God's Hopeful Future (Isaiah 9:1-7): Practicing Justice

"Let justice, therefore, be in your heart, that justice which comes by faith, for this alone finds glory with God." - Bernard of Clairvaux, Christmas Day Sermon, circa 1140 AD.

"The moral arc of the universe is long, but it bends toward justice." - MLK

"Justice is what love looks like in public." - Cornel West

When I think of justice, I think of heroes that can be seen in movies and read about in books or comics. Now I was never really a comic book collector, preferring James Bond to Batman, but the iconic images of good fighting evil stick in my mind. In James Bond, Agent 007 is always in a struggle for justice; and justice always looks the same- the bad guy is defeated and James Bond walks away. See enough James Bond movies, 23 to be precise, and you get the impression that justice equals punishment against bad people. And so when God is described in the Bible as just, it only makes sense that we applies God's justice to punishment. But is that the Biblical perspective on justice?

I think God's justice goes farther than simple crime and punishment. I think God's justice goes to setting up a new way of being in the world. God's justice, as Cornel would say, is what love looks like in public. So justice happens when people are taken care of, when people are protected from harm. Certainly, punishing those who would dare to harm others is part of government's role in promoting justice, but that's not where it ends. Justice is far more about what we are creating than what we are destroying.

So how do we practice the kingdom of justice in our world today? When you look at your community and say, "I am responsible for doing my part to make this the best community it can be," you are taking an important step. Food pantries, HelpLink, Habitat and other programs are all about creating and fostering this kind of community. Helping a neighbor get transportation because they struggle driving in the winter is a way to promote justice. Checking in on someone who is lonely is a way to promote justice. Watching a neighbor's children so they can get to the job interview is promoting justice. Justice is doable, it just means taking our love and going public. May justice, as Bernard would say, be in our hearts this week.