The justice that restores communion
Readings
Psalm 82:1-4 Give justice to the weak and the orphan; maintain the right of the lowly and the destitute
Luke 18:1-8 Will not God grant justice to his chosen ones who cry to him day and night?
Reflection
The Book of Psalms is a compilation of prayer, praise, lamentation, and instruction from God to us. In Psalm 82, Godcalls for a justice that upholds the basic human rights to which all people are entitled: freedom, safety, dignity, health,equality and love. The Psalm also calls for the overturning of systems of disparity and oppression, and fixing anythingthat is unfair, corrupt, or exploitative. This is the justice that we, as Christians, are called to promote. In Christian community we join our wills and actions to God’s, as he works his salvation for creation. Division, including that between Christians, always has sin at its root, and redemption always restores communion.
God calls us to embody our Christian faith to act out of the truth that every person is precious, that people are more important than things, and that the measure of every institutional structure in society is whether it threatens or enhances thelife and dignity of each person. Every person has a right and responsibility to participate in society, seeking together thecommon good and wellbeing of all, especially the lowly and the destitute.
In Jesus and the Disinherited, Revd Dr Howard Thurman, who was spiritual adviser to the Revd Dr Martin Luther King Jr. states that: “We must proclaim the truth that all life is one and that we are all of us tied together. Therefore, it is mandatory that we work for a society in which the least person can find refuge and refreshment. You must lay your lives on the altar of social change so that wherever you are, there the Kingdom of God is at hand.”
Christian Unity
Jesus tells the parable of the widow and the unjust judge in order to teach the people “about their need to pray always andnot to lose heart” (Lk 18:1). Jesus has won a decisive victory over injustice, sin and division, and as Christians our task is toreceive this victory firstly in our own hearts through prayer and secondly in our lives through action. May we never lose heart, but rather continue to ask in prayer for God’s gift of unity and may we manifest this unity in our lives.
Challenge
As the people of God, how are our churches called to engage in justice that unites us in our actions to love and serve all of God’s family?
Prayer
God, Creator and Redeemer of all things,
teach us to look inward to be grounded in your loving Spirit, so that we may go outward in wisdom and courage
to always choose the path of love and justice.
This we pray in the name of your Son, Jesus Christ, in the unity of the Holy Spirit. Amen.