The Justice of God as revealed in the Scriptures
The theme of the justice of God keeps on coming up of late as I work with the poor in Honduras, Central America and see various examples of injustice being lived out before me in the everyday life that I witness.
I was told as a young boy by my father that life wasn’t fair and the sooner I learned that lesson, my life would have fewer struggles. I did eventually learn that but I still asked myself why do the poor have so little and what is my responsibility towards those who we consider poor? Is life simply not fair or is God calling me to help right the wrong done to those less fortunate than me? One thing that we might not realize is that the poor simply do not have access to credit that many of us have available to us, thus they remain poor without permanent shelter like many of us enjoy today.
This theme reappears again and again in the Bible and as a follower of Jesus Christ; I want to know exactly what God requires of me. Why does he demand it of those who follow him like you & I? Often times we think of justice as someone receiving a just punishment for their crime. In other words, justice becomes associated with something someone did wrong or our punitive response to their wrong doing.
The following passage of scripture teaches us that justice is something that we as believers should be doing for those who have need, rather than something we’ve done wrong. The Psalmist affirms this in Psalms 82:3 GNT “Defend the rights of the poor and the orphans; be fair to the needy and the helpless.
The prophet Micah clearly defined justice in his work in 6:8 where I quote him from the Message Bible, “But he’s (God) already made it plain how to live, what to do, what God is looking for in men and women.  It’s quite simple: Do what is fair and just to your neighbor, be compassionate and loyal in your love, and don’t take yourself too seriously–take God seriously.â€
God’s justice then is to compassionately intervene against the actions done by others to restrict or eliminate the justice they deserve as one created in God’s image. Our calling is to make things right by reaching out in loving compassion to those who God has placed in our path.
This brings me to the theme of SOR Mission. We are establishing JUSTICE to set up a fund for you to help us to help those suffering from injustices in Honduras. You can make a sacrificial one time gift but better yet, it would be better for you to click JUSTICE and make a monthly pledge to help us bring justice to those needing it. It’s best that it cost us something and so I ask you to make a monthly gift, the amount of which is between you and God.  It might mean you pledging to God to go without one meal a month worth $10, or a fancy espresso worth $5.25 or another amount that is meaningful to you such as your birthdate. That for me would mean making a monthly pledge of $28 to JUSTICE. I’m glad you have the passion to make a difference.
