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Introduction
BIBLICAL JUSTICE
The first year I was pastoring at Grace Chapel in Watertown Massachusetts, a woman asked to meet with me after church.
She came the next day for a meeting in my office and she started to unload her story of a controlling husband who had beat her, tracked her, was jealous, followed her, and threatened to kill her or himself if she ever left.
I had met the husband, and had felt uneasy from the first interaction.
I told her I would try to help her as she was trying to create a plan to leave him.
She was deathly afraid of him,.
Domestic violence between intimate partners is some of the most insidious evil in our world because if they are married and have children, there is no way to get away from their partner, no matter the evil they perpetrate.
I was in over my head, so I called a ministry at our church that worked with women in domestic violence, I also called my friend Cassidy who had worked in women’s shelters as an advocate and social worker….and
they told me that the woman should not contact the police……and that made sense but it also baffled me.
WE have entrusted the work of pursuing justice to our police and state prosecutors…but in the case of domestic violence the police were not where they could turn for help.
in the case of domestic violence there just aren’t good tools to adjudicate justice between intimate partners…
-no contact and restraining orders are limited in their ability to protect themselves
-before the ubiquity of camera phones and security cameras, it was difficult to get evidence, and much of it is threats and coercion that are difficult to demonstrate.
-Many states have two party consent for wire taps, so even if a conversation is recorded it won’t be permitted as evidence.
Due Process, presumption of innocence, lack of witnesses, he said she said.
good reasons for it…but catastrophic for the 1 in 4 women and 1 in 10 men in our country affected by domestic violence.
But the other reason was more insidious: academic studies over the years have shown that 28-40% (a little bit higher than the average population) of police families experience domestic violence themselves.
and some unscrupulous police officers identify with the misunderstood accused abuser and at times would protect them or coach them to avoid prosecution.
This was the reason the women I knew who worked with domestic violence victims recommended against it.
Now, 60-75% of police families do not experience domestic violence and would never protect abusers.
And every police officer that I have known personally would find that kind of perspective abhorrent….
but what do you do if you cannot get justice?
What if you cannot trust the authorities to care?
What if laws are built to protect the accused rather than the ongoing victims?
questions of justice are notoriously difficult because they require 2 things humans are very bad at: wisdom & thoughtful deliberation.
Have you ever given much thought to ‘what is justice’
(recap-last week simplicity)
this week Biblical Justice (not social justice, racial justice or criminal justice but Biblical Justice)
So what is Justice?
In this case justice is a woman being freed from the threat of their significant other, to themselves or their children.
Free to live their life in quiet enjoyment.
When we look at Biblical justice we need to look back at the ancient and Roman worlds to understand what they meant.
(we’ll do that in a minute)
It seems obvious, but when you don’t get justice you become someone who aches for it.
And all of us see injustice all around us….(news, social media, politicians)
And we fell uneasy all the time because we are anxious to see justice come
We have this ache for justice but in some ways we have become so used to injustice, that when it is pointed out, we just shrug our shoulders and say: well what can you do?
Here’s the thing, it is really offensive to our sensibilities because we have been hardened by the injustice of this world to think that it is normal.
Different kinds of justice for black, brown and white suspects.
CEO’s steal Billions and serve no prison time
The Sackler Family creates the opioid epidemic and keeps their fortunes.
church leaders prosecuted for gathering during COVID
School Shooters taken alive when George Floyd is killed on the streets
Justice is almost always found those in power…but it was meant for the weak.
This world is full of small and big injustices….
so we need to think hard about what is justice…what is that little voice in us telling us to hope for it
and how do we pursue it in a world that is built for the powerful to thrive and the weak to pay the price?
In some ways We can’t even imagine a just world…so we ask, how can we get a piece of the action, keep our heads down and hope Jesus comes back…but boy do we have bad news for us.
What is justice?
First instance: Genesis 18:19 The Covenant of Abraham included this command and direction for the people of God.
Right/Justice….the
same word Tzadik…
157 times in the masoretic text OT
Dikaiosune is over 300 times in the NT
Justice and righteousness are the same word….. where we derive ideas of justice, and mercy
we have misunderstood righteousness
The Department of Justice.
The pursuit of Justice.
Not about vengeance, not about punishment, not about the correct application of the law and adherence to the policies of the government.
its about setting things right.
That is what the word means.
To set things right.
And when things can’t be made right, we try to compensate the aggrieved party.
And that is something we can all pursue in our broken world
-really.
Most things that are wrong will never rise to the occasion of the need to have a brave police officer to show up and investigate.
Most things, most injustice are small, but effect us every day.
Small slights, gossip, anger, malice, greed,
Bad drivers endangering our lives or speeding along our streets
Lies about us
Lies to us
our stuff is Broken by accident or destroyed on purpose
Our relationships are broken
our trust is broken
Poor people are penalized for being poor and living in poor places
Rich people take advantage of their position to gain more power and wealth
Rich people bully poor people by threatening expensive litigation
We are disrespected by others
Political appointees give preference to their donors ahead of the weak and vulnerable
Real Estate developers get meetings with city leaders while those struggling with homelessness have no voice
Pastors get deference and their accusers are slandered
Prosecutors pick and choose what they will pursue based on the news-implications
Even thinking about this kind of injustice gets your blood boiling.
NT Wright on our ache for justice
You fall off your bicycle and break your leg.
You go to the hospital and they fix it.
You stagger around on crutches for awhile.
Then, rather gingerly, you start to walk normally again … .
There is such a thing as putting something to rights, as in fixing it, as getting it back on track.
You can fix a broken leg, a broken toy, a broken television.
So why can't we fix injustice.
It isn't for lack of trying.
And yet, in spite of failures to fix injustice, we keep dreaming that one day all broken things will be set right.
Wright contends, "Christians believe this is so because all humans have heard, deep within themselves, the echo of a voice which calls us to live [with a dream for justice].
And [followers of Christ] believe that in Jesus that voice became human and did what had to be done to bring it about."
NT Wright
How do we fight against a world awash in preference for the wealthy and powerful?
How do we avoid the traps of falling into the lie that it is not our work and not our business?
(expound the temptation)
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