Sunday December 13 – 3rd Sunday of Advent

Author: Holly Reimer

Isaiah 61:1-4, 8-11

Reflection: v. 8, ‘I the LORD, love justice’

Justice is something required of us, but I’m not talking about a ‘wild west’ kind of justice where we misuse Scripture to avenge wrongs done to us and those we love. Justice, as seen here in the prophet Isaiah, is about a social justice—something that fulfills the needs of everyone. Here’s the kicker: it is something God requires human beings to do—not something we lay at God’s feet and say, ‘It’s all yours!’ We are to be participants in God’s justice. So when we say, ‘Black lives matter,’ we aren’t insinuating that all lives don’t matter, or that God only cares about Black lives. But we are emphasizing the kind of justice God is bringing to light here in this passage—a justice that acknowledges there are a group of people who have, and continue to be, oppressed. When we love the ‘least of these,’ we are loving justice as God loves justice. Friends, we’ve messed up. There are an awful lot of children without parents. We’ve buried a lot of innocent Black men and women. LGBTQIA brothers and sisters are still shamed. Men and women are still without adequate healthcare and housing. We are still ‘othering.’ Enough is enough. As we meditate on Christ’s birth this season of Advent, while we await the one who is to come to remind us of love and justice, may we love the kind of justice that comes from God—that is inclusive. Let us live into a kind of justice where we dismantle fences to build bigger tables.

Prayer Thank you, God, for a different kind of justice, one that brings peace and wellness to all. May we continue to find the strength and courage to live out justice as you have called us to do. Amen.

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