Letter to the Next Generation on justice

If I were pushed to share my life verse, I would struggle to single out one passage in particular. However, there is a verse I have always loved for its simplicity, clarity and depth – Micah 6:8. “He has shown you, O mortal, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.” There is something about that final sentence of 14 words that has always felt a bit like a personal manifesto that I long to live my life by. This verse was printed and stuck on the fridge in my apartment in New York City for years when I worked there as a lawyer, to remind me that God has called me to live differently and distinctively. That a good life is defined by God and marked by justice, mercy and relationship.   

What justice truly is

Justice is defined as fairness in the way people are dealt with or the process of using laws to fairly judge cases, redress wrongs and punish crimes. Justice matters because it’s essential to a secure, fair and flourishing society, one in which human dignity is preserved and equal treatment is afforded to people regardless of wealth, status or power. Acting justly is not merely an aspirational human concept but something that matters to God. 

God is just in nature and character and His justice is both corrective and restorative. The Hebrew word for justice, mishpat, means to treat people equitably, to look at the merits of a case regardless of class, race or background, and to punish wrongdoing and give people their rights. In the Old Testament, mishpat or biblical justice repeatedly referred to the treatment of people who were widows, orphans, immigrants and the poor. These were the people who had little social and economic power and were susceptible to suffering and starvation. To act justly means serving and defending those who are powerless in our world. According to the Bible, whether a society is truly just is connected to how we treat these people. 

God’s definition

The prophet Micah asked one of the greatest questions in chapter six: “With what shall I come before the Lord?” (v6). He was basically asking: How can I stand in relationship with God? All the wealth of the world is insufficient as an offering to God. Living a good life according to our own standards is also not enough to close the gap between us and God. For Jesus experienced the greatest injustice in human history on the cross to satisfy the justice of God and to bring us back into relationship with Him. It is His mercy that enables us to walk humbly. 

In Luke 10:25, a legal expert posed a question to Jesus: “What must I do to inherit eternal life?” Jesus responded with a question: “What is written in the law?” (v26). The lawyer cited the Old Testament law: “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind and love your neighbour as yourself” (v27). Jesus agreed and advised the lawyer do this. But the lawyer took it further. Wanting to justify himself and challenge Jesus, he asked: “Who is my neighbour?” (v29). The lawyer had a narrow definition of the word ‘neighbour’ in his mind, believing that this could only be someone who looked like him and sounded like him; someone from the same race, culture and class. 

Instead of providing a definition, Jesus presented him with the case of the Good Samaritan (vv30-35). Knowing that Jews and Samaritans hated each other, he used a story to intentionally make a point. Jesus presented a provocative set of facts to reframe the narrative and confront the lawyer with the truth that a neighbour is simply defined as anyone who is in need. When the lawyer was invited to identify the neighbour in the story, he recognised the one who had mercy; for it was the person from a different race, culture and class who restored the victim of injustice at great personal cost. Jesus’ broad and generous definition of the word ‘neighbour’ highlights that racial and religious prejudice is counter to the heart of God. Jesus confirmed that God’s grace is intended for everyone everywhere – and that changes everything.

Living justly

We are invited by God to live differently, to be people who forgive and show compassion, who are mindful of the vulnerable and protective of the poor. It can feel like a pretty high bar, but when we realise that justice and mercy meet at the cross, that God personally paid the price in order for us to walk with Him, we can only ever respond with humility. I recently read Tim Keller’s summary thesis on justice: “A life poured out in deeds of justice and mercy, especially for the poor, is an inevitable sign of saving faith” (in Matt Smethurst’s Tim Keller on the Christian Life, Crossway Books). For those who grasp the beauty of the gospel and the immeasurable grace of God, there is no other way to live except to act justly, love mercy and walk humbly with God.