Rev. Nick Cheek
Amos 5:11-15, 21-24 and Numbers 27:1-11
“It’s a beautiful day in the neighborhood… a beautiful day for a neighbor… would you be mine, could you be mine… won’t you be my neighbor.” In 1969, Mister Rogers televised a famous episode to help teach children what it means to be a neighbor. At the time of this episode, national news was covering a story on public pools in America. Even though desegregation was passed 5 years earlier and the law of the land demanded pools be open to everyone, whites were preventing blacks from sharing the water with them. The scene in Mr. Rogers was a simple act of two people spending time together. Rogers asked Officer Clemmons, a black police officer played by François Clemmons, to join him in placing his feet in a children’s wading pool. Not having a towel for himself, Clemmons initially declined the invitation – but Rogers offered to share his towel. By sitting down next to each other, rolling up their pants and sticking their feet in the pool together, Rogers and Clemmons demonstrated that a black man and a white man could peacefully share the water.
When Clemmons left, he used Rogers’ towel. Rogers then picked up the same towel and used it to dry off his own feet.
Our nation’s history is marked by both extraordinary progress and persistent injustice. Racism, sexism, xenophobia, religious prejudice, homophobia, and transphobia remind us that, no matter how many steps we take forward, the work of justice is never quite finished.
Today’s “Great End of the Church” addresses the vital voice of the church in the midst of our fractured world. “The Promotion of Social Righteousness.” This particular Great End was created at the turn of the 20th century when questions were being asked about the Church’s place in the culture to which they belonged. How are we supposed to live? How are we supposed to shine light…. And emulate Christ outside of our sanctuaries and into the world around us?
At its heart, social righteousness is the conviction that God’s love and justice must reach beyond our personal lives and shape the way we live together as a society. It means that loving our neighbor is more than being kind or generous to the person standing in front of us; it is also an active call to work toward a world where that same neighbor is treated with fairness and compassion…. Not just by us, but by the communities, institutions, and government we all share.
Theologian Cynthia L. Rigby points out that early Christians understood this well. They believed that living out the gospel meant transforming their surrounding culture… demanding that God’s love be made visible through fair laws and protection for the vulnerable. They believed that the gospel calls us to examine the systems, policies, and traditions that shape our neighbors’ lives every day and ask: Are they just? Do they protect human dignity? Do they allow our neighbors to flourish? And… if they fall short, what are we willing to do about it?
Our second reading this morning, from the book of Numbers, contains an interesting narrative we may have never read or even heard of until today. It shares the story of 5 daughters, Mahlah, Noah, Hoglah, Milcah, and Tirzah, and their pursuit of social righteousness. [pause] Their father Zelophehad… dies, and there are no sons to receive the promised inheritance. In that time, property laws and inheritance systems are organized exclusively around male lineage. So, when their father dies, the daughters find themselves entirely unprovided for under the existing laws of the land.
Rather than accept this, the sisters take a courageous public stance. They raise their voices together. Appearing before Moses, the priest, the tribal leaders, and the entire assembly, they petition for their family’s standing. They ask, “Why should the name of our father be taken away from his family because he had no son? Give to us a possession among our father’s brothers.”
Instead of dismissing their claim on the grounds of tradition, Moses brings their cause directly before God. And GOD responds: “The daughters of Zelophehad are right. You must certainly give them property as an inheritance among their father’s relatives and give their father’s inheritance to them.”
God goes on to say, “You shall also speak to the Israelites, saying: If a man dies and has no son, then you shall pass his inheritance on to his daughter.” Isn’t that amazing? These five women speak up for social righteousness… and their petition becomes the catalyst for legislative change throughout their entire culture. Israel’s legal tradition is revised so that whenever a person dies without a son, the inheritance passes to the daughters. [pause] Old Testament scholar L. Juliana Claassens describes the sisters as an example of “the powerless standing up for what is right. To be human,” she writes, “means to resist dehumanization.” The daughters of Zelophehad were not trying to bring down the powers that be…. They were trying to hold their institution accountable… by affirming their presence, their humanity, their dignity… and their rightful place within God’s covenant promises.
Interestingly, however, their story… doesn’t end here. Stay with me now…. Years later, in Joshua chapter 17, when the Israelites are finally dividing the Promised Land, these same women show up again. But by this time, Moses is gone, and a new generation of leadership is in power. Joshua is leading the people now.
And so, these five women come forward once again, reminding Joshua, the priest, and the other leaders of the promise God made through Moses. They have to speak up again… to make their voices are heard…. and to ensure that what was promised actually becomes a reality. That is what they do. And because they do so, they receive their rightful inheritance alongside their father’s brothers.
Isn’t that how social righteousness still often works today? We can pass laws, we can establish policies, we can make promises about fairness and equality…but as generations pass and leadership changes, things also change…. We can wind up going backward instead of forward. In our pursuit to take care of ourselves… protect ourselves…. Insulate ourselves and those we love…. we can also be tempted to forget our commitment to loving our neighbors…. AS ourselves. Just because something has been established as right… or socially righteous… doesn’t mean it will always be practiced or protected. True justice requires more than one courageous moment. It often requires persistence… resilience…. Long-suffering. It needs people who are willing to keep showing up, speaking up, and reminding each new generation…. how we are supposed to treat each other.
The Promotion of Social Righteousness….. the Promotion…. Of Social Righteousness. Notice that word…. “Promotion”. This Great End would have an entirely different meaning if it said: “Believe in Social Righteousness”. It’s promote for a reason. Promotion indicates action…. it takes belief a step further. [short pause] In our Presbyterian Brief Statement of Faith, we recite that the Holy Spirit gives us courage “to hear the voices of peoples long silenced, and to work with others for justice, freedom, and peace.”
In 1993, 20 years after the initial time Mr. Rogers and officer Clemmons put their feet in a pool together, they recreated the scene. But this time Rogers didn’t just offer Clemmons his towel… he proceeded to get out of his seat, bend down, and dry Clemmons’s feet himself. This was a purposeful recreation of Roger’s part – washing Clemmons’s feet like Jesus washed his disciples.
The promotion of Social Righteousness…. is no easy task… it takes a soft heart…. And a strong heart…. And we are fragile, incomplete beings…. Doing the best we can. But here is the good news, church…. When we become church members, all of us repeat a common phrase…. We say that we will follow Christ…. WITH GOD’S HELP.
Friends, today, as we honor All Saints’ Day, we remember that we stand on the shoulders of giants…. We stand on the shoulders of saints who marched, prayed, preached, and sat at segregated lunch counters…. We honor saints who did the best they could… to stand up against the darkness of their times…. And they too did it… WITH GOD’s HELP.
May we have the courage of these saints…. May we have the boldness of Mahlah, Noah, Hoglah, Milcah, and Tirzah…. And may we have the humility of Fred Rogers and Officer Clemmons.
In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.