Recently I attended the Elevating Preaching Conference hosted by the CBF of North Carolina and Wake Forest. At the conference I had the privilege of listening to three very inspiring sermons, all of which dealt with God's justice in some form. I invite you to listen to them here. The theme of the conference was a sense of place and I have been dwelling on that as I study and prepare for Sunday's sermon on the Widow and the Unjust Judge.
As I dwell on the passage I recall last week's episode of Glee. Now, I'm not a fan of the show but I wanted to see who they would handle the unexpected death of Cory Monteith. I can say that I thought they did well and poorly. They handled the grief of a painful loss very open and honestly with what I perceived as real emotion and not Hollywood emotion. Trust me, it was authentic, they are not that good of actors. However, I believe they failed in regards to providing a sense of justice by ignoring the cause of death. Cory was an addict and he overdosed. It is tragic but it is real and there are real people who deal with addictions on a daily basis and I believe they were denied a chance at justice by simply acknowledging that someone dear to them was an addict. (To the show's credit they did so at the end very briefly, in passing).
By ignoring the character's cause of death, they ignored the actor's cause of death, and by doing so they denied a sense of justice to addicts everywhere. But this is what we do, right? We ignore the issues of addiction, depression, suicide, and other mental health issues because we are terrified of admitting we struggle. We do not like to admit that we are flawed and are powerless at times (admitting such is the first step in the 12 step process).
The statistics are there (you can do a quick Google search and see): 1 in 10 adults in America deal with some form of depression. Among adolescents approximately 1in 8 deal with some form of depression. Approximately 30 million people in America deal with some type of addiction (drugs, alcohol, sex, food, gambling, etc.) and only 10% ever seek treatment for their addictions. In 2009 the US ranked 33rd highest suicide rate in the world. The suicide rate among 35-50 year olds has risen over 30% from 1999-2010. Approximately 1 in 12 teenagers have attempted or thought of suicide. Here in Virginia, suicide is the third leading cause of death among ages 10-24.
Among clergy approximately 45% experience depression or burn out, leading to an extended leave of absence from ministry; and I know several who have never recovered. Several, while in the midst of those depressions, burn outs, or other emotional stress, fall into numerous types of addictions and some have even taken their life.
The statistics are there yet we ignore the issue, pretending God's justice in the scriptures only applies to the enslaved, the poor, or the outcast. Ministers and others lose their jobs because of their struggles. As someone said in seminary, "I was taught, and I believe, if a minister 'sins' you forgive them and then you fire them." I was let go from a church in part because I struggle with depression. I was told by a deacon that Satan had a hold on my life and that until I ask God for forgiveness, I should not be allowed to be a minister at all. We ignore the issue, a faith issue, and refuse to address because we have come to believe that struggling should not be a part of the Christian faith or life.
It has been my experience when you talk with others about these issues they have constantly said, "Instead of finding love and care, I found rejection." Instead of finding justice, they have found injustice.
Reflecting on the widow's persistence for justice I realize we do not know what her case was about. We are not told what injustice had happened to her. Was she bamboozled out of her money? Was she hit by a car? Was she unfairly taxed? We know the law of Moses is supposed to protect her, however Jesus doesn't elaborate on her case, as is the norm in his parables. We understand the parable is about the persistence in prayer and seeking God's justice so what if the widow was an addict? What if she was on the verge of taking her life? What if she was struggling with depression or bipolar or schizophrenia or any other mental health issue? What if she was standing outside our church doors, banging to get our attention, and we continued to say, "Sorry, God's justice is reserved only for the physically oppressed, the physically poor, the social outcast." Are we not denying them God's justice?
Isn't God's justice more than dealing with oppressive government systems? And if so, should this not be something we talk about from our pulpits? If we choose not too, are we not denying people the same justice we gladly give to others?
Oppression is oppression whether it is physically or mentally and all of God's suffering children deserve God's holy justice.
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