justice for the poor

Read Psalm 140-143

"for i know that the Lord secures justice for the poor and upholds the cause of the needy."

over the past few years i've become more and more interested in reaching out to those who have needs. addressing HIV/AIDS issues, working with the homeless, caring about war-torn nations. somewhere along the lines i picked up the term "social justice", a bit of a rising star among hipster 20 year olds these days. everyone's hopping on board.

in the last few months i've started to really ponder these words. what does social justice mean? at times i feel like it's become more about the social aspects and less about the justice pieces (ie let's all talk about this certain issue or join this facebook group, but we're not actually acting on any of this knowledge). but i digress. what i mean to say is that it's made me ask the question "what is justice?" growing up, i'd always understood justice as a negative thing. i mean, it was kinda good...after all God doled out justice. but justice meant bad stuff for me (like consequence for sin & whatnot). and that didn't sound like fun. so justice became like cough medicine...you better take it, but ugh...there's gotta be something better out there.

recently, though, as i've been working through what to do with/about justice, i have begun to understand it in a much more positive light. justice brings freedom. justice lifts the oppressed. if i'm afraid of justice, maybe it's because there's something out of line in my life. recently i've been revelling in justice. in dreaming about what it could be like to pursue freedom, God-driven life, hope restoration.

and now i see justice all over the place in the Bible. i missed it before. but now it's everywhere. God's care for the beaten down, for the broken, for those on their last leg. he's there. and that means i better be there, too. extending justice, not as a punishing act of judgement, but as a freeing act of life.