I know a girl. She is constantly comparing what she gets to what others get. This comes out as sibling rivalry on steroids. Her most common line is: “it’s not fair!” Oddy, she never seems to use this line when she gets something extra.
She’s a bit misguided……..but the thing that she is crying out for……is justice……and don’t we all want justice? Justice, love, relationship………these are universal. They are “written on our hearts”. I would say that they were put there by our creator.
And so we cry out for Justice. But, the Justice that we seek typically involves either getting something good for ourselves……..or punishing the other guy. In a truly just world, we would receive blessings………..but we would also be punished for our misdeeds. I don’t believe that I have ever heard a prayer that includes this line.
“Father, please give me justice……….punish me for the wrongs that I have done today.”
The fact is that when we cry out for justice, we really don’t want justice at all. What we want is vengeance on the other guy………and a “get out of jail free” card for ourselves.
I once heard a pastor say “Never pray for justice”. And I think he must have been right. Rather than justice, we should be praying for mercy. Justice and mercy are key attributes of God’s character. I think that God is more “tuned in” to mercy than to justice……..at least I hope so. But why?
The movie “The Shack” deals with this. In a pivotal scene, an angel shows a man his son and his daughter. Each child has done something wrong………as have we all. The angel then says to the father something to the effect of……. Today you are God………you get to decide…….send one of them to hell. In a word………administer justice……..to your child whom you love deeply with a parental love……..with a love very much like the love God feels for you. If you are a parent, you know that this brand of love is entirely different from “ordinary” love. The father struggles and finally replies that he can’t send his child to hell…….. he’d rather go himself. God is like that. He loves us so much that he is willing to take our punishment on himself.
As deep as our parental love for our children is…….it is a faint shadow of God’s love for us.
I believe that this movie is the best explanation of the interface between Justice and Mercy that I have ever seen. Watch it.
And there it is……… God’s delimma. God is the ultimate parent. He loves us deeply. Justice requires that he punish us for our sin. His parental love for us says let it go. It’s very hard to have both justice and mercy. He solves this by sending us Jesus. Just like the central character in “The Shack”, God would rather take the punishment himself than send us to hell. This is a truly amazing act of parenting. We need to take it seriously.
The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. Instead he is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.
Peter, NIV
So Christ was sacrificed once to take away the sins of many; and he will appear a second time, not to bear sin, but to bring salvation to those who are waiting for him.
Paul, NIV