"What does the Lord require of you, but to do justice, love kindness, and walk humbly with God" - Micah 6:8
We live in an unjust world. That is just the reality of it. Our world is not perfect, it is not just, it is not fair. As I write this I am watching throngs of people flock to Facebook to protest the verdict in the Casey Anthony trial. People are outraged as they perceive that justice has not been done and once again injustice is allowed to exist. In the eyes of the public, a small girl is dead and no one has been held responsible. It is not fair, but then our mother always told us, "Life is not fair"'; that is just how it is. That is the world we live in: one where injustice abounds. Not to say we don't have glimpses of justice, righteousness, love, grace, fairness, mercy, etc, but those come from people who are swimming against the tide. Left to its own devices our world is an unjust place. Until...
The world is an unjust place, until God's kingdom is fully established, at which time God's justice and righteousness will correct all the ills, sins, and errors of our world. THAT will be a glorious time. But what are we to do until then? Do we sit patiently and just wait, lamenting the injustice of our current world and dreamily anticipating the coming justice of God's kingdom? No. We are called, encouraged, nay: directed to "do justice" by Micah 6:8. In a world of injustice, we are to be the harbingers of justice; actively seeking out ways in our lives that we can bring some justice to bear on unjust things. There is injustice all around us. It is time for us to stand up once again and pick a battle.
Where will you fight injustice today? Will you volunteer at a local Salvation Army and help families that can't find work? Will you give money to community food banks so that kids who don't get enough to eat in the most prosperous nation on earth can get some food for the weekend? Will you decide that from now on you will tip waitstaff (a group that is unbelievably underpaid in our society) a MINIMUM of 15% (More if they do a good job)? As you sit and rant against the injustice you believe has been enacted in this prolonged public spectacle of a court case, what will you allow this moment to move you to do? You will not be able to bring young Caylee back to life, you will not be able to enforce human justice upon her suspected killer, so what WILL you do? You are responsible to DO justice in your life; where will you seek to accomplish that task.
There are small ways that we can bring a little justice into our world. It is not enough to live your life complaining of the lack of justice in this world, we all know that life isn't fair (thanks mom). You are responsible for doing something each day to combat the little injustices you come into contact with as you continue your journey through life. There will be larger injustices that you can help with (Joplin, flood ravaged places, Haiti) but in each of our lives there are daily injustices we see and come across. You are called to DO something; to do justice. What will you do today?
Mark