St. Andrew's Presbyterian Church

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The Virtues of Fortitude and Justice

John 15:1-8

May 14, 2006        (Click this link to see the bulletin)

1. Fortitude and Justice.

Fortitude . . . and justice. As flowers in the gardens of our lives, they don’t have quite the beauty as, say, roses and hyacinths, do they? After all, fortitude is "courage and strength in pain or in trouble." That’s not very pretty, is it? And justice is "administering law according to principles of right behavior and right treatment." That’s not very gorgeous. And the "fragrance" of fortitude and justice is more like honest sweat than honeysuckle. These virtues don’t exactly stun us with their elegance, do they?

But wait a minute! Who says fortitude and justice aren’t beautiful? Did you read the article on page 2 of Friday’s paper? It was about two young widows, both had young children and were pregnant with more when their husbands were killed in the September 11^th terrorist attacks. It’s an amazing story of both fortitude and justice! After their husband’s deaths, they met and decided to use some of their compensation money to help young widows in Afghanistan, women who became widows because of the same terrorist organization that had made them widows. They set up a non-profit organization to provide income-generating businesses for the most desperate of these women and their families. The picture shows them meeting an Afghan widow with five children, who now has a little chicken farm. Their income is now 20% greater than the average income ($26 rather than $21 – that IS 20%, isn’t it???). And what about Rosa Parks, the woman who "sat down" for justice to people of color in America? What she did was amazing. Her actions eventually kept a horrible practice from continuing to happen. Beautiful! I’m sure you can think of many more examples. Fortitude and Justice are prize-winning "must-have" plants for the gardens of our lives.

Fortitude and justice seeds have been passed down to us for generations – thousands of generations, actually. Abraham and Sarah showed courage and strength as they left their home and "went west" following God’s call. Moses worked for justice as he brought his oppressed people out of Egypt, and then sat as a judge when they had squabbles. The example I continue to recall is found in the Book of the Prophet Amos. During those days, the people were going through all the correct religious activities, but they were not taking care of the poor. Through Amos, God said, "I hate, I despise your festivals, and I take no delight in your solemn assemblies. Even though you offer me burnt offerings and grain offerings, I will not accept them . . . Take away from me the noise of your songs; I will not listen to the melody of your harps. But let justice roll down like waters, and righteousness like an everflowing stream." (Amos 5:21-24). Those are strong words, and God’s is serious! You see, God is LIFE, and life is more than sitting in church and singing hymns. LIFE is working to make the good life happen for all people, but especially for those who do not have all of life’s goodness. God plants the seeds of fortitude and justice in every generation, and expects those seeds to grow into beautiful flowers.

Where do see these virtues growing today? The most fertile garden is the home. Today is Mother’s Day, also known as "The Festival of the Christian Home." How many Mothers do you know (and Fathers, too, by the way) whose virtues have included the two we’re showcasing today? I hope you’ll share your stories today. Turn off the TV for a while, and talk to each other about the women you’ve known who grow these virtues in the gardens of their lives.

In a few minutes, we will baptize little Hanna Faith Turley. This beautiful child of God has wonderful examples of the Virtue of Fortitude in her own family, beginning with her Great-Grand-Mothers. One in particular lives in Spokane, WA. She came here in a travel trailer with her husband, led by her grandparents on the Turley side. It may not seem so ‘fortitudinous’ unless I tell you that Wanda is fighting cancer, and about every 12 hours they had to stop and take her to a hospital for treatment. She is also almost blind, and cannot really see any of her great-grandchildren. But she wanted to be here today. That’s fortitude!

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