Yesterday I taught the following to a Year 7 RE class at Seven Kings High School. Tomorrow, I'll be repeating the lesson with another Year 7 class.
Jesus told stories to challenge those listening to him. He wanted them to think outside the box particularly when thinking about issues of justice. This is one of the stories he told – Luke 10. 30 - 35. What do you think his story is about?
To fully understand the story we need to see where it comes in the Bible. This is what comes before and after the story – Luke 10. 25 – 29, 36 & 37. How do you think the story answers the question, ‘Who is my neighbour?’
It will also help us understand the story even better if we know something of what the society of Jesus’ day was like. The relationship between the Jews and Samaritans was very similar to the relationship between Jews and Arabs today, or to any relationship marked by strong racial or cultural prejudice. The Jews at the time considered Samaritans as social outcasts, untouchables, racially inferior, practicing a false religion. They avoided any association with Samaritans, travelling long distances out of their way to avoid passing through a Samaritan area. Any close physical contact, drinking water from a common bucket, eating a meal with a Samaritan, would make a Jew ceremonially unclean - unable to participate in temple worship for a period of time – this may be why the priest and Levite don’t stop to help. The Samaritans responded quite naturally to all this with strong dislike or hatred for Jews.
So, knowing that Jesus is telling this story to Jews, in his time, who hate Samaritans, what is he trying to teach them? Who is the neighbour of the Jewish man in the story? Who helps who in the story? Why is the story about receiving help as well as giving it?
Now that we have worked out what the story is about and what Jesus was wanting people to think about and learn through the story, what do you think the story means Christians should do today about racial injustice? Crime? Neighbourliness?
In a recent assembly on racism at St Edward’s Church of England School I said, ‘Jesus taught that all people should love one another as He loves us and that all people, regardless of race or skin colour, are created in the likeness of God. In Genesis 1. 26 – 27 we read, “In the beginning God created the heavens and the Earth... God said, 'Let us make Man in our own image and likeness ...’ So God made Man in his own image and likeness, male and female He created them.” This means that there is no reason for racial prejudice, or prejudice of any kind. Because we are all created by God in his image, Christians believe that we are all children of God and life is much better when we share what each race has to give - music, clothes, food, beliefs, skills etc.’
The churches in East London have tried to live this out in practical ways. For example, at the time of the last General and Local Elections, the British National Party (the BNP) had 11 councillors in Barking & Dagenham and was expecting to gain more so that it would become the biggest party on the Council and was also expecting its leader, Nick Griffin, to be elected as the MP for Barking.
The BNP is a far-right political party but one that is rooted in racist and fascist thinking. As Christians we viewed its message as being one of hate because, for example, the BNP believes that white people are genetically superior to black people and that black and Asian people can never be British, even if they were born here. Therefore we decided we had to act to encourage people in the faith communities, including the churches, to vote and to vote for any party except the BNP.
We worked with a national campaign called Hope Not Hate helping to fund a faiths worker who went to all faith groups in the borough explaining why this was such an important issue and encouraging them to vote to stop the BNP from winning. We also leafleted in the borough, organised publicity for the campaign, and held a gospel concert to promote the campaign.
And the great thing is that we won. This is how Hope Not Hate reported the outcome:
"It's official: the BNP suffered a humiliating defeat in yesterday's election. Not only did the BNP fail to elect Nick Griffin or Simon Darby to Parliament, they also failed to take any council seats in Barking & Dagenham and Stoke-on-Trent. The BNP is divided and defeated - and it's all thanks to you ... this ... victory ... belongs to all of us who stood for hope, not hate."
So we’ve looked at some of the things that it is important for Christians to remember as we read stories in the Bible and think about their meaning for us today. We’ve also looked at some ways in which we try to apply to teachings we find in the Bible to issues of justice today.
What I’d like you to do next is to try this for yourselves. I’ve got a different story from the Bible for you and I’d like you to read it and think about the three ways of thinking about stories that we used earlier:
I’d like us to read it and talk about it in small groups. When you think you need some extra information, please ask me. Here is the story – John 8. 1 – 11:
“Jesus went across to Mount Olives, but he was soon back in the Temple again. Swarms of people came to him. He sat down and taught them. The religion scholars and Pharisees led in a woman who had been caught in an act of adultery. They stood her in plain sight of everyone and said, "Teacher, this woman was caught red-handed in the act of adultery. Moses, in the Law, gives orders to stone such persons. What do you say?" They were trying to trap him into saying something incriminating so they could bring charges against him.
Jesus bent down and wrote with his finger in the dirt. They kept at him, badgering him. He straightened up and said, "The sinless one among you, go first: Throw the stone." Bending down again, he wrote some more in the dirt.
Hearing that, they walked away, one after another, beginning with the oldest. The woman was left alone. Jesus stood up and spoke to her. "Woman, where are they? Does no one condemn you?"
"No one, Master."
"Neither do I," said Jesus. "Go on your way. From now on, don't sin."
[The Law of Moses is the whole collection of written laws given through Moses to the people of Israel, which consist of many ceremonies, rituals, and symbols, to remind the people frequently of their duties and responsibilities. The Pharisees were a particular group in Jewish society with their own specific interpretation of the Law of Moses for which they claimed Mosaic authority. They are presented in the New Testament as being in regular debate and dispute with Jesus. Jesus seemed to think that the Law of Moses was being used to condemn and exclude people from the worship of God in the Temple when it was intended to draw people to God. He also seemed to think that obeying the detail of religious observances could prevent people from giving much needed help to those in difficulty – this is why the priest and Levite are criticised in the story of the Good Samaritan.]
What do you think this story has to say about the way Christians should think about justice and injustice? Why do you think that, based on this story?
In these two stories – one told by Jesus and one about him – we see him saying that we are all the same, whatever our race, colour, religion, class etc. - in two important aspects: first, we are all neighbours and as a result should give and receive love from one another; second, we are all sinners – those who fail to be perfect like God is perfect – and therefore we should bear with, understand and forgive each others faults and failings while encouraging each other to live differently in future.
On the basis of the kind of actions, stories and teachings of Jesus that we have thought about today, Christians have got involved in approaches to justice like that involved in restorative justice.
Restorative justice is a theory of justice that emphasizes repairing the harm caused or revealed by criminal behaviour. Restorative justice aims to create opportunities for victims, offenders and community members who want to do so to meet to discuss the crime and its aftermath. It expects offenders to take steps to repair the harm they have caused. It seeks to restore victims and offenders to being whole contributing members of society and it provides opportunities for parties with a stake in a specific crime to participate in its resolution.
Restorative justice has three principles which seem to fit with what we have seen of Jesus’ example and teaching today:
Justice requires that we work to restore those who have been injured.
Those most directly involved and affected by crime should have the opportunity to participate fully in the response if they wish.
Government's role is to preserve a just public order, and the community's is to build and maintain a just peace.
In restorative justice programmes the victim and offender encounter one another. This might be done directly in a meeting between the two (and perhaps others as well) with a facilitator assisting them but can also be done indirectly through exchange of letters, videos and by messages delivered by a third party. Stories of confession, forgiveness and reconciliation forcefully remind us of the relational wounds caused by crime and the need to address those.
Restorative justice seeks to repair the harm done by crime. Whenever possible this repair should be done by the persons responsible for the harm. That is why restorative justice values efforts by offenders to make amends. There are four elements of making amends: apology, changed behaviour, restitution, and generosity. Each element has potential for helping the victim to heal and the offender to become a productive part of the community, although usually more than one will be involved in a restorative outcome. It is the victim and offender who decide which ones are important and feasible in particular cases. That is why restorative encounters are important.
Crime causes injuries. It also can result in both the victim and offender feeling stigmatized. Therefore, restorative justice places a high value on the reintegration of the victim and of the offender. The goal is to have them become whole, contributing members of their communities. Reintegration occurs when the victim or offender can become active and productive parts of their communities. To accomplish this, victims and offenders must find communities with the following characteristics: (1) mutual respect for those in the community, (2) mutual commitment to others in the community, and (3) intolerance for - but understanding of - deviant behaviour by members of the community.
Restorative justice processes are also more inclusive than traditional criminal justice processes in that they actively invite all affected parties - victims, offenders, and community members - to participate in resolving the crime.
An example of these approaches in practice is Sycamore Tree, which:
is a six session programme, run in prisons, focusing on raising victim awareness, and based on the principles of restorative justice;
challenges attitudes and behaviour by teaching and encouraging offenders to take responsibility for their actions towards victims and the community – to recognise the wrong they have done, the impact it has had on others, and the need to put things right;
enables offenders to hear from ‘surrogate victims’ about their experiences of crime; and to reflect on the impact and harm caused, and the need for apology and reparation;
uses the story of Zacchaeus from the Bible as a framework;
is run at the invitation of Prison Service Chaplaincy, by trained Prison Fellowship staff and with volunteers from all Christian denominations, who through prayer, practical action and values based programmes, seek to restore those affected by crime; and
has been run more than 330 times since 1999, involving four thousand prisoners in more than 25% of all prisons.
“Sycamore Tree made me realise the pain I caused to my victim, the families and myself. I wanted to take responsibility for what I had done.” A young offender
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