The Word in Focus with Dr Larry Taylor

Justice

But let justice roll down like water
and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream.

(Amos 5:24)

The Hebrew and Christian scriptures (Old and New Testaments respectively) make much of God’s concern and compassion for the oppressed. Because of God’s attention to the downtrodden, all of God’s people are called to share in assisting the poor, orphaned, widowed, foreigners, captives, and the oppressed in practical ways.

Jesus’ statement in response to criticism of a woman’s loving and extravagant anointing that “the poor are always with you” (Matthew 26:11) has been grossly twisted to mean the opposite of what Jesus intended. He was not being dismissive of the poor, nor implying that it’s okay to ignore them. On the contrary, we are always to care for the poor. 

The expressed concern that the money spent on the ointment might have been better given to the poor was made out of legitimate concern for the downtrodden. The women recognized, however, that this hour was unique – the Messiah was about to accomplish victory over sin and death through self-sacrificial love on the cross. What she did was not wasteful; it was beautiful. 

“The poor you have with you always.” Are poor people with us always? Jesus is assuming they are. Are they sleeping in our spare rooms, eating at our tables? Caring for the poor continues to be our obligation.

Other ancient Neareastern cultures knew nothing of such concern. Those who were of no economic or military use to society were cast out or killed. Providing for the down and out was uniquely Jewish and one of the ways Israel was to be a light to the nations.

Nowhere does Jesus ask how people came to be in need. He simply met the needs. Why a person is poor is not my concern. Lifting them up is.

In the Christian scriptures, the Greek word dikaiosuné is most often translated as “righteousness.”  

For I tell you, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. (Jesus in Matthew 5:20) 

Righteousness here is dikaiosuné.

Dikaiosuné means justice, doing what is right; having true inner goodness that leads to acts of justice – doing right by God, (all) others, oneself, and creation. Dikaiosuné is not a legal transaction in which God declares people righteous apart from any change in behavior in spite of what you may read in Strong’s Concordance.

It is curious that so many English translations seem to favor “righteousness,” which implies individual moral character, rather than “justice,” which connotes equality, equity, fairness, and doing what is best and right for others, nature, and self. Changing dikaiosuné from “justice” to “righteousness” appeals to our occidental individuality, which is especially pronounced in the United States. Religion becomes more about me and less about my neighbor. 

Perhaps dikaiosuné takes on the meaning of individual legal right standing in exclusion to acting justly because of Protestant reaction against what was perceived as the works-righteous of mediaeval Roman Catholicism. The primary concern of many seems to be whether or not one “goes to heaven” when they die and what is required to get there. 

God is, in God’s core, unconditional love. I suspect we need to stop worrying about being tortured forever. Those who have received Christ are in Christ and will live eternally with Christ. The issue here is sanctification, not justification.

Nevertheless, justification and sanctification must not be artificially separated. Having come to Jesus, I must follow Jesus. He is my Lord as well as my savior. Following Jesus means being conformed to his image, becoming increasingly Christlike. Being Christlike means to have a Spirit-infused heart, to love, to do right by God, others, nature, and self. 

Doing right for ourselves is not selfishness. It includes such things as proper diet, exercise, and positive life choices. Caring for creation is the first commandment given to the first people in the Bible. Doing what is right for others includes providing for the poor and practicing the Golden Rule, which in Jesus’ rendering is active and positive – go and actively do for others what you would like others to do for you. Not, “don’t do to others what you don’t want done to you.” When we are formed into true inner goodness and doing what is right for others, nature, and ourselves, God is pleased.

The doing must flow from being. It’s not a matter of trying really hard to be nice. It’s all about being constantly with Jesus, learning from Jesus how to be like Jesus. We call this discipleship or spiritual formation. Conformed to his image, justice, dikaiosuné, flows naturally from us. 

In both the Hebrew and Christian scriptures, those at the bottom of society (the poor, widowed, orphaned, incarcerated) are contrasted with those at the top. In Luke 6, Jesus is recorded giving a slightly different version of the Beatitudes. In Luke, he not only blesses the poor, but he also pronounces woe on the rich. Note the contrast:

²⁰ “Blessed are you who are poor,
    for yours is the kingdom of God.

²⁴ “But woe to you who are rich,
    for you have received your consolation.

^21a “Blessed are you who are hungry now,
    for you will be filled.

^25a “Woe to you who are full now,
    for you will be hungry.

^21b“Blessed are you who weep now,
    for you will laugh.

^25b“Woe to you who are laughing now,
    for you will mourn and weep.

His brother James does the same in chapter 5 of his epistle:

¹ Come now, you rich people, weep and wail for the miseries that are coming to you. ² Your riches have rotted, and your clothes are moth-eaten. ³ Your gold and silver have rusted, and their rust will be evidence against you, and it will eat your flesh like fire. You have laid up treasure^[a] during the last days. ⁴ Listen! The wages of the laborers who mowed your fields, which you kept back by fraud, cry out, and the cries of the harvesters have reached the ears of the Lord of hosts. ⁵ You have lived on the earth in luxury and in pleasure; you have nourished your hearts in a day of slaughter. ⁶ You have condemned and murdered the righteous one, who does not resist you.

In her Magnificat, Jesus’ mother Mary says:

^1:46 “My soul magnifies the Lord,
⁴⁷     and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior,
⁴⁸ for he has looked with favor on the lowly state of his servant.
    Surely from now on all generations will call me blessed,
⁴⁹ for the Mighty One has done great things for me,
    and holy is his name;
⁵⁰ indeed, his mercy is for those who fear him
    from generation to generation.
⁵¹ He has shown strength with his arm;
    he has scattered the proud in the imagination of their hearts.
⁵² He has brought down the powerful from their thrones
    and lifted up the lowly;
⁵³ he has filled the hungry with good things
    and sent the rich away empty.
⁵⁴ He has come to the aid of his child Israel,
    in remembrance of his mercy,
⁵⁵ according to the promise he made to our ancestors,
    to Abraham and to his descendants forever.” (Luke 1)

Not only must the downtrodden be lifted up, the wealthy and powerful must be brought down. That theme runs throughout the entire Bible. By “brought down” scripture does not mean “made poor.” The goal is not to make the rich poor and the poor rich. The goal is make sure everyone has enough. The rich and powerful need to be humbled, made generous, compassionate, concerned, actively involved in making the world a more equitable and just place – a place where there is less war, less killing, less hunger, less sickness, less oppression, less injustice.

“The last-shall-be-first gospel calls us to move down the ladders of worldly power. The gospel calls us to sit with the oppressed and the silenced. It does not amplify the voices of the powerful, whose bottomless stomachs never seem to reach satisfaction. The gospel extends welcome and invitation, chooses nonviolence and demonstrates love for the enemy—even at the cost of one’s life. The gospel speaks truth and hates lies.”  ~ Christy Berghoef

Jesus, the messianic king of a new kind of kingdom, expands the definition of downtrodden. Not only are the poor, widowed, orphaned, and incarcerated to be helped, cared for, and uplifted, but so are the sick, deformed, blemished, blind, lame, leprous, hemorrhaging, and disabled.  Jesus touched lepers, called a woman with an issue of blood “daughter,” gave sight to the blind, and healed withered limbs and bent backs on the sabbath. 

The religious leaders could agree on caring for the poor, orphaned and widowed. But the physically marred, deformed, disabled, and people discharging bodily fluids were, according to Torah, to be excluded from the community. They were not allowed in the Temple; they were forced to live in enclaves outside the towns. The scribes could quote Bible verses to prove it.

King Jesus comes along, a homeless, itinerate rabbi living on alms, yet displaying supernatural wisdom and power, and widens the circle of those who deserve justice. By the time he’s finished, the circle includes everyone on the margins.

The list of people groups that should be the targets of our justice efforts includes all who are poor (regardless of why they are poor). It includes all who are foci of racism, bigotry, misogyny, homophobia, transphobia, antisemitism, islamophobia, or intolerance. It includes every foreigner, alien, immigrant, or migrant (regardless of legal status). It includes every prisoner, every victim of police brutality, every brown-skinned person swept off the streets by masked agents. It also includes the mentally ill, the homeless, the disabled, the intellectually challenged, and the physically deformed. 

Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit
Blessed is the lamb whose blood flows
Blessed are the sat upon, spat upon, ratted on
… I have tended my own garden much too long

(Blessed by Paul Simon) 

Jesus welcomed the poor, the widowed, and the orphaned. No Pharisee would have a problem with that. But he also welcomed Gentiles, women, and children – three classes of people who, in that culture, had no rights. Then, he went even further to embrace the physically, mentally, and morally broken. He ate with religious leaders. He also ate with sex workers and tax collectors who had sold out to Rome. He traveled with women, embraced children, and touched lepers.

The very word “Christian” means to act like Christ, Messiah, Jesus.

Who sits at the lowest levels of contemporary North American society?

He has told you, O mortal, what is good,
    and what does the Lord require of you
but to do justice and to love kindness
    and to walk humbly with your God?

Micah 6:8

ORA PRO NOBIS