Peace and Justice

The National Synod of Scotland of the United Reformed Church expresses its vision through a series of affirmations. These are not fixed in stone, but form a moving (and capable of being updated) vision statement. I am exploring these in turn in a series of brief articles. This piece reflects on the sixth aspiration which focusses on our commitment to PEACE AND JUSTICE. As a Synod we are committed to building peace and justice. These are core values which direct much of who we are. Our commitment to PEACE AND JUSTICE is strong and through the Commitment for Life programme is particularly expressed through Christian Aid, Jubilee Scotland and Global Justice Now. We are a Fair Trade Church and support the work of the Scottish Churches Parliamentary Office. We look to connect with those things that make for a better society, engaging in a range of community and social actions that address key issues and particularly where more vulnerable members of society are too readily marginalised. We would support the prophetic words of the likes of Isaiah – learn to do good; seek justice, rescue the oppressed, defend the orphan, plead for the widow (Isaiah 1:17); of Amos – let justice roll down like waters, and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream (Amos 5:24); and of Micah – he has told you, O mortal, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God? As Jim Wallis said (in The Call to Conversion back in 1981, but stating something that remains true): “The question to be asked is not what we should give to the poor but when we will stop taking from the poor. The poor are not our problem; we are their problem. The idea that there is enough for everyone to live at our standard of living, or that we are rich because of hard work and God’s favour, or that poverty is due to the failures of the poor – all these are cruel myths devised by a system seeking to justify its theft from the poor. …. Charged to be stewards, we have instead become exploiters. Rather than treating the bounty of the earth as a gift for all of God’s children, we have wasted its resources to profit the few. The imperialism of today differs from the old colonialism in that empire is no longer based on the occupation of territory but on the control of resources.” We need to learn to be counter-cultural, concerned about others, rather than always prioritising ourselves. We need also to be concerned about all those things that contribute to people living a life that is less than it should be. This means that we cannot avoid the importance of politics, that we need to speak out on key issues, and that we need to do those small pieces of practical action that are possible for us, including, though by no means limited to, raising money for Christian Aid and purchasing fairly traded products. We also need to put the newspaper (or such other form of obtaining news that we may prefer) alongside the Bible as we do the little we can towards the wonderful Hebrew concept of ‘shalom’.