Injustice

Today's word is "injustice".  I chose Job 5:16, which says, "So the poor have hope, and injustice shuts her mouth."  It is preceded first by verses about committing one's cause to God who provides for those in need and then by verses about frustrating the plans of the wicked.  He gives hope to the poor and quiets injustice by putting an end to it.


I have a love/hate relationship with the idea that God loves all of us as if we were the only person.  It makes me feel good about God's love for me.  But I think it's false.  God does not love me any less because there are other people to love.  His love is unaffected by that fact.  Furthermore, I've come to view justice as God loving all of us equally.  There is punishment for sin because sin can't be committed without harm being done to someone else.  God is hurt everytime we sin- He died for each of our sins, even the "small" ones.  We hurt ourselves each time we sin because the wages of sin is death, even though we sometimes forget this because of the grace we have received.  There are usually other consequences as well.  Many times we also hurt other people, with or without knowing it.  Something seems odd about God's love for a victim if the sin is not addressed; it seems lacking.  Justice holds us accountable to loving God, ourselves, and our neighbors.  As Jesus said, that sums up all the commandments.


I've noticed that many times when injustices are committed, especially some of the most heinous injustices, it is done with the arrogant belief that the perpetrator will not be held accountable for his/her actions.  God doesn't exist or will give him/her a free pass.  If this were the case, there would be no hope for the poor and injustice will prevail.  Fortunately, we do have a just God.  The poor have hope precisely because God will shut the mouth of all injustice at some time or another, even if we don't get to see it.


We can look to the cross and resurrection as an example of injustice being quieted.  Although Jesus willingly went to the cross in submission to the Father's will, the cross was also still the world's greatest injustice.  Injustice roared that day as crowds shouted, demanding that the only innocent man to ever walk the Earth, it's creator and provider be crucified.  The resurrection silenced that injustice as God gave Jesus righteous judgment and raised Him from the dead.  God always judges righteously.  There is no injustice from Him and He does not allow mockery to be made of justice.

Gather

Another season of lent where I commit to blogging has begun.  This year I am adapting a lent idea that was to take and share a photo each day based off a word.  Instead, I will take some time each day to look up Bible verses containing the word, reflect, and blog some thoughts.


Today's word is "gather".  The verse I've chosen is Job 34:14-15, which says, "If he should set his heart to it and gather to himself his spirit and his breath, all flesh would perish together, and man would return to dust." (ESV)  I read this at my church's Ash Wednesday service shortly after having the ashes placed on my forehead and hearing the words, "From dust you came; to dust you shall return."


Fortunately, this is not what God has set His heart to, and that is the grace of this season.  I've been doing Beth Moore's Bible study about the Holy Spirt called "Breath".  We've examined verses similar to the one in Job linking words like "breath", "spirit", and "life", which is one of the reasons this stood out to me.  Another reason is the passage we studied in the last session.


I encourage you to read Ezekiel 37:1-14.  It's the passage about the dry bones being brought to life.  In short, God asks the prophet Ezekiel, "Son of man, can these bones live?".  Ezekiel replies, "O Lord GOD, you know."  God tells him to prophesy life over the bones.  As he did so, the bones came together and were covered with flesh, but there was no breath.  He was then commanded to prophesy to the breath to breathe on the slain so they might live and they did.  The passage ends with God's promise to raise His people from their graves and place His Spirit in them so they might live.


I go to a church where communion is usually only taken once a month, except for special occasions.  Communion happened to fall the day after this lesson.  As I watched everyone go up for communion, I reflected on this passage.  "Can these dry bones live?" God seemed to still be asking.  "O Lord GOD, you know," I thought as I watched person after person receive the sacraments that said, "Yes."  Bones metaphorically coming together and being covered with sinews and flesh.  God breathing new life into His people that were once dead in their transgressions.  While advent looks forward to the birth of Christ, lent looks forward to God breathing life into dry bones.


From dust we came; to dust we shall return.  Praise the God whose heart is not sent on leaving us that way.  The God who instead chose to open our graves and breathe life into us a second time.  He could have gathered His breath instead.  We'd had our chance and blown it.  Yet He chose to give His last breath so that we might once again have breath.  This is the beauty of lent and Easter.