May 23 - Looking for Justice

Read: 1 Corinthians 6:1-11

Over the several past months, we have all watched as our world has been ravaged by the effects of COVID-19. The spread of this disease has killed hundreds of thousands. The physical, emotional, and economical affects have taken a horrific toll. The question that begs to be answered is, “Who is responsible?”

There will doubtlessly be thorough investigations, mounds of evidence and billions if not trillions of dollars spent trying to find the answer to who should be held responsible for this tragedy.

Our nature wants this. We want to find justice when things go this wrong. We want to find someone to blame, someone to hold accountable.  We have lost so much; someone needs to pay!

Even in the most clear-cut cases with mounds of evidence, the most ethical of all courts, attorneys and judges, the lines of TRUE justice are still blurred. At the end of the day, we are all just human beings who do not know what REALLY happened. Even the wisest and most discerning among us cannot see into the past, much less the depths and motives and the human heart.

There is One Judge who can. He sees all and knows all. He sees all injustices, even those hidden far away in the depths of every human heart.  

1 Peter 2:23 says, Jesus “when He suffered, did not threaten, but continued to entrust Himself to Him who judges justly.”

We all want justice, until that justice is called upon to investigate the depths of our souls. Until we realize the One Who sees all and knows all will be called upon to bring His righteous condemnation down upon us to make us pay! He is the One sees every misdeed, every selfish evil intent, every skeleton in our closet and there will be no hiding.

The end of today’s reading (vs. 11) gives us hope.

The hope of being cleansed – washed clean, purified, unblemished and spotless.

The hope of being sanctified – Only those things that are pure can be set apart, consecrated, and dedicated to God. Jesus perfect life was given in our place, as full payment, as an act making complete and full amends and reparations for our guilt. By Jesus blood we purified from the inside out, imbued with His Holy Spirit making us fit to be used by God for His purposes.

The hope of being justified – When we are one day brought into the Divine Courtroom and laid bare before the Almighty, when we rely upon Jesus who paid our ransom, we are declared NOT GUILTY and acquitted of all charges. We have pronounced righteous, “just as if I never sinned.”

How does this speak to you about allowing God’s divine power to bring about justice in our world?

How will you respond to the hope of being cleansed, sanctified and justified? 

The Cry of Injustice

"How long will you defend the unjust and show partiality to the wicked?  Defend the cause of the weak and fatherless; maintain the rights of the poor and oppressed."  Psalm 82:2-4.

I have come to believe that one strand woven into the DNA of every soul is a powerful sense of justice ... moral rightness.  It's not that we are so just, but we know injustice in a heartbeat!

A child craves his parents' love, but sees their greater affection lavished on his sibling.

A man's identity is covered over by one who paints him a new one based on the color of his skin.

The promised family heirloom is taken by -- or, worse, given to -- another.

A girl "finds love," trusting herself to a man who then sells her favors to who knows how many others.

One's reputation is ruined by another, whether intentionally or from judgment without understanding.

A person of power imposes it not as he ought, but to the lesser standard of what he wants.

A penniless man is jailed for stealing small sums, while men of means bilk millions without impunity.

And when we suffer injustice of any sort or any size, it strikes a dissonant chord in the darkest caverns of our soul, reverberating from deep within us and rising in search of an unreachable crescendo, ever louder but never enough.  It will not be muted until the wrong has been made right.

Two things we Christians must know.  All people suffer injustices, some in greater magnitude than others, but we all are deeply affected by them.  And we must be where injustice lives, for we are the body of Christ on earth and it is through us the he works his will and his ways.

The whole creation joins the Psalmist in crying out to God for justice; we the redeemed people of God must act within our gifts to fight injustice.  No matter its form, no matter its size.