Looking back, I saw the two men lift the little girl and push her into the room. It took me several hours to realise the reasons behind my experience. I still think of that wee girl - she did not have a US passport. They would not have been so 'nice' to her.
Our prejudices weigh us down and we don't even recognise them. There is a powerful song from the musical 'South Pacific' which says 'you've got to be taught to hate and fear, you've got to be taught from year to year, it's got to be drummed in your dear little ear, you've got to be carefully taught'. The words are true - babies are not born unjust; we are not born prejudiced. We are carefully taught from birth to fear those who are different and, knowingly or unknowingly, we teach our children to think the same way - and so injustice continues and thrives.
However, we are at our most unjust when we keep silent in the face of injustice. A Panamanian human rights worker once said, " What I fear is being in the presence of evil, and doing nothing. I fear that more than death." What an extraordinary statement! But it's one we should always have before us as we seek to build a just society.
Why are we silent? We are afraid - afraid of what other people may think of us - fearful that we may be excluded from polite society if we stand up against the injustices which surround us - poverty, homelessness, unemployment and poorly paid work, sexual and racial discrimination, bigotry.
All human beings want to be loved - speaking out might deny us that love. In some areas of this country, speaking up for justice could lead to violent retribution against our families and us. Very few of us could face that possibility.
Yet, Christ stood up and demanded justice for His people, his most loved ones, the outcasts, the poor, the unjustly imprisoned, and the lepers. He performed miracles - together we can too, if we have the courage.
And let's not forget the warnings of the prophet Amos. Although terrified of what he says, I love Amos because he doesn't mince his words. Amos writes in chapter 8:
"Listen to this, you who trample on the needy and try to suppress the poor people of the country... The Lord swears it by the pride of Jacob, 'Never will I forget a single thing you have done."
We might say, in our own defense, that we don't trample on the needy or try to suppress the poor people of the country; that, in reality we support people. But we do 'trample on the needy' whenever we keep silent in the face of any structural injustice, which causes pain to others!
I'd like us all to spend about 5 minutes reflecting on a few questions. The first will be easy. The others less so as we will have to look into ourselves a bit more and perhaps see what we would rather not see. But, I think seeing ourselves, warts and all, is a necessary first step towards a just society. If you can, please reflect on the questions in groups of three. There will be no reporting back to the full group.
a) Where do I see injustice in the world? In my country; in my community?
b) Where am I failing; what are my prejudices? why? c) are there prejudices I have grown out of?
Why / how? Where did they come from in the first place? Have I knowingly or unknowingly passed them on to others?
Having thought about what is unjust in our world and how, in some way, we are responsible, we should now be able to move forward and think about models of a just society.
In 1976, the World Council of Churches emphasised -
- the right to basic guarantees of life;
- the right to self-determination and cultural identity and the rights of minorities;
- the right to participate in decision-making within the country;
- the right to dissent;
- the right to personal dignity; and
- the right to religious freedom.
But I prefer the vision of Donal Doff. Those of you who have heard me speak before may remember my fondness for this marvelous Irish missionary and theologian. Donal has set out his example of a just society and I certainly could not do better. He writes that being Christian means getting involved with the world, to change that world to one where gospel values are the norm -rather than the exception -
where the dignity and fundamental human rights of every person are respected;
where those who were labeled as worthless have become aware of their gifts;
where the people who had previously felt powerless now contribute to the shaping of society;
where every person has the opportunity to do rewarding work;
where economic, social, political or cultural pressures do not force people into compromising their personal integrity; where sexism, patriarchy, racism and discrimination are a thing of the past;
where solidarity is nurtured rather than undermined; where the value of peace is cherished
where the Earth is not exploited but is sustained by us as it sustains us.
'As a Christian', he writes, 'I believe that that world is the promise of God.'
So then, a just society is one in which our human rights are protected, enabling all people live free from fear - fear of violence, of poverty, of exclusion, of prejudice. All political parties promise these freedoms. None of them fulfils them.
A just society would encourage all its people to use their many, varied and precious gifts as everyone loved one another and enabled others to become all they were created to be; where those who for whatever reason felt powerless to change things, were able to contribute to the transformation of their community. Where in the world is such a society?
A just society would provide everyone with the opportunity, not just to work, but to o worthwhile and fulfilling work for just and adequate pay. In Britain, nearly 2 million people remain on the unemployment register. Many others, including those who are homeless, don't even appear on that register. And yet many others are forced into part-time, low paid, monotonous, insecure jobs. "Love your neighbour as yourself?' I wonder.
In a just society, decent housing would be available to all; access to medical care and security in old age would be vital requirements. Some of you may now be thinking 'She's crazy - what she's asking for is an impossible dream.' Perhaps - but the Kingdom of God is our dream, isn't it?
In our just society, women and men, young and old, gay and straight, black and white would be treated equally and fairly. It certainly doesn't happen now. In many of our churches, women are still excluded from important positions and decision-making roles. In our communities and often in our churches, black people and people who are gay are not given the welcome and support they deserve as our sisters and brothers in Christ. And young people, who are the future of our churches and our society, are often feared, rarely encouraged.
In a just society, we would elect a listening, caring and wise government. Some of us thought that had happened last year. Some of us are now questioning our judgement!
A just world would be a peaceful world. By that, I don't mean simply that there would be no more war - although that would be a start! Peace is not just the absence of war; it is the presence of love and reconciliation and respect. That peace is a long way off.
Finally, Donal Dorr suggests that for a just society to exist, we must cease to exploit our fragile world and help to sustain it as it so generously sustains us. We are increasingly aware that the environment is being destroyed because the world's resources are not infinite, yet we continue to draw on these resources and damage them faster than we restore them.
We humans are, in general, such a greedy species. We rarely analyse what our actual needs are. We just WANT; we just DEMAND. Our lifestyles, especially if we enjoy comfortable living standards, do not bear inspection. We like to think we are saving the planet if we recycle our newspapers. But much more than that is necessary if our children are to enjoy the beautiful world which is ours at the moment.
I would like us to reflect on our lives and our lifestyles for a few minutes, remembering the true story of an American tourist during the last century who visited a Polish rabbi, Hofetz Chaim. When he saw how little furniture the rabbi had, he asked him 'where is your furniture?' 'Where is yours?' replied the rabbi. 'Mine?' asked the puzzled American, 'but I'm only passing through.' 'So am I,' said the
rabbi.
Let's stop again for a few minutes and reflect on our world, in all its glory. Again, chat to your neighbours as you did earlier, remembering the words of a Native American chief who said, (and forgive the exclusive language - it is his, not mine), 'The earth does not belong to 'man'; 'man' belongs to the earth.
1. God said: Be masters of the fish of the sea, the birds of heaven and all living animals on the earth. (Genesis 1:28). What do I understand by God s command to Adam to have dominion of the rest of Creation?
2. What concerns do I have about humankind s use and abuse of the natural world?
3. We believe the world belongs to God. What therefore does this say to us as Christians, as God s stewards? What sort of world do we want for our grandchildren?
So, what's lacking in ourselves, in our world and - dare I say it - in our churches, that we cannot achieve the justice which God proclaims as His Kingdom.
For one thing, confidence in our own ability to change things. I am just one person - how can I possibly transform the world? It's true -I am only one person, but I have been graced, as we all have, with the gifts of the Holy Spirit - gifts of wisdom, understanding, courage, fortitude -if only we all kept this in mind as we faced the realities of life.
As individuals, we often believe, as Thomas Cullinan writes, that there is 'nothing we can do. ('Yes,' he says, 'we can attend meetings, write and read papers, dabble with lifestyle; but come now - there's nothing we can really do, consciously, to feed fall] the hungry, clothe fall] the naked.., in our modern world). But God's supreme moment in the life of Christ was precisely when he could 'do' nothing - naked, impotent, absurd, on the Cross. ft was that 'hour' and that alone, which enabled resurrection and new life. ft is far more basic to 'exist with' people, than to 'act for' them. And the agony we experience. and must live, is our 'existing with' those in the margins, even while we live in the centre. Let no one say to you: don't bother about things you can do nothing about. Sooner or later God will use you to bear fruit...
There is a moving little fable which some of you may have heard. It was a chilly, overcast day when the horseman spied the little sparrow lying on its back in the middle of the road. Reining in his mount, he looked down and inquired of the fragile creature, "Why are you lying upside down like that?" "I heard the heavens are going to fall today," replied the bird. The horseman laughed. "And I suppose your spindly legs can hold up the heavens?" "One does what one can," said the little sparrow.
So, yes, I am only one person. But, with a little effort, I will discover that there are others within my community and church who believe as I do and we all know that working together we become much more confident and courageous in what we say and do.
Look at South Africa! A nation of persecuted people has begun the long, seemingly impossible journey towards justice and equality with very little anger and with almost no thoughts of vengeance which would be the expected reaction of people who were treated for so long as little more than dumb animals - indeed, with far less respect than a family dog or cat would get!
For more than a year, during the Truth and Reconciliation hearings, the world has listened to stories of unspeakable violence against an innocent people, at times told by oppressors who showed absolutely no sign of remorse.
I had twice been a peace monitor in very violent areas of South Africa and, having seen the horrific results of oppression, I have had problems accepting that these people should receive amnesty. And yet, the vast majority of Black South Africans have done just that. It has been a humbling experience for me.
We have all been impressed by the strength and courage of the victims and their families. We too have that courage if we just pray for it as the very religious and devout people of South Africa have always done. Their prayer, combined with action for justice, has won them the opportunity to renew their magnificent country.
In our efforts to make our vision of a just society a reality, we, as 'church' people, would have to demonstrate to the wider world that our churches were just before anyone would listen to us. As a Catholic Central American theologian said of the Christian church a few years ago, 'people no longer listen to what we say; they look at what we do.' So are our churches living out the message of Christ's just world; or are they simply preaching about it?
Church institutions, of whatever tradition, tend to be conservers of status and power. They fear change. The majority, no matter what they say, work from the top down. Most churches have unjust work practices within their organisations - low pay, poor working conditions, unequal opportunities for employees. They are patriarchal and paternalistic, even in so-called equal opportunities denominations. Most churches are afraid to take risks although Thomas Cullinan has said that 'you can't live the gospel in security'. They fail to love - since love involves accepting people as they are, encouraging and enabling them to grow.
As the rest of the world looks in at the Christian churches, what is most apparent perhaps is the division that exists between traditions. My own children say they are Christians but have great problems belonging to any denomination because they are certain Christ would have had no time for disunity.
When they read of church leaders speaking ill of other denominations, they become very cynical and ask just how we expect the world to accept us as just when we cannot even respect one another. Sadly, I fear they are right!
But the church is more than institution. We are the church and, as church, we are bound by our faith to give our lives to creating a just society.
Where, then, can we see hints of that just society which we all long for? Well, here in this place, during these past four days, we have been given a vision of what a just society could be. First of all, we have been meeting in the perfect venue.
The people of Northern Ireland have been through so much suffering and fear and exclusion. And yet, we have been welcomed with love and generosity by everyone we have met. People who have seen great conflict, have shown us the value of community.
I'm sure some of us arrived armed with assumptions of what Belfast and her people would be like. I hope our eyes have been opened to the reality. I have two vivid memories of Northern Ireland which I would like to share with you. The first happened 32 years ago, when my Glaswegian husband and I came across to visit his oldest friend, an Aberdonian who lived here. We stayed with a group of bachelors who were very kind and tried to make a freezing cold old manse warm enough for a freezing cold American! Many years later, my husband and two sons, came over to play golf with some of these same men. One of them, with great contrition, asked my sons to beg my forgiveness for his intolerable behaviour towards me all those years ago. He admitted that he had 'hated' me when I'd been here -because I was a Catholic. I had never been aware of this but it had tortured him for 25 years.
My other, wonderful experience, was coming with members of the Church of Scotland Church and Nation Committee on a fact finding visit. I was warned by someone that I would not be made welcome at a protestant church and would just have to accept that fact. In fact, the congregation could not have been more welcoming and honest about themselves and their fears and false assumptions about Catholics. It remains a beautiful and cherished memory.
In striving for a just society, we all need to rid ourselves of false assumptions about people. We all need to confess our faults, to accept that none of us is perfect. We all need to 'let go' and love. I hope that's what we've been doing this weekend.
That's what seems to be happening in Ireland even as we meet. Throughout this summer of tragedy and transformation, we have seen the birth pangs of a just society. There is a long way to go. But it's happening. When we leave here to go back to our own communities, I hope and pray that we will carry in our hearts the love which we have received and in our life's work to create that just society promised by our God, may we share that love with everyone we meet.
Will we be successful? Will our efforts bring that just world, the kingdom of God, into being? Probably not! But that's God's problem, not ours! We just have to keep trying.
We may never know the effects of what we do. The American Catholic Bishops, in their letter, The challenge of peace, remind us that "to choose the road to discipleship is to dispose oneself for a share in the cross. It is not enough to believe with one's mind; a Christian must also be a doer of the word, a wayfarer with and a witness to Jesus. This means we never expect complete success within history'.
As we prepare to go forward from this congress, strengthened by the prayer and solidarity we have shared, let us all have the courage to 'believe in the bright future - and in a God who wills it for us - not a perfect world, but a better one. Human hands and hearts and minds can create this world'.
I would like to end with my favourite poem. It was written by Pedro Casildaliga, a Brasilian bishop and champion of the oppressed.
His Name is Jesus
God has come home, retracting glory. God has sought permission
of the womb of a little girl trembling at a decree from Caesar and has become one of us:
A Palestinian among many on a street with no address, a semi-skilled worker doing rough jobs, who watches Romans and swallows come and go, who later on, dies a bad death,
murdered outside the city.
I know
that it's a long time ago
that you know about it
that they've told you,
that you know it coldly
because they've told you about it with cold words...
I want you to know it
with a jolt
today, perhaps for the first time,
attentive, uneasy, freed from any myth,
freed from so many petty freedoms.
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I want the Spirit to tell it to you
like an axe falling on a living trunk!
I want you to feel him like a rush of blood
in the heart of your routine
in the midst of this race of clashing wheels.
I want you to stumble over him as you might stumble over the doorway of your house,
coming back from the war, under the gaze
and restless kiss of your Father.
I want you to shout him out as the victory cry over a lost war, as the bleeding birth of hope on the bed of your listlessness,
with night coming on,
and all learning darkened.
I want you to find him, in a total embrace,
Companion, Love, Response.
You will be able to doubt that he's come home if you expect me to show you the warrant
of his wonders,
if you want me to sanction life's untidiness.
But you will not be able to deny
that his name is Jesus,
and you will not be able to deny
that you are waiting for him as you wait for breath to relieve asphyxia when death is wound round your neck like a questioning serpent.
His name is Jesus.
His name is what ours would be
if we were really ourselves. (Bishop Pedro Casildaliga)
Let us pray:
Lord, inspire us to live our lives in such a way that the yeast of goodness
may multiply in the hearts of those around us. Transform our lives
and, through us, transform our world. Amen.
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