November 6, 2005

Rev. Henry Ticknor
Unitarian Universalist Church of the Shenandoah Valley

Justice, Equity and Compassion

I want to begin this morning by sharing a reading from Jonathan Kozol taken from his study of children in America's schools titled Savage Inequalities:

"Standing here by the Ohio River, watching it drift west into the edge of the horizon, picturing it as it flows onward to the place three hundred miles from here where it will pour into the Mississippi, one is struck by the sheer beauty of this country, of its goodness and unrealized goodness, of the limitless potential that it holds to render life rewarding and the spirit clean. Surely there is enough for everyone within this country. It is a tragedy that these good things are not more widely shared."

I don't know if any of the rest of you do this, but I seem do it on a regular basis. What I am talking about is this: on occasion I will have what seems to be a really great idea; however, at some later date, just when I am ready to act on this really great idea the situation has changed, or the urgency of the idea seems to have passed, and I am left with a really great thought and no where to go. Well, this morning is a bit like this.

When Brenda Berry and I decided to combine a series on our seven principles in cooperation with the curriculum in the religious education program, we selected the first Sunday of each month as the time I would address one of the principles. That way families, we thought, would have a whole month to explore the ways each of the principles impacts their lives.

All was well and good until I began to prepare this morning's sermon on our second principle which speaks of justice, equity and compassion in human relations and I realized that not only is Tuesday election day, but that President Bush had nominated another judge to the supreme court and I thought what a day to be talking about justice, equity and compassion. I think for a moment I may have believed that the world was conspiring against me. But, such is life!

Our second principle in the Unitarian Universalist statement of principles and purposes is this: We, the member congregations of the Unitarian Universalist Association covenant to affirm and promote justice, equity and compassion in human relations. In a sense, our second principle grows out of the first.

Our first principle upholds the inherent worth and dignity of every person--our individual relationships with each other. Our second principle compels us to expand this understanding of relationship by asking each of us to examine our role in the broader community.

Our second principle speaks to our relationships within our families, our communities, our schools and our churches.

In other words, our second principle suggests a way of walking and acting in the world. Or, as Forrest Church suggests, we are a church of deeds not creeds.

But what do we mean when we use words like justice, equity and compassion?

"Justice is love operating at a distance," said the theologian Joseph Sittler. Justice implies a fair distribution of social benefits and burdens. Or as one writer said," Justice allocates resources based on need not greed."

Writing in a collection of essays titled, With Purpose and Principle, the now retired Unitarian Universalist minister Richard Gilbert writes, "Justice properly understood, is systematic, aiming at the underlying cause of social problems, not just at their symptoms. Treating symptoms alone might well be a soporific to cover fundamental injustice; it is like putting Band-Aids on a cancer.

Thus, food kitchens, however laudable, merely feed the victims of a fundamentally unjust social order rather than rooting out the causes of hunger. A systematic approach," Gilbert insists, "a systematic approach challenges the underlying premises and workings of economies that produce 'poverty in the midst of plenty.' A systematic approach to justice deals with policy issues, taxation, relief programs, and income distribution."

It seems to me that that justice is more of an intellectual concept--a concept of the head rather than of the heart. Justice is a value of force, a power often imposed on individuals from outside themselves. There is something almost harsh in it. Something almost arrogant, which says I have found the truth, the right, and I will force you to live by it.

Equity is a close relative of justice. Equity, too, is concerned with weighing and measuring, ensuring equal distribution of some good on two or more sides. And like justice, it is more rational and precise in its application.

Equity is concerned with the fundamental issue of fairness in life. There is little question that we ought to treat people fairly without regard to race, creed, gender, sexual orientation, or physical or mental ability. Equity exists when every man and every woman has access to the full range of human need: shelter, food, health care and education.

And lastly we believe in the importance of compassion. As the reverend Linda Hoddy wrote, "Compassion is a different sort of value. Compassion is more a value of the heart. The roots of the word compassion mean to suffer with. Compassion doesn't stand back at a distance and ask whether equity and fairness have been achieved. Compassion moves in close, and says, I hear you brother, I feel your pain sister, and I will do what I can to relieve it, to make things better. Compassion is not always concerned with justice. Sometimes compassion skips justice altogether and moves toward love. Alice Walker wrote, "Love is not concerned with whom you pray or where you slept the night you ran away from home. Love is concerned that the beating of your heart should kill no one."

Justice, equity and compassion; these three inform our relationships with the greater community. Justice, equity and compassion; these three are the building blocks of our caring and beloved community. Justice, equity and compassion; these three echo the wisdom of the prophet in the Hebrew Bible who wrote: "What is required of you but to do justice, love kindness and walk humbly with your God?"

Our Unitarian Universalist emphasis on social justice and community building has a long history. We remember Benjamin Rush's opposition to slavery and his work for mental health in the 1700s; the abolitionists of the 1800s; we remember the women such as Susan B. Anthony who worked so tirelessly for suffrage; and we remember Clara Barton who founded to Red Cross.

In more recent times we remember John Haynes Holmes who was a co-founder of the American Civil Liberties Union. And there was the UU minister James Reeb who was beaten to death on the streets of Selma, Alabama. And let us remember the Unitarian Universalist Association's determination to make public the Pentagon Papers.

And we can hope that future generations will remember us in our own time for our denominations support of gay rights, gay marriage and women's reproductive rights.

As a movement we have often been few in numbers; but those who have dared to speak out have often made a difference. Even our name Unitarian Universalist brings to mind our second principal. We are Unitarian in our belief that we are one people, on one globe, seeking the unity of all beings. And we are Universalist in our concern for the universal issues that separate people and bring hardship and misery to so many.

There was once a rabbi spoke who spoke with God about the existence of heaven and hell. "I will show you hell," God said, and they went into a room which had a large pot of savory stew on a table.

The smell was delicious, but around the pot sat people who were famished and desperate. All were holding spoons with very long handles which reached well into the pot of stew, but because the handles of the spoons were longer than their arms, it was impossible to get the stew into their mouths.

"Now I will show you heaven," God said, and they went into an identical room. There was a similar pot of stew on a similar table, and the people all had identical long handled spoons, but they were well fed and nourished and happy."

"Why are these people so happy and well fed?" asked the Rabbi.

"It's simple," God replied. "You see, they have learned to feed one another."

So how are we to live according to our second principal? How will we learn to feed one another in a world that is filled with prejudice, hostility and plain, old hate? Furthermore, how are we to learn how to clothe, and to shelter and to protect one another from the ravages of this world?

These questions are by no means new or unique to our modern world. In the letter of James contained in the New Testament, the author speaks of the tensions between rich and poor. He tells the reader that the customary practice of favoring the wealthy over the poor must be rejected.

The letter of James addresses head on the Christian dispute over faith and works when the author states:

"If a brother or a sister is ill clad
And in lack of daily food,
And one of you says to them,
"Go in peace, be warmed, be filled,"
Without giving them the things needed for the body,
What does it profit?

So faith by itself, if it has no works, is dead.
But some will say,
"You have faith and I have works."
Show me your faith apart from works,
And I by my works will show you my faith...
For as the body without the spirit is dead,
So faith without works is dead
--James 2:15-18,26

Earlier in the same letter, the author also tells us that, " the pure, unspoilt religion, in the eyes of God...is this: coming to the help of orphans and widows when they need it, and keeping oneself uncontaminated by the world."

So let ours be a pure and unspoilt religion that cares more for building community and serving that community than in building crystal cathedrals and turning inward rejecting the issues of the day in favor of searching for the fantastic notions of a non-existent time in history that was characterized by strong Christian values and morality.

Let us go out into our communities and seek ways to bring justice, equity and compassion to those who are most in need--to our neighbors.

In Winchester and in each of our own communities let us address the question of fair and affordable housing for all of its citizens.

In Stephens City and in each of our own communities let us work to ensure that every employee earns a just and living wage for their work.

In Front Royal and in each of our own communities let us work to see that quality health care is available to all our citizens.

In Berkley Springs and in each of our communities let us provide for battered and abused children and adults who may not have the means to access the usual community services.

In Woodstock and in each of our communities let us work to eliminate illiteracy for all of our citizens; not just those who by accident of birth are called Americans.

No matter where we live, let us reach out to those who are in most need of living in a beloved community by reaching out to those in pain, who suffer the indignities of life and who live on the margins of our society.

Theodore Parker, the great 19th century Unitarian minister once said that the moral arc of the universe is long but it bends toward justice. Richard Gilbert added these words, "The bending, however, is not automatic, nor is inexorable; it is dependent on people who feel compassion, equity, and justice as imperatives of their faith.

In each of our communities let us reach out to those who are in most need of living in a beloved community by reaching out to those in pain, who suffer the indignities of life and who live on the margins of our society.

And so, let us give of our treasures; but, also, let us give our talents and our time.

We should vote our conscience. We should write letters of support and letters of criticism. We should strive to get our hands dirty in the murky waters of the stream of life and we should be prepared to look after our brothers and sisters when their homes are destroyed in hurricanes and by over zealous developers.

We should be at rallies and protests and speak our mind in the public square.

We should seek to fill our courts with judges whose wisdom acknowledges the inherent worth and dignity of all people.

In the face of a rising tide of religious conservatism, we must refuse to give up our liberal religious values. When we cease to act according to our values, our personal growth is stifled and our lives are hollow. When we are silent, other voices fill the void. When we fail to act; others make the rules.

We should, as Richard Gilbert says, try to repair the world because in doing so we will repair ourselves.

There is an ancient story from China that goes like this:

One day an elephant saw a hummingbird lying flat on its back on the ground. The bird's tiny feet were raised up into the air.

"What on earth are you doing, Hummingbird?" Asked the elephant.

The hummingbird replied, "I have heard that the sky might fall today. If that should happen, I am ready to do my bit in holding it up."

The elephant laughed and mocked the tiny bird. "Do you think THOSE tiny feet could hold up the SKY?"

"Not alone," admitted the hummingbird. "But each must do what she can. And this is what I can do."

Some days our task appears to be as impossible as holding up the sky and yet, if each one of us does our part it may be possible to do so.

Surely there is enough for everyone within this country. Let each of us do our part to see that this great abundance is shared with those who need it most. And in doing so, let justice, equity and compassion guide us to right living and right action.

Amen