John Wolf: Occupy Wall Street a movement of justice

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John Wolf

Updated: January 26, 2012 8:05AM

The day after Thanksgiving was supposed to begin the preparation for Christmas.

It is called Black Friday because merchants expect their year’s balance sheets to end in the black.

Early openings of stores and on-going sales lured frantic customers with sharp elbows. Even pepper spray was used to gain an advantage in the rush to reach certain items first.

How quickly we forget what the birthday of Jesus was all about — “Peace on Earth, good will to all.”

Christmas has been hijacked by the world he came to save. The one redeeming news was the Occupy Wall Street movement in Liberty Square.

How come?

Most of us slide through the words of Mary in the “Magnificat.” Let’s hear them again: “He has scattered the proud ... he has put down the mighty from their thrones and exalted those of low degree. The rich he has sent empty away” (Luke 1).

We might add today, “What is mightier than Wall Street?”

John 3:16 explains why God sent Jesus into human history: “God so loved the world that he gave his only son.”

The Greek word is “agape,” which is God’s personal love. Applied to community, it translates into “justice.”

In 2011, we can have both. Liberty Square is about justice.

This emergent, evolving social movement already has succeeded beyond our wildest dreams. It reminds me of the 18th century Charles Dickens described in “Scrooge and the Christmas Story.” Movements have a way of affecting history. If it continues nonviolent, it will maintain the high moral ground.

Time magazine says: “79 percent of the American public views OWS favorably and that the gap between rich and poor has grown too large. 86 percent agree that Wall Street has too much influence in Washington, and 68 percent agree that the rich should pay more taxes.”

Not since the Great Depression has there been a wealth redistribution movement of this nature. The movement is building consciousness from the ground up.

First, you have to occupy the public mind.

Jim Wallis of Sojourners magazine writes: “It takes a movement to change politics. Change never starts in Washington.”

Religious people need to understand that God is a God of justice and not only a God of charity. Every day, we receive solicitations for charity symbolized by the Salvation Army kettles. Bless them!

We must give generously to charity. The change Mary sang about is more than charity; it involves politics and favors justice for the poor.

Wesleyan convert and British abolitionist William Wilberforce didn’t just call on English Christians to release slaves. He was determined to end the slave trade. The story is well told in the movie “Amazing Grace.” The Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. did not just call on U.S. Christians to stop discrimination against blacks; he enlisted the White House and Congress to change laws.

The tea party movement seems to be embedded in Wall Street and seeks to protect their corporate wealth. The OWS is a justice movement.

“If you work with and for the poor you will run into “injustice,” Wallis said.

I believe Christmas 2011 is particularly important. The scene before the world is of corporate wealth running amok vs. the message of the angelic host to the most lowly shepherds. Biblical scholars tell us there was no group lower on the financial ladder than the shepherds.

This year, perhaps we will pay attention to what God is saying, through Mary, to the United States and the world. Movements have a way of becoming realities.

Thanks be to God!

John D. Wolf is a retired minister who lives in Valparaiso