Advent II

The Second Sunday of Advent

Isaiah 11:1-10; Psalm 72; Romans 15:4-9; Matthew 3:1-12

“Then…” 

An inconsequential word, isn’t it? 

“Then the wolf will be guest of the lamb…” 

The fact is the whole Isaian passage and the future it envisions hinges on the word, “then…” This iconic yet absurd image of predator animals resting harmoniously with domestic prey will only be established after the poor have experienced justice.

Peace, God’s peace, will only occur when God’s justice is first accomplished. Justice first, “then…” peace. But what is justice? Our Western sense of justice is a legal understanding. Lady Justice is imaged as blinded so as to be impartial with her outstretched arm holding scales and sword in hand. And we are all to acutely aware how often our legal justice system falls far short of its intended objectives.

What Isaiah is offering us this Advent is biblical justice, God’s justice. The Hebrew word Isaiah uses is tzedakah (צדקה). This refers to a religious and ethical obligation to do what is right and just. Biblical justice is not a judgement on a situation but a quality by which a person lives their life. To be a just person is to act spontaneously for the goodwill of another person. Where our legal justice is blinded, biblical justice looks into the eyes of the poor, the injured, and the unjustly treated and encounters the face of God. Recall the parable of the Good Samaritan who interrupts his journey and at his own expense makes sure an injured Jewish person, who despises him, is afforded care and healing. Jews understand tzedakah, biblical justice, to be an important part of living a spiritual life.

Consider.

It is a good act to donate to agencies that address people who are hungry. It is tzedakah, biblical justice, to volunteer at a food pantry or meal site. It is not a more complete spiritual act to address why people are hungry or live with food insecurity? And with the present administration’s cutting of funding for SNAP (food stamps) how many more people and families on the edge of life will experience hunger? Have any of us written to our representatives in Congress making the voice of the hungry, our voice?

It is good to assist a homeless person on the street. It is tzedakah, biblical justice, to volunteer for Habitat for Humanity and help build a home for a family. It is not an even more complete act to understand why people are homeless and become an advocate for them?

With these examples we can begin to ask, what would tzedakah, biblical justice, look like for a person who is bullied, sexually harassed or abused? What is biblical justice for the person who bullies or abuses?

What is biblical justice for Palestinians who were promised and are seeking a place to call home? What is tzedakah for Israelis who simply want security like the Palestinians and all of us desire?

What is God’s justice for people on death row? What might biblical justice look like for families who have experienced the death of loved ones through murder, mass shootings and bombings? It amazes me how many people who call themselves Christian, followers of the crucified Lord Jesus, support the death penalty from which there is no possibility of redemption. Revenge often masquerades as justice, does it not?

What is biblical justice for the world’s refugees fleeing drug cartels, poverty, and murderous regimes?  Governments want to deal with these families and children through the legal means of justice which has its place but results in inhumane living situations and people dying. Do you remember the images of 3-year-old Syrian refugee boy Aylan Kurdi whose drowned body washed up on Turkish a beach? It that justice in anyone’s estimation?

What is tzedakah, biblical justice, for people who have no access to affordable health care? For the able bodied for whom there is no work? For all of us when the earth continues to be polluted by industries more powerful and moneyed than us?

How distant we seem to be moving in society from Isaiah’s – God’s – dreams for us. We are so divided that family members can’t even talk with each other over a Thanksgiving dinner table. So where is hope?

With or without us, God will accomplish this new creation. The promised Messiah, Jesus, is the justice that God desires for all his people. For without justice there can be no peace.

“Then…” and only then…

“…will multinational corporations be a guest of the poor

and polluting industries lie down with island people’s

whose home lands are being submerged due to climate change.

Then pharmaceutical companies and the sick will walk together.

Then governments shall be a neighbor of the migrant and the refugee,

together their young shall rest.

Then predator and victim shall eat together.

Then God’s dwelling shall be glorious.

Then…”