As Christians we serve a God who is Just
and calls His people to do justice (Micah 6:8).
Justice matters. It is in our human bloodstream. Yes, every human being
is made in God’s image and therefore has individual
rights. Injustice is expressed when these rights are violated,
God’s will is violated.
Nicholas Wolterstorff, a Reformed
philosopher has written a masterful book, Justice: Rights
and Wrongs in which he shows plainly that Scripture is
concerned with individual rights. Contrary to the prevailing philosophy justice
is not just some right ordering of society so that actions which bring the most
good to society as a whole are to be desired. If individual rights are
suppressed or denied in the process, it is not the justice God calls humanity
to, not the justice he called Israel to, not the justice he calls the church
to. In his book Wolterstorff includes
exegesis of passages in the prophets which point out that justice must not be
denied to a poor person, or to the poor. In that notion we see the principle of
individual rights. Of course individual rights as trumped by the world are at
best a dim, and more often skewed image of this. Though there is a certain kind
of tolerance which goes with living now, in the age of grace, when we are at
best all recovering sinners. We tolerate others by receiving them as Jesus
received everyone; as friends to whom he shared the message and love of God and
God’s kingdom.
The passion for justice is an aspect of
love. The first and greatest commandment is to love God with all our being and
doing, and the second like it is to love our neighbor as ourselves. Jesus
taught that all of God’s word hangs on those two commandments. James
complained about
believers who might shun a poor person, while favoring the rich in their
assembly, and made it clear that this is not to be tolerated.
To stand up for justice means to not
only speak out, but also to do what we can to help those who are treated
unjustly. We are one humanity created by the same God, joined
together through the new creation in Jesus.
We must follow the way of Jesus and defend the rights of all who are
violated.
The passage
from Amos (5:24) makes a fierce indictment against God's People. In it, God
condemns our worship if doesn't serve justice. God says: "I hate, I
despise your festivals, and I take no delight in your solemn assemblies. . .
Take away from me the noise of your songs; I will not listen to the melody of
your harps. But let justice roll down like waters and righteousness like an
ever flowing stream!
Kasta Dip
