MARCH 2012 A T R I A N N U A L P U B L I C AT I O N O F T H E E A S T C O A S T C O N F E R E N C E O F T H E E VA N G E L I C A L C O V E N A N T C H U R C H
[ the justice & evangelism issue ]
WHERE DO JUSTICE & EVANGELISM MEET?
BY HOWARD K. BURGOYNE SUPERINTENDENT - EAST COAST CONFERENCE
Over the last year I’ve been reading, reflecting and writing about the lives of Abraham and Sarah, through whom God determined to bless the entire world.
In the Hebrew language “righteousness and justice” are a figure of speech in which two words connected by a conjunction (and) express a single complex idea. In modern parlance, it equates to “social justice.” In the Hebrew Scriptures this phrase appears thirty one times, as well as twenty three times in poetic parallelism, and another thirty two where they are paired together. A well known example is Amos 5:24: “But let justice roll down like waters, and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream.” It appears that God intends for the nations to be blessed through Abraham’s descendants by their commitment to restore social justice, which is the means and meaning of keeping “the way of the Lord.” God intended for his salvation to transform the whole of human culture and global nurture. His salvation would be mediated through the authentic witness, in word and deed, of Abraham’s seed. In the fullness of time this intersects in Christ Jesus, and through him expands again to engage the whole world, in fulfillment of God’s promise to Abraham. Some politicians, keen to divide and conquer the religious sensitivities of American voters, strategize to divide “righteousness” (a personal and private matter) from “justice”
WANT TO SHARE YOUR THOUGHTS ON THIS? HAVE QUESTIONS?
Contact Howard at howard@eastcoastconf.org
(a public and communal matter). If the “left” and the “right” will focus on fighting and devouring one another, no vision of righteousness and justice will prevail. As a second wave of the Reformations’ renewal movement, Covenanters have always, at their best, understood that “righteousness and justice” are not two opposites, but a single complex mandate. The spiritual and social, verbal and behavioral, personal and communal, religious and secular spheres must cohere. The “good news” and the “good life” are to be mediated through God’s people. As spiritual descendants of Abraham and disciples of Jesus we are called, through Word and Sacrament, to be and make disciples who become observant of everything Jesus commanded his disciples. Where do the practices of justice and evangelism meet in your life, and that of your community of faith? Here in the pages of the East Coast Covenanter we introduce you to a few examples. I invite you to register for our upcoming Conference Annual Meeting, where this theme will be our banner, and worship, preaching and workshops will expand on this theme as we gather in Easton, CT April 20 and 21.
in this issue MARCH 2012
The full impact of Abraham’s selection becomes apparent in the famous dialogue between Abraham and God in Genesis 18:23-33, regarding the pending visit of God to Sodom and Gomorrah. God had come in response to the outcry of the oppressed there. The culture of these cities was marked by rampant pride, gluttony, avarice, deviancy, and disregard for the poor (Ezekiel 16:49). In his own pondering, God muses whether, in view of Abraham’s mission of blessing to all nations, he ought to hide from Abraham his plan to execute justice on these towns. He answers in the negative, “For I have chosen him, that he may charge his children and his household after him to keep the way of the Lord by doing righteousness and justice (Gen. 18:19).
u BEAUTIFUL EYES 02 u ECC CONFERENCE CHURCH PLANTS 03 u EL AMOR DE DIOS 04 OPPORTUNITIES TO LEARN & SERVE: u u u
EXPLORING PATHWAYS TO GROWTH 06 SCIENCE WITH A MISSION 07 WORD & DEED NETWORK 08
u Transitions 08