Footings of Righteousness and Justice

Monday 12/24/2012 5:37 AM

My psalm for the new week is Psalm 89.  It begins with these words, “I will sing of the Lord’s great love forever; with my mouth I will make your faithfulness known through all generations.  I will declare that your love stands firm forever, that you have established your faithfulness in heaven itself.”  The psalm then goes on to describe the covenant God made with David and the awesome power available to God to keep that covenant.  As I continued reading verse 14 caught my attention, “Righteousness and justice are the foundation of your throne; love and faithfulness go before you.  Blessed are those who have learned to acclaim you, who walk in the light of your presence, Lord.  They rejoice in your name all day long; they celebrate your righteousness.”

My New Testament reading for the day is from John 15, Jesus words to his disciples the night before he died.  He said, “If you keep my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commands and remain in his love.  I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete.”  I thought about many of my students whose lives are not joyful in the least, marred by dysfunctional relationships and desperate circumstances.  Many times I think how their lives could be so different if they knew the love of God and lived their lives accordingly.  The words of Macrina Wiederkehr in her book A Tree Full of Angels describe my feelings well, “Every time I say no to the birthing and dying that is set before me at the table of daily life, I seem to hear the echo of Jesus’ words to the woman at the well, ‘If you but knew the gift of God…’  Whether God weeps at the beauty and potential of our lives at birth or the lost potential of graced moments along the way, I hear that voice urging us to claim our splendor and our glory, ‘If you but knew the gift of God…’”

As I contemplated this I decided to return to Psalm 89 and I hit the back key on my Kindle.  When it returned to Psalm 89 the first part of verse 14 was highlighted and written in a larger font like this: Righteousness and justice are the foundation of your throne.  I thought about the world in which I live and the lack of righteousness and justice that seems so prevalent.  Many of the desperate circumstances in which my students are embroiled are brought about because of unrighteousness and injustice that is endemic in society at large.  The loving faithfulness of God that brings the joy to which Jesus refers when speaking with his disciples must have righteousness and justice as its foundation.  As Christians we often bemoan the lack of morals and ethics in our society.  We rant and rave about how prayer and religion have been removed from the public arena and blame all of society’s woes on that fact.  Instead we should be striving for justice and righteousness in our personal dealings, our governmental agencies and from our elected officials.  Too often decisions are made in favor of large corporations or other lobbyists who line the pockets of elected officials to receive governmental largesse.  Meanwhile those without means are ignored and exploited.  Until Christians demand that righteousness and justice become the foundation of the church and the foundation of our society the love and faithfulness that bring joy and fulfillment to our relationships will remain elusive.