Justice And The Vulnerable
Supreme Court justice Stephen Breyer has decided to retire. The President has announced that he will put forth a nominee for the highest court in the land in the next few weeks. His selection will undoubtedly spark great debate among all interested parties, as they will try to make sure that their idea of justice is represented in future decisions of the next Supreme Court Justice. It will be interesting to see during the confirmation process whether people really value justice, or just their polling numbers and re-election bids. In this week’s scripture (Deuteronomy 24:10-21) Moses continued preparing Israel for their future life in the Promised Land by covering God’s laws and expectations of them. God made it clear to His people that He truly does value justice. He required His people to act justly and righteously with one another, especially with those who were the most vulnerable in their society (poor, widows, foreigners, children and those without the means of production). God understood that the measure of the greatness of a nation is how they treat their most vulnerable. I pray that you will experience the love, compassion, grace and mercy of God in such a way that you are compelled to do unto the most vulnerable within your sphere of influence, as He has done unto you.
When you make a loan of any kind to your neighbor, do not go into their house to get what is offered to you as a pledge. Stay outside and let the neighbor to whom you are making the loan bring the pledge out to you. If the neighbor is poor, do not go to sleep with their pledge in your possession. Return their cloak by sunset so that your neighbor may sleep in it. Then they will thank you, and it will be regarded as a righteous act in the sight of the LORD your God. (Deut. 24:10-13). God was concerned that the poor and the powerless were not taken advantage of. When someone needed money and had to borrow, He knew that they would be vulnerable to lenders. Moses warned God’s people that God required them to be compassionate and just in their lending practices. They were to treat borrowers with dignity and respect (not going into the borrower’s home to take collateral). They were to have compassion (not leaving a destitute borrower without the means to survive). God was watching them, and treating borrowers right would be counted as righteousness to them. Treat those who are in need and borrow from you with dignity and respect. It is the righteousness God that He requires of His people.
Do not take advantage of a hired worker who is poor and needy, whether that worker is a fellow Israelite or a foreigner residing in one of your towns. Pay them their wages each day before sunset, because they are poor and are counting on it. Otherwise they may cry to the LORD against you, and you will be guilty of sin. Parents are not to be put to death for their children, nor children put to death for their parents; each will die for their own sin. Do not deprive the foreigner or the fatherless of justice, or take the cloak of the widow as a pledge. Remember that you were slaves in Egypt and the LORD your God redeemed you from there. That is why I command you to do this. (Deut. 24:14-18). God recognized that poor hired worker’s depended upon their daily wage to be able to eat for the day. Moses warned Israel that they were not to withhold paying their hired workers their daily wages timely (before sunset) each day. God would count their failure to do so as sin. Capital punishment was not to be taken against the parents for their child’s actions, nor against the children for their parent’s actions. Further, Moses communicated God’s law that Israel was to insure justice for the widow and the foreigner. They were to remember the pain of the oppression that they felt when they were foreigners and vulnerable in Egypt. In appreciation for God delivering them, they were not to treat anyone else that way. I can’t forget how God’s love, grace and mercy saved me! So I show my gratitude to Him by how I treat others.
When you are harvesting in your field and you overlook a sheaf, do not go back to get it. Leave it for the foreigner, the fatherless and the widow, so that the LORD your God may bless you in all the work of your hands. When you beat the olives from your trees, do not go over the branches a second time. Leave what remains for the foreigner, the fatherless and the widow. When you harvest the grapes in your vineyard, do not go over the vines again. Leave what remains for the foreigner, the fatherless and the widow. (Deut. 24:19-21)
God is concerned with those who are often marginalized and vulnerable because they are powerless (economically, socially, legally). His love for His people extends to those who are on the margins of society. He wants to insure that they are not mistreated, abandoned or forgotten. They were to have the opportunity to gather some of what was produced from the land that God was giving to Israel. Because of their generosity, God would be generous with them and He would bless all the work of their hands. God is the source of all that you have. And He has blessed you to be a blessing to someone else!
Dr. Cornel West said “Justice, by definition, is just behavior and treatment based on what is morally right and fair. To respect basic human rights is just. Fearlessly demanding it protects not only the most vulnerable but all of humankind.” Dr. West’s message is consistent with God’s message to us on justice. The wisdom of God’s laws on treatment of widows, orphans, the poor, and foreigners is that we are all protected when we protect our most vulnerable. And when we deal justly with our most vulnerable, everyone can receive the justice God requires for His people.
Blessings,
Rev. Glenn
‘Lord, when did we see You hungry, and feed You, or thirsty, and give You something to drink? And when did we see You as a stranger, and invite You in, or naked, and clothe You? And when did we see You sick, or in prison, and come to You?’ The King will answer and say to them, ‘I assure you and most solemnly say to you, to the extent that you did it for one of these brothers of Mine, even the least of them, you did it for Me.’ ~ Matt. 25:37-40
