At the end of September, the C?ommercial Appeal?reported on crime statistics in Memphis. They compared 2014 to 2013. [h?ttp://www.commercialappeal.com/news/crime-justice/violent-crimes-up-in- memphis-in-2014-trending-down-in-2015-20e7864a-ebfe-6147-e053-0100007f50 0c-330019811.html]?T?he following numbers were especially troubling:
1. 11,399violentcrimeswereloggedin2014.
- Homicidesincreasedfrom124in2013to140in2014.
- 501rapeswerereportedin2014.
- Motor-vehicletheftswereup11percent.Numbers for 2015 appear to be slightly better. But it’s pretty clear that we, as
many around the world, live in an area in which there is a great deal of what we call “injustice.” Normally, when we think of the word injustice, we think of people not receiving the treatment that is due them. And all of these violent crimes are a good example of injustice. In crimes like these, a person, the victim, does not receive the protection that is his/her right, or the kindness that is due him/her. We live in a world, we live in a city, filled with injustice.
And in this series we are exploring what the Christian faith has to do with that world “out there.” What is the church’s role in a city, in a world, filled with injustice?
Some Christians answer that question with one word: none. The church has no role regarding injustice. Our job is to save souls and get people to heaven. And as bad as those crimes may be and as sad as we may feel for those victims, our job is not to prevent crime or clean up the mess after crime. We’re just here to save souls.
That, not surprisingly, is a terribly unbiblical answer. Because again and again, one word is used in the Bible to describe the way in which God’s people are to respond to a world filled with injustice. The word is “justice.”
Justice is in great need out there in the world. It is in great need in Memphis. And the church has a role to play in bringing justice.
A few weeks ago in Memphis a gang member was convicted and sentenced
for killing a 17-year-old boy. After the verdict was read, the boy’s mother said this: “I? can rest now. I haven’t rested since he left. Justice was served very well.”?
(Memphian Katrina Pigrum commenting on the sentencing of her son’s killer).
Justice needs to be served well in our world. It needs to be served well in our cities. And the church has a role to play in serving justice. T?he church has been
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called to do justice–to ensure that all people are given their due.?We want to see justice served well.
In his book G?enerous Justice?Timothy Keller outlines two strands of teaching about justice in the Bible. We’re going to explore those two strands by looking at two Hebrew words from the Old Testament. So, for several minutes we’re going to dive into some pretty detailed material. It’ll be more teaching than preaching. But it’s necessary if we really want to understand this part of a Monday Morning Faith.
O n e H e b r e w w o r d f o r “ j u s t i c e , ” m? i s h p a t , ? o c c u r s i n v a r i o u s f o r m s m o r e t h a n 200 times. Its basic meaning is to treat people equitably. The word is often used in a legal sense. It means acquitting or punishing people on the merits of a case, regardless of race or status. Anyone who does the same wrong should be given the same penalty. No one should be punished unless they have done wrong. Thus, it means giving people the legal treatment due to them.
Mishpat a?lso means giving people other rights due to them. For example, Deut. 18 commands that priests of the tabernacle should be supported by a certain percentage of the people’s income. This support is described as “the priests’ m i s h p a t , ?” w h i c h m e a n s t h e i r r i g h t .
Mishpat,?then, is giving people what they are due, whether punishment or protection. Whether due process or due income.
This word is used in the Old Testament specifically for four classes of people. Repeatedly, m?ishpat?refers to caring for the cause of 1) widows, 2) orphans, 3) immigrants and 4) the poor. These groups had no social power at the time of the Bible. They lived at subsistence level and were often just days away from starvation. Today, we might include the refugee, the migrant worker, the homeless and some
s i n g l e p a r e n t s a n d e l d e r l y p e o p l e . T h e m? i s h p a t , ? o r j u s t n e s s , o f a s o c i e t y , a c c o r d i n g to the Bible, is evaluated by how it treats these groups of people.
We learn more from a second Hebrew word that means “being just,” or “being righteous.” The word is s?edaqah,?and it refers to a life that is righteous or just. When most people see the word “righteous,” they tend to think of it in terms of private morality. But s?edaqah?refers to day-to-day living in which a person conducts all relationships with fairness, generosity and equity.
It is not surprising, then, that s?edaqah?and m?ishpat?are brought together several times in the Bible.The Bible uses both words when it issues a strong call for God’s people to do justice.
Finally, these two words correspond to what some have called “primary” and “rectifying” justice”
Rectifying justice is m?ishpat.?It is the justice that kicks in after a wrong has been committed. It means punishing wrongdoers and caring for the victims of
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u n j u s t t r e a t m e n t . T o d a y , r e c t i f y i n g j u s t i c e , o r m? i s h p a t , ? c o u l d m e a n p r o s e c u t i n g t h e men who batter women and helping those women get back up on their feet.
Primary justice is s?edaqah.?It’s a more proactive justice that kicks in before any wrong has been committed. It is behavior that, if it was prevalent in the world, would render rectifying justice unnecessary, because everyone would be living in right relationship to everyone else. Today, it might mean taking the time personally to meet the needs of the handicapped, the elderly or the hungry.
Doing justice in the world is a critical component of biblical faith. We cannot bury our heads in the sand. We cannot pretend that we’ve only been called to save people’s souls. The church has been called to do justice in the world filled with injustice. To make sure all people are given their due. To make sure people are given what they have a right to. Especially those whose rights are overlooked.
Yet Jesus also calls the church to do injustice. Ironically, in a world that is filled with injustice the role of Jesus’ followers is not simply to do justice. It’s also to do injustice.
Jesus tells a story of a master of a house who seeks laborers for his vineyard: “F?or the kingdom of heaven is like a master of a house who went out early in
the morning to hire laborers for his vineyard. 2?A?fter agreeing with the
laborers for a denarius a day, he sent them into his vineyard. 3?A?nd going out about the third hour he saw others standing idle in the marketplace, 4?a?nd to them he said, ‘You go into the vineyard too, and whatever is right I will give
you.’ 5?S?o they went. Going out again about the sixth hour and the ninth hour, he did the same. 6?A?nd about the eleventh hour he went out and found others standing. And he said to them, ‘Why do you stand here idle all day?’ 7? They said to him, ‘Because no one has hired us.’ He said to them, ‘You go into the vineyard too.’ 8?A?nd when evening came, the owner of the vineyard said to his foreman, ‘Call the laborers and pay them their wages, beginning with the last, up to the first.’ 9?A?nd when those hired about the eleventh hour came, each of them received a denarius. 1?0 N?ow when those hired first came, they thought they would receive more, but each of them also received a denarius. 1?1 A?nd on receiving it they grumbled at the master of the house, 12 s?aying, ‘These last worked only one hour, and you have made them equal to us who have borne the burden of the day and the scorching heat.’ 1?3 B?ut he replied to one of them, ‘Friend, I am doing you no wrong. Did you not agree with me for a denarius? 1?4 T?ake what belongs to you and go. I choose to give to this last worker as I give to you. 1?5 A?m I not allowed to do what I choose with what belongs to me? Or do you begrudge my generosity?’ 1?6 S?o the last will be first, and the first last.?” (Matt. 20:1-16 ESV)
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Five times the master contacts potential workers and hires them with this promise: “w?hatever is right I will give to you”?(Matt. 20:4 ESV). The word “right” is a New Testament word for justice. It’s used nearly 80 times in the New Testament and more than 400 times in the Septuagint, the Greek translation of the Old Testament. Here are some examples:
- ? Deut. 4:20 “J?ustice,?and only j?ustice,?you shall follow.”
- ? Prov. 21:7 “The violence of the wicked will sweep them away, because theyr e f u s e t o d o w h a t i s j ?u s t . ?”
- ? Col. 4:1 “Masters, treat your bondservants j?ustly?and fairly…”
- ? Rev. 15: 3 “J?ust?and true are your ways, O King of the nations!”In this parable in Matt. 20, the master of the house uses this same word. He promises to do “whatever is right/just.” He promises to ensure justice for the five groups of laborers. He will do whatever is right/just.
Then, the workers get to work. Since they were hired at different times, they end up working different amounts:
- Group1:worked12hours.
- Group2:worked9hours.
- Group3:worked6hours.
- Group4:worked3hours.
- Group5:worked1hour.The fifth group has worked one/twelfth of the time worked by the first group.
So, if group one gets paid, let’s say, $12, how much should those in group five get paid? Probably just $1. They worked 1/12 of the time those in group one worked. So, it’s only fair that they get 1/12 of the pay. Right?
Yet at sundown each laborer in each group receives one denarius. Those who worked one hour get the same amount as those who worked twelve hours.
Let’s stop for a second and just consider the denarius they are given. The poverty of day laborers like these workers was so stark that the Old Testament Torah required that they be paid each day at sunset because they needed the money to survive (Lev. 19:13; Deut. 24:14-15). If they didn’t get paid at sunset each day, they might not be able to make it to the next day–because they didn’t necessarily find work every day. A denarius was considered the average wage for a day laborer. An adult in ancient Palestine needed about half a denarius to live. A denarius would keep a family afloat. It was a “living wage.”
Those who worked twelve hours receive a denarius. That was just. It was fair. It was right. It’s what they were due.
But those who worked one hour also receive a denarius. That doesn’t seem fair, does it? Understandably, group one grumbles when they see group five receiving what they received: “y?ou have made them equal to us.?” (Matt. 20:12 ESV).
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This is unfair. This is unjust. They received more than their due. Group five has received far more than they are due. They only earned 1/12 of a denarius. They only deserve 1/12 of a denarius. But they are given a full denarius–far more than their due.
The master replies, “F?riend, I am doing you no wrong.?” (Matt. 20:13 ESV) The word “wrong” is a form of the word “right/just” from v. 4. It means to be “unjust” or to treat unjustly. Group one feels as if there is an injustice. It’s not fair that group five was treated equally. They worked less. They should be paid less. And since they are paid the same amount as group one, a grave injustice has been done.
“The kingdom of heaven,” the subject of the parable (Matt. 20:1), is, it turns out, a place of injustice. Because in the kingdom people don’t just get what they are due. That’s Justice. They get more than they are due. That’s a divine kind of injustice.
And that rubs us the wrong way. It seems unjust.
Author Michael Green (T?he Message of Matthew,?212) points out a number of groups who might have heard this parable or read this parable and who may have felt like group one. They felt like they had earned, somewhat, a certain treatment from God. And when God treated others in the same way, others who were far less worthy, it seemed unjust:
- ThePharisees,strictreligiousleadersofthatday,mighthaveidentifiedwith group one. Through strict discipline and intense study, they had become very holy. Thus, they believed, they had earned a certain treatment from God. But then they watched Jesus who modeled an abundant love for people far less worthy than the Pharisees. And it didn’t seem right to suggest that God could love unholy sinners and tax collectors in the same way he would love the holy Pharisees.
- TheJewsingeneralmighthaveidentifiedwithgroupone.Theywerethe chosen ones. They had paid a high price to keep the Torah. They were living in the Promised Land. But here was Jesus saying, in other places, that non-Jews or Gentiles would be welcomed by God in exactly the same way as Jews would be. It didn’t seem right.
- Thedisciplesmighthaveidentifiedwithgroupone.AsPeterpointsoutone chapter earlier they had given up all to follow Jesus. They abandoned their careers and their homes and their standing in their communities in order to follow Jesus. And it may have hurt their feelings and smashed their sense of justice to see Jesus doing things like welcoming into the kingdom a thief on a cross who left nothing to follow Jesus and paid no price to follow Jesus. It just wouldn’t seem fair.
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It’s just/fair when God is gracious and generous to us. But it’s unjust/unfair when he’s equally as gracious and generous with those who, well, don’t deserve it. God’s so “good” (the literal translation of “generosity” in Matt. 20:15) and his kindness so lavish that it eventually seems unjust.
New Testament scholar Klyne Snodgrass (S?tories With Intent)?concludes: “T?he parable instructs us that God’s treatment of people, his judgment, is not based on a reckoning and human standards of justice.?” (Klyne Snodgrass S?tories with Intent)?
? When it comes to generosity, God is unjust. ? When it comes to love, God is unjust.
? When it comes to kindness, God is unjust. ? When it comes to provision, God is unjust. ? When it comes to grace, God is unjust.
Not because he fails to give love and kindness and grace and generosity to those who are due it. But because he gives more love and grace and kindness and generosity than anyone is due.
And he calls us to be unjust as well. We’ve been called to do injustice. To make sure people are given more than they are due. To give them what they don’t have a right to.
Are we willing to lavish kindness so freely upon the world around us that eventually some group complains? “Just a minute, that’s going too far. That’s not fair. That’s just not right.”
Are we willing to not only do justice, to make sure that all people get what they are due, but to also do injustice, to give people far more than they are due?
Are we willing to be so generous to the cities in which we live and to the people in our schools and workplaces and neighborhoods, that eventually someone might notice it and say, “That’s way too much! That’s over the line! No one deserves to be treated so well!”
Thomas Merton once wrote:
“O?ur job is to love others without stopping to inquire whether or not they are worthy. That is not our business and, in fact, it is nobody’s business. What we are asked to do is to love…”?(Thomas Merton, in a letter to Dorothy Day) The church is called to do justice. There’s no doubt about that. B?ut the
church is also called to do injustice–to ensure people are given more than their due.?To be the one community that loves without inquiring about worth.
What is our role in this world? We have been called to be the one community willing to love without asking questions of worth. The one community willing to treat all people so good that it seems to cross the line and exceed all standards of reasonableness. We’ve been called to do injustice.
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Last week I met a woman in Nashville named Kim. Kim’s husband’s behavior had become dysfunctional. So dangerous that she had to leave him. At the time, she lived in Alabama. This single mother of two had few resources and wanted to try to get back to Nashville where her mother lived and where her two boys attended college. A kind friend provided her a small home in Huntsville, AL while Kim worked to try to get a home in Nashville.
One day while Kim was in Nashville wrapping up the purchase of a tiny house, she received a call from the police in Huntsville. Someone had broken into her house. The police could tell that some of her belongings had been taken, although they couldn’t say how many. The needed her to come and help determine the extent of the loss. It turned out that the thief had taken a great deal of her possessions. She didn’t even own much, but what she owned was special to her. It had deep sentimental value. The loss was crushing. It was such an injustice. She just couldn’t believe it. No one deserves to be treated like that.
Kim had to return to Huntsville. By the time she arrived, police had arrested a suspect. He was a man who lived just a few houses down the street. Thankfully, police found his garage filled with the items he had taken from Kim’s house. There was more there than Kim had even realized. The thief had nearly cleaned her out. After Kim identified the items, they were brought back to her house.
The next day a young woman knocked on the door. She introduced herself as the wife of the man who had broken into Kim’s home. She said her husband wanted to apologize. He was deeply sorry and regretted what he had done. Though it was no excuse, he had recently lost his job and, in desperation to provide for his family, had broken into Kim’s house. She wanted to know if her husband could come by. Kim agreed to the visit.
Not long afterwards, having posted bond, the husband came by and begged Kim for forgiveness. He knew he had to face legal consequences. He had to face justice. After all, he had treated Kim with such injustice. But he hoped Kim would find a way to forgive him.
“I want you to do three things,” Kim said. “First, I want you to fix the door you smashed when you broke into my house. My friend needs to sell this house and he can’t do it with a broken door. Second, I want you and your wife to go see the movie ‘The War Room.'” This was a movie Kim had recently seen and she believed its Christian theme would impact this couple. She gave him $20 to purchase tickets. “Finally,” she said, “do you see all of this?” She pointed to a number of boxes of her belongings which he had stolen and which had been returned to her by the police. “I don’t have enough room in my small home in Nashville for all of this. I want you to keep some of it.” She was giving back to this thief some of the very things he had stolen from her.
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When she said this, the man feel at her feet. “Why?” he cried. “Why would you do such a thing?”
“Grace,” Kim said. “That’s what grace is all about.”
He couldn’t believe it. He just couldn’t believe it. It was such an act of injustice. He was receiving far more than he was due. No one deserves to be treated that way.
And, ultimately, in a world like ours, that’s what we’ve been called to do. We’ve been called to do justice. But even more, we’ve been called to do injustice. To treat people with a kindness and a grace that no one could ever deserve.
Here’s what I want you to do this week: Each day this week, as you are around individuals and as you encounter or consider groups, first ask the “justice question”: what is that person due, what does he/she have a right to, and how can I help provide it? But don’t just leave it there. Take the radical step of asking the “injustice question”: what good thing is that person probably not due, and what could I do to provide it? Let’s get out there this week and bring some justice and injustice to our world.
