“Finding Common Words”

Sermon preached at the Opening of Her Majesty’s Courts

Monday, September 14, 2009

Deuteronomy 6:4-9

Daniel 4:10-12

Psalm 24

Colossians 3:12-14

A little less than two years ago -- in the fall of 2007 -- a group of Islamic scholars and intellectuals from around the world issued a very significant document entitled, “A Common Word Between Us and You”.  That document called for a deepened dialogue between the Christian and Islamic faiths, both for the sake of an enriched mutual understanding, and for the sake of peace in our world.  In light of all that has happened in our world, particularly since the events that we commemorated this past Friday, this call to a deepened dialogue between these two ancient religious traditions is vital.

One of the strengths of the ‘Common Word’ document is the acknowledgement that belief systems do not always have to agree on every issue in order for people to be in relationship with each other, and in order for them to learn and grow in those encounters.  Rather, such differences offer opportunities to grow in our awareness of one another, and possibly even to discover insights and beliefs that we hold in common.  Those of us who are followers of Christ do well to remember that even Jesus’ understanding was transformed through his encounters with others, and perhaps most powerfully through his encounter with the Syrophoenician woman.

At the heart of the “Common Word Between Us and You“ document is the reminder that both of these faith traditions issue a common call for the love of God and the love of neighbor.  The reading that the Lieutenant Governor offered in this service further reminds us that it is this same call – to place the love of God and neighbor at the forefront of our beliefs and our actions – that stands at the heart of the Jewish faith as well.  In this profound two-part command, there is a great deal of common ground within the three great monotheistic religious traditions of the world.  And if the adherents of these three faiths can become ever more deeply dedicated to the process of encountering one another in the context of finding common words – particularly about our shared calling to love God and love our neighbours – then we are, in fact, entering into an almost unprecedented period of hope.  Between these faiths, and in our engagements with those of other faiths and of no faith, we must continue to allow the call of love to stand at the heart of our conversations.  If we do, both our discoveries of common words and understandings – and our explorations of the great differences of theology that exist between us -- will provide countless blessings in our own lives and in the common life of our world.  

In many ways, it is in this same spirit of exploring common words that we enter into this time of reflection and of prayer this morning.  As we gather together -- as members of the legal, the judicial and the religious communities in this city – it is good to reflect upon the fact that there are many common words between us.

Both religious and legal systems speak of the necessity of truth-telling; of the importance of moral principles and ethical behavior; of the call to servanthood as a function of leadership; of the need for integrity in the exercise of power.  Truth; morality; ethics; servanthood; integrity; power; these are common words between us.

But perhaps the greatest and most important word that we use, in common is the word ‘justice’.  For some of you, the word ‘justice’ is so integral to your vocation that it is a part of the very title that you have been given in the exercise of your offices.

And, at the very same time, all of the great spiritual and religious traditions of our world suggest that the call to do justice is a divine or spiritual mandate, and an indispensable pillar in the establishment of any true and lasting human community.   The Hebrew prophets beautifully summed up what is required of us, as mortals, by simply stating that we are required to “do justice; love kindness; and walk humbly with God”; and those same prophets articulated their hopeful vision that there would come a day when “justice [would] roll down like waters, and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream”.  

Moreover, it is interesting to realize that the religious and legal systems of our world often enhance and enrich each other’s understandings of what justice requires.  On the one hand, the prophetic visions of religious individuals – from Mohammed, to William Wilberforce, to Martin Luther King Jr., to Desmond Tutu – all have inspired significant re-evaluations of how laws are structured and enforced in the legal systems of their times. And, on the other hand, there have been many times when legal systems have provoked significant discussions within religious communities, even recently, about whether our religious practices are as inclusive, and as just as we long for them to be.  Over the course of history, such dialogues between the legal and religious communities have been both important and profound, and it is vital that we continue such conversations in our common quest to see justice done.

But even though we use this word ‘justice’ so frequently, it can sometimes be good for us to pause and simply to ask ourselves what we mean by the term ‘justice’? 

In our time – as in every age – there is a great deal of talk about what constitutes justice, and by what signs or criteria justice is measured.  When an offender has ‘got what’s coming to them’, it is sometimes suggested that justice has been done; alternately, when a seemingly guilty person seems to have evaded punishment, we say that they have escaped justice; when a victim’s concerns have been overlooked, we lament the travesty of justice that has occurred; but when a worthy verdict has been pronounced upon a guilty individual or group, we celebrate the just rule of law. Lately, our culture’s use of the term ‘justice’ has been overshadowed by certain ideological considerations, such as when justice is equated with a tougher law-and-order mandate, or even with the imposition of certain legislated minimum sentences.

But none of these uses of the term ‘justice’ quite satisfies the noblest vision of what justice truly requires.  Most of us would probably agree, after all, that the fullest demands of justice have not been satisfied when a perpetrator has been punished.  Neither is the call of justice fulfilled when a piece of legislation has been sufficiently debated, passed, and tested in the courts.  Although justice certainly entails consequences for breaches of the law, true justice has not yet been achieved simply by making the guilty suffer, or by ensuring that the victim has an opportunity to speak of the impact of the offense on their lives.  The requirements of justice have not been completely achieved when a court case is complete -- and God only knows that justice is not measured in billable hours.

In the fullest sense, justice requires more than punishment; it requires more than legislation; it requires more than input into the sentencing process; it requires more than a commercial transaction for services rendered.  Purely punitive, legislative, retributive, commercialized models of justice are not sufficient to achieve the vision of justice in its purest and noblest form.

So what then does justice require?  What vision of justice lies before us?  What common words might we begin to speak about our shared longing to satisfy the demands of justice?

In the Hebrew Scriptures, it is interesting to note that the words for justice and for righteousness, or a state of right relationships, are often inextricably linked. Justice and right relationships -- mishpat and tsedeq or tsedequah -- are deeply connected. In passage after passage, and particularly in the ancient prophetic texts, it is justice that creates the conditions for righteousness or right relationships; and it is righteousness which gives evidence of the presence of justice.  It can therefore legitimately be suggested that the call of justice is only achieved when the conditions for right relationships have been restored. 

And in the prophetic imagination, such a state of righteousness, and right relationships, do not simply concern the victims and the perpetrators of crimes.  Rather, the establishment of right relationships is a responsibility of the entire community; it summons us to restored relationships with those with whom we have disagreed; it requires care both for the offender and the victim, and for their families; it includes our relationship with the earth; it even brings restoration in our relationship with God.   Such a vision reminds us that injustice does not only affect the individuals who are most directly involved; rather, injustice tears apart the very fabric of community, and upsets the balance and harmony of creation itself.  The call to do justice, therefore, summons us to catch a vision of balance, of harmony, of the re-establishment of right relationships in our personal lives, in our communities, in our world.

This restoration of right relationships with one another, with the wider community, with the earth, and with God is not easy.  Often, it requires forgiveness; it requires understanding; it requires commitment to journey both with victims and offenders; it requires a willingness to let go of a past that cannot be changed in favour of a sometimes uncertain future.  As the parable of the prodigal son and the elder brother reminds us, this restoration of relationships often requires a turning-around on the part of the offender, a willingness to be reconciled on the part of those who have been offended against; and a readiness to overcome animosity and open one’s arms to those who have offended.  It is never an easy journey; but it is a journey that is necessary to undertake if we are ever going to achieve the noble vision that lies at the heart of every one of the great religious, spiritual, philosophical and legal systems of our world – the vision of a world where justice, harmony, right relations and balance are achieved.

For such a vision to be realized requires a fair and equitable system of justice.  But justice, by itself, is not enough.  As today’s reading from Deuteronomy, as the great commandment of Christ, as the ‘Common Word Between Us and You’ and as all of the great traditions of our world remind us, it is only love which will be able to bring such a vision to fruition.  As the British jurist Lord Denning once wrote, “This precept – love towards God and love towards your neighbor – is a precept of religion, but nevertheless in many affairs of life, love can only find expression through justice.”

The call of those who are entrusted with the interpretation, adjudication and enforcement of the law, therefore, is to safeguard and promote the conditions that will be necessary for the establishment of a society where justice, righteousness – and most importantly, love -- can flourish.

It is, therefore, our common prayer for those of you who have been entrusted with these sacred responsibilities that you will exercise your vocations in a way that promotes a justice that restores, a justice that transforms, a justice that creates the conditions necessary for righteous and restored relationships to flourish in people’s lives and in our shared community.   

And it is our prayer that you will exercise your power in way that will hasten the great and glorious day when justice and righteousness will exist in such measure that the rule of law will give way to a shared, a willing, and a common submission to the rule of love.