A Methodist Way of Life

God’s Justice - What are you doing in response?

When it comes to Justice, Jesus doesn’t hold back. Just look at what he said to the Pharisees in Luke 11:42-44

Jesus said, "Woe to you Pharisees! For you tithe mint and rue and herbs of all kinds, and neglect justice and the love of God; it is these you ought to have practised, without neglecting the others. Woe to you Pharisees! For you love to have the seat of honour in the synagogues and to be greeted with respect in the marketplaces. Woe to you! For you are like unmarked graves, and people walk over them without realising it."

What can we learn from this episode. The first thing I notice is that this is not 'Gentle Jesus, meek and mild.' He really goes to town on the issue of Justice, that is frankly quite shocking to the gospel reader. The second thing I notice is that’s  Pharisees took pride in following the law and being important and this raise a question in me, “Am I overly concerned with status and respectability?” It also moves my thinking to as a subsequent question, “How important to me are justice and the love of God?”

Jesus did not blame the Pharisees for multiplying rules about tithing mint and rue. But he denounced them for neglecting the deeper commandments, justice and the love of God. Every community, including that of the church, tends to have its in-group, those with influence, who are treated with respect. Perhaps we need to pray, “Lord, save me from that fate. Let me be content to be overlooked and forgotten.”

In this passage, Jesus encourages a consistency in life between what we say and what we do, between who we are and who we advertise ourselves to be. His strongest condemnations are for people who exploit the poverty and the weakness of others. Interior death is when we do not live as we know we should, when we follow the tides of the times, when we disobey conscience. We are then, says Jesus, like unmarked graves. Prayer can bring the dead side of ourselves to life. Jesus is the one who lives and loves life to the full.

A Prayer: 

Give us, O God, the vision which can see Your love in the world in spite of human failure. Give us the faith to trust Your goodness in spite of our ignorance and weakness. Give us the knowledge that we may continue to pray with understanding hearts. And show us what each one of us can do to set forward the coming of the day of universal peace. Amen