What Will You Do?
“Ah, you who make iniquitous decrees, who write oppressive statutes, to turn aside the needy from justice and to rob the poor of my people of their right, that widows may be your spoil, and that you may make the orphans your prey! What will you do on the day of punishment, in the calamity that will come from far away? To whom will you flee for help, and where will you leave your wealth, so as not to crouch among the prisoners or fall among the slain? For all this his anger has not turned away; his hand is stretched out still.”
Isaiah 10:1-4
In today’s Daily Office in the Book of Common Prayer, we hear in this passage from Isaiah, a stark warning that God will judge all those whose lives are marked by injustice.
The Bible is always Good News, every word, God’s anger at injustice very much included. It means that in a world marked all too often by the absence of justice, we can trust that Justice Himself sits on the bench. God’s anger at injustice is not destructive but stirs Him up (as it were) to put things right in an unjust world. Not long ago, I heard a story on the radio about scammers who spend their days swindling elderly people out of their life savings. Sadly, most of the time, there is little that can be done to get those savings back. Simply to listen to such a story is to become angry at those who prey on the vulnerable. According to the prophets, God is angry, too, but in a way that does not undo His love for the sinner and His mercy for the penitent.
When we are tempted to despair at what looks to us like injustice all around, we need to remember that, despite everything, God is King. His justice has the last word. We must not give in to the temptation that says, “Come on, justice is for suckers and fools. Everyone else is getting theirs, why not get mine, too?” Houstonians remember that 33 years ago, justice was served for the small number of scammers at Enron who swindled their own employees and investors. The prophets tell us that that day of judgment is coming for everyone.
Knowing this, what will we do? Like the dishonest tax collector Zaccheus when he met the Lord (Luke 19:1-10), we too can make things right, even if it means admitting to things of which we are afraid and giving up things to which we have grown accustomed. God is not only a just judge but also merciful and loving. There is no wrong He will not forgive, no life He cannot make new. As Shakespeare wrote: “The quality of mercy is not strained; it droppeth like the gentle rain from heaven.”
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