The Reality of Doing Justice
Doing justice is often glamorized in our culture. At least some forms of it are. But, the reality is that the man lying on the side of the road (see Luke 10 again) represents the lives of many people.
It is the Burmese woman who was fleeing her oppressive country and was (almost) captured at the border to be sold into slavery by those who were paid to protect her. If she didn’t have cash on her she might not have been able escape to Austin, Texas where she told me her story while cutting my hair. It is the children who are taken from their homes because they are abused, only to be put in situations where they may be able to be abused again. There are almost as many stories like this as their are people in our world.
To the man lying on the road, the Samaritan’s compassion was necessary. To the Samaritan, his compassion was costly.
The reality is that there are men lying on the side of the roads due to other’s selfishness, and the robbers may be lying in wait for the good Samaritans, also Doing justice is dirty, messy, and costly. It comes with the possibly of compassion fatigue caused by pouring our lives into people who need much more than we could ever give.
Then there is the truth that all opression and injustice is backed and empowered by the principalities and powers bent on destroying anyone who reflects the glory of God to the world. That’s too much to write about now, but chew on it by reading about it here: Ephesians 6:10-20
The reality needs to be looked at for what it is so we don’t live naive. Let’s run from naiveté onto the dangerous dirt road that the Samaritan walked. With that being said, the reality of what it takes do do justice leads us not to be afraid, but to embrace the truth that the very same Jesus who has been raised from the dead empowers his people to do justice.
We don’t walk that dark road alone. And we don’t walk heartless or powerless. More to come…