"When I give food to the poor, they call me a saint.
When I ask why the poor have no food, they call me a communist."
- Dom Helder Camara
My friend Elaine has been on about mercy without justice lately. What's the big deal you say? Well, mercy is standing by the river and pulling people out of peril as they are swept by. We can do that as a society and even as an Army. We have a soup kitchen/drop-in/shelter bed/thrift store/family services for you. Justice, however, is going up the river to find out how everybody's ending up in there in the first place. Do we do that? As a society, there is no shortage of associations and coalitions devoted to bringing about justice, as they see it. As an Army though, where are we upholding justice as the King of Justice sees it? He says this in Malachi 6:8:
"He has told you, O man, what is good; And what does the LORD require of you but to do justice, to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?"
So where's the justice in your walk with God?
I invite your comment...
I find my Refuge in the sea
17.8.05
I'll have an order of action, heavy on the justice with mercy on the side...
ive been on about justice as opposed to social action- which i guess could be mercy. i get the whole soup-kitchen thing, and the mat-programs and stuff, but wheres the help in that? yknow?
when i start to wonder where and when the justice is coming...thats when i get this weird sense of hopelessness. i guess it goes along with praying feels like youre basically doing nothing (even though its definitely the most powerful and helpful thing you could possibly do- and im working on getting that into my heart and out of just my head)- praying for justice is all i can really do, because only God can take care of REAL justice, so while i wait i give out sandwiches- of course, that then can turn into something that just enables people to use...and well, anyhoo, i guess i can just talk circles around the subject of justice when what i really should be doing is praying...so...
GOD! We need your help! Show us justice! Show us what true justice looks like! Teach us real mercy, and how to bring about justice. Teach us to be like you! Use me, please in bringing about justice. Use me to restore sight to the blind, hearing to the deaf, health to the sick, love to the unloved. God, use me for justice. Give me a heart that cries out for your mercy and justice night and day until i see it. Give me the strength to contend- yes, God, I want to contend! So...God, JUSTICE!!!! I WANT TO SEE YOUR JUSTICE! I WANT TO SEE YOU REIGN OVER MY LIFE AND OVER MY FRIENDS' LIVES AND OVER THE DTES AND OVER THE EARTH! JUSTICEEEEEEE!!!! thank you and amen.
So, yeah- I whine a lot about social programs- I think they're great, but...uh...Justice is SOOOOO much better! Besides, our arms would get less tired from pulling people out of the river.
ok, im done...now that i think ive successfully commented longer than you blogged...
oh, and thanks for blogging again. did i mention that i like your vancouver? thanks for keeping me here! even though-
YOU DONT KNOW MEEEeee..