Justice For Me And Thee... But Mostly For Me.

Justice.

How we all long for it. Especially me. Especially for me.

As I watch my kids, I am struck by this same attitude. It reeks. It's putrid. The love of self which sees no other. It poisons their interactions. It breaks my heart.

I watch a child of mine who is deeply troubled by the loss of a few dollars spent toward meeting the needs of the homeless. Will it hinder the odds of getting that desired new video game for Christmas?

I see this sort of self-centered fixation played out over and over. All I have to do is watch my kids each day. And what troubles me most is that these behaviors are just less refined versions of things taking place in my own heart. And God is watching me.

I've been robbed of a few things in life. For a man whose wealth is not measured in millions, I've lost a surprising amount of money to unscrupulous men. I spend a lot of time working on forgiving them. A lot of time. I just cannot seem to let go of what they did to me. Will God bring justice? Will these men pay for their misdeeds?

But statistically speaking, I am one of the richest, most blessed, comfortable men in the world. The earthly injustices I have endured have yet to really deprive me of a single basic needs.

I eat healthy meals whenever I want. Exquisitely tasty.

I get health care when I am sick. The doctor is competent.

I sleep about 8 hours a night. In a warm bed.

I work no more than 10 hrs a day. Sitting relaxed in front of a computer screen, with soft fingers.

Others are not so lucky. Need I recite the litany of evils around the globe? No. But I cannot help but name a few anyway...

A life marked by malnutrition or death by starvation? Ethiopia.

A life marked by 16 hour days of exhausting work? South-East Asia. Africa.

A life of oppression? North Korea.

A life of sexual abuse? India. Thailand.

Jeremiah 21:12
This is what the LORD says to you, house of David:
“‘Administer justice every morning;
rescue from the hand of the oppressor
the one who has been robbed,
or my wrath will break out and burn like fire
because of the evil you have done—
burn with no one to quench it.

What evil would it be that God is referring to in the above verse?

For some, to be sure, the evil would be things they do to others.

For many others, however, the evil God will not forget is that we did nothing to stop it.

Justice? Yes, I want justice. But why is it my heart is not concerned for those who need it most?

Lord, grant me a heart that aches for justice. Justice for others.

A Taste Of Heaven

"I'm getting a taste of heaven!" That's what I thought to myself last night.

I had returned to a place I'd once known. A place where a number of people loved me. A place also where certain people had scorned me and disliked me. Rejected me. Mistreated me.

It was extremely awkward to return to that place, but circumstances were such that it was the right thing to do. So I came.

Those who still harbored ill will? They were around. But they stayed away.

Those who loved me? They came as if like moths to the flame. They showered love on me, rejoiced that I had returned, and I in turn rejoiced to see them and exchange affection with them. it was a night full of delighted faces and warm hugs.

"I'm getting a taste of heaven!" It was a sudden realization that burst into my thoughts about 20 minutes into the experience. Then, a little bit before the evening was over, someone else said it to me, though I had not said the words out loud to anyone at all.

"It's like a taste of heaven!" she exclaimed.

You took the words out of my mouth, my friend. Indeed, you took them out of my head!

And what a taste it was. For those things and people that hurt us will not follow us into the Kingdom of God. But all that is good and right — those who love the Lord — we will rejoice together in his presence with a fullness of joy that cannot be imagined now.

But we can occasionally get a taste.

To Mock Is Divine

To Mock Is Divine?

Well... here's what I mean. I just did a cursory search. The Bible is a big book, but the word "mock" isn't used in it terribly often. And even where this word does appear, it's rarely God who is doing the mocking.

God doesn't mock much. In fact, depending upon the translation used, God hardly mocks at all.

But God does mock certain individuals. What sorts of individuals?

Mockers.

Proverbs 3:34
He mocks proud mockers
but shows favor to the humble and oppressed.

Thus my tongue-in-cheek header: "To mock is divine." But humor aside, it's more clearly stated in the negative: "If you're not divine, don't mock." (Corollary: "But if you do, you can be sure God will return you the favor...") God can mock if he wants to. The rest of us are on awfully shaky ground when we presume to do the same.

So what got me on this topic? Watching my kids mock a movie series. They mocked its weakness every which way. Poor acting here. Poor acting there. Poor directing. It wasn't a pleasant thing to endure. But what made it most unpleasant of all was the inescapable fact that they had learned to mock these movies... from me. They mimicked my scorn. Copied my very words and mannerisms. I was watching a virtual instant replay of my own acts of mockery.

It was ugly. And I'm not just saying that. It turned my stomach to hear my own words come from a child's lips.

I want my kids to stop mocking. I do intend to speak with them about the matter. I want to reform their behavior. But before I do, I need to reform my own behavior.

God doesn't like it when I mock. Having watched my kids mimic my own words and attitudes, I can see why. It's ugly because scorn is heaped on the frailties and imperfections of others made in the image of God.

Somebody made those films. If they were in the room to watch my kids rip them up, I'd have wanted to crawl under the carpet. But God was in that room, and God loves the director of those films. God loves the actors who appear in them.

Do I have to call sweet all things that are sour? Absolutely not. But the option of silence is always there for me. How often I decline it.

Proverbs 3:34
He mocks proud mockers
but shows favor to the humble and oppressed.

It's hard to mock when you're silent. It's easy to be silent, however, when you're humble. No wonder silence and solitude are considered powerful disciplines among not only monks but among all who seek spiritual maturity! What better a cure for the habit of mocking than the practice of silence?

Psalm 1:1-3
Blessed is the one
who does not walk in step with the wicked
or stand in the way that sinners take
or sit in the company of mockers...
but whose delight is in the law of the LORD,
and who meditates on his law day and night.
That person is like a tree planted by streams of water,
which yields its fruit in season
and whose leaf does not wither—
whatever they do prospers.