What comes to mind when you hear the word justice? For some, it’s a courtroom. For others, it’s a protest sign, or a headline, or a feeling in your gut when something just isn’t right. I think most of us know injustice when we see it, even if we struggle to put a definition to justice itself.
As Christians, we look to scripture for that definition. We look for the references that shape and ground what we believe. And ultimately, we look to Jesus. Jesus was a Jewish rabbi, and like any good rabbi, he looked to the Hebrew scriptures himself, while also putting his own mark on them.
That connection came to mind for me recently, thinking back to when we first started our community justice ministry here at Resurrection. It was 2020, right in the middle of COVID, and everything we did was online. During that season, we had the privilege of interviewing Rabbi Art Nemitoff about justice. He told us that his daily verse, the one he returned to again and again, was Leviticus 19:2. It reads, “Speak to all the congregation of the children of Israel, and say to them, ‘You shall be holy, for I, the Lord your God, am holy.'”
Rabbi Nemitoff reminded us that our calling is to be like our God, because we are God’s children, made in God’s image. If our God is holy, we are called to be holy. If our God is just and right, we are called to be just and right too. So what does that actually look like, lived out?
Jesus answered that question in his very first sermon, recorded in the Gospel of Luke. He opened the scroll to Isaiah and read, “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to bring good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.” Then he closed the scroll and said, “Today this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.” I call that one of Jesus’ drop the mic moments. In that instant, he made it clear: what God is about is what we should be about.
Our actions, our thoughts, our whole way of being, should be shaped by loving others well. That’s not a side project of faith. That’s the priority. That’s the purpose. So I want to ask you the same question I keep asking myself. What does that look like in your life? What does that look like in our church, in our neighborhoods, in our city?
We’re on this journey together, looking to Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of our faith. We’re called to seek justice, to do justice, even when it’s hard. And the good news is, we’re not doing it alone. God is with us.
So here we go.
Amen and amen.
▶️ CLICK HERE to watch Pastor Cheryl’s Minute of Justice video on YouTube
