Act Justly

Just about every news article, every social media post, and every “over-the-fence” conversation in our communities are actually about justice. It may not seem like it, but if you drill down just far enough, you’ll see that it’s true. We love to talk about what’s wrong, and if something’s wrong then someone must be responsible for it, and if someone is responsible for what is wrong, then something ought to be done. Just think about how many posts you saw, or conversations you had, this week about the Cornell Case, the death penalty, or frankly anything about politics. That’s all justice. And to further complicate the ubiquitous nature of justice, we all act as if we know what justice is, but our definitions usually only amount to whatever we think is just. Or, to quote T.S. Eliot for the second Sunday in a row: You know only / A heap of broken images. And yet, Jesus’ sermons are sermons about justice. He is trying to paint a picture with his words so that we can see more than just a heap of broken images.