A Picture of Just Community

On Sunday, we looked at this picture of biblical justice, of community wholeness, of Cornel West’s “what love looks like in public.” Read it over again today, looking for traces of these three markers:

(1) Justice is basic and required, not optional or “extra credit.”

(2) Justice doesn’t just address symptoms, it goes for the root of social issues - greed and hoarding v. making sure everyone has access to the good stuff of life.

(3) Justice creates a community of mutuality, where everyone has equal status - everyone gives and everyone receives.

“When you reap your harvest in your field and forget a sheaf in the field, you shall not go back to get it; it shall be left for the alien, the orphan, and the widow, so that the Lord your God may bless you in all your undertakings. When you beat your olive trees, do not strip what is left; it shall be for the alien, the orphan, and the widow. When you gather the grapes of your vineyard, do not glean what is left; it shall be for the alien, the orphan, and the widow. Remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt; therefore I am commanding you to do this.” Deut. 24:19–22

Where have you experienced community like this, even in a small way? Thank God for those glimpses of lived justice. One at a time, pray for your church, neighborhood, and country, that they would embody justice more and more. Ask God to show you how you can be even a small part of that movement, today.