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Tyndale University presents a series of recorded chapel services from Tyndale's very own faculty and guest speakers.
Welcome, everybody and welcome to Abide. I'm so glad to be with you here and now and to be in these beautiful virtues. If you've been tracking with me, we've been able to spend time in the virtue of temperance, as we looked at Jesus in the desert, working with his temptations. We got to move into prudence with Esther and how beautiful she practiced right action at the right time. And then courage with Moses in the midst of his doubts, fears and insecurities continued to move forward and do his part in the story of God. And so here we find ourselves with this beautiful word and virtue, justice, today. And I thought I'd just open it up just to touch so we know a little bit of this word before we settle in or bodies and breath. But justice isn't just a word that's used in the courtrooms. I find justice is one of those words that's a little scary and intimidating for me so these last few weeks have been really delightful to just spend time with justice and allow it to become my own a bit, and so that's my prayer for us all. But this word justice or fairness or righteousness or fair play is so important in our own lives and in our communities.
Karen Swallow Prior, an author that I'm enjoying right now, says this: that justice can be understood as the virtue of community, the harmony of all the souls that form it. The relationship that one has to another. So justice is a virtue that's very much practiced within community. That's where we get to see it grow along with all the other virtues, but this one especially. Elaine Scarry describes justice as a symmetry of everyone's relations to each other, so a balance, a symmetry of everyone's relations to each other. And lastly, Aristotle, who writes justice, the whole of virtue; the most excellent person is the one whose virtue is perfected in relationships to others and justice is always expressed in relationship to another person. So we're getting this sense that justice is a relational virtue. And I find there is this go-between in our lives of being selfish and selfless, and justice is going to be the mean between those two, so to be not fully selfish or selfless, but having a right understanding of ourselves, to love our neighbor as ourselves. So that's what we're gonna really feast on today, we're gonna put justice out there in our midst and let it have its way with us in these 30 minutes.
So let's just begin to get settled into our quiet space, whether you close the door or you head out on your walk. Just quieting the thoughts, the mind and the heart now and just relaxing the body, the muscles of the body. And we'll do this gentle breathing prayer that's written by Thich Nhat Hanh. It says this: Breathing in, I calm my body. Breathing out, I smile. Dwelling in the present moment, I know this is a beautiful moment.
So let's try this again together, we're going to breathe in these words, and as we exhale out, we're actually gonna physically smile because it feels good and just get more planted in this present moment, so here we go, breathing in, I calm my body. Breathing out, I smile. Dwelling in the present moment. I know this is a wonderful moment.
Earlier this week, I was on a run in the morning and the frost was all over the grass and the sun was shining so bright there wasn't a cloud in the sky, and as I was running, there was rain coming down and I thought what? There's no clouds in the sky. Why is there rain coming down? And it took me a while to realize that the sun had melted the frost on the tips of the leaves and had brought this rain to come down on me as I was running through the forest. And I thought, what a beautiful image of how the son of God warms us, melts us in his presence. And so as we sit here in this beautiful moment. Just allow the son of God, his presence, shine on you now. And just allow his presence to begin to melt where you might be gripping in your body, where you might be holding tightly different situations in your life, where you might just be full of despair. Allow the son of God to melt you, here and now.
And as we’re basking, as it were, in this sun, it’s a good time and a good place to bring our gratitude to God, who is our creator, our sustainer. And today's gratitude practice, we're really going to allow ourselves to embody our physical environments. And so. We're going to each remember a moment in the last few days or weeks where we've been outside in nature and in creation, and we're going to start bringing it to life again through our senses, through ours eyes, our ears, our noses, our taste, and our feeling, we're going to start really allowing it to come into all of our senses. And I'll just give you an example, as I shared with you about the frost melting and the rain coming down. That same run that I was on was running next to a river, and I heard splashing, splashing. I thought I need to stop and look, and there before me were the salmon in the river splashing and swimming upstream. That's one of the most beautiful things about living in Toronto in the fall. And not too much further into my run then did I hear the sounds of the birds and them darting and diving to and fro in front and in back of me. Feeling that rain come down, feeling the breeze, the leaves crunching at my feet. Spend a moment with God now, just embodying a time when you were in nature, when you are outside and allow it to come back to your senses, and begin to taste it, to see it, to enjoy it and just to breathe it in with all its awe and wonder.
Oh God. Thank you for creating us to have these senses so that we can experience you coming very close to us. It's so important that we spend time outside in all that you've created. We need it to survive. Actually, we need to come in contact with all that you've made to be in awe, wonder, delight, amazement. So, Lord, thank you for these moments we've shared with you about our times with you, and we pray that we would practice pausing more and being more aware of our physical environments today, later today and the next day. So that we can just be reminded how close you truly are.
In this moment of gratitude, we're going to turn our hearts to the Scriptures and how these words embody who God is and want to come close into our beings today. And today, we're going to read from Luke, chapter 10, verses 25-37. Many of you will know this story of the Good Samaritan, of loving your neighbour. So we're going to open it afresh today with the backdrop of this beautiful virtue of justice. Hear this reading now.
On one occasion an expert in the law stood up to test Jesus. “Teacher,” he asked, “what must I do to inherit eternal life?”
“What is written in the Law?” he replied. “How do you read it?”
He answered, “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength and with all your mind’; and ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’”
“You have answered correctly,” Jesus replied. “Do this and you will live.”
But he wanted to justify himself, so he asked Jesus, “And who is my neighbour?”
And in reply, Jesus said: “A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, when he was attacked by robbers. They stripped him of his clothes, they beat him and went away, leaving him half dead. A priest happened to be going down the same road, and when he saw the man, he passed by on the other side. So too, a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. But a Samaritan, as he travelled, came where the man was; and when he saw him, he took pity on him. He went to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he put the man on his own donkey, he brought him to an inn and took care of him. The next day he took out two denarii [and] gave them to the innkeeper. ‘Look after him,’ he said, ‘and when I return, I will reimburse you for any extra expense you may have.’
“Which of these three do you think was a neighbour to the man who fell into the hands of robbers?” The expert in the law replied, “The one who had mercy on him.”
Jesus told him, “Go and do likewise.”
Allow this story to come into your senses. The dusty road, the coming and going. Allow this story to be embodied by your senses now.
Verses 25-29: On one occasion an expert in the law stood up to test Jesus. “Teacher,” he asked, “what must I do to inherit eternal life?”
“What is written in the Law?” he replied. “How do you read it?”
He answered, “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength and with all your mind’; and ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’”
“You have answered correctly,” Jesus replied. “Do this and you will live.”
But he wanted to justify himself, so he asked Jesus, “And who is my neighbour?”
We see here a conversation. We get a sneak peek in a conversation that Jesus is having with this gentleman. And I'm intrigued of how open and honest, even if this expert in the law seems to know everything, he's curious and asking a question, and he wants to inherit eternal life. And so before we even get into the full story. I just want to inquire of us all, are we asking questions to Jesus? About the big things? Do we care about eternal life? Do we care about who our neighbor is? Are we actually longing to love God with our heart, mind, body, soul? Are we seeking and asking questions about this? And so I just challenge us all to be more fully engaged with God, to ask him questions and to hunger, to live out our lives well, and allow him to answer our questions and give space for him to answer us in time. May we stay curious forever, to ask questions, to be hungry. Even if our intentions are not pure or pure, whatever they may be, may we be open, Lord, and seeking and asking, listening.
Allow me to read verses 30-35: In reply, Jesus said: “A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, when he was attacked by robbers. They stripped him of his clothes, they beat him and went away, leaving him half dead. A priest happened to be going down the same road, and when he saw the man, he passed by on the other side. So too, a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. But a Samaritan, as he travelled, came where the man was; and when he saw him, he took pity on him. He went to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he put the man on his own donkey, he brought him to an inn and took care of him. The next day he took out two denarii [and] gave them to the innkeeper. ‘Look after him,’ he said, ‘and when I return, I will reimburse you for any extra expense you may have.’
Jesus is describing an everyday scene that might go on in the lives of the people listening. We see different individuals, different styles of life, ways of being, occupation, priorities. And I can't help but, as I listened to this scene, begin to observe what's my everyday scene look like? And so I just give us this time now to just think about your everyday coming and going. Who are you passing by? What are the streets you're walking on? What's your commute? What is it like at your job or in the classroom? Who are the people that you're passing? Spending time with? Moving through the day with? Jesus is bringing forward many different kinds of people. He's really exposing how these two religious leaders have a duty to stay clean and to stay pure and to continue on their way and to their jobs and in their day. And then we have this other individual, the Samaritan, that sees and draws near and helps. And we see a beautiful act of justice happening here, don't we? Where the Samaritan loves himself and loves the other, and there's an equal balance that we see there, that they both have priority in the story and in life. We see that the Samaritan cares for him and goes to the half-dead man, that he puts him on his own donkey and takes him to an inn and hands him off to the next helper and then is on his way.
And so I just give us this moment to study our own scene in our life. If Jesus were telling a story about who were coming and going, where we’re sitting, walking, driving, standing, what do the people look like around us? How do they act? There's many we probably like, many we get annoyed by or dislike, many we just won't even go near, others we look up to. Spend time for a moment just having you and the spirit of God embody your daily life.
I challenge us all, many times we go through our lives and we're just very set on our duties and our jobs and our tasks, and that's good. But there is not much space in between for what if someone needed help? Many of us nowadays were just so glued to the phone, when we're walking, many times when people are in cars, when we are sitting anywhere, it's hard to imagine that anyone would even be able to catch sight of someone if they needed help because we're so blind to see because we're in our own worlds. And so I challenge us all to maybe step away from the phone and become more aware of your environments where you are and where you're coming and going, to have your eyes open to see where might someone need help? Where might I be able to practice justice or right living or caring for a neighbor that the people around me are God’s beloved and I’m meant to participate. Where would the spirit guide me to participate and to show the virtue of justice in my everyday life? And it might not take a full hour to help someone, it might just take opening the door for someone or not honking your horn at someone who cut you off. May we create space, may we allow our eyes to look up and to see where we might come to others aid, to practice justice, to practice this relational, communal virtue that needs to be born and grown in us.
Allow me to read the final verse of the passage: “Which of these three do you think was a neighbour to the man who fell into the hands of robbers?” The expert in the law replied, “The one who had mercy on him.”
Jesus told him, “Go and do likewise.”
Notice here that Jesus asks a question again. The first question in the passage was: Who is my neighbour? And Jesus asks a question at the end of the story and said: Who was a neighbour? And that's our challenge today, we are invited to become a neighbour. What kind of neighbor do we want to be? Not so much who am I meant to be a neighbor to, but how can I become that neighbor? And that's the one who has mercy within the community.
Oh, Father, this is such a big ask. And so we just want to open to you and lay bare to you our physical daily existence, the communities that we are a part of, whether it's the community at the grocery store or at the bus stop, the communities within our universities, the communities within our homes, the communities within our social media. How can we be a neighbour? How can we love others like we love ourselves? How can we see that everyone around us is your beloved? We're going to need extra help and care, especially if the people around us don't look like us, act like us, if they don't believe like us, if they're not very nice, if they're obnoxious, if they're unkind, if they're rude. We're going to need a lot of help, Lord. But we know that you are ready and willing to give us these beautiful virtues, so I pray for each one of us that we would take a baby step, a baby step in seeing the neighbours around us and practicing justice.
And all week I've been singing this very simple hymn. It's by Richard Smallwood and it is entitled: Oh, how he loves you and me. And as we close, I'm going to read this short little hymn. And I'd ask that we'd sort of embody these words and bring them into our daily comings and goings, who we're seeing, who were interacting with, and allow it to be a prayer of justice in and through, let justice roll down through you and out through you into our communities and environments, as he so plans for us to extend.
So may this be our closing prayer:
Oh, how he loves you and me. Oh, how he loves you and me. He gave his life. What more could he give? Oh, how he loves you. Oh, how he loves me. Oh, how he loves you and me.
Go in peace, my brothers and sisters, to extend the virtue of justice into the world.