“And will not God bring about justice for His chosen ones, who cry out to Him day and night?”
 

How bout those Rutgers Scarlet Knights? I am sure I don’t have to tell you that they defeated number two ranked University of Southern Florida on Thursday night. It was quite a scene. The stadium filled to capacity looked like a sea of red as loyal fan wore their Rutgers scarlet red apparel.

What I would like to know is where these fans were three years ago?

Three years ago they were literally giving away tickets. Summer would arrive and so would flyers for every home game with group sale offers. If you wanted to don Rutgers accessories such as a hat, sweatshirt, or tie shirt the only place you could buy it was at the college bookstore. Now it is available in Target, T.J. Max, Sport Authority, Dicks, etc.

What is happening at Rutgers is not something new. Fans love to share in the glory of a team, but want nothing to do with the failures of a team. There was actually a study done on several university campuses which observed student patterns the day following the game. What they noticed was if the team won, students were more apt to wear school colors and clothing then if they lost. They also noticed that when talking about the game if they won they would make comments like, ‘we played…’ as opposed to when they lost they would say, ‘they played…’ This was never more evident this past fall when it came to the Mets. Talk to a Met fan on September 1st and they were saying, “We are going to win all this year.” Talk to them on October 1st and they were saying, “I can’t believe they choked.”

The point is that we love to share in a team’s glory but not it failures. We have no problem taking up the cause of a champion, but what about championing the cause of the defeated, the broken, the fatherless, the widow.

God’s Word proclaims,

“Cease to do evil,
learn to do good,
seek justice,
rebuke oppression,
defend the fatherless,
and plead for the widows.”
(Is.16:17)

“And what does the Lord require of you?
To act justly and to love mercy
and to walk humbly with your God.”
(Micah 6:8)

In spite of these prophecies the judge in this morning’s scripture wanted nothing to do with justice. Nor did he want to have anything to do with the widow. Jesus doesn’t mess around when it comes to describing this judge. He has no fear or love for God nor does he care about man. It makes you wonder why he became a judge. The only conclusion that I could come up with is for personal gain and satisfaction. Judges were honored. They were given certain privileges that he wanted.

Our scripture story makes it very clear that he did not care about justice. If it wasn’t for the fact that the first face he saw in the morning and the last face he saw at the end of the day was this widow, justice would never have taken place. He granted her justice not for the sake of justice but for personal peace. It became very obvious that the only way he was going to get rid of this widow was to give her what she wanted.

Jesus uses the judge to reassure us that if an unjust judge responds to constant pressure and is capable of giving justice, how much more will our great and loving God respond to us. Our loving God hears our persistent cries and answers. As we persist in prayer we grow in character, faith and hope.

“And will not God bring about justice for His chosen ones, who cry out to Him day and night?”

Persist in prayer to God because He is loving and just, is considered by most scholars as the major premise of this story. However, I am intrigued with the concluding verse of this story,

“However, when the Son of Man comes,
will He find faith on the earth?”

Is Jesus possibly suggesting that the judge represent us in the sense that like the judge we more likely to be champions of our own causes than champions of justice and righteousness? We want the privileges that God offers, but none of the responsibilities. Our culture wants to determine what is right and wrong and just.

Let’s face it justice issues heighten levels of emotions.

If you were to ask the citizens of Milltown what is the just and right thing to do with regards to the development of Ford Avenue you would get a variety of answers. People would argue against it because it's going to increase my taxes. Others argue against it because it is going to increase traffic in their neighborhood, increase the number of children moving into town which will place a burden on services. There is also the argument for it because we need senior housing. Then there is the argument against it because we don’t want the kind of people who live in low income housing. What is the right and just decision? What is just and right for me, or for others, or for the township?

Perhaps you heard in the news the story that the city of Philadelphia has decided to charge the Cradle of Liberty Boy Scouts of America Council $200,000 a year to use the city-owned headquarters. The Council was paying $1 per year since 1928. There are some who are saying this is a just and right decision. They can’t believe the city has been letting the scouts get away with it for this long. Others are outraged saying the decision is unjust and wrong. The city says it is charging the scouts $200,000 a year because the scouts discriminate against homosexuals. What about the scouts? Isn’t the city discriminating against the scouts because of the scouts' beliefs that homosexuality is not consistent with the scout oath.

It doesn’t matter what issue we are considering: immigration, the war in Iraq, abortion, euthanasia, gay rights, world hunger, etc. Regardless of which side of the issue you take, you have your thoughts and opinions as to what is just and right. Unfortunately our thoughts and opinions have been formulated and shaped more by culture than scripture. Unfortunately when we do turn to scripture we seek scripture that will support our thoughts and our opinions.

This is a very dangerous and wrong use of scripture. Scripture, God’s Word should be our starting pointing. When I say God’s Word, I am not referring to an isolated very of scripture or two. I am from Genesis to Revelation. Scripture should formulate your opinions and thoughts.

You and I have a choice to be like the judge in the story and care nothing about God and others and seek justice as I determine what justice is. OR PERSIST in prayer seeking justice as God determines.

We sang this morning the song, Come Heal This Land. This land of ours is in need of healing. The only way we can have healing in this land is by seeking the just and righteousness God wants. We must begin by PERSISTING in reading and studying God’s Word, by PERSISTING in worship, by PERSISTING to meet together, by PERSISTING in praying as Jesus prayed, “NOT my will, BUT Thy will.