Justice As A Calling
There can be no denying that Justice is supremely important to God. It is equally imperative that we understand there is a very big difference between Civil Law and Biblical Justice.
Howard Zehr, a Mennonite author wrote in his book, “Changing Lenses”;
"The test of justice in the biblical view is not whether the right rules are applied in the right way.” Instead, “Justice is tested by the outcome. The tree is tested by its fruit… Does the outcome work to make things right? Are things being made right for the poor and the least powerful, the least 'deserving'? Biblical justice focuses on right relationships, not right rules."
I was struck by his use of the word “relationships” as this speaks directly to one of the core values of the Band of Brothers. We clearly see here again the emphasis when it comes to God, is on having a “right heart” and not just having “right form.”
We have all experienced the frustration of seeing a judgment passed down in our United States Judicial System, whereby someone that was by their behavior obviously guilty of a crime, but due to a legal technicality the court was forced to find them not guilty. This just gets under our skin and makes us very angry. Everything inside us screams that this is not justice. We are sure that Lady Justice certainly is blind. This is Legal Justice not Biblical Justice.
In order to understand God’s heart for the oppressed poor one has to understand that it is based on the principle of Justice which is a part of His “genetic code” and expressed through the writings of the Scriptures.
In the dispensation of the Old Testament, the writer of the Psalms declared:
(The Lord) executes justice for the oppressed; (He) gives food to the hungry. The Lord sets the prisoners free; the Lord opens the eyes of the blind.
Psalm 146:7-8
In other words when it comes to the dispensing of Justice, God is proactive. This is an issue that is preeminent in His heart, foremost in His mind and must be expressed continually in His body. It is who He is. When He introduced himself to Moses as “I Am” He could have added the word Justice among many others. “I Am Justice.”
Hundreds of years later, Jesus characterized or defined His own earthly ministry by service to the poor, the outcasts, and the downtrodden thereby establishing justice. Early in his public ministry, Jesus entered the synagogue and read from the prophet Isaiah to describe his ministry:
“The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to bring good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free, to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor.”
Luke 4:18-19
I have seen this quote spiritualized to the point that it is unrecognizable. It has been used to justify so many self serving fund raising programs within the church. I don’t think it needs interpretation, I think it means exactly what it says, Jesus came for the poor and those in need. He came to let the oppressed go free.
