“What a tragedy if the only voices heard on Parliament Hill are those of labour, manufacturing organizations and farmers’ unions. The very nature of pressure groups is to seek favorable legislation for their own interest group. Who will say, ‘Thus saith the Lord’ on Parliament Hill today?”
(Excerpt from Mennonite Central Committee (MCC) Executive Statement Establishing an Ottawa Office, 1974)
What a tragedy, indeed, to live in a world where self-interest alone is pursued without concern for the well-being of our neighbours, both local and global. I see it too often here in Ottawa. While special interest groups and unions have accomplished a lot of good, there are some things that will just never be accomplished through self-interest alone.
When I tell people that I work as an advocate in Ottawa, it often conjures this negative image of self-interested lobbyists. I frequently find myself needing to follow up with, “It's not like you think!” As MCC’s Peace & Justice Office in Ottawa celebrates its 50th anniversary, it is a great opportunity to revisit a foundational question. What does it look like to say, “Thus saith the Lord” on Parliament Hill in 2025?
It is clear to me that the Executive Statement that founded MCC’s office in Ottawa is alluding to a familiar refrain from the Old Testament. “Thus saith the Lord” was a part of a pattern that identified a prophet’s words as coming directly from God. It was a way of identifying the word of God as distinct from the speaker’s opinion, experience or culture. (Nowadays, a lot of my conversations should probably start off with, “Thus saith Google …”)
Given that this was a familiar pattern in the Old Testament, I was somewhat surprised to find that it does not appear once in the New Testament. At first glance this might seem surprising, but we are given insight into this change. In the Book of Hebrews, the writer identifies that while God has spoken through the prophets in the past, it is through the life of Jesus that God’s will is most perfectly revealed to us.
“Long ago God spoke to our ancestors in many and various ways by the prophets, but in these last days he has spoken to us by a Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, through whom he also created the worlds. He is the reflection of God’s glory and the exact imprint of God’s very being, and he sustains all things by his powerful word.” – Hebrews 1:1-3 (NRSV)
In this passage, I began to glimpse an answer for what it might mean to say, “Thus saith the Lord” in 2025. It means that the advocacy work of MCC would point observers toward the life of Jesus and the truth found in the Bible. God has spoken to us through his son, and he speaks to our leaders in the same way.
One way advocacy can draw attention to Jesus is by striving to live as the Bible has shown us. Funnily enough, one of the passages that continuously inspires me begins in a familiar way. In the King James Version, Micah 6 begins with, “Hear ye now what the Lord saith” and calls on God’s people to “do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God.” This passage serves as a guide for me, and a reminder that all my advocacy is done in the name of Christ.
Having a 50-year history is a gift. It brings with it the opportunity to walk in the footsteps of many faithful individuals who have shown us what it looks like to advocate in the spirit of Micah 6:8. One of the clearest examples of Micah 6:8 lived comes to us from a former director of MCC’s office in Ottawa, Bill Janzen.
In 1979, headlines were filled with news of the forced displacement of people in Vietnam and of refugees fleeing the Vietnam War. In the face of this injustice, MCC supporters wrote to MCC asking what they could do to tangibly help, and Janzen was tasked with working on a solution. Janzen sat down with allies and civil servants to negotiate an agreement that allowed private citizens to host refugees for a year when they first arrived in Canada.
This agreement led to what we now know as private refugee sponsorship.
Regarding Janzen’s approach, Department of Immigration chief negotiator Gordon Barnett is quoted in Running on Empty as saying, “As negotiations progressed and the goodwill of MCC became evident, this approach changed, and both sides readily accepted to do what each would do best … Negotiating with MCC demonstrated only their complete commitment to help against our reluctance to give anything up and our meanness.” The commitment shown by MCC staff to seek justice, love mercy and walk humbly clearly had an impact on the people involved in this process, but the story doesn’t end there.
Today, almost every community across Canada has had the joy of experiencing the transformation that comes with following the biblical imperative of welcoming the stranger. Not only has this program benefited millions of newcomers, but it has also fundamentally changed the way Canadians understand what it means to welcome.
Looking back on the past 50 years, I see an incredible legacy of faithful advocacy lived through what is now the Peace & Justice Office. I don’t know exactly what it will look like to say, “Thus saith the Lord” in 2050 or 2100, but I do know that there will always be a need for people in Ottawa committed to “acting justly, loving mercy and walking humbly with [our] God.”
Mackenzie Graham works for Mennonite Central Committee as an Advocacy and Networking Specialist in the Peace & Justice Office. In recent years, he has attended Waterloo Mennonite Brethren Church, Ottawa Mennonite Church and North Park Community Church in London.