Do Justice, Love Mercy, and Walk Humbly with God
Edee Schulze, PhD

Each fall I speak in the second chapel of the academic year. Generally, I like to focus on community and how we here at Westmont conduct ourselves as we live and learn together. My comments often emerge from the Community Life Statement, a core document all students, staff, faculty, and trustees sign and commit to. If you have not read the Community Life Statement, I encourage you to do so. It is a beautifully written document, accentuating the relationship between learning and community in a Christ-centered, scripturally grounded educational environment. This year, for my chapel address I chose to focus my comments on truth-centered attitudes and other-centered practices, which are key elements of the Community Life Statement, through the lens of Micah 6:8.

I am conscious about proximity these days because I have two new puppies, Bandit and Pippin. They are 14-week-old Shih Tzu- who keep me on my toes, sometimes literally because they are always underfoot. As a breed, Shih Tzu are known for their high desire to be close to their human. My two little pups love being, even need to be, in proximity to me. When it’s too quiet or I don’t hear the little bells on their collars I get a little nervous because they are up to something they shouldn’t be, and I want to see them in my proximity.

In Micah 6:8 God and Israel are conversing through the prophet Micah. God is displeased with Israel’s greed and theft and tells them he will judge them (justice). But there is hope because the punishment won’t be forever, and a remnant of the people will survive (mercy). The people ask how they can right their relationship with God. He says, in effect, “I have already told you. Be like me: do justice and love mercy. But not as the world says, as I say. So, walk close to me so you will know what true justice and real mercy are. God says, Get proximate to me and I will show you truth and love.

How does this relate to truth-centered attitudes, one of the phrases from our Community Life Statement? It is said that bank tellers are trained to identify counterfeit bills by becoming so familiar with real money that they can easily feel the difference between the real and the fake. I learned this summer that on a $100 bill, there is a watermark of Benjamin Franklin’s face on the right-hand side of the bill, only seen when the bill is held up to the light. Counterfeit bills will have a light ink printing (not a watermark) of his face that can be seen without holding the bill to the light. Also, if you were to rub Benjamin Franklin’s shoulder on a real $100 bill you would feel raised printing. Counterfeit bills don’t have that. Bank tellers and others who handle money spend a lot of time getting familiar with the feel and aspects of real money so when they encounter a fake, they feel it.

How close are we to the truth of God’s word that we could easily detect a counterfeit? How familiar are we with what Scripture says or how Jesus thought about something that we can spot slippage in our faithfulness to God’s direction? There is no substitute for being in proximity to God’s written word and to the Living Word, the Lord Jesus Christ, if we are interested in learning the truth.

This is one of our primary purposes with our students: to help them get closer and closer to Jesus who is the ultimate truth, become like Him, and do what He did. I can think of no better way to practice truth-centered attitudes than to spend time daily in God’s word and in prayer. So, in my chapel talk, I encouraged our students to get in proximity with God, daily and regularly, testing what they are learning in other areas against the truth of God’s written word and Living Word, Jesus.

I also encouraged students to be proximate to each other. The Community Life Statement emphasizes other-centered practices. Father Greg Boyle lives in the community of Boyle Heights in East LA and works with gang and ex-gang members. He coined the phrase “kinship justice,” meaning he doesn’t just give money or material assistance to those in need. He builds kinship with them. He knows the names, stories, pains, and joys of the people he serves. In Luke 16, Jesus tells a parable about Lazarus and a rich man. They both die, and Lazarus goes to Abraham’s side and the rich man goes to Hades. The rich man begs Abraham to send Lazarus to cool his lips with a bit of water and send Lazarus or prophets to warn his brothers of the fate that awaits them. Abraham says none of these things are possible and even if prophets visited those still alive, they would not listen. Father Boyle asks, “What was the rich man’s sin?” and builds the case that his sin was not that he had money or even that he didn’t give a little bit to Lazarus. After all, he let Lazarus sit at his front gate where he no doubt saw the rich man’s friends coming and going. Lazarus also got scraps from the rich man’s table occasionally. The rich man’s sin wasn’t that he didn’t give a little something to someone in need. It was that he didn’t invite Lazarus to his table. He didn’t have kinship with him. Whatever he did to help Lazarus or allow him access to crumbs was not enough. Boyle posits that we need justice, but kinship justice as he calls it.

When I spoke in chapel, I affirmed our students who serve in Santa Barbara’s Alameda Park every week giving food to the homeless in our community. More than that, I affirmed that our students know the names of many of the people they are serving, and they have relationships with them. I encouraged those in chapel to have a similar other-centered attitude to people in our community. I challenged our community to make room for those who are different from us, those who might be marginalized for whatever reason, and those who are lonely or afraid. Let’s be capacious in our community, making room for others by refraining from criticism or condemnation because someone thinks differently or has a different experience from ours. Let’s learn to be proximate to others, going out of our way to implement other-centered practices, even when it might not be comfortable.

Micah 6:8 is a well-known verse from the Bible: Do justice, love mercy, and walk humbly with God. My prayer is that we will know and enact what it means: be proximate to God (walk humbly with Him), do justice (in kinship), and love mercy (be other-focused). If you think of us here at Westmont, I invite you to join me in this prayer for our community.