Social Justice

“I want you to share your food with the hungry and to welcome poor wanderers into your homes. Give clothes to those who need them, and do not hide from relatives who need your help…Stop oppressing the helpless and stop making false accusations and spreading vicious rumors! Feed the hungry and help those in trouble. Then your light will shine out from the darkness, and the darkness around you will be as bright as day…” Isaiah

“Learn to do good. Seek justice. Help the oppressed. Defend the orphan. Fight for the rights of widows…” Isaiah

“For I was hungry, and you fed me. I was thirsty, and you gave me a drink. I was a stranger, and you invited me into your home. I was naked, and you gave me clothing. I was sick, and you cared for me. I was in prison, and you visited me.” Yahshua

“Love Yahweh…love your neighbor…all else hangs on these two things” Yahshua

“He has sent me to heal the brokenhearted, To proclaim release to the captives, Recovering of sight to the blind, To deliver those who are crushed” Isaiah and Yahshua

Social Justice- words that strike fear into those of us who pride ourselves on our conservative view of life. We live by our rules and regulations, our structured and orderly lives, our black and white interpretation of the world around us. Rule of Law is our battle cry. It’s our well defined objective truth. It keeps our universe neat and tidy. Laws must not be broken. Rules can never be bent. There is only the right way. Mercy takes a back seat to justice, compassion second place to being right. Social justice is for the weak minded, the bleeding hearts, and the do-gooders.

But the prophets of old scream at us, plead with us, command us even to help those who have the least ability to help themselves; the oppressed, the fatherless, the poor, the widow. We are called to be defenders of those who cannot defend themselves, beckoned to water those who are parched, nourish those with no food, clothe those who are destitute, shelter those with no family to go home to.

Even allowing my mind to hint that social justice might be the real message we are to heed makes me a little nervous and uncomfortable. It has implications that take me to places and interactions with people, that ultimately smash apart my tidy, ordered existence. And yet what else can it mean to “love your neighbor”? If loving our neighbor is only a mental exercise, a game we play in our own mind, how does my defenseless neighbor get defended? How does my destitute neighbor get food and shelter?

Surely there are many who will take wrong advantage of our generosity, of our compassion, of our empathy and mercy if we choose to walk in the path of Isaiah or Yahshua. But that is no concern of ours if we truly believe we hear a voice from the heavens asking us to humble ourselves, to give up our own dark and dreary corners of our heart so light can shine forth to others. I guess in the purest sense I can be a law keeper above all law keepers, and a rule follower amongst the best of the rule followers, by embracing the words of the prophets to reach out to those my Creator seems to be most concerned about.

So I will walk out my life with laws, rules, and regulations that help me regulate my outward appearance. But not everyone I meet needs to see those things about me; what they do need to see is love, compassion, mercy, and a justice that teaches empathy for the most deserving of empathy in whatever community and world of influence we have been placed within. Perhaps this won’t be too bad after all.