SPEAKING BIBLICALLY Faith and Advocacy: Why they go together

Do you wonder?  “Why are people of faith bringing politics into the church? That is a violation of church and state.”  “Our place of worship should only be about spiritual matters, not about things related to politics.”  “Christians (or Jews, or Muslims) shouldn’t get messed up in things like this.”  “Charity is enough.” Justice!

The Bible speaks: God Cares About Poor People

Establishing a Nation  Leviticus 19: 9-10 “When you reap the harvest of your land, do not reap to the very edges of your field or gather the gleanings of your harvest. Do not go over your vineyard a second time or pick up the grapes that have fallen. Leave them for the poor and the alien. I am the LORD your God.”

The Prophet Speaks  Isaiah 58: 1-10 “Is not this the kind of fasting that I have chosen: to loose the chains of injustice and untie the cords of the yoke? Is it not to share your food with the hungry and to provide the poor wanderer with shelter– when you see the backed to clothe him and not turn away from your own flesh and blood?”

The Prophet Speaks  Isaiah 58: 1-10 “Then your light will break forth like the dawn and your healing will quickly appear; then your righteousness will go before you, and the glory of the LORD will be your rear guard. Then you will call and the LORD will answer, you will cry for help and the LORD will say: Here am I.”

God has special identification with poor and oppressed people  “…God has made the oppressed condition God's own condition. This is the essence of the Biblical revelation. By electing Israelite slaves as the people of God and by becoming the Oppressed One in Jesus Christ, the human race is made to understand that God is known where human beings experience humiliation and suffering...Liberation is not an afterthought, but the very essence of divine activity.” James H. Cone

Scriptural References  Leviticus 19: 9-10  Isaiah 58:1-10  Psalm 72:12-14  Proverbs 14:31  Proverbs 22:9  Proverbs 22:22-23  Proverbs 28:27  Matthew 25:31-46  Luke 4:14-21  John 3:16-18

God Calls Us To Do Advocacy

The Day of Jubilee  Leviticus 25:10,35 “Consecrate the fiftieth year and proclaim liberty throughout the land to all its inhabitants.” “If one of your country men becomes poor and is unable to support himself among you, help him as you would an alien or temporary resident, so he can continue to live among you.”

God Call Us to Advocacy  Psalm 82:2-4 “How long will you defend the unjust and show partiality to the wicked. Defend the cause of the weak and fatherless; maintain the rights of the poor and oppressed. Rescue the weak and the needy; deliver them from the hand of the wicked.”

Wisdom Literature  Proverbs 31:8-9 “Speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves, for the rights of all who are destitute. Speak up and judge fairly; defend the rights of the poor and needy.”

Jesus Advocating  Luke 4:14:21 “The Spirit of the LORD is on me, because he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight to the blind, to release the oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.”

Speaking Truth to Power "When the church hears the cry of the oppressed it cannot but denounce the social structures that give rise to and perpetuate the misery from which the cry arises.” "The gospel is the great defender and proclaimer of all the great fundamental rights of the person. The fundamental right to…… Food & Water, Shelter; Protection; Medicine; Education; Work; Rest; Freedom; Respect; Dignity; Fullness of Life.” “The poor have shown the church the true way to go. A church that does not speak out from the side of the poor is not the true church of Jesus.” Archbishop Oscar Romero

God Call Us to Do Advocacy Scriptural References  Psalm 140:12  Proverbs 31:8-9  Jeremiah 22:11-17  Moses (Exodus 3:1-12)  The Book of Esther

People of Faith Have Always Played a Prophetic Role

“Take the first step in faith. You don't have to see the whole staircase. Just take the first step.” Martin Luther King, Jr.

“Religion without humanity is very poor human stuff.” Sojourner Truth

“We draw our strength from the very despair in which we have been forced to live. We shall endure.” Cesar Chávez

What are the Consequences of Remaining Silent?

 We can’t compartmentalize our faith.  We are citizens of two kingdoms.

SILENCE ≠ JUSTICE  What are the consequences if people of faith do not involve themselves in public policy?  Do we really want a country where all of the important policy decisions are made without the voice of people of faith?  What would things be like if the church had remained silence on child labor, slavery or the civil rights movement?  People of faith have a God-given role to play to make sure our nation’s decision-makers consider the needs of hungry people.

"But the poor person does not exist as an inescapable fact of destiny. His or her existence is not politically neutral, and it is not ethically innocent. The poor are a by-product of the system in which we live and for which we are responsible. They are marginalized by our social and cultural world. They are the oppressed, exploited proletariat, robbed of the fruit of their labor and despoiled of their humanity. Hence the poverty of the poor is not a call to generous relief action, but a demand that we go and build a different social order.” Gustavo Gutierrez