“As I reflect on the remarkable and sacrificial step of faith, these workers and their allies will be taking through this six day fast, these words of Isaiah spring to mind.

“Is not this the fast that I choose: to loose the bonds of injustice, to undo the thongs of the yoke, to let the oppressed go free, and to break every yoke?” (Isaiah 58:6)

With God, these workers are indeed choosing that fast, and more importantly calling the leaders of Publix to choose the same. I will be praying and fasting with them that Publix will catch God’s vision for justice, and see that this vision will bring prosperity and blessing not only to the workers in the fields, but to Publix and its employees and shareholders as well.”

“As we begin the season of Lent…

…it’s easy in our increasingly secular world to ignore it or in the world of superficial piety to privatize it. But the word from God spoken by the prophet Isaiah brings a different message. Is not this the fast that I choose: to loose the bonds of injustice, to undo the thongs of the yoke, to let the oppressed go free, and to break every yoke? In fact, God warns those who are fasting and tearing their clothes to shreds that God is not impressed with all that. Only when the people stop oppressing their workers, blaming each other for their problems and breaking relationships within their own families will God respond to their prayers.

It’s not a difficult jump to get from Isaiah to the Coalition of Immokalee Workers and Publix. A few weeks ago Trader Joe’s signed an agreement with CIW, only a few days before opening its first Florida store. So it’s still about Publix. Now, don’t get me wrong, I like my Publix store. I like the politeness of its workers. I like the cleanliness of the stores and the variety of the items they stock. I like their Buy One, Get One Free sales.

What I don’t like is the arrogance of their leadership (they never responded to our letter and thousands of dollars of cash register receipts) and their unwillingness to even sit down and talk with the CIW leaders. In every situation that the workers of CIW have encountered for a decade now, when they are able to sit down and talk with the heads of fast food conglomerates, tomato grower associations and food supply companies, they were able to see each other’s humanity and dignity and to find a place of agreement. Yet Publix leadership refuses to sit down or to talk, which only says to me they know that theirs is a morally indefensible position and they can’t look the workers in the eye.

In my sermons over the past months, I have focused on the difference between chronos time and kairos time. The old ways of chronos time are quickly disappearing and kairos time, God’s time, is upon us. The kin-dom is at hand. We can see that as old marriage inequality laws fall to the wayside, as old religious understandings of impurity disappear, as old oppressive political regimes and laws melt away. The unwillingness of Publix to sign with the CIW is the last vestige of the old agricultural order in the South which relied on slave labor and then share-cropping and segregation to support it. This too shall pass. The question for them is do they wish to be on the side of justice or oppression, the past or the future.

During the week of March 5-10 many of the leaders and workers of the CIW will be on a fast at the Publix headquarters in Lakeland. We are invited to join them throughout the week and on Saturday, when they end the fast. I will join them to lead their religious vigil the evening of Wednesday, March 7. I invite you to join me there or join us in prayer that evening.

Perhaps our Lenten discipline this year might be to pray every day that the hearts of the leaders of Publix might be softened, that they might sit down with CIW and sign an agreement which gives the workers just one penny per pound more for their labor. Remember Isaiah…

In Peace and Love, Pastor Bernice

“This is not the first time that the Christian Witness in Public Life (CWPL) Mission Team from Vanderbilt Presbyterian Church in Naples, FL has contacted you about supporting the Coalition of Immokalee Workers (CIW). Your backing would lead to better working conditions in the fields, as well as providing a “penny-a-pound” increase directly to the pickers for their long unrecognized hard work. They harvest tomatoes for all of us: growers, buyers and consumers. We have heard your response that this is a labor issue which only involves growers (stating they alone control the price) and thus not your concern. Yet many other tomato buyers have signed on to the CIW pact, recognizing the major role buyers play in establishing prices. The most recent co-signer is your new Naples rival, Trader Joe’s.

CIW has the long standing support of Vanderbilt, and of the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church (PCUSA). Our congregation is committed to standing with Interfaith Action and the CIW now and in the future, come what may. As evidence of our support, CWPL asked church members to save their Publix receipts during the month of January, 2012. We are sending you these receipts, totaling approximately $22,000, as evidence that the many members of our congregation who shop at Publix hope to encourage you and your corporation to act in a caring and responsible manner and move to support CIW’s position. While conducting this collection, we also learned that others among our congregants choose not to shop at Publix because of its current stand on the CIW issue…” read the letter in its entirety here