Justice
The prophet Micah tells us what God wants of us: “That you act justly, that you love tenderly, and that you walk humbly with your God.”
“That you act justly...” We know what justice looks like from the words and actions of God’s own Son, Jesus. How did Jesus go about justice work? We know that he associated mostly with the poor and performed acts of healing born of compassion for the sick and the grieving. But he also challenged rules and customs that emphasized ritual purity over compassion and human wellbeing. He challenged the patriarchy that denied women their right to participate meaningfully in society. He challenged Jewish discrimination against Gentiles by teaching that Jews and Gentiles were equal in God’s love. And Jesus repeatedly challenged and resisted the violent domination system of the Roman Empire in which the Jewish king, the chief priests, scribes, and elders of the Temple in Jerusalem were active participants.
“That you act justly....” Justice means doing the right thing. Sometimes we make an immediate leap to “social justice” which is doing the right thing for people, but we need to start with ourselves first. Like anything else in life, if we are going to be good at being just, then we need to practise it. Big acts of justice are the fruit of small acts of justice. Every minute of every day we are making choices, most of them without any thought. We do what we have practised. The key to living a just life is to become much more intentional --- to create a self-awareness about how we interact with others, about how honest we are, about how we act when no one is looking, about acting on what we need rather than what we want. Mahatma Gandhi lived by this mantra:
“Let the first act of every morning be to make the following resolve for the day:
I shall not fear anyone on earth
I shall fear only God
I shall not bear ill-will toward anyone
I shall not submit to injustice from anyone
I shall conquer untruth by truth. And in resisting untruth I shall put up with all
suffering.”