The Way of Justice
The way of justice is so much more than keeping the law!
It is not so much ‘Don’t do that’ but rather the totally positive outlook that wants to do the right thing to be a blessing to others around us.
We might easily slip into the wrong view of God, thinking He is just and fair, and is therefore the heavenly policeman, punishing all wrongdoing as He works to maintain a world in which Justice prevails.
The notion of Justice in fact challenges our view of what God is like.
Then it challenges our view of what WE are like.
We will be more concerned in our readings this week about the kind of people we are, rather than reflect on the injustices we might be aware of in society around us.
vv 3-4. Give justice … uphold the rights … Rescue … deliver ..
All the words of these verses speak of action on behalf of the oppressed. God demands that something should be done to alleviate the situation in which some people find themselves because of the injustice of those who wield power in society. Several issues for us to face as we begin this week.
First: Who do you identify as ‘Oppressed People’ in our society?
Second: In what ways and by whom are they oppressed?
Third: Is there something I should be doing personally?
Fourth: Can we leave it to a Government to take necessary action?
Fifth: What about perceived oppression in other countries?
Sixth: Should we as Christians be more concerned about spiritual issues than about such social issues?
Our heads might begin to ache as we reflect seriously on such matters, and perhaps our consciences might be stirred too! Very often I have heard someone say in the course of an interview for TV that something ‘Isn’t fair’. You have probably heard children say it – I certainly have because it is the most-often used complaint in a school playground! Adults often think it even if they don’t express it publicly.
In earlier generations we can see examples of where individual employers have taken such an issue seriously. One of the examples that comes to my mind is housing. Maybe you have travelled north and have visited, as I have, places like Salts Mill near Bradford and Leeds. Once a huge mill processing wool, it is now an Art Gallery and shopping complex. The factory founder, Sir Titus Salt, ensured that his workers had decent housing by building for them the small, solidly constructed town of Saltaire. The same thing happened in towns such as Bourneville, where Christian employers looked after their employees by housing them properly. They treated workers justly.
Housing is such a major issue in our society right now that maybe it is one area in which Christians might get more involved. Any ideas?
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