Simply put, justice matters to Jesus. Even when he was still in Mary’s womb, she was proclaiming his impact on those who cried out for help with their own injustices. Jesus himself proclaimed that one of his main purposes was to bring justice to those who suffered. You can’t read too far in the gospels without running into Jesus pursuing justice in his own manner of love and truth.
God’s justice involves making individuals, communities, and the cosmos whole. It is God’s loving insistence on mending a marred world. Throughout the scriptures, in various contexts, we are invited to live out this historic value in our day. For instance, James 1:27 says the kind of “religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.” Isaiah 1:17 echoes, ”Learn to do right; seek justice. Defend the oppressed. Take up the cause of the fatherless; plead the case of the widow.” Jeremiah 29 urges us to seek the welfare of the city and in it find our welfare.
Today’s hot-button issues of justice—include voting rights, climate change, healthcare, immigration, racial injustice, gun violence and so much more— can feel complicated and politicized. As a human being with limits, you can’t possibly activate justice everywhere you see brokenness. But you can prioritize your own personal awareness of injustice, becoming the kind of person who can do the good you want to do right where you are, and developing the ability to discern the unique work the Spirit is calling you to do in your context. Pursuing justice in the manner of Jesus is the hope for all who are made in God’s image.
Finding and experiencing rest in the pursuit of justice is the focus of NOURISH. Isaiah 40:14 says, "Has the Lord ever needed anyone’s advice? Does he need instruction about what is good? Did someone teach him what is right or show him the path of justice?" God created justice, knows everything there is to know about it, and IS justice.
Isaiah 40:28 says, “God will not grow tired and weary and his understanding no one can fathom.” The Message translation says it this way, “He doesn’t get tired out, doesn’t pause to catch his breath. And he knows everything inside and out.”
We can rest because God doesn’t need to. We can’t fully understand the challenges and suffering of this life. We need a pause to catch our breath. And we can take that pause because God holds all things while we rest. We enter into rest—into God’s character and nature—as opposed to checking out or numbing out because it’s all too much for us to understand. Rest is remembering who God is.
