At our church Home Group last night, we considered Malachi’s question from two-and-a-half thousand years ago, brought to us on Sunday: ‘Where is the God of justice?’
Yesterday… King Charles’ tour of the Caribbean has been dominated by calls for apologies for slavery and demands for reparations from affected nations… Prime Minister Burnham, attending the Commonwealth leaders’ summit has also been challenged by people asking ‘Where is justice?’
This morning… Results from the US midterm elections coming in… Democrats picking up victories in Republican strongholds… Democrats winning the Senate… taking control of Congress… My American friends could be asking ‘Where is justice?’ Perhaps even ‘Where is the God of justice?’
Local news reports… University of Cambridge researcher Dr Marta Shahbazi died in last Wednesday’s Spanish train disaster whilst on her way to collect a prize for scientific excellence.
The Laboratory of Molecular Biology in Cambridge where she worked said: ‘As a wife and mother of two young children, Marta wrote eloquently about balancing her family and career, serving as a much-admired role model for a ‘mother scientist’…’
‘Marta was an inspiring, talented and passionate scientist whose research shed light on the earliest steps in the development of human embryos and how errors occur that lead to failed pregnancies…’
Where is the God of Justice?
In the Wizard of Oz, Scarecrow’s looking for a brain, Tin Man for a heart, Lion for bravery. People today still ask ‘Where is wisdom?’ ‘Where is love?’ ‘Where is courage?’ Perhaps they even involve God in their questioning.
The Oz characters discovered that what they most desired was already inside them. Scarecrow did have a brain, Tin Man discovered his heart, Lion was brave…
Our Home Group, reflecting on Malachi… The God of justice answers by requiring that his critics should confront their own personal injustices. He starts by changing the lives of those who would challenge him. Only then can they discover God’s justice… and God’s love, wisdom and courage… first in themselves, and then to their relationships and communities.
