By Father James Chelich 1999
JUSTICE means “Right-relationship” or “Life-giving Relationship” JUSTICE applies in three directions: Right-relationship with God. Right-relationship with our fellow human beings. Right-relationship with the world around us. They are interconnected and inter-dependent. In order to gain an understanding of what God might be teaching us about Justice when we read or listen to the Word of God, we should constantly ask ourselves: What is God saying here about right-relationship… …with Himself? …with my spouse, my parents, my children, my friends, my neighbors, the people with whom I work, people I don’t like, the poor? …with the world and its creatures around me? 1. “They shall beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks; one nation shall not raise the sword against another, nor shall they train for war..” Isaiah 2:4 Right-relationship is impossible when we prepare ourselves to have our way at any cost! 2. “Let us throw off the works of darkness….Let us conduct ourselves properly, not in promiscuity and lust, not in rivalry and jealousy…” Romans 13:12-13 Promiscuity, lust, and jealous rivalry are not just private personal issues. They defeat right-relationship where it exists and prevent it from developing where it does not. 3. “Stay awake!…If the master of the house had known the hour of the night when the thief was coming, he would have stayed awake and not let his house be broken into…You must be prepared.” Matthew 24:42-44 Right-relationship is not acquired nor is it sustained by taking it for granted. Life-giving Relationship is created and preserved by constant effort and attention. 4. The calf and the young lion shall browse together, with a little child to guide them…There shall be no harm or ruin on all my holy mountain…” Isaiah 11:6,9 Right-relationship is established when we raise our children to return something for what they take. Life-giving relationship with the earth is preserved by taking what we need and what the land can bear. 5. “May the God of endurance and encouragement grant you to think in harmony with one another…Welcome one another, then, as Christ welcomed you…” Romans 15:5,7 Life-giving Relationship with others is impossible in any situation in which we are so intent on having things our way that we refuse to listen. Right-relationship is defeated when anyone is excluded from a meaningful place in the conversation. 6. “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand!…Produce good fruit as evidence of your repentance.” Matthew 3:2,8 In Jesus, God has unleashed a power to defeat the reign of darkness and to establish Justice. But we have to be HUMBLE enough to be spoken to, to be shown what is right, to desire it, to ask for God’s strength and help, and to put it into practice. WHERE THE PRINCIPLES OF JUSTICE ARE TO BE FOUND Out of love for us and for our world, God sets out the principles of Right-relationship for us in the Scriptures. These principles are expressed in the Commandments of the Law (Torah). They are brought to their fullness by Jesus and embodied in Jesus. HOW THE PRINCIPLES OF JUSTICE CAN BE UNDERSTOOD The meaning of JUSTICE opens up for us when we ask the right questions of the Word of God — when we read a passage, pause, and then ask: What is God saying in this passage about right-relationship with God? What is God saying in this passage about right relationship with my spouse, my parents, my children, my friends, my neighbors, the people with whom I work, people I don’t like, the poor? What is God saying in this passage about right-relationship with the world around me, with its creatures, and the earth beneath my feet? WHAT JUSTICE REQUIRE OF A CHRISTIAN “Stay awake!…You must be prepared.” Matthew 24:42-44 In other words, be available! WANT to know! READ the Word. ASK the Word of God to show you. DESIRE the relationship being described. BE AVAILABLE to be moved by the Holy Spirit to speak or act! DO or say what you can, the best you can. LET GO! You are not the Savior. You are a witness, His witness! 1. John baptized you with water, but within a few days you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit…You will receive power when the holy Spirit comes down on you; then you are to be my witnesses… Acts of the Apostles 1:4-5,8 2. We are his witnesses. Exalted at God’s right hand, (Jesus) first received the promised Holy Spirit from the Father, then poured this Spirit out on us. Acts of the Apostles 2:32-33 3. God is the one who firmly establishes us in Christ; it is He who anointed us and has sealed us, thereby depositing the first payment, the Spirit, in our hearts. 2 Corinthians 1:21-22 4. The Spirit of the Lord is upon me; therefore He has anointed me. He has sent me to bring glad tidings to the poor, to proclaim liberty to the captives, recovery of sight to the blind and release to prisoners, to announce a year of favor from the Lord. Luke 4:1-21