The
eyes of the Lord are on the righteous, and his ears are open to their cry.
Psalm 34:15
And
will not God grant justice to his chosen ones who cry to him day and night?
Will he delay long in helping them? I tell you, he will quickly grant justice
to them. And yet, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?’ Luke
18:7-8
We live in an unjust world. This is a fact which
we simply can’t deny. We can see injustice in every system we have invented; in
any structure we created.
Nevertheless, whether in politics, science, or economics faith in
progress and growth which may remove the human condition has become the new creed: an historical optimism which may not be challenged.
We have witnessed over the last century that this
is not true. It has now been a hundred years since the enlightenment lost its
innocence in the Great War which we will remember in this anniversary year.
Despite technological advances beyond our wildest dreams we also experienced
industrial murder on a scale that had not been seen before.
So if we are serious about our faith we are bound
to call in to question God’s righteousness, God’s sense of justice. Are we left
to just assert that God is just; that we simply can’t see the whole picture? I
don’t think that it answers this question. The verses here talk of restoration
of justice. The Psalmist and Luke both know that justice is not present. God’s
justice is not here. But they offer hope in restoration and reconciliation.
Hope through faith that God’s justice will win out in the end. However, we
don’t have to wait for the end. God is hoping and longing to find faith that
God’s justice will come. A faith that is able to bring a foretaste of God’s
healing and reconciling justice into this world. Although we might not be able
to overcome our human condition we are able to bring shape our lives to
resemble God’s justice more closely in every new generation.
Merciful
Lord, your justice is beyond all our comprehension. Let us never lose sight of
your righteousness that we may always shape our lives to be the creatures you
meant us to be. Amen.
James Grant
St
Werburgh’s/St Clement’s
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