Our understanding of justice is influenced by many things: Religion, politics, philosophy, friends, injustices, sports, media. Some of my favourite movies are big on retribution: good person is wronged, but bad person gets his or her just reward by the end of the movie. In hockey when the skill player is hurt we demand justice.

Are these examples of justice?

When we, the church consider social action we often default to acts of mercy and compassion. What about justice?

Over the next weeks Brook and I want to bring clarity the meaning of justice, to offer another side to justice and we want to make the distinction between justice and compassion. We will be borrowing heavily from Nicholas Wolterstorff – Justice Rights and Wrongs and Brook Biggin’s – Masters dissertation: An Analysis of the American Response to the HIV/AIDS Crisis through the Lens of Wolterstorff’s Theory of Justice as Inherent Rights.

Jesus told a now famous parable about justice:

A religion scholar stood up with a question to test Jesus. “Teacher, what do I need to do to get eternal life?” He answered, “What’s written in God’s Law? How do you interpret it?”

He said, “That you love the Lord your God with all your passion and prayer and muscle and intelligence—and that you love your neighbour as well as you do yourself.” “Good answer!” said Jesus. “Do it and you’ll live.” Looking for a loophole, he asked, “And just how would you define ‘neighbour’?”

Jesus answered by telling a story. “There was once a man traveling from Jerusalem to Jericho. On the way he was attacked by robbers. They took his clothes, beat him up, and went off leaving him half-dead. Luckily, a priest was on his way down the same road, but when he saw him he angled across to the other side.Then a Levite religious man showed up; he also avoided the injured man.“A despised Samaritan traveling the road came on him. When he saw the man’s condition, his heart went out to him.He gave him first aid, disinfecting and bandaging his wounds. Then he lifted him onto his donkey, led him to an inn, and made him comfortable.In the morning he took out two silver coins and gave them to the innkeeper, saying, ‘Take good care of him. If it costs any more, put it on my bill—I’ll pay you on my way back.’

“What do you think? Which of the three became a neighbour to the man attacked by robbers?”

“The one who treated him kindly,” the religion scholar responded. Jesus said, “Go and do the same.”  Luke 10:25- 37 The Message.

To love my neighbour as myself.

Is loving my neighbour as myself an act of mercy: showing kindness to an enemy, to the powerless?

Maybe loving my neighbour as myself is compassion: feeling sympathy or sorrow for one who is hurting?

Or loving my neighbour as myself is benevolence: a desire to do good to others?

Could it be that  loving my neighbour as myself  is like the “pass it forward principle which if we think about it is self-centred.”(eudaimonism) believing that doing good is a measure of a life lived well.

These are good motives but is that what it means to love your neighbour as you love yourself?

Consider this: the Samaritan’s decision to love his ancestral enemy as he loved himself, was an act of justice.

Living a just life as understood by the religious leaders in Jesus’ time was far from the just living that God had intended—living a just life, a Holy life was supposed encourage justice, mercy, and faithfulness (cf. Matt 23:23). Instead, living a holy life, a just life, became the means of  reinforcing their social status, marginalizing the poor, and excluding “sinners”.

We experience the same today. When others fail us, or don’t meet our expectations, when they don’t measure up, we exclude them.To recapture the meaning of justice we need to understand what it means to love your neighbour as yourself.

Nicholas Wolterstorff Justice: Rights and Wrongs challenges a number of assumptions. It isn’t good enough to understand that we are created in God’s image because each of us in our heart knows that God’s image in us is marred…and we are responsible.

God didn’t just cast humankind in his image. He intentionally attaches his love to each being, to each of us.Christ attaches his love to  each person, whether or not we know it, or accept it. His active love remains regardless of how marred His image in us may be. Because of this attached love each of us is priceless. Every person you will meet today is priceless to Christ.

Wolterstorff says, “the vulnerable or “bottom’ members of society do not have to be included in the social order; they’re already there. Within Jesus’ principle of social inversion, those at the bottom of the social order must be lifted up. As a consequence, so too must those at the top be humbled.”

To love your neighbour as yourself is to create a right order to see the love Christ has for you in the other. So to assume that someone has less worth, to treat them as unworthy of your time, or money or patience or grace is to wrong him or her.

John Chrysostom a 4th century Bishop was exiled for his outspoken views on privilege and justice he believed that “The rich exist not for the sake of the poor but the poor exist the salvation of the rich.”

“Not to share our wealth with the poor is theft from the poor and deprivation of their means of life; we do not possess our own life but theirs.” John Chrysostom [St. John Chrysostom (+407 A.D.) On Wealth and Poverty, p. 55, Crestwood, NY 1984]

The Merchant and the Mercenary

It was the season of storms, and as clouds bunched together and the wind gathered speed the port city prepared.Tying down their possessions the residents secured their homes and stoked their hearths to wait out the rage.

The tempest was at it’s angriest when the lighthouse sounded the alarm. A ship was sinking. Rescuers led by the city’s leading merchant fought their way to the spot where the vessel floundered on the rocks.

Peering through rain and waves it was clear to the rescuers that the ship belonged to a mercenary captain commissioned by a foreign port city to destroy it’s competition. The mercenary had been pillaging the business man’s ships.

The rescuers shaking their fists at the desperate figures on board, shouted, “You are getting your just rewards”.Turning to leave they were stopped by the merchant. “We will not leave he said, “until they are all saved.”

The grateful mercenary offered to repay with interest what he had taken from the merchant. No, the man replied. Why, asked the surprised mercenary?” The merchant said, “Justice compelled me to save you and my reward is that justice was served.”

 

“Distrust any man in whom the impulse to punish is powerful” – Nietzsche

When we love our neighbour as ourselves the one in need has a just claim even if we disagree with their values, or beliefs. Even if they have robbed us or alienated us or hated us or cut us off, or gossiped about us ….you get the picture. Christ motivated justice corrects to restore right relationship..

Reflect when you wanted to get back at or get even with some one

Mercy: showing kindness to an enemy or the powerless.

Compassion: feelings of sympathy and sorrow for another.

And benevolence: a desire to do good to others.

All of these are excellent qualities, but justice acts regardless of their presence and is motivated by the realization that God has attached the same love to your neighbour as you.

In the 1990’s the US government put in place a comprehensive program to combat HIV/AIDS. It was applauded even though it excluded many because of lifestyle, race, occupation sexual orientation or citizenship.If we measure it against the kind of justice which recognizes inherent human worth based on God’s intentional love for each of us, the program loses some of its shine.

Justice which recognizes the command to love  your neighbour as yourself is not dependent on citizenship, race, sexual orientation,or lifestyle. It is dependent on seeing God’s love for you attached to the other.

When we began forming this community called Urban Bridge Church we decided to support those suffering with HIV AIDS. We continue to do so, working alongside HIV Edmonton, and Catholic Social Services.We are three quite different organizations, differing in many of our lifestyle choices, religious beliefs and values.

Why do we continue? A religion scholar stood up with a question to test Jesus. “Teacher, what do I need to do to get eternal life?” He answered, “What’s written in God’s Law? How do you interpret it?” He said, “That you love the Lord your God with all your passion and prayer and muscle and intelligence—and that you love your neighbour as well as you do yourself.” “Good answer!” said Jesus. “Do it and you’ll live.”

To be a follower of Christ is to choose to love im with all your passion and prayer and muscle and intelligence—and to learn love your neighbour as much as you love yourself.”

This entry was posted on Wednesday, January 18th, 2012 at 12:03 pm and is filed under Sermons. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.