“Justice delayed is justice denied,” is an expression I hear. It can sound tunnel-visioned, oblivious to what are in some cases competing claims, or the need for a process of culture change. Or maybe it’s always true, and those less hurried are simply getting more from the status quo. “It ain’t that simple,” they say. And yet, when you’re the one waiting for justice, it ain’t that complicated.
After telling how the judge is eventually worn down by the widow’s persistence, Jesus says: “Listen to what the unjust judge says. And will not God grant justice to his chosen ones who cry to him day and night? Will he delay long in helping them? I tell you, he will quickly grant justice to them.”
What do you think when you read those words? I confess, my reaction is, “Quickly? Not delayed? How many have cried out to God day and night, century after century, and still the powerful dominate the weak, and the rich horde resources that keep others poor, and the corrupt steal justice from the powerless..." What do we do with these words?
One thing we do is trust, and wait. Chalk it up to the eternal mysteries and keep our focus on all the times we see justice break through, not just on the times we don’t. That’s important, to keep our focus on where God is.
I want to go deeper, though, to try to understand better what Jesus was saying. And I thought: What if we flip it? What if the God figure in the parable isn’t the judge, but the widow? If we might be any character in a parable, so could God.
How does it change our interpretation if we see God as that helpless widow? We could say that, in giving us free will, God has stayed his own power, and depends on us to choose justice over self-gratification. In the Bible, we see God over and over and over again asking his chosen ones to turn back to him, to righteousness and truth and integrity and justice. And over and over again in those stories humankind refuses. That’s where our belief in Christ’s incarnation is grounded.
What if God, persistent as that widow, is asking us to bring justice into being? What if, rather than waiting for justice to come from “on high,” we answered the call to be justice-makers, participating with God in restoring all things and all people to wholeness? We might feel helpless in the face of great injustices – but we aren’t called to work alone. Enough people working together can overcome any injustice.
If you were to see yourself as a maker of justice, where would you start? (Or continue…) Somewhere in your life or community, among friends or acquaintances? Or with a national or global issue? Lord knows, there’s no shortage.
And what do you see as your obstacles to bringing forth justice in that situation?
Who do you need as allies and reinforcements? List some...
Who are your adversaries – and how might you pray for them?
If you feel overwhelmed, remember this: God has entrusted us with the ministry of peace and justice, and God has equipped us with gifts, colleagues – and the power of the Holy Spirit. With the power that made the universe working in us – we can make some justice. Sooner. Together.
Showing posts with label injustice. Show all posts
Showing posts with label injustice. Show all posts
10-15-13 - Widow or Judge?
Interpreting parables can be similar to interpreting dreams – on some level, we can find ourselves in all the characters, and meaning shifts according to who we identify with most. So, in this parable, are you the widow, or the judge?
When we feel we’re on the wrong side of justice, powerless, unheard, unhelped, victims of a system we can’t control – we identify with this widow. It’s hard to get more powerless than widows in Jesus’ day – they were at the mercy of relatives or charity. This is still true in much of the world, including in some tribal African cultures – it has magnified the trauma of the AIDS pandemic in many families.
What situations in your life make you feel unheeded, powerless? (Government shut-down, anybody?) We all have some area in which we don’t get what we want or feel we need, and we get tired of asking. It’s okay to feel a righteous anger over injustice – and it’s okay to be angry at God.
Or do you identify with this judge, as unsavory a character as he may be? Are you tired of people haranguing you to fix everything? Maybe you think this widow ought to take more responsibility for her life. Maybe (the story doesn’t tell us…) the opponent has a good case, and ruling in favor of the widow is not the most just thing, but she’s worn you out.
In many situations in life we are sitting in the power seat, denying other people resources or justice or simply a hearing. When we hoard resources or exert socio-economic privilege, we’re like that judge. When we fail to honor the humanity in another person, no matter how annoying or destructive we may find them, we’re sitting on that bench.
There are a lot of “yucky” feelings associated with both of these characters. Sometimes we have to move through the yuck to let it go. Those feelings are part of us, and the more we’re able to bring them into the light, the better we can be free of them. And freedom is our goal in the spiritual life.
So… let’s get out the notebook. Name some things you feel helpless about, angry at, sick of. Tell God how you feel. God doesn’t want us to be polite – God wants us to be real. If these are things you often pray about, examine that. Is there another angle from which to look at them? Action you could take? Anyone else who might join you in that prayer?
Then let's switch places and assume the judgment seat. Who’s asking you for justice or mercy – or your time? Who don’t you want to be bothered with? What resources and power do you have that you might exercise on someone else's behalf? If you feel forgiveness is needed, ask for that. Even more, ask God to show you God’s solutions for those people so you can join God in helping them.
This is hard work, to look at ourselves clearly. But the light we shine into our shadows is the love of God in Christ, a fierce love that makes us truer than we knew we could be.
When we feel we’re on the wrong side of justice, powerless, unheard, unhelped, victims of a system we can’t control – we identify with this widow. It’s hard to get more powerless than widows in Jesus’ day – they were at the mercy of relatives or charity. This is still true in much of the world, including in some tribal African cultures – it has magnified the trauma of the AIDS pandemic in many families.
What situations in your life make you feel unheeded, powerless? (Government shut-down, anybody?) We all have some area in which we don’t get what we want or feel we need, and we get tired of asking. It’s okay to feel a righteous anger over injustice – and it’s okay to be angry at God.
Or do you identify with this judge, as unsavory a character as he may be? Are you tired of people haranguing you to fix everything? Maybe you think this widow ought to take more responsibility for her life. Maybe (the story doesn’t tell us…) the opponent has a good case, and ruling in favor of the widow is not the most just thing, but she’s worn you out.
In many situations in life we are sitting in the power seat, denying other people resources or justice or simply a hearing. When we hoard resources or exert socio-economic privilege, we’re like that judge. When we fail to honor the humanity in another person, no matter how annoying or destructive we may find them, we’re sitting on that bench.
There are a lot of “yucky” feelings associated with both of these characters. Sometimes we have to move through the yuck to let it go. Those feelings are part of us, and the more we’re able to bring them into the light, the better we can be free of them. And freedom is our goal in the spiritual life.
So… let’s get out the notebook. Name some things you feel helpless about, angry at, sick of. Tell God how you feel. God doesn’t want us to be polite – God wants us to be real. If these are things you often pray about, examine that. Is there another angle from which to look at them? Action you could take? Anyone else who might join you in that prayer?
Then let's switch places and assume the judgment seat. Who’s asking you for justice or mercy – or your time? Who don’t you want to be bothered with? What resources and power do you have that you might exercise on someone else's behalf? If you feel forgiveness is needed, ask for that. Even more, ask God to show you God’s solutions for those people so you can join God in helping them.
This is hard work, to look at ourselves clearly. But the light we shine into our shadows is the love of God in Christ, a fierce love that makes us truer than we knew we could be.
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