Blessed Are The Peasants (Including The Anabaptists)
Justice In The Lectionary: Fifth Sunday After Pentecost
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I love that we’re camping out in Amos over the next couple of weeks in the lectionary. If you grew up evangelical like I did, you probably haven’t spent any time in Amos - apart from the occasional ‘Bible in a Year’ speed-reading plans. But the prophetic book of Amos isn’t meant to be read on 2x speed; it’s meant to be savored, contemplated, and relished.
In Amos 7:14-15, we see some key context for the Prophet Amos:
“Then Amos answered Amaziah, "I am no prophet nor a prophet's son, but I am a herdsman and a dresser of sycamore trees, and the LORD took me from following the flock, and the LORD said to me, 'Go, prophesy to my people Israel.'“
In his new book, The Tears of Things: Prophetic Wisdom For An Age Of Outrage, Franciscan Friar, Richard Rohr says of Amos:
“His prophecies emerged from neither a formal education nor a family position nor any priestly role or inheritance, but from his foundational perspective as a peasant. Those at the top tend to believe things are the way they are for good reason, but the poor know in their bones that things are not as they should be.”
Amos lived at a time of Israel’s greatest economic prosperity during the reign of King Jeroboam II. In times like this, human tendency is to interpret economic blessings as a sign of God’s favor. But people closer to the perspective of ‘the peasants’ in society see the underbelly of Empire - the slaves, the illegals, the workers, and the vulnerable around us on whose backs the economy is built on. As the Church, this is the perspective / POV we need to cultivate too.
The Church has historically been really bad at cultivating the eyes to see Jesus from the eyes of ‘the peasants’ in society. Whether it’s the Western Church (Church of England, Roman Catholic Church, Dutch Reformed Church, Southern Baptists, etc.) and its participation in transatlantic slavery / western colonialism, the North American Church and its participation in the evils of settler colonialism, or my St. Thomas Indian Christian ancestors and their participation in unjust caste-based power structures, we have often missed the mark in cultivating the eyes to see God and the world like “the least of these” around us.
Or, as Richard Rohr goes on to say:
“Whenever we lose the bias toward the bottom, it’s often because we never got on the biblical trajectory to begin with. We were far more Egyptians and Babylonians, Romans and Greeks, than enslaved Hebrews seeking liberation.”
Let’s be real - as Western Christians accustomed to power and privilege (but also as human beings), we are far more likely to look to the wisdom of billionaires than the wisdom of the poor. We are far more likely to look to the wisdom of the academics than the wisdom of the immigrants and refugees. We are far more likely to look to the wisdom of pastors and theologians than the wisdom of racial and sexual minorities.
But the way of Jesus compels us to cultivate the eyes of the poor, the oppressed, and the peasant. Because that is where God is - on the margins of society. I often tell people that I looked for Jesus in the halls of power as a Georgia Republican political consultant many years ago. I thought I’d find him there. Instead, I found him in the wisdom of survivors of trafficking and violence.
I am convinced that the way forward is for the Western Church to find Jesus not among the rich and the powerful of Empire but among its marginalized. Or as St. Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 1:26-29:
“Consider your own call, brothers and sisters: not many of you were wise by human standards, not many were powerful, not many were of noble birth. But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong; God chose what is low and despised in the world, things that are not, to abolish things that are, so that no one might boast in the presence of God.”
I’m often asked about churches that embody the Justice of Jesus in our world today. My book, The Justice of Jesus provides several positive examples of churches prioritizing justice both in the West and across the Global South. Still, one branch of the Western Church I haven’t covered much in the past (including in the book apart from an occasional mention) is the Anabaptist tradition - especially the Mennonite Church.
The Anabaptist tradition has existed faithfully on the fringes of the Western Church tradition for exactly 500 years now. They are today a global Christian tradition known for their commitment to nonviolence, enemy love, and the rejection of coercive power. As a global peace church, the Anabaptists have inspired movements worldwide that emphasize reconciliation, community, and costly discipleship rooted in the teachings of Jesus.
As the rest of the Canadian Church celebrates a new Canadian Prime Minister who protects Canadian sovereignty (something I myself am grateful for too), the Mennonite Church Canada took a very prophetic, peasant-adjacent stance in response to the new Canadian Prime Minister’s budget:
Note how this denomination is being politically agnostic - except on behalf of our marginalized neighbours (something I write about at length in a whole chapter on Advocacy in my book). At a time when Canadians are rallying around the flag like never before (thanks for uniting us, DJT!), Canadian Mennonites are saying to the rest of Canada, “Wait a minute - let’s not neglect our poor, elderly, disabled, and Gazan neighbours here.” At a time when Canadians are banding together in the name of national sovereignty, our Mennonite siblings see things for how they truly are - with “a bias toward the bottom”.
A way of seeing things that is congruent with our Psalm 82 reading for the week:
“Give justice to the weak and the orphan; maintain the right of the lowly and the destitute. Rescue the weak and the needy; deliver them from the hand of the wicked."
And a liberative way of seeing things which is congruent with our own liberation in Christ as we see in our Colossians reading for this week:
“He has rescued us from the power of darkness and transferred us into the kingdom of his beloved Son.”
And finally, an inclusive way of seeing things which is congruent with the inclusiveness of the Good Samaritan we see in our Luke reading for this week.
May we all cultivate the eyes to see the world through the eyes of our peasant neighbours.
Drawing from his ancient, St. Thomas Indian Christian roots and a decolonized, justice-centered understanding of Scripture, Joash helps audiences reimagine a faith that unites rather than divides—and that stands firmly with neighbors on the margins. Through speaking engagements, teaching, and advocacy, he calls Christians to a more contemplative yet courageous activism, motivated by the grace-filled, non-violent way of Jesus. To support Joash’s priestly ordination and future education costs, you can upgrade to be a paid Substack subscriber today. We’ll also be launching monthly virtual hangouts as a paid subscriber perk starting July 14! Thank you for your partnership in this work of justice.