Embracing Justice: A Biblical Call to Action

Posted on by Adrian Clark

“Wash yourselves and be clean! Get your sins out of my sight. Give up your evil ways. Learn to do good. Seek justice. Help the oppressed. Defend the cause of orphans. Fight for the rights of widows.”Isaiah 1:16-17 NLT

Isaiah next comes up with a feature-rich remedy for the Israelites’ apostasy and idolatry. It’s all very well pointing out to a person what they are doing wrong, but without offering a way out, the negative perception just becomes unhelpful criticism. Thankfully, the God we worship always has an answer to our sins, and to fulfil His remedy, He sent His Son, Jesus. God was the same in Isaiah’s day, expressing His love and care for His guilt-ridden people.

“Wash yourselves and be clean!” He said. This didn’t mean go and have a bath, because no amount of water will wash away our guilt and sins. It is only by repentance and ceasing to be involved in evil that a person will become clean and holy before God. The Israelites’ problem was sinfulness with a capital “S”, so great that God pointed out how burdensome and wearisome their religious acts had become to Him. It is the same today because will God listen to the prayers of a sinful person, someone who is living a life of evil? Which is why God’s next instruction was “Get your sins out of my sight”. Nothing can be hidden from God, of course. Psalm 139:1-2, “O Lord, you have examined my heart and know everything about me. You know when I sit down or stand up. You know my thoughts even when I’m far away”. So, on the basis that nothing we think or do remains hidden from God, there is only one solution – stop doing things that offend Him. Stop sinning, as Jesus said to the healed man by the Pool, “But afterward Jesus found him in the Temple and told him, “Now you are well; so stop sinning, or something even worse may happen to you”” (John 5:14). Jesus also compassionately said the same to the woman caught in adultery. John 8:10-11, “Then Jesus stood up again and said to the woman, “Where are your accusers? Didn’t even one of them condemn you?” “No, Lord,” she said. And Jesus said, “Neither do I. Go and sin no more””. 

Next, the Lord said to the Israelites, “Learn to do good”, and He proceeded to point out four things that we pilgrims would do well to follow. “Seek justice. Help the oppressed. Defend the cause of orphans. Fight for the rights of widows”. Injustices have always been prevalent in human societies. There are always people who are unable to help themselves, whatever the age. The pattern of injustice is wearyingly familiar, and it usually starts with the rich oppressing the poor, or the powerful lording it over the powerless. Even in so-called enlightened societies, injustice still occurs. There will always be people who need help and who are unable to help themselves. Specifically, in the days of the Israelites, the problem was the injustice suffered by orphans and widows. There was no social security safety net, and such people would suffer greatly, unless someone came to their rescue. The Jewish Law put in place safeguards, as seen in the Book of Ruth. “One day Ruth the Moabite said to Naomi, “Let me go out into the harvest fields to pick up the stalks of grain left behind by anyone who is kind enough to let me do it.” Naomi replied, “All right, my daughter, go ahead”” (Ruth 2:2). The custom that encouraged the harvesters to leave some crops behind was recorded in Leviticus 19:9-10,  “When you harvest the crops of your land, do not harvest the grain along the edges of your fields, and do not pick up what the harvesters drop. It is the same with your grape crop—do not strip every last bunch of grapes from the vines, and do not pick up the grapes that fall to the ground. Leave them for the poor and the foreigners living among you. I am the Lord your God”. The problem was still around in the first century, and James wrote, “Pure and genuine religion in the sight of God the Father means caring for orphans and widows in their distress and refusing to let the world corrupt you” (James 1:27). 

We pilgrims today will encounter injustices in our societies, perhaps from evil men and women who find ways to line their own pockets at others’ expense. Perhaps also due to discrimination because of a lack of technological skills (for example, I read the other day that many GP surgeries are forcing older people without the technology or IT skills to fill in an online triage form). Perhaps the discrimination exists because of race, beliefs or sexuality. There will always be injustices in our societies, but we pilgrims are encouraged to look out for them and do good by providing a remedy. 

Heavenly Father. Please help us look out for people in distress, people who are needy and unable to help themselves. We want to do Your will, and we know that You always see the unfortunate people around us. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

Our Patient God

Posted on by Adrian Clark

“My enemies cannot speak a truthful word. Their deepest desire is to destroy others. Their talk is foul, like the stench from an open grave. Their tongues are filled with flattery. O God, declare them guilty. Let them be caught in their own traps. Drive them away because of their many sins, for they have rebelled against you.”
Psalm 5:9-10 NLT

David returns to thoughts about his enemies. David has little positive to say about them and, reading these verses, we get the impression that he thinks that God should feel the same way as he does. So, after David points out all the bad things that his enemies do, he asks God to do something about it. “Declare them guilty” and “Drive them away”, he asks. But does God answer his petitions? Straight away? Right at that moment?

That’s the thing about God – His patience. And aren’t we glad that He was patient with us, during those times when we were wayward and guilty of rebellion against God through our sins. On Mount Sinai, Moses encountered God, and his account includes, “The Lord passed in front of Moses, calling out, “Yahweh! The Lord! The God of compassion and mercy! I am slow to anger and filled with unfailing love and faithfulness” (Exodus 34:6). God will always give His enemies time to come to their senses, because He is patient with them and slow to get angry. He never wants anyone to perish in their sins. But impatient David wanted immediate action from His powerful God. 

Isn’t that the same with us pilgrims? We encounter many injustices in our journeys through life and want God to sort them out. The scandals of homelessness, drugs, addictions, wars, poverty – the list seems endless. “Come on, God, sort them out” we cry. But Heaven is silent and nothing happens. The scandals continue, or so it seems. But then we pause for a moment and reflect on the fact that God is holding back a tide of evil and wickedness that would more than overwhelm the problems we see in life. Of course there is much happening in this world that one day will have to be judged. But God is patient. He is aware of the injustices happening before Him. But He also has allowed mankind to make their choices, and one day everyone will be called to account for the things they have done. 

David spent much time in God’s company and he learned to trust Him in all the situations he encountered. We pilgrims must also trust God, having the faith that He knows best and one day will balance the scales. So, we pray about situations we encounter, we act as God directs, and we wait for the salvation of the Lord to be manifested in what is before us. 

Dear Father God. Thank You that You have this world in Your hands. We pray that You will help us see what is happening around us through Your eyes, each and every day. In Jesus’ name. Amen. 

Unjust Treatment

Posted on by Adrian Clark

“For God is pleased when, conscious of his will, you patiently endure unjust treatment. Of course, you get no credit for being patient if you are beaten for doing wrong. But if you suffer for doing good and endure it patiently, God is pleased with you.”
1 Peter 2:19-20 NLT

Have you ever noticed that people respond or react in a bad way when they are accused of something that is false, or when they experience an injustice? For example, if someone pushes in front of them at a supermarket checkout queue, or in roadworks on a motorway. A schoolchild accused of a misdemeanour that was not their fault, and so on. We could construct a list that is endless, because we have all experienced at one time or another an injustice at the hands of another person. So how do we respond in these circumstances? The natural reaction is to lash out, probably angrily. To push back against the accusing person, sometimes violently. This is how fights develop, especially when alcohol-fuelled. 

If the accusation is correct and we have been found out for a misdemeanour, then some form of punishment or correction might be justifiable. That is the basis of our justice system. So if we are caught speeding, then points on our licences and a fine are an apt punishment for the oversight, and will help us remember that there is such a thing as a speed limit. If a schoolchild is given a punishment exercise for not doing their homework then there can be no complaint. Peter wrote you “get no credit for being patient if you are beaten for doing wrong”. In other words, God will just let things take their course. He will forgive a repentant sinner of course, but there may be consequences imposed by our earthly masters or authorities.

Peter wrote that “God is pleased when, conscious of his will, you patiently endure unjust treatment”. Jesus, of course, taught exactly that. We read what He said in Matthew 5:39-42, “But I say, do not resist an evil person! If someone slaps you on the right cheek, offer the other cheek also. If you are sued in court and your shirt is taken from you, give your coat, too. If a soldier demands that you carry his gear for a mile, carry it two miles. Give to those who ask, and don’t turn away from those who want to borrow”. And Jesus Himself exemplified His words, as we read in Matthew 26:67-68, “Then they began to spit in Jesus’ face and beat him with their fists. And some slapped him, jeering, “Prophesy to us, you Messiah! Who hit you that time?”” Jesus never reacted. He stood submissively enduring terrible abuse. But He was of course conscious of His Father’s will and acted accordingly. In fact He went even further, when, in terrible pain, He prayed for His executioners, as we read in Luke 23:34a, “Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they don’t know what they are doing“.

We pilgrims will, I’m sure, never have to suffer as Jesus did. But we will be faced with many an injustice here on earth. Perhaps we need to remember those four letters WWJD – What Would Jesus Do. So before we let out a tirade of righteous anger, let’s pause a moment. Take a deep breath, and lift up our eyes to Heaven. And imagine how pleased God will be if we just turn away.

Dear Heavenly Father. Thank You for such invaluable guidance. Please help us to live the way Your Son did. In His precious name. Amen.

Justice

Posted on by Adrian Clark

“Do you rulers indeed speak justly? Do you judge people with equity? No, in your heart you devise injustice, and your hands mete out violence on the earth.
Then people will say, ‘Surely the righteous still are rewarded; surely there is a God who judges the earth.’”
Psalms‬ ‭58:1-2, 11‬ ‭NIVUK‬‬

“Do you judge people with equity?” Surely a good question. A question just as relevant today as it was in David’s time, but with a difference. In 21st Century UK society I would like to think that the laws set out by our parliamentarians are judged upon by our various courts with total and complete honesty. Justice is administered with almost total transparency, and avenues are available for appealing decisions that might be perhaps a bit dubious. However, in David’s day judges had a reputation of being corrupt, accepting bribes, with no right of redress. It didn’t stop there – hundreds of years later Jesus spoke a parable about the “Unjust Judge” – you will find it in Luke 18:1-8. And throughout history, justice has been a rather hit and miss affair.

So to me the issue of justice is not about corruption within the UK legal systems, but about the way secular and godless principles are creeping into law through unjust parliamentarians. Historically, UK law has been established on Godly principles over many years and these have established a society that is strong and stable, a society that is, for the main, implicitly comfortable with the fairness of its laws. But sadly, in recent years, UK governments seem to have lost their moral compass, and have weakly given in to godless minority groups and passed laws at odds with God’s principles. And the consequences of such legislation has had an unsettling effect on society, with unintended consequences coming to the fore. Verse 2 of our Psalm today talks about “violence on the earth”, surely another description for a society without peace, at war with itself.

David ends his Psalm with the comforting thought that God is still on His throne and will judge righteously, rewarding His people, those who abide by His principles. Though we would like God to judge now, He patiently allows everyone the opportunity to respond to Him, and we too need to be patient, trusting Him to bring about righteousness in all the earth. So we pray. And keep praying. For our governments, for our parliamentarians, for our judges, for our communities, for our families. For those who seem set on anarchy with their lobbying and disruption. And with faith, wait for God to bring about His will and purposes. Will we have to wait long? It may be a lifetime. We may never see justice served in the way we would like or expect. But we can be assured of this one thing – God is still on His throne and will one day judge those who devise injustice in their hearts.