Hope For Those Who Crave Justice

The year has begun with national heartbreak and rage. Our government has chosen to take advantage of an opportunity, to cause pain and suffering to particular people groups. What people in our country have sanctioned ( a crackdown on undocumented immigrants and the detention and deportation of criminals from other countries) has been used as a tool to cleanse this nation of brown and black people, making this country less diverse and more homogenous. Latino and African/Afro-Carribean people are the newest targets of widespread hate and discrimination, resulting in many being kidnapped and detained, simply because of the color of their skin or the language they speak. Documented immigrants, and even American citizens, have suffered physical abuse, detention, deportation, and death, without the benefit of arrest warrants or due process. This is not just! This is not right! This is not fair! Those of us who know Christ should be devastated, and should not be able to watch this happen without wanting to help bring about some kind of justice for these people. 

Renee Good and Alex Pretti were two white people in no danger of suffering the afflictions that these marginalized groups are enduring today. Yet, they took it upon themselves to protest on behalf of others because they could no longer watch the suffering without doing something about it. They took action and took to the streets to demand the Immigration Customs Enforcement (ICE) teams be defunded, dismantled, and re-trained to do what they were originally created to do. They showed up to protect their neighbors as ICE used illegal and brutal tactics to take innocent people into custody. Renee and Alex died for showing up. They were killed by ICE officers. They gave their lives for the cause of defending, protecting, and fighting for others. 

Why would they, or anyone, put themselves in harm's way like this? What would make over 70,000 people in Minneapolis show up in sub-freezing temperatures, and hundreds of thousands of people, across the country, take to the streets, refrain from buying, and call their representatives over this issue? They did it to voice their anger and concern, not only on behalf of the immigrant community, but also on behalf of those who lost their lives fighting for what is right. They did it because they were craving…longing, hungering, and thirsting for justice.  

The King’s Speech: Beatitude 4

In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus spoke as a King to an audience of people who were oppressed and under the rule of an authoritarian government that undermined their culture and identity. Often Jews were called “dogs” and dehumanized to keep them under the thumb of the Roman government. In the gospel of Matthew, Jesus gives a speech that was meant to reveal, and to remind, his followers that they were subjects of an even greater government. This government, this Kingdom, is under the rulership of God, Himself, and being a citizen of that Kingdom came with privileges. Therefore, the Kingdom offers blessings, through the promises of the King, made to all those who believe in him. 

The Beatitudes was the “hook” in the speech that Jesus used to impart all that he would teach them about being Kingdom citizens. He starts by offering hope to those who were likely feeling a bit hopeless. In the Beatitudes, Jesus connects to his audience by acknowledging and identifying the struggles they are facing. He begins his statements with “Blessed are…”.  We interpret this as “The good life belongs to…”. Jesus start out upbeat, with what seems like oxymoronic statements that not only draw in the audience, but lifts up their heads to see the beyond their circumstance.The Beatitudes offered hope–-hope for those who felt powerless, those who were hurting, those who were afflicted and oppressed, and as we will explore here, hope for those who longed for things to be made right. That hope was offered in the form of Jesus assuring those who followed him, what we have in our citizenry, even when we fall into any of the categories of “being” that Jesus addresses in his speech. Today we land on his 4th beatitude, in Matthew 5:6, 

“Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.”

 It's a timely passage.

Hunger/Thirst and Righteousness

This beatitude is usually taught from the perspective of personal righteousness. It can be seen as one who longs to be in the right relationship with God. When we look at the words for hunger and thirst in the Hebrew (because let’s face it, Jesus didn’t likely speak to a Jewish audience in Greek) ,hunger: רָעֵב (ra’ev), and thirst: צָמֵא (tsame), they mean, “starved” and “parched”. In other words, they represent a deep, desperate, longing for something you lack.

We can absolutely have a deep and desperate longing to have a right relationship with God, but when I think ofJesus’ Jewish audience, they would have already had that longing fulfilled as they saw themselves as the “chosen ones” with whom God had already established such a relationship. Please understand that it is good to have this kind of longing for righteousness and a relationship with God, but if you take the stance that the beatific characteristics Jesus outlines are not something to attain, but are descriptive, if you assume that Jesus was talking to people who find themselves in these categories, then it makes more sense that these are people who are longing for a different kind of righteousness, because they are already considered right with God by their nationality. 

The Hebrew word Tzedek (צֶדֶק) is often translated as "justice" or "righteousness," it signifies acting with kindness, fairness, giving to the needy, and living uprightly before God and others. The Greek word that we find in the scriptures dikaiosune (δικαιοσύνη) is the act of putting right with/making right. Commentators often use the compound word “righteous-justice.” If this is the meaning Jesus intended, he is saying that the good life belongs to those who crave or long for justice, for things to be put right. 

If we are mistreated or denied dignity and equity, it’s a no-brainer. Of course we will desire and long for justice we lack, but there is hope because we will be filled. But as Christ-followers, we should crave justice wherever and whenever we witness a lack of it, whether for ourselves or for others. Our Savior/King desired for things to be made right for us, his beloved created ones,  and so he did something about it. He longed for us to be made whole and for the injustice caused by sin to be made right. So he died in our place. He took on the punishment we deserved so we could be right with God. We are to follow his example, and that of Renee Good and Alex Pretti, not necessarily to die to see justice brought about, but we must be willing to lose something so others might gain what they deserve. . 

Will Be Filled

So why does the good life belong to those of us who hunger and thirst for righteousness, who long to see justice? Jesus says that we will be filled. We will be satisfied. How? It doesn’t necessarily mean we will be satisfied with the justice we  seek. It doesn’t mean things will always be made right, but you can find fulfillment in the following:

1) a community among believers, 

2) the presence of the Holy Spirit to comfort and guide you, 

3) the satisfaction in acting on your longing, no matter the outcome, 

4) knowing you will partake in a future Kingdom, where all things are made right and Jesus will rule from Zion

Ephesians 1:11 says, Furthermore, because we are united with Christ, we have received an inheritance from God, for he chose us in advance, and he makes everything work out according to his plan. We have a promised inheritance and guarantee in the Holy Spirit, that we will one day have all that we lack, here, in this present time, but while what happens now matters, we are not limited to the present. The fallenness of our world will always leave us unsatisfied if we depend on the world for fulfillment. Jesus possesses, and has given us, all we need for true fulfillment if we look to him for it. Our King is the legitimate source of our satisfaction.

Faith in Action

So Jesus says if we long for justice, we will be satisfied. How do we usually satisfy our longings and cravings? When we are hungry, what do we do? We move to find food and nourishment. When we are thirsty, what do we do? We move to find hydration. It is our human and biological nature to act in order to satisfy a void that causes us discomfort. If we are hungry and thirsty for righteousness, we will act. We will not find satisfaction in being still or doing nothing. We must do something. 

The question is what will you do? Here are some suggestions: 

General 

• Start by doing one thing

• Remember that you don’t have to go it alone

• Keep on seeking justice—not just in crisis

• Find ways to stay hungry and thirsty–watch/read the news, talk about what's going on around you

Specific

• Write, call, or email elected officials, here, and elsewhere

• Contribute to candidates in “swing” elections

• Protest/boycott/march/resist

• Write op-ed pieces

• Voter registration drives, here and elsewhere (“Freedom Riders”)

The Kingdom in Action

Did you know that Martin Luther King Jr’s nonviolent movement was inspired by the Sermon on the Mount? 

From the beginning a basic philosophy guided the movement. The guiding principle has since been referred to variously as nonviolent resistance, noncooperation, and passive resistance. But in the first days of the protest none of these expressions was mentioned: the phrase most often heard was “Christian love. ” It was the Sermon on the Mount, rather than the doctrine of passive resistance, that initially inspired the Negroes of Montgomery to dignified social action. It was Jesus of Nazareth that stirred the Negro to protest with the creative weapon of love.

As we face unchecked injustice in this moment in history in America, we can imagine what Jesus’ audience must have felt like. Being othered and marginalized and being made to feel that your life holds less value than those who are in charge. Jesus’ message to his listeners was that they have something else that gives them worth and gives them dignity. They have a King who wants to and will supply what they need in this world and the next. They need only to be his Kingdom citizens, and they will have access to all the riches and blessings they need to not only endure their circumstance, but to be his bright and present representation of him and his Kingdom, in the midst of the world’s darkness and injustice. How can you be a true Kingdom citizen today?