Justice in the Morning

There are many things that I do not understand. I struggle to understand why bad things happen to good people. Or why good things happen to bad people.  Or equally perplexing, why so many Christians appear disconnected from biblical truth and action.

For most of us, we live in adequate if not very comfortable homes. We have ample food, clean water, clothing and “toys” of all kinds. We seldom think about where our next meal will come from or how we will get a cool glass of water. Being born in the right latitude and longitude has a lot to do with it. Yet for more than 40% of the world who were born in the “wrong” latitude and longitude, they do worry about food or even a drop of clean water.

Vulnerable children suffer the most when hungry and thirsty. It often leads to a slow and painful death.  And it is one of those perverse evil things that I cannot explain away with an easy answer.

Injustice will force some of these children to be sold into slavery, to beg and grovel on the streets, to dig into dumps looking for maggot laced scraps, to give away their sacred bodies for something to drink. Hunger, thirst , sexual trafficking, child slavery and child abandonment are all examples of injustice. And all for just being born at the wrong time or in the wrong latitude and longitude.

There is an Old Testament passage that is a stark reminder of the responsibility we (the Church) have to help correct injustice. Not once a year at Thanksgiving when the pangs of compassion stab us in the heart. Or when our church leaders happen to mention the needs of orphans and widows. From this verse it looks pretty clear that it is to be a daily event.

Administer justice every morning; rescue from the hand of his oppressor the one who has been robbed...     Jeremiah 21:12

Orphans are robbed daily of a family that loves and protects them. Children in foster care are robbed daily of a stable, secure, risk free permanent home. Thirsty children are robbed daily of clean, life saving water. Hungry children are robbed daily of nutritious food that will help their small bodies grow. Young children are robbed daily of their innocence. HIV children are robbed daily of their health by a lack of medicine.

As a result, millions of children are robbed every day all over the world.  

We are called to administer justice. To help correct what is wrong. It should happen before our day gets filled up with other priorities. In case you are asking, I am guilty as charged.

Even so, have you heard a message at your church lately on administering justice on behalf of these children? As a deacon, elder, teacher, preacher, pastor have you ever led by example what your church is called to do?

A small minority of you have.

If the majority of us were brutally honest, we would say that we haven’t.

Each of us can change the life of an enslaved, trafficked, fatherless, orphan, hungry or thirsty child. For some of us, it will require a change in attitude. For others, a change in our spending habits. How many flat screen TVs do we really “need” in our homes? Or jeweled bracelets, rings or necklaces? Or shiny Escalades? We don't need those things, we want them. Vulnerable children need water, they need food. There is a difference.
Justice in the morning is not something that we think about that often. Should be though. The rest of the verse is pretty clear what will happen.