Let Justice Flow Like Streams

Good Tuesday morning, my friends.

Isaiah 58 contains a pretty strong condemnation of the people of Israel at that time, and, I would suggest, has some similarities to the church today.

 "Shout it aloud, do not hold back.  Raise your voice like a trumpet. 

Declare to my people their rebellion  and to the descendants of Jacob their sins. 

For day after day they seek me out; they seem eager to know my ways, 

as if they were a nation that does what is right and has not forsaken the commands of its God. 

They ask me for just decisions and seem eager for God to come near them. 

'Why have we fasted,' they say, 'and you have not seen it? 

Why have we humbled ourselves, and you have not noticed?'

   "Yet on the day of your fasting, you do as you please and exploit all your workers. 

Your fasting ends in quarreling and strife, and in striking each other with wicked fists. 

You cannot fast as you do today and expect your voice to be heard on high. 

Is this the kind of fast I have chosen, only a day for people to humble themselves? 

Is it only for bowing one's head like a reed and for lying in sackcloth and ashes? 

Is that what you call a fast, a day acceptable to the LORD?

 "Is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen: to loose the chains of injustice and untie the cords of the yoke, 

to set the oppressed free and break every yoke? 

Is it not to share your food with the hungry and to provide the poor wanderer with shelter— 

when you see the naked, to clothe them, and not to turn away from your own flesh and blood? 

Then your light will break forth like the dawn, and your healing will quickly appear; 

then your righteousness will go before you, and the glory of the LORD will be your rear guard. 

Then you will call, and the LORD will answer; you will cry for help, and he will say: Here am I.

"If you do away with the yoke of oppression, with the pointing finger and malicious talk, 

and if you spend yourselves in behalf of the hungry and satisfy the needs of the oppressed, 

then your light will rise in the darkness, and your night will become like the noonday. 

The LORD will guide you always; he will satisfy your needs in a sun-scorched land and will strengthen your frame. 

You will be like a well-watered garden, like a spring whose waters never fail. 

Your people will rebuild the ancient ruins and will raise up the age-old foundations; 

you will be called Repairer of Broken Walls, Restorer of Streets with Dwellings.

 "If you keep your feet from breaking the Sabbath and from doing as you please on my holy day, 

if you call the Sabbath a delight and the LORD's holy day honorable, 

and if you honor it by not going your own way and not doing as you please or speaking idle words, 

then you will find your joy in the LORD, and I will cause you to ride in triumph on the heights of the land 

and to feast on the inheritance of your father Jacob." 

For the mouth of the LORD has spoken.

This incredible piece of scripture is a strong endorsement for social justice in our world: free the prisoners, feed the hungry, clothe the naked.  Sounds very much like what Jesus says in the parable of the sheep and the goats: "Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me." (Matthew 25:34b-36). 

There is a caveat to this - some mainline churches have taken on social justice to such an extent that it overshadows the Gospel.  There are two types of suffering we must be concerned with (because God is concerned with them):  suffering in this life - the social justice causes; and suffering in the next life - eternal separation from God.  We must not abandon concern for the latter for the immediate need of the former. They go hand in hand.

Amazing Grace and Eternal Peace be yours today,

Bruce

Let Justice Flow Like Streams. 

Let justice flow like streams

Of sparkling water, pure, 

Enabling growth, refreshing life, 

Abundant, cleansing sure.

Let righteousness roll on

As others' cares we heed,

An everflowing stream of faith 

Translated into deed.

So may God's plumbline, straight, 

Define our measure true, 

And justice, right and peace pervade 

This world our whole life through.

(Jane Parker Huber, 1984.)

Bruce MacPherson  macpherson@celtic.ca / Blog: The Celtic Christian / Home: 613.489.4174 Cell: 613.720.0821 You are receiving this email because you have requested it or I felt you would be interested in this material. If you would like to be removed from this email list, please do not hesitate to contact me at the above email address.  Likewise, if you know of someone else who you believe would appreciate receiving these messages, please let me know.