The Fourth Sunday of Lent: Let Justice Roll

Justice is sweet and musical;
but injustice is harsh and discordant.
-Henry David Thoreau



Justice.

A powerful word. An even more powerful ideal. Yet we so often mess it up. Whenever I am teaching ethics I have to stop and explain that from an ethics standpoint justice is not what we normally think it is. Legally, it is usually seen as giving someone what they deserve.

• “We want justice to be done against that criminal.” 
• (Justice is the appropriate penalty for having done something wrong.)
• “Justice was served!” 
• (They got what was coming to them.)

In ethics, however, justice is all about equity and equality.

• Justice is about appropriate use of resources so people are not left out. 
• Justice is making sure that people get what they need, not what they deserve.

A Google search gave me this definition:

• Just behavior or treatment.
• synonyms: fairness, justness, fair play, fair-mindedness, equity, even-handedness, impartiality, objectivity, neutrality, honesty, righteousness
• The administration of the law or authority in maintaining this.

Hence Thoreau’s quote above is a great way to start thinking about justice- it is sweet and musical!

I love the thoughts that come with that phrase. When justice is done it is more than just good. It is sweet. I has a sense of rightness and purpose to it. Justice helps people look at a situation and not let preconceived notions or ideology get in the way. Justice helps people recognize the needs of neighbors as much as our own needs. Justice, in God’s universe, is giving people what they need! Using the musical metaphor, there is harmony to justice, the justice that helps people get what they need brings us together.

One of my favorite quotes on justice is from the prophet Amos, chapter 5, verses 23-24:

Take away from Me the noise of your songs; I will not even listen to the sound of your harps. But let justice roll down like waters and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream. (NIV)

Institutionalized oppression was the rule instead of the exception. God didn't like that.

• Prayers and sacrifices do not make up for bad deeds.
• "Practice of religious acts is no insurance against the judgment of God"
• Behaving justly is much more important than ritual.
• By oppressing the poor and failing to practice justice the Israelites were behaving unrighteously.
• Social justice was to be enacted as a core of God's message in Amos' prophetic teachings. (Link)

Yet we humans are not good at this kind of justice. The prophets remind the people regularly. Jesus tells the parable of the workers waiting in the village square waiting to be hired for a day’s work. Some are hired at the crack of dawn, others at noon, and a few more are hired with but a few hours left. At the end of the day they all got paid the same. It was the amount promised to the first worker and the last. In the parable the ones who worked all day get upset.

“We worked all day out there and these loafers came along at the end of the day. They shouldn’t get the same. At the least they should get less.”

“This is what I promised,” said the owner. “Do you begrudge me my generosity?”

You better believe we do!

It was just, no one was wronged. Everyone got what they were promised. Generosity. Justice. Grace!

God is telling the people through Amos that even their best and most sacred music (music, again!) is useless if there is not justice in the land. Jesus is telling his listeners that a promise is a promise. Words must lead to appropriate responses. Heavy-duty stuff. Again, a common theme it seems this Lenten season: Words aren’t what it’s all about. It is in our actions that we show what we are made of, that we show what we believe.

God is the different drummer, the one giving the rhythm to a more just and loving world. God is telling us to be "just" as God is "just."

Your Kingdom come, Your Will be done,
On earth as it is in heaven!

BUT, I don’t want God to be just to those who aren’t as good as I am. I don’t want the sinner over there to get the same grace as I get. It’s all about me! What I want. God being “just” or giving “justice” is different.

Thanks be to God!

• Do I truly believe in God’s justice, God’s justness, God’s generosity, and finally and eternally, God’s grace?
• Do I truly believe that God wants true justice to flow like an everlasting river?
• Do I truly believe that my actions are more important than my prayers and my “humble” words and worship?

• This Lent, may I be open to hearing the words of justice from a loving God.
• This Lent, may I seek ways to be a channel of God’s justice.
• This Lent, may the words of my mouth and the meditations from my heart lead to true worship in standing with those who need God’s justice.
• This Lent, may I discover the wonders of grace lived and acted out in God’s Name.

That may be the most beautiful thing I can share!

Though we travel the world over to find the beautiful,

we must carry it with us or we find it not.

- Ralph Waldo Emerson