Tag Archives: Injustice

Chapter-a-Day

Closing Argument

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Closing Arguments (CaD Job 31) – Wayfarer

“Oh, that I had someone to hear me!
    I sign now my defense—let the Almighty answer me;
    let my accuser put his indictment in writing.”
Job 31:35 (NIV)

A year or so ago I was talking with a life-long friend. We were discussing the state of cancel culture that exists today in which a person can lose their job and be effectively pilloried for foolish choices made when he or she was young. My friend expressed that this was an ever-present fear, confessing that if even a fraction of the stupid things done during high school were to come to light, their life would be utterly ruined. My friend was not exaggerating. I know some of the stories. Today’s cancel culture would have a field day.

Today’s chapter is the third and final phase of Job’s closing defense arguments in his mock trial with God. It is actually a poetically beautiful summation in which Job makes seven “if” statements that assert his blamelessness. In Biblical numerology, seven is the number of “completion” and Job’s seven “if” statements echo the Mosaic laws of retaliation in Exodus and Leviticus. In essence, Job is saying “if” I am guilty of breaking any of these laws of morality, community, or justice “then” let me suffer the consequences, either natural or prescribed by law. He asserts, however, that he is blameless (not sinless, but blameless) in each case and calls upon the Almighty to prove His case. Job then verbally puts his John Hancock on his defense and calls on God to make His case.

As I read through Jobs defense in the quiet this morning, three prevailing thoughts crowded my mind. First, like my friend’s very real fear regarding cancel culture, I am definitely not blameless. I can easily be accused and found guilty of a large majority, if not all, of the seven moral assertions Job makes.

Second, I continue to be reminded that God has not accused Job of anything. In fact, the whole of what God has said about Job amounts to praise for Job’s faith, blamelessness, and goodness.

Third, the whole of Job’s argument rests on a world-view in which there is always a cause-and-effect to suffering. In his case, Job’s suffering is happening precisely because his faith, blamelessness, and goodness placed him in the crosshairs of the evil one.

As a disciple of Jesus, I can’t escape the fact that Jesus told His followers to expect unjust suffering just as He would unjustly suffer.

From that time on Jesus began to explain to his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things at the hands of the elders, the chief priests and the teachers of the law… Matt 16:21

Jesus replied, “To be sure, Elijah comes and will restore all things. But I tell you, Elijah has already come, and they did not recognize him, but have done to him everything they wished. In the same way the Son of Man is going to suffer at their hands.” Matt 17:11-12

“Then you will be handed over to be persecuted and put to death, and you will be hated by all nations because of me…” Matt 24:9

To Peter, Jesus said, “Very truly I tell you, when you were younger you dressed yourself and went where you wanted; but when you are old you will stretch out your hands, and someone else will dress you and lead you where you do not want to go.” John 21:18

Along my spiritual journey I have had to embrace the truth that Jesus never promised His followers an earthly life of health, wealth, and earthly prosperity. Quite the opposite, in fact. Jesus told His followers to expect trouble, difficulty, persecution, suffering, injustice, and even a death one doesn’t deserve. This earthly life, Jesus told His followers, was simply a shadow of the Life to come. If my treasure is here on this earth, then I am naturally going to feel trouble, difficulty, persecution, suffering, and injustice more acutely. If my treasure is in heaven, where Jesus tells me to place it, then I am going to consider any trouble, difficulty, persecution, suffering, and injustice completely differently.

It even changes the way I consider Job’s suffering.

If you know anyone who might be encouraged by today’s post, please share.

Chapter-a-Day

Life’s Injustices

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Life's Injustices (CaD Job 24) – Wayfarer

“Why does the Almighty not set times for judgment?
    Why must those who know him look in vain for such days?”
Job 24:1 (NIV)

There is a classic, oft told, story in my family. My sister (the only girl in the family) and our older brother Tim were in the living room sitting apart from one another. Tim claims that my sister would, without provocation, scream, “MOM! TIM IS HITTING ME!” Mom would rush to the living room to reprimand and punish Tim while Jody gloated with satisfaction at getting him in trouble.

Welcome, children, to a lesson in injustice.

One of the many problems in this fallen world is that of injustice. One does not have to look far to find injustice. We have a neighbor at the lake who repeatedly treads on the rights and property of others. One of my neighbors has been repeatedly unsuccessful at getting the city, county, or lake officials to do anything about it. “I’ve given up,” he commented to me. “Nobody cares.”

Of course, this is a relatively small dispute among neighbors about property. Look at the headlines and you can find all sorts of larger scale issues. There are rule makers (on both sides of the aisle) who make rules they break themselves. There are double standards (on both sides of the aisle) in which political enemies are prosecuted while political friends get away with wrongdoing. Law enforcement sometimes look the other way and compounding a victim’s suffering. Law enforcements sometimes show up with a SWAT team to arrest a non-violent individual for political reasons.

Life is filled with injustice.

Today’s chapter completes the first of Job’s discourses in the third round of conversation with this three friends. Job, who feels that he is suffering unjustly at the hands of God, begins by complaining that you can’t make a court appointment with the Almighty. It would be nice, he reasons, if one could see the wicked get their just desserts. Injustice happens all around, and Job bemoans the fact that God appears to be silent and unconcerned. In the end, both the wicked who get away with it and the righteous who suffer end up in the grave. I couldn’t help but hear echoes of the Sage of Ecclesiastes in Job’s complaint:

And I saw something else under the sun:

In the place of judgment—wickedness was there,
    in the place of justice—wickedness was there.

In the quiet this morning I found myself recounting the many personal examples of injustice I have experienced along my life journey. I’m grateful that I have not been victimized by injustice on a large scale. Still, I do share Job’s wish. It would be nice if human justice was more just. It would be nice to see divine justice on an earthly level.
As a follower of Jesus, I’m mindful that Jesus spoke often of the Day of Judgment when justice will be doled out for eternity. Unlike Job, I don’t believe my desire to see divine justice is in vain. I have faith that what Jesus promised will, indeed, come to fruition. In the meantime, I will encounter injustice in this fallen world just as humans have been experiencing it throughout history. My experience is not the exception, but the rule. I believe this is why the story of Job resonates for everyone who grapples with life’s injustices. Just as I have faith that Jesus is exactly who He said He was, that He rose from the dead and holds the promise of eternity, so I have faith that one day all of earthly wickedness will receive divine justice. In the meantime, I hear Jesus calling me to daily live out the mission given through the prophet Micah: to act justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with God.

I’m also glad to say that my siblings enjoy a loving relationship and have embraced mercy over justice for all of those childhood infractions!

If you know anyone who might be encouraged by today’s post, please share.

Chapter-a-Day

Habakkuk’s Cry

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Habakkuk's Cry (CaD Hab 1) – Wayfarer

Why do you make me look at injustice?
    Why do you tolerate wrongdoing?
Destruction and violence are before me;
    there is strife, and conflict abounds.
Therefore the law is paralyzed,
    and justice never prevails.
The wicked hem in the righteous,
    so that justice is perverted.
Habakkuk 1:3-4 (NIV)

I have known many fellow followers of Jesus over the years who would confess to never willingly cracking open the Old Testament unless under the social pressure of being asked to do so during a Sunday worship service. Even if they said they “occasionally” read from the Old Testament on their own, I’m sure that reading would be confined to the books of Psalms and Proverbs. Okay, maybe a few chapters of Genesis or one of the short stories like Ruth or Esther. If I were to ask them, “When was the last time you read the prophet Habakkuk?” they would probably just laugh at me. I’d wager that hearing a pastor say, “Let’s all open to the book of Habakkuk!” is maybe a once-in-a-lifetime occurrence.

We live in a world in which things “trend” on social media for minutes before being buried by another “trend.” Current events likewise dominate media and social media for a day or two tops before media and social media is on to the next hot topic in search of clicks and likes.

So what could an ancient Hebrew prophet have to say in 600 B.C. that is in any way relevant to my world today?

Let me walk through the verses I pasted at the top of this post:

“Why [God] do you make me look at injustice?
    Why [God] do you tolerate wrongdoing?“

Like mules leaving almost 50 dead immigrants rotting in the back of a tractor trailer?

Like drug cartels flooding the streets with opioids killing people in record numbers and never being held accountable?

“Destruction and violence are before me;“

Like mass shooters opening fire in schools, churches, and malls?

Like demonstrations that torch entire neighborhoods of minority-owned businesses and end with dead bodies lying in the street?

“there is strife, and conflict abounds“

Like individuals breaking off relationships with friends and family because they disagree on issues?

Like name calling, insults, and threats calling for death, murder, and assassination on social media?

Like political division between factions who refuse to compromise?

“Therefore the law is paralyzed,“

Like 400 law enforcement personnel who stood outside a classroom as children were being shot?

Like the headline I just read in this morning’s Wall Street Journal: “Who Would Want to Be a Police Officer in Seattle?”

“and justice never prevails“

Like the fact that not one of Jeffery Epstein’s high-profile customers has been named or indicted for raping underage girls?

Like political corruption that gets ignored and swept under the rug for the “greater good” of keeping a political party of choice in power?

The prophet Habakkuk lived in a period of political corruption, crime, violence, war, and social upheaval under a corrupt king and a nefarious ruling class. He pens his poetic dialogue with the Almighty and opens with a line that aptly described the questions of my own soul as I daily read the headlines:

How long, Lord, must I call for help,
    but you do not listen?
Or cry out to you, “Violence!”
    but you do not save?

It felt pretty relevant to me in the quiet as I read the chapter this morning. Habakkuk is giving voice to questions and sentiments that are echoed throughout history and will always resonate in a fallen world that is the domain of the “Prince of this World,” in which evil is present, and worldly kingdoms and institutions hold sway.

It is easy to feel as if God is both silent and absent.

Habakkuk’s short, poetic dialogue with God has a simple outline:

Question one: Why are you silent and will not act against injustice?

God’s answer: Just wait. I’m going to raise up the Babylonians to bring about the justice that I’ve been announcing through you and other prophets like your peer Jeremiah for some time now. I’ve been patiently listening for people to listen and repent. That’s not happening, so get ready.

Question two: Serious?!? Why would you use the evil Babylonians?!?

Tomorrow’s chapter is God’s answer to this second question.

In the quiet this morning, I found myself identifying with Habakkuk’s questions. In the middle of writing this post, I went downstairs to have breakfast with Wendy and we perused the headlines. Habakkuk’s lines kept resonating in my head and heart as I read.

God’s response also echoed. Within the Great Story, faith is defined as “the assurance of what we hope for, the evidence of that which we can’t see.” That includes the reality that God appears to be silent, and it seems like God is not doing anything, but I have limited, finite human senses and knowledge. So, my heart cries out like Habakkuk.

Having just finished the book of Revelations, I know that God has promised to bring divine justice to the earth one day and deal with evil and the fruits of evil once-and-for-all. Until then, my prayerful cries of “How long, oh Lord?” rise as incense in heaven’s Throne Room along with your cries, and everyone else’s cries.

When will God make good on His promised judgment?

I don’t know.

I have faith that He will.

Until then, I’ll keep crying out along with brother Habakkuk.

If you know anyone who might be encouraged by today’s post, please share.

Chapter-a-Day

Justice

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Justice (CaD Rev 10) – Wayfarer

I took the little scroll from the angel’s hand and ate it. It tasted as sweet as honey in my mouth, but when I had eaten it, my stomach turned sour.
Revelation 10:10 (NIV)

Over the past couple of days, I have been watching a documentary about Roman Catholic priests who committed terrible acts of child abuse and subsequent horrific crimes to cover it up. The institutional church also aided in stonewalling the victims, as did the local authorities. There have been multiple times that I’ve come close to turning it off and walking away. It’s hard to watch.

Our fallen world is full of injustice. It always has been. And, the institutional church has been complicit. Just a few weeks ago the Southern Baptist Convention announced the results of an independent investigation which revealed that the denomination had hidden countless acts of sexual abuse by pastors and volunteers for decades. Even in the conservative small town where we live, there has been scandal and cover-up.

Our children’s generation has championed social justice, and they’ve been critical of previous generations of believers, and the institutional church, for not doing enough to address injustice. My ears and my heart are open to this critique. This world will never be found wanting as it relates to the need for justice. The Great Story is filled with cries for justice from Abel’s blood to the prophets, Job, the psalmists, and Jesus.

And that brings me to Revelation. The judgments envisioned and prophetically predicted for the end times are God’s judgment on a corrupt, unjust, and unrepentant world.

Today’s chapter is an interlude between the sixth and seventh “trumpet” judgments. A giant angel descends to earth holding a small scroll. John is told to eat it. It tastes like a treat from the dessert bar, but once it’s finished it turns his stomach sour. The prophetic words of the scroll are what John is told to proclaim and prophetically predict. The final stomach-churning judgments. Seven bowls of just reckoning and Judgment Day.

Kind of like the documentary I’ve been watching, it would be easy to shut the book and walk away. Revelation is not an easy read. But, it’s a necessary read in understanding the whole of the Great Story.

In the quiet this morning, I circle back to the stories of adults wracked with pain and anger because they were victimized by men who were supposed to be God’s servants. On one hand, it has my heart crying out for Judgment Day. On the other hand, I’m reminded of my own sins, my own complicities, and the injustices I’ve not only failed to address, but to which I’ve contributed either by word, act, or omission.

I hear the question of Jesus’ followers echoing in my heart: “Who then can be saved?”

“With man it is impossible,” Jesus replied, “but with God all things are possible.”

I sit in the quiet and ponder what this means for me on this day. The words of the prophet Micah rise within my spirit, words that Micah proclaims are God pleading his just case to the mountains and the hills:

He has shown you, O mortal, what is good.
    And what does the Lord require of you?
To act justly and to love mercy
    and to walk humbly with your God.

And so, I enter another day of this earthly journey intent on doing so.

If you know anyone who might be encouraged by today’s post, please share.

Chapter-a-Day

Namaste God

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Namaste God (CaD Gen 16) – Wayfarer

[Hagar] gave this name to the Lord who spoke to her: “You are the God who sees me,” for she said, “I have now seen the One who sees me.”
Genesis 16:13 (NIV)

Our dear friend has a yoga studio in town. Wendy has actively been assisting our friend with her business. And so, I even attend a class now and then. Given the increased stiffening of the muscles and joints one experiences with age, I really should go more often. It is really good for my body.

One of the traditions of yoga is that of ending a class with the word “namaste.” The literal translation is “I bow to you” and it is a traditional, humble salutation used in greeting and parting. Many people speak of the word’s broader definition as “I see you,” or “The divine in me sees the divine in you” and I find the concept quite lovely.

Today’s chapter is downright Shakespearean when bookended with yesterday’s chapter. Yesterday’s chapter was about Abram’s simple belief of God’s promises being “credited to him as righteousness.” Of course, the promise God has made Abram from the very beginning was that His descendants would be as numerous as stars in the sky and the sand on the beach. Today’s chapter begins with the harsh reality of his wife Sara being old and childless. Sara, who is tired of waiting, tired of believing, and tired of trusting, takes matters into her own hands. She tells Abram to do what was very common in the culture of that day. She tells her husband to sleep with her servant, Hagar, and have a child by her so that he would have an heir. Abram goes along with it.

Sara and Abram’s act intersect with me and my own story on multiple levels. Along my journey I have had my own experiences with God’s promises given and the long-suffering required to see the promise fulfilled. The questions of “How long do I wait?” and “Should I be doing something to make this thing happen?” are very real. Abram and Sara’s impatience and exasperation resonate deeply with me.

And then, of course, there is the journey of infertility that Wendy and I walked together for many years (though much shorter than Abram and Sara). There are emotions, questions, and struggles that one experiences on the journey of infertility (for both a woman and a man) that are unlike anything else I’ve experienced in life. I’ve observed that those who have not experienced it are largely unaware of the intensity of the ordeal, and most are reluctant to even engage in an empathetic conversation about it. I get Sara and Abram’s desperation, and their desire to make this thing happen once and for all.

Then there is Hagar, who is the oft ignored victim of this desperate act. In all my years studying the Great Story, I regularly find Hagar to be regarded with either ignorance (e.g. she’s not considered at all) or subtle contempt (e.g. she’s viewed contemptuously as “the other woman”). In the quiet this morning, I couldn’t ignore her. Hagar was a slave. She had no choice in the matter. She suffered a gross injustice that was compounded by Sara’s antipathy and mistreatment, along with Abram’s indifference (e.g. “Do with her whatever you think best.”). Hagar flees the abusive situation. She’s homeless, penniless, defenseless, directionless, and pregnant.

Then God shows up.

God blesses Hagar. He gives Hagar a carbon-copy promise that He gave to Abram and Sara: “I will increase your descendants so much that they will be too numerous to count.” God comforts Hagar in her misery. God directs Hagar to return to Sara because sometimes in the Great Story one must face injustice rather than flee it in order for the larger Story to unfold.

Then Hagar says something amazing: “You are the God who sees me. I have seen the One who sees me.”

As I read these words this morning my soul whispered “Namaste.”

In the quiet this morning, I stand humbled and amazed at the lengths to which God regarded Hagar and the injustice done to her. God appears to this poor, pregnant slave girl in a way that He rarely appears to anyone. It echoes of Jesus’ regard for a poor, publicly shamed and naked woman caught in the act of adultery, and His regard for a half-breed, divorced and segregated Samaritan woman at the well.

“I see you.”

The God who sees Abram and Sara in the intense struggles of their infertility journey. The God who sees Hagar in the suffering of the injustices done to her. The God who sees me in both my joys and my long-sufferings. God sees me. Do I, like Hagar, see the God who sees me, or, like Sara and Abram, am I blinded by my doubts, fears, and frustrations?

And the Shakespearean story is about to unfold.

Two sons by different women.

Two numerous peoples, the countless descendants of Hagar and Sara.

Arabs and Hebrews.

Both peoples honoring Abraham as their father.

Read the headlines. The story continues to unfold to this day.

If you know anyone who might be encouraged by today’s post, please share.

Chapter-a-Day

Pursued

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source: spencerslife via flickr
source: spencerslife via flickr

“Since you did not hate bloodshed, bloodshed will pursue you.”
Ezekiel 35:6b (NIV)

This I have observed along my life journey, that we are pursued by the powers of darkness which we refuse to stand against.

  • If we refuse to stand against hatred, it will pursue us.
  • If we refuse to stand against injustice, it will pursue us.
  • If we refuse to stand against violence, it will pursue us.
  • If we refuse to stand against ignorance, it will pursue us.
  • If we refuse to stand against bigotry, it will pursue us.
  • If we refuse to stand against prejudice, it will pursue us.
  • If we refuse to stand against misogyny, it will pursue us.
  • If we refuse to stand against misandry, it will pursue us.

The things of darkness respond only to a forceful assault of Light.

“Here’s another way to put it: You’re here to be light, bringing out the God-colors in the world. God is not a secret to be kept. We’re going public with this, as public as a city on a hill. If I make you light-bearers, you don’t think I’m going to hide you under a bucket, do you? I’m putting you on a light stand. Now that I’ve put you there on a hilltop, on a light stand—shine! Keep open house; be generous with your lives. By opening up to others, you’ll prompt people to open up with God, this generous Father in heaven.”   – Jesus

Chapter-a-Day

Rambling Thoughts on Time, Suffering, and Eternity

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Source: Pink Sherbet via Flickr
Source: Pink Sherbet via Flickr

The groans of the dying rise from the city,
    and the souls of the wounded cry out for help.
    But God charges no one with wrongdoing.
Job 24:12 (NIV)

My thoughts feel kind of disjointed this morning. Oh well.

I had a great conversation over morning coffee with my friend Matthew yesterday. We began to press into the concepts of time and eternity as God reveals it in His Message. I don’t often stop to realize how transformative the concept of eternity truly is. I say I believe in eternity, but I wonder if I truly comprehend what that should mean to my daily life.

If I believe in eternity, I realize the span of my earthly life is a mere speck on a time line that goes on forever.

If I believe in eternity, I will invest time, energy, and resources in matters of eternal value.

If I believe in eternity, I know that this life is a mere shadow of what is truly real.

If I believe in eternity, I know that all suffering is momentary in a grander scheme, including injustice.

I returned to that conversation in my thoughts this morning as I mulled over Job’s observations. I do not have to look farther than my television or smartphone to be confronted with the hard realities of suffering and injustice. I can scroll, click and view it in the palm of my hand 24/7/365. It’s depressing and it lends itself to the feelings of hopelessness and despair that Job communicates. But, then I found myself thinking about eternity once again.

Eternity does not negate pain or diminish the feelings and emotions which emanate from suffering and injustice, but it does provide context. My suffering is a small part of a larger reality which I cannot fully see or perceive in this moment. Faith in eternity as God reveals it transforms my suffering from senseless to purposeful, even if I can’t quite grasp exactly what that is amidst the painful chaos of this moment in time. That’s what faith is: evidence of that which I cannot see.

Chapter-a-Day

Dirty Harry Blues

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Chapter-a-Day Psalm 58

Then at last everyone will say,
    “There truly is a reward for those who live for God;
    surely there is a God who judges justly here on earth.”
Psalm 58:11 (NLT)

I was reading a college paper my daughter wrote just the other day about human trafficking and slavery in today’s world. The numbers were depressing. Close to two million human beings enslaved in the world and most of them falling under the designation of the sex slave trade. Even here in the “land of the free” the number of human beings enslaved and trafficked for the sex slave trade is estimated to be 10,000 or more. And, this is just the tip of the injustice iceberg when you start talking about slave labor, corrupt governments, organized crime, drug cartels, religious intolerance, and genocide. The weight of it all is enough to make a person’s blood boil with righteous anger.

Today’s chapter is what scholars call an “imprecatory” psalm. That’s a fancy word meaning to call down a curse on someone. David is calling on God to violently destroy those who do evil in this world, and it’s a bit difficult for some people to reconcile with Jesus’ call to love our enemies and bless those who persecute us.

Great songwriters know how to express the breadth of the human experience in the language of music. David was not just a warrior; He was an artist, as well. When he wrote his songs, which we now refer to as psalms, he covered his own emotional spectrum from A to Z. When David was feeling good, he wrote a rockin’ song of praise. When David got angry, he wrote the blues. Because he was both an artist and a warrior, his blues lyrics didn’t come out sounding like a helpless victim, they came out sounding like Dirty Harry.

From the time David was a kid he faced injustice with a sling and a sword.  When he saw the injustice of the way Goliath was mocking God, David killed the giant and cut off his head. David was a soldier and a warrior and his first instinct was to exact justice with capital punishment. Therefore, when he looked at the injustice of the world, his warrior heart wanted God to show up with a sword and destroy the guilty. David was expressing a very real emotion that is part of the human experience – to see those who do evil punished and destroyed. It’s the same satisfaction we feel when we see the evil villain taken out at the end of the movie.

Yesterday we talked about the fact that being a Jesus follower means choosing to swim against the tide of our emotions and circumstances. Because we’re called on to love our enemies doesn’t mean our natural emotions aren’t going want to see them dead. That’s what makes Jesus followers different. There is a difference between feeling anger about the corporate evil of injustice and acting out in anger against an individual. We may feel David’s righteous anger and desire to see all who do evil destroyed. We might even sing right along with him. When faced with how we respond to an individual who has wronged us, it our conscious choice to act against anger and vengeance and to inexplicably choose forgiveness and grace that reveals our faith and marks us as followers of Jesus. That is what Jesus meant when He said that the world will know His followers by their love.

 

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Chapter-a-Day

Chapter-a-Day Esther 3

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English: Vashti Refuses the King's Summons, pa...
English: Vashti Refuses the King’s Summons, painting by Edwin Long (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

All the king’s officials would bow down before Haman to show him respect whenever he passed by, for so the king had commanded. But Mordecai refused to bow down or show him respect. Esther 3:2 (NLT)

Two days ago, we read about Queen Vashti refusing to come to the King and how it led to her being deposed. I couldn’t help thinking about Vashti as I read this morning about Mordecai’s conscientious objection to bowing down before Haman. Thousands of years later, we continue to honor Mordecai for his refusal to bow before Haman, but we think very little of Vashti’s refusal to be summoned like a trained dog to be paraded like a stripper before her drunk husband and his cronies.

So it is when we choose to make a lonely stand against tyranny, dishonor or injustice. You can’t predict the results. People might shake their heads and roll their eyes in mockery. You might end up losing everything and suffering incredible personal loss (even your life). Or, you might end up changing the course of history and being honored through the centuries.

When we are called to, or choose to, conscientiously object we must do so out of obedience with a willingness to accept the consequences whatever they may be.