DO Justice

He has told you, O man, what is good;
and what does the Lord require of you
but to do justice, and to love mercy,
and to walk humbly with your God? (Micah 6:8 ESV)

I was doing some reading on the internet today and came across some comments on the topic of this verse, Micah 6:8... You know... "Do justice and love mercy?" One comment suggested that most of us live this backwards. We "love" the idea of justice, and we "do" mercy instead of "doing" justice and "loving" mercy. Basically, it means we try to slide by on our responsibilities of this life.

We don't mind acting mercifully or "doing mercy." We are happy to serve the poor in a soup kitchen or even work in prison on Epiphany or Kairos weekends. And we give money to all the right charities. But how many of us really actively seek justice? How many of us are out there fighting for the necessary changes so there won't have to be soup kitchens or so many young men in prison? Do we take part in peaceful demonstrations and protests and write letters to our political leaders and get petitions signed? Do we ever really put ourselves at risk for as we seek justice for those who are persecuted and taken advantage of?

If not, it is because we find it so much easier to do mercy and love justice and let someone else actually "do" the justice. Fighting for social justice is hard. It takes a lot of courage and a lot of determination. But what does Micah tell us the Lord requires? ... not "suggests"... "requires." It's a call for you and I to step up and do something to really help when we see someone being treated unjustly.

Father,
Forgive us for getting it backwards so often. Doing mercy is good, but you call us to so much more. Help us to grow in our faith and trust in you so that we will have the courage to do what we must. Amen.

Joys: homemade tomato/basil soup; working with Rickie; fresh strawberries