JUSTICE AS WORSHIP
"...for I, the LORD, love justice..." (Isaiah 61:8)
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We stand up. We sing a few songs. We express to God how amazing he is, and how we want to live for him, for an hour or so. We make a righteous noise. Is this all there is to worship?
Not according to the bible:
"I, the LORD, hate and despise your religious celebrations and your times of worship. I won't accept your offerings or animal sacrifices-- not even your very best. No more of your noisy songs! I won't listen when you play your harps. But let justice and fairness flow like a river that never runs dry." (Amos 5:21-24)
"Do you think the LORD wants you to give up eating and to act as humble as a bent-over bush? Or to dress in sackcloth and sit in ashes? Is this really what he wants on a day of worship? I'll tell you what it really means to worship the LORD. Remove the chains of prisoners who are chained unjustly. Free those who are abused! Share your food with everyone who is hungry; share your home with the poor and homeless. Give clothes to those in need; don't turn away your relatives." (Isaiah 58:5-7)
In fact there is a clear thread running through the bible making it quite clear that God is a real fan of the notion of justice. Obviously God wants more from us than just our vocal chords on a Sunday morning - in fact these bible passages suggest that he's not particularly interested in our corporate worship or fasting unless we're fighting for justice in the world.
God has a serious passion for justice, and it's a theme that keeps coming up in the bible. In the book of Jeremiah, God reveals something of his nature to us:
"What I like best is showing kindness, mercy and justice to everyone on earth."(Jeremiah 9:24b)
If we are striving to be imitators of God, as Paul commands in Ephesians 5:1-2, then mercy and justice are values that we also should be striving for.
Often in Christian groups the issue of social justice is seen as an add-on: something for you to get involved in if you want, but not a priority. I would argue that, actually, the bible's teaching suggests that fighting for justice is an activity that all Christians should be involved in, rather than just a fringe activity. In other words - less singing about how we feel this morning; more singing about how we're going to speak for those with no voice and embrace the broken, and then going out and doing it.
'Justice' is a fairly abstract concept though its one of those words that you feel you should utter in a slightly comical voice - so what does it mean for us in the 21st century? The dictionary (always a good destination in times like these) says that it's "The quality of being just". Not the most helpful progression ever. Looking around us, though, we can see that the way the world works is certainly not just. The gap between the rich and the poor is growing all the time, and we in the western world are often unknowingly supporters of regimes that oppress innocent people.
Thats the bad news. Often our response to issues such as these is that theres nothing we can do about them. The good news is that we can make a difference, however small. One simple thing we can do is buy fairly-traded coffee, and/or tea, fruit, chocolate, cereal bars, etc. For more information on the what and the why of fair trade, visit www.fairtrade.org.uk . The classic objections to this, such it costs a few pence extra! seem to pale into insignificance when compared to the difference it makes to the lives of vulnerable people in third world countries. For more ethical buying information, see www.newconsumer.org .
Its our responsibility as Christians to be educated on issues of world justice. There are many accessible and cheap books introducing the subject in bookshops, though Christian perspectives are sadly hard to find (perhaps for the reasons I suggested above?). An approach which we can all take is to learn more about these issues and pray about them; because God can work infinitely more justice in these situations than we could ever ask or imagine.
"...for I, the LORD, love justice..." (Isaiah 61:8)
---
We stand up. We sing a few songs. We express to God how amazing he is, and how we want to live for him, for an hour or so. We make a righteous noise. Is this all there is to worship?
Not according to the bible:
"I, the LORD, hate and despise your religious celebrations and your times of worship. I won't accept your offerings or animal sacrifices-- not even your very best. No more of your noisy songs! I won't listen when you play your harps. But let justice and fairness flow like a river that never runs dry." (Amos 5:21-24)
"Do you think the LORD wants you to give up eating and to act as humble as a bent-over bush? Or to dress in sackcloth and sit in ashes? Is this really what he wants on a day of worship? I'll tell you what it really means to worship the LORD. Remove the chains of prisoners who are chained unjustly. Free those who are abused! Share your food with everyone who is hungry; share your home with the poor and homeless. Give clothes to those in need; don't turn away your relatives." (Isaiah 58:5-7)
In fact there is a clear thread running through the bible making it quite clear that God is a real fan of the notion of justice. Obviously God wants more from us than just our vocal chords on a Sunday morning - in fact these bible passages suggest that he's not particularly interested in our corporate worship or fasting unless we're fighting for justice in the world.
God has a serious passion for justice, and it's a theme that keeps coming up in the bible. In the book of Jeremiah, God reveals something of his nature to us:
"What I like best is showing kindness, mercy and justice to everyone on earth."(Jeremiah 9:24b)
If we are striving to be imitators of God, as Paul commands in Ephesians 5:1-2, then mercy and justice are values that we also should be striving for.
Often in Christian groups the issue of social justice is seen as an add-on: something for you to get involved in if you want, but not a priority. I would argue that, actually, the bible's teaching suggests that fighting for justice is an activity that all Christians should be involved in, rather than just a fringe activity. In other words - less singing about how we feel this morning; more singing about how we're going to speak for those with no voice and embrace the broken, and then going out and doing it.
'Justice' is a fairly abstract concept though its one of those words that you feel you should utter in a slightly comical voice - so what does it mean for us in the 21st century? The dictionary (always a good destination in times like these) says that it's "The quality of being just". Not the most helpful progression ever. Looking around us, though, we can see that the way the world works is certainly not just. The gap between the rich and the poor is growing all the time, and we in the western world are often unknowingly supporters of regimes that oppress innocent people.
Thats the bad news. Often our response to issues such as these is that theres nothing we can do about them. The good news is that we can make a difference, however small. One simple thing we can do is buy fairly-traded coffee, and/or tea, fruit, chocolate, cereal bars, etc. For more information on the what and the why of fair trade, visit www.fairtrade.org.uk . The classic objections to this, such it costs a few pence extra! seem to pale into insignificance when compared to the difference it makes to the lives of vulnerable people in third world countries. For more ethical buying information, see www.newconsumer.org .
Its our responsibility as Christians to be educated on issues of world justice. There are many accessible and cheap books introducing the subject in bookshops, though Christian perspectives are sadly hard to find (perhaps for the reasons I suggested above?). An approach which we can all take is to learn more about these issues and pray about them; because God can work infinitely more justice in these situations than we could ever ask or imagine.
Sonic Flood. 
and thanks to God 
