Micah 6:8. "And what does the Lord require of you, but to do justice, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God?

justice |ˈjəstis|
noun
1 just behavior or treatment : a concern for justice, peace, and genuine respect for people.
• the quality of being fair and reasonable : the justice of his case.
• the administration of the law or authority in maintaining this : a tragic miscarriage of justice.


Over the past few days, due to a turn of events (my inability to accurately read a syllabus, therefore resulting in an early start on homework), I've been reading through Timothy Keller's Generous Justice. In the introduction of the text, Keller makes a point that has stayed with me. He comments on the current generation and their gusto for volunteering and changing the world.
 "From their youth culture they have imbibed not only an emotional resonance for social justice but also a consumerism that undermines self-denial and delayed gratification...While many young adults have a Christin faith, and also a desire to help people in need, these two things are not actually connected to each other in their lives. They have not thought out the implications of Jesus' gospel for doing justice in all aspects of life." (Keller, xi.)


This is in the INTRODUCTION. That concept along is very thought provoking. I makes me wonder, what would have happened if I would have done all of the things I set out to do? What would happen if we didn't get distracted by good things and went for the great things that God does? How DIFFERENT would the world look? How much more would His name be proclaimed?


Farther on in the book, Keller quotes Job 31:13-28 saying,
If I have denied justice to my menservants and maidservants when they had a grievance against me, what will I do when God confronts me?...If I have denied the desires of the poor or let the eyes of the widow grow weary, if I have kept my bread to myself, not sharing it with the fatherless-but from my youth I reared him as would a father, and from my birth I guided the widow-if I have seen anyone perishing for lack of clothing, or a needy man without garment, and his heard did not bless me for warming him with the fleece from my sheep, if I have raised my hand against the fatherless, knowing that I had influence in court, then let my arm fall from the shoulder, let it be broken off at the joint...these also would be sins to be judged, for I would have been unfaithful to God on high.


Commenting on the passage Keller remarks,"He [Job] is not at all satisfied with halfway measures for the needy people in his community. He is not content to give them small, perfunctory gifts in the assumption that their misery and weakness area permanent condition." (Keller, 14)


My eyes have been opened by this book, and I haven't even read a third of it. We, as followers are changed by the King. We have been given a task to promote justice-not just by defending the weak, but by treating all people with equity, with the standard of unconditional love. For Jesus, unconditional love was to the point of death on a cross. For us, how do we unconditionally love? Is there a disconnect in our lives between passionately doing justice and then living our lives?


Are we willing, as Paul was, to give up our own Salvation for those who are enemies of the cross? Do we love other people enough that we see them as higher than ourselves?


How different would the world be if we saw the broken as Job did-worth giving everything up for? Do our hearts break at the thought of the broken, fatherless and widowed? There are a lot of questions, that don't have easy answers. But I believe that the ultimate question is this:
Do we love God's people enough to break ourselves for them, the way that Jesus did?

Keller, Timothy J. "14." Generous Justice: How God's Grace Makes Us Just. New York, NY: Dutton, Penguin Group USA, 2010. Print.

Forever Reign

You are good, You are good
When there's nothing good in me
You are love, You are love
On display for all to see

You are light, You are light
When the darkness closes in
You are hope, You are hope
You have covered all my sin

You are peace, You are peace
When my fear is crippling
You are true, You are true
Even in my wandering

You are joy, You are joy
You're the reason that I sing
You are life, You are life,
In You death has lost its sting

Oh, I’m running to Your arms,
I’m running to Your arms
The riches of Your love
Will always be enough

Nothing compares to Your embrace
Light of the world forever reign

You are more, You are more
Than my words will ever say
You are Lord, You are Lord
All creation will proclaim

You are here, You are here
In Your presence I'm made whole
You are God, You are God
Of all else I'm letting go

My heart will sing
No other Name
Jesus, Jesus

Forever Reign, Hillsong

Waiting for A Change

Desperately, helplessly, longingly, I cried.
Quietly, patiently, lovingly God replied.
I pled and I wept for a clue to my fate,
And the Master so gently said, "Child, you must wait!"


"Wait?, you say, wait!" my indignant reply.
"Lord, I need answers, I need to know why!
Is your hand shortened? Or have you not heard?
By FAITH I have asked, and am claiming Your Word."


"My future and all to which I can relate
Hands in the balance and You tell me to WAIT?
I'm needing a 'yes', a go-ahead sign,
Or even a 'no' to which I can resign."


"And Lord, You promised that if we believe
We need but to ask, as we shall recieve.
And Lord, I've been asking, and this is my cry:
I'm weary of asking! I need a reply!"


Then quietly, softly, I learned of my fate
As my Master replied once again, "You must wait."
So, I slumped in my chair, defeated and taut
And grumbled to God, "So, I'm waiting...for what?"


He seemed then to kneel and His eyes wept with mine,
And he tenderly said, "I could give you a sign.
I could shake the heavens, and darken the sun.
I could raise the dead, and cause mountains to run.
All you seek, I could give, and pleased you would be.
You would have what you want--but, you wouldn't know ME."


"You'd not know the depth of My love for each saint;
You'd not know the power that I give to the faint;
You'd not learn to see through the coulds of despair;
You'd not learn to trust just by knowing I'm there;
You'd not know the joy of resting in Me
When darkness and silend were all you could see."


"You'd never epserience that fullness of love
As the peace of My Spirit descends like a dove;
You'd know tht I give and I save...(for a start),
But yo'd not know the depth of the beat of My heart."


"The flow of My comfort late into the night,
The faith that I give when you walk without sight,
The depth that's beyond getting just what you asked
Of an infinite God, who makes what you have LAST."


"You'd never know, should your pain quickly flee,
What it means that 'My grace is sufficient for thee.'
Yes your dreams for your loved ones overnight would come true,
But, oh, the loss if I lost what I'm doing in you!"


"So, be silent, my child, and in time you will see that
The greatest of gifts is to GET TO KNOW ME.
And though oft may My answers seem terribly late,
My wisest of answers is still but to WAIT."


-Author Unknown