I Want Justice!

The Bible is full of themes that tie it together from Genesis to Revelation.  My heart was filled when I discovered, or rather re-discovered, a theme yesterday.  So please give me the pleasure of tracing my steps with you.  

It started with the story in Genesis 27 of Jacob and Esau.  In a nutshell, Esau is Isaac’s first born son and Jacob tricks him out of his birthright with a pot of stew and some well-placed goat hide.  And just like that, Jacob the deceiver, steals the birthright from his brother. I get a little miffed every time I read about the connivance and deceit that goes on behind the scenes in this story.  While thinking about this unfairness another Bible story that seems unfair came to mind.  It was Job, a good guy that loses it all.  Understanding that story is no small undertaking.  And in the New Testament, the Christian-murdering Saul is given a second chance.  What about the parables of Jesus where some people are given more talents (gold) than others and the guy that gets the least buries it and gets scolded? Or the one where workers who were hired in the last hour received the same wages as those who worked all day?  And don’t forget the prodigal son who demands his inheritance, runs away and blows it all then comes crawling back to find a welcome home party fit for a king.  

Each of these stories makes me want to shout, “That is unfair!”  It is a gut reaction.  Isn’t God supposed to set things right?  If he doesn’t care about justice then what is this all about?  Why did God put all these difficult stories in the Bible?  By the way, this is more proof of the Bible's true author because humans would have edited these stories a long time ago. And why did so many of Jesus’ parables address tension over perceived injustices?  We humans care deeply about justice; at least justice on our terms and in our own eyes.  We care about justice from our point of view.  So how do we reconcile the appearance of inconsistency in God’s justice?  

While comparing these stories I saw something that I never noticed before.  In each of the stories above, the point was not the bad or good circumstances but how the main characters reacted to those circumstances.  Take a quick look at the end of each story.  Jacob the deceiver ended up struggling many years with his father-in-law and with God. He learned obedience and became the father of the Israelite nation. Job ended up even closer to God with a new view of God’s justice and blessed beyond measure. Saul the murderer, given a second chance became the Apostle Paul who is still teaching us 2000 years later. The servant who buried his talents remained bitter and fearful. The hired workers who worked all day for their promised wages got what they signed up for and the prodigal son was given a second chance just as God gives us all.  

In each of these instances God’s justice was in the changed life, or lack of, rather than on the unfair event.  It seems that God’s justice does not always happen by changing our fortune but by changing our hearts.  His currency is not ours.  That is why it is so hard to understand some of those Bible stories and why we struggle to understand God's justice.  God is a just God. There are many scriptures that tell us this in both Old and New Testament.  Here are a few of them.

Psalm 50:6 NIV

[6] And the heavens proclaim his righteousness, for he is a God of justice.

Isaiah 5:16 NIV

[16] But the Lord Almighty will be exalted by his justice, and the holy God will be proved holy by his righteous acts.

Matthew 12:18 NIV

[18] “Here is my servant whom I have chosen, the one I love, in whom I delight; I will put my Spirit on him, and he will proclaim justice to the nations.

Revelation 19:11 NIV

[11] I saw heaven standing open and there before me was a white horse, whose rider is called Faithful and True. With justice he judges and wages war.

We expect him to heal our body but he chooses to heal our hearts.  We expect him to reward our good behavior, but he sends rain that helps us grow.  We expect him to punish people who do us wrong but he chooses to give them (and us) a second chance.  We expect him to make things easier on us because we are good God-fearing folks, but he allows the tragedies of this world to prune us and force new growth in other parts of our life giving the opportunity to draw even closer to him.  We expect God to change our situation but God chooses to change our perspective in life.  Just because we lack the ability to predict God's justice doesn't make him unfair. We must start dealing in God’s currency to begin to understand his justice.

Isaiah 30:18 NIV

[18] Yet the Lord longs to be gracious to you; therefore he will rise up to show you compassion. For the Lord is a God of justice. Blessed are all who wait for him!

Zechariah 7:9 NIV

[9] “This is what the Lord Almighty said: 'Administer true justice; show mercy and compassion to one another.

Lord, help us to exhibit your true justice, full of mercy and compassion, and accept your justice even when we don’t understand. 

Thrown Under the Bus

Remember “Blame it on Bush”? If you have ever been in charge of anything, from Little League concession stand to President of the United States, you have been blamed for something that was not your fault.  And worse yet, you may have known whose fault it was and had to hold your tongue while the tires rolled down your back.  The description is one of feeling eviscerated.  It makes you feel vulnerable and angry.  And it is a trick as old as time.  

Genesis 3:12-13 NIV

[12] The man said, “The woman you put here with me---she gave me some fruit from the tree, and I ate it.” [13] Then the Lord God said to the woman, “What is this you have done?” The woman said, “The serpent deceived me, and I ate.”

Who among us has not thrown someone under the bus for some poor decision that we made?  Crickets....  At times in my life when things were going badly, I have blamed God.  I have thrown him under the bus whether verbally or in my mind. I cannot imagine how that makes him feel when his own children turn on him.  I am convicted.  

In Matthew 25, I think the Parable of the Talents addresses throwing the Master under the bus. Jesus tells this story to his followers not long before his death and resurrection so it is believed that he was referring to what they were to do after he left this earth.

Matthew 25:14 NIV

[14] “Again, it will be like a man going on a journey, who called his servants and entrusted his wealth to them.

Parallel Christ leaving earth, leaving his servants in charge. He entrusts his mission on earth to them, and he equips them with wealth. Check it out. When he is confronted, that servant basically throws his master under the bus.

Matthew 25:24-26 NIV

[24] “Then the man who had received one bag of gold came. 'Master,' he said, 'I knew that you are a hard man, harvesting where you have not sown and gathering where you have not scattered seed. [25] So I was afraid and went out and hid your gold in the ground. See, here is what belongs to you.' [26] “His master replied, 'You wicked, lazy servant! So you knew that I harvest where I have not sown and gather where I have not scattered seed?

I see our 'gold' as the Holy Spirit. In the end of the parable, one of the servants was afraid and did nothing but dig a hole and throw his entrusted gold in it. I'm no bible scholar, but in my mind this last question was the master’s anger over the servant’s response. The servant was caught making excuses.  We do this out of fear.  All the master wanted was for the servant to be faithful and carry out his business in his absence.  All God wants of me is the same. 

Job is a guy who chose not to throw God under the bus when he had every reason to.  He suffered horrible pain and loss, both emotional and physical. And this was his response.

Job 1:20-22 NIV

[20] At this, Job got up and tore his robe and shaved his head. Then he fell to the ground in worship [21] and said: “Naked I came from my mother's womb, and naked I will depart. The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away; may the name of the Lord be praised.” [22] In all this, Job did not sin by charging God with wrongdoing.

As a Christian, do I have enough trust in a gracious loving Father not to question him but rather to ask him questions? There is a difference in asking God questions and questioning God. The first is reliance on God, the second is a sin.  The difference is attitude and relationship. God knows my heart.  And he knows the difference.  Asking God questions while tears are running down my face is very different from defiantly demanding why He did or didn't do something.  Yes, we get angry at God out of our hurt.  God understands and God forgives. However, my questions can and should be asked but only within the constraints of my relationship with God.  My heart must be examined and my intentions pure.  

This year my little community has watched while a small child suffered with cancer and it’s painful treatments. Our community pulled together in prayer for this child and his family. This week this little boy passed away.  If this isn’t throw-God-under-the-bus material, nothing is.  In situations like this many Christians do throw God under the bus.  But I believe as Christians we must walk the fine line of mourning the loss and pain and at the same time never cast blame on God. If you read Job, you will see just how hard this is to do.  Job’s friends failed this test.  And we too cannot pass this test, not without listening to the Holy Spirit in our hearts. So when we are confronted with situations like loss to cancer, school shootings, natural disasters, and child abuse we must quiet ourselves and rely on the Holy Spirit that God placed in our hearts to deal with adversity.  

But wait, there is more! We are told to take action.  We are told not to bury our gold but to invest it. How do we carry on the business of the Father in our world?

“Lord, why are there so many starving children in the world”? Jesus said, “Feed my sheep”.  “Why is there so much drug abuse and violence”? And Jesus said “Feed my sheep”.  “Lord, why are there school shootings?” “Feed my sheep”, he says. I watch the evening news and instead of being motivated to address the need, I shake my head in fear and despair and say the end is near.  On social media you don’t have to scroll far to see good Christian people posting this defeated, fearful, hopeless attitude.

I also see people everyday that are investing their God-given gold by feeding the hungry, educating the masses, taking measures to protect our school children from shooters, caring for abused children, donating money to organizations that teach children to survive when parents are gone, donating money to victims of natural disasters, educating people how to care for their health, visiting those in prison, and carefully voting only for those legislators who support the people who work in a position to act as His hands and feet in our world. 

There are so many ways we can battle against the evil and pain in our world! It is up to our imagination and dedication to address these issues in our world.  There is so much we can do! Slinging mud and throwing God under the bus is what happens when you bury your gold.  We are not left to the wolves. We have been given a treasure of gold.  It is the very assignment given by our Savior and God to his followers.